Tag: Richie Collins

Wave Tools Lance Collins

Hope all you Shredderz are enjoying the Holidayz. Apologiez (okay, I get it, the z joke is getting old now) for the slowdown in post scheduling, but I’m back in the saddle.

Today’s offering is just a quick hit. Up for grabz (last one, I promise) near Torrance is a Lance Collins / Wave Tools twin fin that was recently posted to Craigslist.

I’m not sure what the exact year of the board is, but I would guess sometime in the late 80s at the earliest. The board looks like it’s a bit later than the neon machines made at the height of Wave Tools’ prominence. As always, the Clark Foam icon indicates that, at the very least, the board pre-dates Clark Foam’s 2005 shutdown. Here’s an example of an earlier Wave Tools Twin Fin, taken from the wonderful Board Collector website.

Photo courtesy BoardCollector.com

Speaking of which, I love the huge Clark Foam logo, as garish as it might be. (Then again, Shred Sledz has never been a blog devoted to subtlety in surfcraft design). The “Twin Fin” logo, with the yellow text and the fin outlines, is also one I haven’t seen before. I’m dying to know what’s on the signatures at the bottom of the board, near the left fin. You can always contact the Craigslist seller and see for yourself.

Check out the board here.

WAVE TOOLS: Pre-Echo Beach Madness

Here’s a sweet and kind of unorthodox board, via Craigslist in Santa Cruz (but apparently the owner makes frequent trips down to Orange County).

Wave Tools, founded by Lance Collins, enjoyed the height of its popularity during the late 1980s. During this time Wave Tools boards could be found under the feet of Richie Collins – Lance’s son and one of Southern California’s best competitive surfers. The Wave Tools boards from that era boast some predictably outrageous neon graphics, which, I would like to add, Shred Sledz HQ is very much down with.

This board here is an interesting looking single fin. It has the wings that you would associate with a Sting design, but a pintail where you might expect to see a swallow tail. As colorful as the board is, it’s a bit subdued compared to the signature Wave Tools look. I would hazard a guess that the board was probably shaped sometime in the mid to late 1970s, and Stoked N Board dates the logo from sometime between 1975 and 1982.

It’s a bit pricey, listed at $450, but hey, it’s always free to ogle boards on Shred Sledz. Check out the listing here.