Tag: shawn stussy

Stussy Surfboard: Eighties (?) Thruster

Greetings, Shredderz! Recently a cool little Stussy surfboard sold on eBay, and given my long standing interest in Senor Stussy’s boards, I figured I would do a quick writeup on the topic. The original eBay listing can be found here; pics in this post are via the listing.

The Stussy surfboard pictured above is a vintage thruster with a very cool airbrush. If I had to guess, I would say the board above was either shaped during the late Eighties, or perhaps even the early Nineties. There are a few things that stand out to me. First, you’ll notice the logos on both the deck and the bottom of the board. On the deck you’ll notice a crown logo with a Chanel-like double S beneath it. I believe the Stussy crown logo didn’t make its debut until the late Eighties or so. On the bottom of the board you’ll notice some Rasta themed logos, including a lion and the Rastafarian flag. The lion also appears on the glass on fins, which you can see below:

You can click the photos above to enlarge. Back to my earlier point, I believe the Rasta logos and influence didn’t show up on Stussy’s boards until the late Eighties or early Nineties.

Pictured above is an example of another Stussy surfboard with Rasta logos. I would say these boards were likely shaped within a few years of one another, although you’ll notice that the eBay board at the top of the page has a serial number of 1115, and then the Stussy surfboard “For Rocket” is #2837. I tend to think Stussy’s numbering is not totally sequential. In fact, I suspect #1115 was likely shaped after #2837, but I can’t confirm that.

Shawn Stussy Personal Rider Twinzer 1991

The one example of a Stussy surfboard I have seen with a definitive date is this super sick Wil Jobson inspired twinzer, which you can see above. The Stussy twinzer was sold at auction a few years back, and the photo is from the original auction site. Note the Jobson / Stussy surfboard has the same Rasta lion logo as the eBay board at the top of the page. It has a crown logo, too, although it’s a bit different than the one featured earlier in this post. Unlike the other boards in the post, the Jobson twinzer doesn’t have a serial number, but it appears to have been shaped in 1991.

The Stussy surfboard at the top of the page was listed on eBay with a price of $1,250. It looks like the board didn’t sell on eBay, but likely was sold in a private transaction off the site. There’s no way to tell the final price, and I’m curious to see if it reached the original asking, which I would put slightly on the steep side. Then again, the Stussy surfboard has a great original airbrush, which I think can improve the value of these boards considerably.

Weekend Grab Bag: Happy New Year

Shredderz, it might be a brand New Year, but it’s the same old program as far as Shred Sledz is concerned: nothing but vintage sticks and tasty waves. As always, here’s a rundown of some of the cooler boards I’ve seen posted for sale this weekend, including some nice Mike Eaton gems, in honor of the most recent Sagas of Shred post that featured an old Eaton Surfboards brochure. Anyway, enough talk, and onto the boards!

Mike Eaton / Joe Bauguess Zinger (Craigslist San Diego)

Here’s an interesting example of an Eaton Zinger, complete with a great shot of the tail that shows the insanely deep concave and the unusual quad fin Zinger setup. The seller says the board is an Eaton UEO outline. This particular board is a collaboration with San Diego shaper Joe Bauguess, who claims to have invented the Mini Simmons. Judging from Bauguess’ Instagram account, he has continued to experiment with super deep concaves and the Zinger setup. The seller is asking $775. This might be a tad on the steep side, but for what it’s worth, I have never seen an Eaton / Bauguess board before.

Eaton Twin Fin (Craigslist San Diego)

Yes, another example of a Mike Eaton surfboard! This here is a more standard looking twin fin, and I don’t see any of Eaton’s trademark ultra deep concave, nor is there a bonzer fin setup. The seller is asking $399.

ET Surfboards Pat Ryan Single Fin (Craigslist Los Angeles)

ET Surfboards Pat Ryan Single Fin 1.jpg

This is the same board featured at the top of the page. I’m a sucker for any Seventies single fin with a beautiful coke bottle blue glass job, and this one fits the bill. I love the subtle red resin pinline on the deck, too. Ryan is a long time shaper from the South Bay of Los Angeles. I don’t know if Pat is still shaping, but it looks like his website is still up and running. This board costs $325. I think that’s about fair, but I haven’t seen it in person.

Eighties Stussy Thruster (eBay)

Here’s a pretty clean Stussy thruster that has been for sale on eBay for a few weeks now. I’m a little surprised no one has pounced on this board at what I would call a reasonable $750. I guess it’s a different story if you’re paying for shipping, and the board is located all the way down in Florida, but still! I’m wondering if the relatively plain paint job is keeping the price down.

Thanks for reading and tune in next week for some more vintage surfboard goodness!

Stussy S/Double Swingin’ Single

While Shred Sledz predominantly focuses on vintage surfboards, there are many modern surfboards that are also deserving of attention. I have written up Shawn Stussy‘s vintage boards many times before, but have paid comparatively little attention to his new label, S/Double. Part of this is because of the aforementioned focus on vintage boards, combined with my love for Stussy’s earlier work, like his stint at Russell Surfboards, and the boards made in the Eighties under his own name. There are few surfboards I would like to add to my quiver more than a Stussy S/Double. Like Skip Frye’s surfboards, it’s not possible to simply call up Señor Stussy and have him whip something up in a few months’ time. As a result, I keep an eye peeled for the rare occasions when S/Double surfboards pop up for sale on the secondary market.

The board pictured above is an S/Double single fin that was posted for sale on Craigslist in Orange County earlier this month. The board is not mine and all pics in this post are via the original listing, which has since been taken down. The board measures 6’5″ x 21″ and it was glassed by the talented folks at the Waterman’s Guild.

Shawn Stussy S Double Swingin' Single 5Shawn Stussy S Double Swingin' Single 4

I love the clean lines of this board and the restrained color palette. The incredible appearance shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, given Stussy’s well-documented career as a designer and the equally regarded work of the Waterman’s Guild.

Shawn Stussy S Double Swingin' Single 1Shawn Stussy S Double Swingin' Single 2

The board is a Stussy shape, so you know the logos and the details are all going to be on point. I’m not sure if “Swingin’ Single” is an official model or just a catchy name, but either way, I’m into it. The signature has all the flair you’d expect, and I love the handwritten description of the board and its dimensions.

In the original listing, the seller claims he purchased the board from Shawn Stussy himself. Apparently the board was never ridden, either. It’s clear from the photos that the board is in absolutely pristine condition. The original asking price was $1,500. I don’t have much basis for comparison, given how few S/Double boards publicly change hands. On one hand, $1,500 is a lot for a surfboard, even if it is brand spanking new and has a beautiful glass job like the Stussy S/Double board featured above. But as we all know, the combination of scarcity and cool has a way of driving up prices past the limits of logic.

And if you’re not one for talking about prices, at the end of the day, the board above is a beautiful surfboard shaped by one of the most culturally influential figures to ever pick up a planer, and that’s always worth checking out.

Blood, Sweat and Foam: Blue Hawaii Pottz Twinzer by Wil Jobson

Greetings, Shredderz! Today’s Sagas of Shred entry — in which I scan an old surf magazine ad and write a bit about it — builds upon yesterday’s Blue Hawaii Pottz Pro Model post. As you can see in the photo above, it’s an advertisement for Pottz’s line of signature models shaped under the Blue Hawaii brand, but with a couple of very interesting twists. First, I wrote a separate Sagas of Shred post a few months back that featured the Blue Hawaii Pottz Pro Model, which you can find here.

The ad above — which originally ran in May 1991 issue of Surfing Magazine (Vol 27, No 5) — features a quad fin variant of the Pottz board. Gone is the flame spray along the rails, replaced by a twinzer fin setup, what I guess you would call a bat tail, and then some interesting concave out of the back. Glenn Minami shaped many boards for Martin Potter, starting at Town & Country during its early days, and then going on to found Blue Hawaii. The ad above, however, clearly features Wil Jobson, the shaper credited with inventing the twinzer fin setup.

Pottz Blue Hawaii Twinzer via Swellnet.jpg
Close up of a Blue Hawaii Pottz twinzer. This board was shaped by Stuart D’Arcy. Pic via Swellnet.

Swellnet wrote up a post on Wil Jobson and the twinzer, and they also included this awesome close up of the business end of one of the Blue Hawaii / Pottz twinzer boards. The Swellnet board, however, was shaped by Stuart D’Arcy, and not Jobson. When you compare the Swellnet board above with the one featured in the Blue Hawaii ad, you’ll notice some key differences. First, the Blue Hawaii board has a different shape in the tail, and what looks like only two channels, versus the four in the Swellnet board above. However, both boards have the smaller twinzer stabilizing fins, which, according to Swellnet, are called canards.

Shawn Stussy Personal Twinzer
Business end of a Shawn Stussy shaped personal rider. This board looks very similar to the board featured in the Blue Hawaii ad, down to the channels and the bat tail. And you know I love the logos on the glass-on fins!

And because here at Shred Sledz we celebrate Shawn Stussy’s entire catalog, of course we had to mention the board featured above. That board you see in the photo is a Shawn Stussy shaped personal rider that was apparently inspired by Jobson himself. The Stussy twinzer was sold at last year’s California Gold Surfboard Auction. Now, I know that Stussy shaped boards for Michael Tomson, who was CEO of Gotcha. Gotcha, in turn, was Pottz’s longtime clothing sponsor. Is it possible that somewhere in this mix Stussy got the idea to shape the twinzer pictured above? I can’t say for sure, but it certainly would be cool if that turned out to be the case.

Thanks for checking out Sagas of Shred and tune in next Thursday evening, California time, for more vintage surf ads.

Social Media Roundup: Herbie Fletcher’s Hawaiian Boards and More

Greetings, Shredderz! As always, here’s a smattering of social media posts from the past month or so, that I think you might enjoy. Keep scrolling for more…

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In 1969, I was having the time of my life living on the North Shore with Dibi, and surfing some of the biggest waves that ever hit the Hawaiian Islands. I hand shaped this 7’4” diamond tail board, and the nose on this board had plenty of concave; it was perfect for riding fast in the tube — and that’s just what I did! ——————————————————————————— (📷: @artbrewer) #astrodeck #theoriginator #since1976 #tractionpad #45degreetovert #wavewarriors #adrenalinesurfseries #thethrillisback #sideslipboogie #surfhistory #surffilm #fletcherdna #genepoolofcool #herbiefletcher #dibifletcher #artist #style #love #fun #performanceart #wrecktangles #wallofdisaster #archipelagos #bloodwaterseries #caseofarrows #hawaii #northshore #1969 #60s #fbf @dibifletcher @astrodeck @wavewarriors @fletcherdna @rvca @rvcasurf

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Pictured above we have two Herbie Fletcher boards shaped for Hawaii, happening at opposite ends of his career to date. The board in the top photo is a square nose longboard Herbie made recently and the lower photo features a 7’4″ diamond tail shaped in 1969.

This month Taylor Knox comes with not one but two separate entries. The first shot shows Ben Aipa making it look easy in some serious Hawaiian juice; the second is Taylor Knox putting a Mark Richards twinny through its paces.

And here’s one more that really ties the room together: MR, Owl Chapman, and Ben Aipa, sometime during the Seventies.

I wrote up this awesome Stussy twin fin recently. Here’s a shot of former Stussy team rider John Gothard brandishing another S double stick with some interesting looking fins.

Shawn Stussy Twin Fin

Here’s a little Shred Sledz trivia for you: any time I see a rad Stussy board posted for sale online, I have to write about it. (For another awesome Stussy board, check out this thruster he made for Michael Tomson, the founder and CEO of Gotcha.) Sorry, those are the rules, and I’m afraid there are no exceptions. Recently I saw this super rad Stussy twin fin pop up for sale on Craigslist in Orange County. You can find the listing for the board here. All pics in the post are via Craigslist and the board is not mine.

Shawn Stussy Twin Fin 3Shawn Stussy Twin Fin 2

I’ve made no secret of my admiration for Stussy’s surfboards, and the board above hopefully makes it clear why I go so crazy over these shapes. The Stussy twin fin has all the bells and whistles you could want out of one of these boards. It measures in at a tidy 5’8″ x 20″ x 2 3/4″, and the serial number is 703. The board isn’t dated but I would guess somewhere in the early to mid Eighties. First, I absolutely love the airbrush. Generally speaking, if it was made in the Eighties and it has bright colors, I’m game. That said, Stussy’s boards from this era might fit into the overall aesthetic of the decade, but from an artistic standpoint, Stussy’s airbrushes are light years ahead of the standard fluoro spray job. It may sound obvious, stupid even, but the dude is a true artist, and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Stussy’s boards are pieces of art.

Aside from the airbrush on the deck, there are a ton of other aesthetic flourishes on the Stussy twin fin that I can’t get enough of. First, I love the fact the Stussy logo has different colors on the deck and the bottom. The seller hasn’t provided great pics of the little laminates throughout the board, but you can see a small “Equipment for the Modern Age” hit on the bottom, just beneath the main logo. I also spy some artwork on the glass on fins, but I can’t tell what they are. I’ve said it many times before, but one of my favorite things about Stussy boards is how small logos and pieces of hand drawn artwork are scattered throughout.

Stussy Thruster QZ:3 1980s 6'4" 9.jpg
Picture from a different Stussy thruster that was listed for sale on eBay a while back. I love the logos on the glass on fins.

The Stussy twin fin featured here is pretty well preserved, but there are some things worth mentioning. You can see there’s a big delam spot on the deck near the tail, to the left of the stringer. The bottom has a bunch of little nicks and dings on it, too. More than anything else, I just can’t believe that whoever owned this thing didn’t take better care of it. It’s like the Indiana Jones line whenever he sees a priceless artifact in the wrong hands: “It belongs in a museum!” The seller is asking $500 for the board. Perhaps this says more about my love for Stussy boards than anything else, but I don’t think that price is crazy. If this board were in better condition — a big if, I know — I could see it fetching multiples of that price. But it’s not, and fixing this thing up would require a decent amount of work. Either way, it’s a beautiful board, and I hope it finds a happy new home.

Check out the Stussy twin fin for sale on Craigslist here.

Social Media Roundup: Autumnal Awesomeness

Greetings, Shredderz! By now you may know the drill: here’s a collection of some of my favorite vintage surfboard related social media posts from the past month or so. Keep scrolling for more.

I believe this photo was actually taken and published by Jeff Booth’s dad. True story: as a seventeen year old “grom” one my first surf experience was attending a Quiksilver surf camp in Montauk. Jeff Booth was the resident pro that day, and not only was he nice enough to push me into a wave, he politely declined to point out the fact that I was five to ten years older than all the other campers. Thanks Jeff — I owe you for that one! Anyway, peep that killer Eighties Stussy stick, complete with the NSSA lams. (The photo at the top of the page features Booth in a later ad for Stussy Surfboards.) I’m also trying to zoom in on the Stussy logo beneath the NSSA sticker, but can’t quite make out what it might be.

I love vintage Yater single fins. This one is classic: all clean lines and understated cool. This is a grown ass man’s surfboard.

Here’s a killer Town and Country twin fin. Make sure you scroll through all of the pics, including the beautiful glassed on fins with the T&C yin yang logo. Lots of people go nuts over the Eighties T&C boards with the crazy airbrushes — and I love them, too — but I think the slightly earlier T&C vintage boards are every bit as cool.

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Presents Expression Session 5: California Dreamin’

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Surfboards and Coffee held their latest event this month, and by all accounts, it was a doozy! They collected a bunch of boards with some amazing airbrushes. Shout out to all my Airbrush Aficionados out there!

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Flashing on empty secos with a stringerless….. early 1980s… i usually keep my trap shut but….I always hear guys talking about hulls these days talking about how they enjoyed them back in the day … when I’m thinking to myself wait a minute wernt you the kid on that stupid pointy down railed rocketship that just didn’t work in most surf or that ampy echo beach thingy… or whatever.. fact is for now at least my memory is pin perf…. I can spin about 20 names off like Greg, steve, mardy,Andy,bozo, wocheck,Tim kabota,ed Phillips, kp, McKnight , buck,wemple…dadams to name a few…. (sorry if I left u out, it’s early) i mean show me a shot of you riding one better yet how bout a shot of you just holding one?…. in the 70s…. naw… 80s nope…, 90s, maybe…. 2000s yeh probally… better late than never…. this post isn’t ment for you younger guys….. #hulls #liddlesurfboards #surfboards #glomontoanything 👣bongo archives photo: Kirk Putnam

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Now this is a vintage Liddle flex! Happy that Mr. Casagrande spares “younger guys” like me — I’m in my mid thirties, do I still count? — but regardless, respect to the hull trailblazers. And how dope is that board?

Last but not least we have a rare and beautiful Surfboards Haleiwa single fin shaped by none other than Mike Diffenderfer. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a Diff board under the Surfboards Haleiwa label before, but this one is so cool. Love the resin pin lines, the bold red bird logo on the bottom, and the unmistakable outlines of a classic Seventies single fin.

Shawn Stussy Thruster for Michael Tomson of Gotcha

Greetings, Shredderz! The board I’m writing up today is one of the coolest I have ever seen. By now some readers might know that Shawn Stussy is a favorite of this humble vintage surfboard blog. Stussy’s Eighties thrusters are likely his most popular shapes, and for good reason. But what makes this Shawn Stussy thruster special is the fact it was shaped for none other than Gotcha founder Michael Tomson.

First and foremost, a big shout out to Rob, who owns the board above, for sharing the photos you see in this post. He’s on Instagram here.

Anyway, back to the board in question. By now we all know Shawn Stussy’s legacy as a renowned surfboard shaper and an early streetwear pioneer. But early on, Michael Tomson looked to be on the exact same trajectory, having transitioned from a pro surfing career to founding Gotcha, which was one of the hottest labels in surfing during its heyday. It’s also worth noting that Tomson ripped.

Michael Tomson Pipeline.jpg
MT charging Pipeline, as featured in a Gotcha ad. I believe this ad was likely from the mid Nineties or so, given the logo. Photo via Adventure Sports Network

Sadly, Gotcha no longer exists today, but at one point the label was producing some truly interesting work, including the legendary “If you don’t surf…don’t start” ad campaign. More importantly, Gotcha’s early logo was actually designed by Shawn Stussy!

As you can see from the Instagram post above, Stussy and Tomson’s history goes back to the early Eighties. This isn’t totally surprising, given Stussy’s Laguna Beach roots, which also was home to Gotcha’s offices.

Gotcha Ad Gary Busey.jpg
Example of another Gotcha ad, this one plucked from Tomson’s own website. My guess is this ad was late Eighties / early Nineties but I’m not sure.

Befitting Gotcha’s raw, in your face style, Tomson was one of the most outrageous characters on the surf scene at the time. Sadly, Tomson’s hard charging lifestyle has lost a considerable amount of its romance, given Gotcha’s eventual fade and a string of drug arrests that occurred well into middle age.

I love the fact this surfboard was not only shaped by Stussy, but also created for a true character who happened to be a world class surfer. And even if you don’t care about Tomson’s colorful history, well, at the end of the day, the board is still a Stussy thruster, with all the details and flourishes that make his boards so collectible.

Of course, the board wouldn’t be complete without a Gotcha logo — beneath the glass, naturally. You can also see an additional Stussy signature on the deck right above the tail.

What really gets me going are the awesome hand drawn logos found on the Stussy thruster. The planer laminate is one I don’t believe I have seen on any other Stussy boards. And how cool is that Stussy Team laminate?! That must have been the ultimate Eighties surfing street cred accessory. I love the touch of having the logo on the glass on fins, too — I wish more shapers did this nowadays.

You might be wondering what kind of psycho writes five hundred plus words about an Eighties surfboard. Well, I regret nothing, because this Stussy thruster shaped for Michael Tomson is an absolute gem. Thanks again to Rob for generously sharing the pics of the board — you can follow him on Instagram here.

 

Stussy Livin’ Stoopid Large: Sagas of Shred

If you don’t know, now you know: Shawn Stussy just might be the coolest man alive. If you’re sick and tired of this blog fawning over Stussy, well, you’ve got a point. But we’re not stopping any time soon. Pictured above is a rad vintage Stussy ad from 1990 or 1991. I scanned the vintage Stussy ad from the April 1991 issue of Surfing Magazine (Vol. 27, No. 4), but as you can see, the ad itself is dated to 1990.

Obviously, I tend to focus on Stussy’s surfboards. I love his Seventies single fins, and of course the Eighties thrusters that elevated the Echo Beach aesthetic into something way more memorable. But when it’s all said and done, Stussy will probably be best known as one of the godfathers of streetwear due to his eponymous clothing line.

The vintage Stussy ad ran in 1990 or 1991, right as the brand’s popularity was beginning to explode. Earlier in 1990 Stussy had just opened up its first standalone store in New York City. (Check out Complex’s oral history of the brand here, which is told from a fashion-centric point of view.) It’s interesting to see the ad running in Surfing Magazine, but with no reference back to Stussy’s background as a shaper, or anything to do with surf culture, really. Curiously, I have never been able to find any vintage Stussy ads in Surfer Magazine during the Eighties and Nineties. I was surprised and stoked to see this turn up in an issue of Surfing Magazine, and I understand that Stussy also ran a lot of ads in Thrasher during the Eighties, too. To me the ad catches the Stussy brand at a moment where it is in between different worlds — not quite a product of the Orange County surf industrial complex, but still dabbling in surf culture. Shawn Stussy would end up leaving his brand at the end of 1995, but it still exists today.

Needless to say, I love the hand drawn lettering and the slightly off-kilter copy. It’s nothing if not distinctive, which is only fitting considering Stussy’s legacy of being far ahead of its time.

As always, thanks for checking out Sagas of Shred, and check back in a week for even more vintage surf ads.

Shed Sessions: Newport Beach Edition

Greetings, Shredderz! Today’s post features Bird Huffman, owner of the legendary’s Bird’s Surf Shed down in San Diego. If you haven’t paid pilgrimage to the Shed yet, you should. The Shed is stocked full of an incredible array of vintage boards and staff members are personable and knowledgeable.

Bird has also been hosting a great series for Surfer Magazine titled “Shed Sessions.” Each Session takes a crew of surfers from a certain area and then hooks them up with some vintage boards, all of which have a historical connection to the featured location, and films the results. The most recent Shed Session features some Newport Beach rippers taking a couple of Orange County gems through their paces.

There’s a beautiful Dyno sting — shout out to Bird for the proper nomenclature — that looks really fun in the small but hollow beachbreak testing grounds. The next board is a Robert August swallowtail single fin, which looks very similar to a board I wrote about recently.

The star of the show, though, is a Shawn Stussy-shaped Russell Surfboards single fin. As longtime readers may know, I love Stussy’s boards in general. It’s hard to argue with a classic Eighties Stussy thruster, but I may love the Russell single fins from the Seventies just as much. For one, they aren’t as common.

Russell Shawn Stussy Logo.png
Close up of the logo of the Russell / Stussy board featured in the Shed Sessions video. Like Bird, I have never seen this combo before.

I love this Russell Surfboards Stussy shape because you can see the beginnings of what would go on to become one of the most famous streetwear brands ever. In the photo above, which is a screengrab from the video, you can see an early version of the Stussy logo. As Bird mentions in the video, I have never seen another Russell board with a Stussy logo. I have seen other Russell boards that were signed by Stussy, and I have also seen Stussy boards with early versions of the logo that pre-date the famous script, but the combo above is unusual.

Surfer Magazine has produced a bunch of Shed Sessions episodes, and I urge you to check out the entire run. It’s a great series featuring some beautiful old boards paired with great surfing and even some history, too.