Standard 6’3" squaretail Wayne Lynch Evolution Surfboard… Price = $1,095.00 Discuss amongst yourselves. http://www.evolutionsurf.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ESS&Product_Code=6%273ST&Category_Code=HPS
The main thing that increases the price of waynes boards is the cost of the decals. they are special decals that have wayne lynch written on them. those 2 words alone add $300 to the price. its the same with joel tudor surfboards. Takayama charges almost $2000 for a model T in australia. Its the name game my friend and while surfers associate famous shapers and surfers names with better surfboards the sky is the limit.
eddie, Do you think these prices are unreasonable? Some would venture to say that the custom surfboard shaper is grossly underpaid. Is Mr. Lynch trying to make a point? Or has he simply lost his gourd? How much is a handshaped surfboard really worth?
Ridiculous. I can think of a dozen shapers I’d rather have a board from, including a couple that post on this board. If someone showed up out in the lineup with a thousand dollar shortboard, I wouldn’t be impressed except for their naivety.
If you dropped in on me with a $1000 board, and I just happen to give it a little ding, could I charge you $250 to fix it?
this past winter i witnessed an individgie show up at a spot i frequent with a board that was built with all carbon fiber- the bottom of the board was black(frome the cloth itself) and the deck had been inlaid with reg 4oz and aluminized 6 oz- the board was a sanded finish and to be quite honest, heavier than a regular board of the same length(the board was 6’6’'). the guy was trying to auction the board(s) on e-bay and i remember him telling me he would make a special consideration if i wanted to order one. he and his friend paddled out and by the grace of god, made it out-oh yeah- this took place in san diego, this past winter during a series of winter swells that were pretty meaty by my stadards- the guy wanted 1000.00 for a typical board consrtucted this way- mind now, his selling point was how strong and undingbale(also made the reference to surftech) the boards were- sure i cked out how hard it was to squeeze the rails and noticed there wasnt much difference than a similar board glassed with all 6oz(mine). i allowed him to finish his ‘holy grail speech’. then i casually made a point about why (in my opionion) it is silly to try and build a board that would wouldn’t break- i mentioned to him that ships sailing in the open ocean tend to get accosted by waves that BREAK and sink them. oh and did you realize that those ships are usually contructed of STEEL…he closed his mouth with the sales pitch- and i watched in horror as he and his friend paddled out in the wrong spot, just barley make it through to the outside, and paddled around like lost ducks because they didn’t know the break- well, a wave came thru- not just any wave- this wave seemed to lurch out of the depths. it reminded me of a giant arm and balled fist coming over- so this guys friend decided to spin and try to catch this thing half way up the face- the guy got blown into oblivion and ended up floating out near the kelp line. baywatch boat service picked him up. look- surfing and surfboards are a very wonderful thing in our lives- but the ONLY way i would spend 1000.00 on a board would be if jim phillips , or a similar craftsman could produce a wooden PIECE OF ART. greg noll is another man who comes to mind- his hawaiin olo replicas are down right beautiful- my point is - well there is no real point- just surf.
I am good friends with a fellow that works in a factory that is well known for cheap boards eg:cheapest glass,paint,resin, 2nd blanks what ever they can get their hands on.Now along comes a guy with apparently the rights to produce dick brewer boards as long as he pays brewer $35 for each set of decals he uses.The cheap board shop then produces painted and polished boards with a fin system for $500 a pop as long as there are 10 per order and no reciepts.These then go to japan,indo and a major surf shop in OZ and sell for $1300 and the demand is huge.The thing is the public are so naive that they actually believe that brewers hands have been over the boards.This is fine and good for those making the bucks but is there value in the price tag of a board produced in such a manor.Similarly the surftechs out here start at $1300 and go to almost $2000 for a munoz 11 footer, is there value in these boards that someone has been paid $240 a month(ASL article regarding cobra)to produce?The real value is in the looks on the faces of guys that are trying to get one repaired and tell me that they have already been to a dozen other shops but no one will touch them, now that is PRICELESS.Also there are a lot of the timber veneer boards delaminating out here, now that is great value.And from the couple of dozen that I have seen the weight is not that substantially lighter than a urethane board??I am not bagging anyone out as everyone that builds boards full time is trying to make a living.I just think it boils down to what the public can convince themselves a board is worth and those who have the money to convince them and then find a suitable workforce to make as much$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ as possible.!?
Evolution boards are 99% milled by computer. You think $1095 basic is expensive? Then inquire the cost for a true custom handshaped by Mr. Lynch from start to finish.
If a board is milled on a CNC machine, to Wayne Lynch’s exact designs, Is it any less quality than a board shaped by his own fair hand? And vice versa? Unless, of course you’re an autograph hunter. At the end of the day each to there own I guess. On the matter of cost, It amazes me that boards, for the work involved in producing them, by hand are relatively cheap. The cost of materials for my latest project came in at £250, when I could walk into a shop and by something similar for £340. So, ok I’ve not got the power of buying in bulk, but still, If I did then, there still wouldn’t be a lot in it, if I shaped for a living. I know this has been a major point for a long long time. Are surfboards, the wrong price? Regardless off the naff imitations, surely a quality product has a higher value? And surely people looking for a quality piece of kit, will not mind paying a little extra? I hope this becomes the case for all you quality craftsman out there. You really do deserve it. Take good care Peaman
Would you guys agree that the key element in qualifying very high prices - higher than “average” for a similar shape - should be truthfulness about what exactly the consumer is buying? Did the hands of Lynch touch it, qualifying it as his art, or is it just his design specs? Same price? If board builders educate the consumer - I’ve been harping about every craftsperson being on record for each board - then a lot of grousing about the highest prices would probably cease.
For whatever reason those boards have become highly collectable among the Beverly Hills and New York fashion set. The prices reflect what private parties were turning them around for. Crazy world.
Is a shirt from Abercrombie any better than one from Sears?Buy what you want and can afford.Some folks want only the best…its all in the mind (and the advertising budget).Just an opinion. R.B.
Also, you guys are only thinking in terms of the shape. Those boards have a lot of color work, tints, pinlines. In the surf world an airbrush is only worth $20. But in the fashion world an airbrush is worth $500. Think of some of the great artwork that goes on boards for dirt cheap. Put that same artwork on a canvas in a gallery and it can fetch thousands.
IMO it doesn’t matter if the blank was shaped by Wayne Lynch or a ghost shaper or machine… how much is that board worth? Only as much as someone is willing to pay for it! If people buy 'em at those prices, more power to Wayne. If they don’t, then maybe he misperceived the market demand for his product.
Maybe with his recent advertising affiliation with Don Carlos (music guy), Wayne is trying to break into different, more lucrative demographic groups i.e. something beyond the 14 - 25 year old shortie magazine market? I noticed his 10’ balsa guns are priced at $10,000(!)
And I think we’ve heard that Waynes Balsa’s are built… at least the chambered blanks… by a certain person who’s posts here we all pay attention to. It’s amazing what people will pay for a name. I hope, for his personally shapped boards, that Wayne is as good as his name. EJ
Some of the comments a few people have made on this thread really show the why surfboard prices rarely go up, even when the cost of materials do. Problem with most surfboard builders is they bring the price of a custom surfboard down. Lead with price not value!! In San Clemente you can go door to door to negotiate the best price if you want to. Other guys like Tyler and Roger Hinds have figured out you can charge more if you make a quality product and don’t over saturate the market with your custom product. I like Skip Frye’s idea of surfboard building. 2 boards per day tops. I kind of laughed when I heard his comments about backyard builders. Here is a guy that makes his customers buy the blank thru Mitch’s and sends out the glass work. Kind of keeps the overhead low. Sounds like a lot of backyard builders I know. The only difference is Skip know the value of his craftsmanship and charges for it, unlike the average backyard shaper. Unfortunately most builders think quantity equals more money and sucess in the surfboard business. Most board builders business plans (or lack of) are way off base. Tyler has wholesaled his longboards for over $1000 for quite a few years. Tyler is a great surfer and board builder, but Wayne Lynch is a bonafide surfing legend. He should be able to charge what he wants. Besides it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Focus on custom, custom, custom, oh yeah and quality. If you focus on things like low cost or better technology but forget about custom, you will loose to the Chinese and Cobra people every time. Just ask some of the windsurf shapers from the 1980’s.
I have to chime in here, Wayne Lynch’s shapes are for real. I do hammer on some heros that are zeros, but he can lay down some really fine, true, clean lines and he did shape many of the balsas, even if I do take care of what he can’t get to.
Thanks Sluggo and Jim. I’m glad to hear that Wayne Lynch’s shapes are as good as they are touted and that he does do his own balsa’s too. That alone should allow Evo to charge a great deal more. The fact that he’s a surfing legend, well… I expose my suspicious nature here… the minute a ‘name’ is attached to something it kinda puts me off. I try hard not to be influenced by the name - either good or bad - but the claim that it’s better because of the name is a catch 22 - names are bought all the time. That Lynch’s able to apply his knowledge and has the skill to do so, in and out of the water, speaks louder. The Evolution boards I’ve seen look very refined, and different enough from the standard shortboards to at least assume that this company is onto something good. They don’t seem to have the ‘fear of volume’ that some do. And the color work looks great too (TSJ - Sam Cody article). The true craftsmen should be able to demand more for what they do, their experience counts and their product would reflect that. OK, I’ll stop rambling and get back to what I should be doing… Thanks, Eric J
ok lets assume your all right… i use to be one of those guys who would go into a surf shop pick up the top shapers board and plop down $500 bucks for what i thought was the best board out by the best shaper, just figured that if it was shaped by some name, it would be worth the money… WRONG… it wasnt until i started shaping my own boards that i got an eye for what to look at in a board. now when i look at these boards i see so many crappy shapes from big name companys, with crooked tails, bad rails, lopsided concaves…ect. i think its a joke that big name shapers let these boards go to the shops and still charge the full price of the shape for what is really a second… but they dont seem to care anymore… the $$$$ is what its about to these guys, pump out more boards with less style to make money… id rather buy a board from some of the guys on this sight who have no name in the industry than pay for some big name board that the big name shaper never even looked at… what a joke EJ