Hi, I recently found this board on Craigslist and I’m having trouble digging up any information about it. I’m hoping someone here can educate me. The board certainly looks and feels vintage. The person I bought it from told me that he got it from a neighbor who had owned it since the 70’s. (Unknown if he was the original owner) There are a few poorly repaired dings with what looks like automotive bondo, but otherwise in good shape. The only marking I can find on it is “Made in Japan” and the “Malibu” logo. Anyway, any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
but the “made in Japan” sticker looks like part of a repair, not part of the original board. Those ding repairs look awful, and so does the green paint, but overall the board looks worth rescuing, I like the outline, and that belly in the nose. Fin system is interesting!
It has the original Wonderbolt fin system, as used on Dewey Weber Surfboards, Con, Morey Pope, and a few others. That alone dates it to roughly 1964-67. It was known as the T.R.A.F. system. The shape is more like a '64 outline.
They were built in Koga City, Japan from 1964 to 1971. Tak Kawahara was the founder and co-owner. He shaped for Con and Dewey Weber in the sixties and he developed the prototype shapes plus trained the Japanese shapers in Koga City.
Your board is fairly rare, as they only made about 500 of them. Cleaned up and repaired properly, a Japanese collector might pay big bucks for it. It’s believed that these were the first brand name surfboards made in Japan. The US collector market would not be a good choice if you want to sell it.
http://malibunoseriding.com/?page_id=4572
Sammy, you beat me to it, the Wonder Bolt made think Dewey, Tak traveled to Japan to shape in the early / mid 60’s and in the 90’s I was shaping Malibu’s for his CHP co.
Thanks! I’m gonna look into having it professionally restored. Then, I’m not sure what I’ll do from there. The only thing I did find was this same brand board listed for sale in Japan, but the listing website was horrible and hard to navigate.
https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/arasoan/item/usd51-torami795/
I appreciate the response and the time you took to write back. Cheers!
The ding repairs are awful but can be remedied. The green paint and made in Japan sticker appear to be original to the board. The shitty ding repair over the area of the “Made in Japan” sticker makes it look added In the photo. But it’s certainly worth rescuing.
I was surprised that I couldn’t find any information about them on the web. I guess I came to the right place! Thank you!
Post up some more pics once it’s restored, I’m sure a lot of us would be really stoked to see it. Cool find!
My buddy has one that is similar but in near perfect condition. I will try to have him post pictures so you can compare.
Thanks!
Will do!