How’s it goin’ guys? I just got this board last night and I am wondering what, if anything, you all might know about it. I did a search through the site and didn’t find too much info on PF. I haven’t measured it but the board seems to be about 6’ (give or take 3"). It has a serial number on the deck: 8231. So, when was this thing made? Where, and by whom (from the info I was able to find online it seems a few shapers have used the PF logo)? Also, any ideas how much it is worth? I know this is superficial, but to a starving student like myself it might be worth more to me if I sell it. Anyway, thanks ahead of time for any help, and for keeping such an amazing site going!
It’s a pice of junk, It’s not worth more than $50.
Actually, I can help you get rid of it…
Well, it seems like you are interested in it. What do you think it is actually worth?
ekibike,
Hold onto to it for awhile! There are a number of people out here that will be interested in that board. Besides, if nobody wants it you’ll still have a cool looking single fin to ride.
There seems to be a lot of contreversy around who originaly had plastic fantastic and the leagal trademarks on it. From what I know, (and this may not be true just going on what I’ve heard) Dan Calohan cofounded it back in the 70’s and ran it untill early to mid 90’s the board label then dissapeared for a while (families happened) As I understand it Plastic Fantastic is back in business and making boards again here in the Pacific Northwest. I believe they are based out of Oregon now. I’ll do some asking around and see what I can come up with.
Howzit hydro, Danny Callohan was one of the co-fonders in the 60's but they sold it to Gary Thernagle before the IRS took it away for not paying their taxes. Gary owned it til the early 70's and then after the factory burned down he sold the name to Bob Highsmith of South coast Surfboards. Gary was my glassing mentor and one reason he sold it was he became very interested in the development of hollow boards which never really panned out for him. He eventually got out of the business and became an EMT. I learned of Gary's passing last year from Bob ( Russel Surfboards) Brown who was a good friend of Gary's. I read an article here a while back about Bob Highsmith saying the name was stolen from him when the trade name registration ran out and he didn't know someone else grabbed it before he could re-register it. I had one of the boards that Danny shaped for us to use to make a mold for hollow boards and it was a magic one for sure. The quality of the boards was probably the best when Gary owned the co since he was a great glasser who had great shapers working for him. Aloha,Kokua
Hey Kokua thanks for the history, that was sort of along the lines I had heard as well, just didn’t know who all the players involved were. I’ve seen Dan at some of the local events here and he has remounted the co. I’ll have to see if they have a site up or some other contact info, but it looks like he is back shaping his magic sticks. From what I understand he is using the same shapes as he was then.
As everybody has mentioned where it was made and by who, I’ll just say that’s mid-70s vintage, pretty well made into the bargain, looks well preserved, fast as hell. They were good boards: I sold the hell out of 'em . Also had nicer color work than most boards of the era.
Hope that’s of use
doc…
I knew this was the right place to ask about the board. You guys are awesome!! It sounds like a couple of you think it might be worth something. Any guesses? Also, any tips on riding it? I am definitely not familiar with single fins. I can tell it is gonna be wicked fast and float like crazy.
Thanks again guys!
Very nice, keep it… They ride like a dream, like Doc mentioned, packed with speed to beat out any section!
If you have some time post some close ups of the board
Not all that awesome, man, more like recycled.
The board’s in good shape, and the wave for it is head-high or better, fast and hollow. Trim is with your front foot on the decal, aimed, mid to high line, flat out. It likes late drops, angled, crank your turn, take your line, aim, go.
Leastwise, I saw Jeff Hakman and Gary Chapman and Roger Kinkaid ( everybody’s heard of Hakman, but Gary and Roger could rock too ) of the Plastic factory team use theirs that way.
The 70s, and I think Solosurfer will back me up on this, were a time of crass commercial hype, truly crap boards for the most part pumped out different every year so the Spicolis had to get something new every year to stay hip…
… but once or twice they got it right. The gunny Plastics were the nutz.
hope that’s of use
doc…
Howzit doc,Yeah by the mid 70's PF's might just as well have been South Coast Boards since Highsmith had the name and the PF's were being shaped and glassed by the same people who did the SC boards and those were crap.Aloha,Kokua
Recycled. I like that! Anyway, thanks for all that info Doc. Aswell as everybody else. Here are some more pics to check out if you like.
more…
Plastic Fantastic is now owned by Tom Sena of Rockaway Surfshop. Tom is infamous for the buying of trademarks and having them produced in China.
He also took over the names Gordy, Surfboards Australia, Canyon, Challenger and the list goes on. Check out some of the shapes, they are basically clones, I know but don’t have proof that he sends shapes from popular shapers to china and has them copied.
ahmmmm - if you had the hangover I had this morning, man, ‘recycled’ would be as kindly a term as there is…
Ya know, the board is in very good shape, especially for a swallowtail. Those ends do get crunched some, no matter what. As an aside, a while back there was a thread/discussion of tail blocks for fish and swallowtail boards, something I as a ding guy think is a Hell of a Good Idea. Not hard to fix, I’d go with hardware store pigment in the cloth patches only, leave the filler ‘clear’ - just resin and cabosil.
hope that’s of use. now, for an aspirin or six…
doc…
Tails blocks sound like a great idea! I just wish I knew how to do it. I haven’t taken the leap into hardcore board repairs yet. Let alone shaping. Anyway, thanks for the idea and the info. Maybe I can find someone around Santa Barbara that can do it for me. I dont want to learn on a board that I would like to keep as nice as possible.
Well, yeah, the tail blocks are a helluva good idea for new construction. Prevents those nagging little aggravations swallowtails always make. But a good repair job, with solid filler and decent glass reinforcement, that’ll be the next best thing. The problem is that when ya have that little foam area to back up the glass, it just crunches every time.
As for somebody good to do the repair - Pete C is as good as it gets, but he’s in Dana Point, and my buddy Gioni is up well to your north in the Santa Cruz area (http://www.scsurfers.com/ ) and I had a fair amount to do with his training and I can recommend his work. But there’s nobody comes immediately to mind in Santa Barbara who does dings and whose work I can reccommend as if it were my own, ya know?
Ahm- if Pete doesn’t chime in, you might ask him via private message if there’s anybody he’d suggest up your way, or take a run down to Dana Point and turn it over to him.
Hope that’s of some use…
doc…
Thats is definitely of use. Thank you. I suppose I could make a surf trip out of the drive down to Dana? Could make a weekend out of it or something. I think I will definitely contact Pete to find out if I can afford his services.
What is your opinion on duct taping the open parts of the board so that I can try it out? I have always done it in the past on boards I liked far less and it seemed to keep all the water out, but who knows. I am dying to ride it though!
Howzit ekibike, Don't use duct tape, it is not water proof. Use clear packaging tape or surf sticker to seal open areas, it's water proof. Aloha,Kokua