Has anyone heard or seen these before?
[IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/P4-1.jpg[/IMG]
It looks like a beater but its mainly surface crud.
[IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/P3-1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/P2-1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s225/SURFFOILS/P1-1.jpg[/IMG]
Beside the stringer it says Shaped by Peter Obama / Obera ?
1974 ? or 1975 ?
Hi, did you ever find out anything about the Reef Rockets Oahu board?
I have one as well. It’s almost wood colour. Twin fin.
Cheers
Might be that same board as I sold mine a few years ago, are you in AU ?
Hi,
I am in AU (Sydney). Will sell this, just not sure how to advertise it since there isn’t much online about it.
I’ll post a photo.
J
Cool, I’m in Sydney too.
G’day, here are a few photos of my board. Any more info on this brand?
That’s the board I sold about 9 months ago to some kid with too much money.
I was having a clearance sale and he bought a whole lot of boards for $30 000.
No joke he handed over $30 000.
30 thousand? How many boards? Do you have a surf shop?
How much is this board worth if I were to sell it?
SEND HIM MY WAY, PLEASE.
Jimmyringo, I bought that board because of its design, the name means nothing to anyone I’ve spoken to but it could be something interesting…? or maybe a one-off backyarder board. But it’s an early twin because of the full nose and close set twin fins.
You could have bought it from the guy I sold it to.
BillThrailkill, no joke, I had 25 second hand board and a few nice ones , fins, and a collection of surfing stuff, crap we’d call it. 5, 10 maybe $15 000 if you had the right buyer. IF. And only on the best day of your life.
A friend has 9/10ths of a cake of wax in his lounge room from 1980 because it was used by Dane Kealoha when he came to Sydney and surfed at Bondi. And that’s an honest surf Collector. He doesn’t have the money to buy a board, never will, even a replica, but he cherishes that wax because of the memories and because of Danes surfing. Every time I visit him he proudly shows me the wax and I politely show genuine interest because he really cherishes it and waxes lyrically about the time he saw Dane use the wax on his board and then how each heat went in a contest called the Bearepairs Open ( named after a tyre repair company) and how good Danes surfing was and why he should’ve been the WC in 1980 and 81. And on and on he goes, but he lives the history of the item. No one knows more about that moment in time that him. He is me, but without the surfboards.
Anyway, another friend put me in contact with some kid, bleached hair and the ‘tude but not a surfer. Surfie yes, but not a surfer.
This kid had money and his story he shared was that he and his dad spend big money on whatever they want, rare cars , surfboards, whatever they like, whenever, highlighting their ability to throw money around. Neither of them showed they have deep roots in the history of surfing or the disparate evolution of surfboard design. Didn’t know about the Velzy Pig, Blake hollows, Transition period, Smirnoff Pro, Bustin down the doors, Nah, they just chuck money at shit they like.
Hello Payday !!
When they mentioned that they buy whatever they want, I thought , well I WAS happy to offload the boards and crap for an astronomical figure of $15 000 but let’s try $30 000.
He offered $25 000 and I said no sale, he whined a bit about the money, which is always insulting to someone who has risked their life on some of these gun boards in Hawaii, and then he thought about it for all of 1 day and then said yes to $30 000. Cash.
He only wanted a few of the best boards but I could see he desperately wouldn’t be denied so he bought the lot, some of the stuff was unrideable but he had to have the good ones so he paid for all the rubbish as well.
His dad then said he thought he would’ve got a better deal if he had negotiated with me but the kid was “the decision maker” so as long as I said 30 000, that’s what I was getting. If dad had got involved I would’ve upped the price again and that would’ve infuriated the kid to own the boards even more.
There’s 6 people who can verify the sale so I’m not bullshitting but it’s amazing how quickly someone can hand over wads of cash for old surfboards just because they have to have it.
They’re all genuine boards, but at the same time I could put together another lot in a year that’s just as good.
I love th money and it’s not the first time I’ve sold a number of boards for a good price but I also regret selling them to someone who will own them as a thing rather than tell a story about design and evolution and the characters involved. You don’t need to have lived at that time in history but you should have some genuine interest in things that have such a soul for the average and special people who rode them.
I let the guy with the cake of wax have his pick of my surfboards before the kid picked them up. I can’t let someone go through life with just a cake of wax to worship.
That’s just fucking wrong.
Brett, this is just fabulous. Love this story. Love the way you told it. Love the outcome.
All the best, Greg
I concur. Brett, that sounds like a feat worthy of Dale Velzy himself. Bravo.
That’s a great story mate. Good one for making the deal. I’ve got a customer friend who buys boards etc. the same way your young customer did. The difference is; I think he cares, but just doesn’t know any better. So I gave him a couple of Ben Marcus books and told him he needed to educate himself before he paid too much$$ for any more junk. If you’re going to buy boards, buy stuff that has some significance in Surfing history. Allen Seymour told me once; “Lowel, never buy anything you wouldn’t hang on your own wall.”
I love the passion coming through. Brilliant story.
I’m not a surfy but have ‘tried’ to surf many times, just haven’t had the hours to spend on the water (I’m Canadian, and now live in Aus). Regardless, the most fun I have collecting old things is learning the stories about them and encountering the people out there who love to collect and cherish the history. To me, the fact that you can date the board I posted a photo of to within a couple of years is amazing! I love the look of this old board and it has alot of character. I’m going to put it on ebay or gumtree.
What sort of boards were the “good boards” in your story? I take it you are a mad-keen board collector?
Jimmy, I think I valued that board at $50 and that’s really for the hand sanded glass twin fins. The boards not worth anything unless you want to Reglass and tape it up as a T and C Buttons / Reno style twin.
You might get more from a hipster looking to go retro but the original glass is brown , poor quality and bubbled.
It’s just a very tired board.
That is a great story Surffoils. Under the same vein as the guy you described, is the old person that has never surfed in their life but have a board somewhere in their attic/garage that they just ‘want to get rid of’. Then it turns out the board is in mint condition, rare, and somewhat valuable. I love those people.
Ok, sounds like a fair estimate. I wouldn’t ever plan on riding this thing, but possibly hanging it on a wall!
Cheers
Monkster1, I’ve found a lot of boards in antique shops, especially the hollow wooden ones. On one surf trip to Bells Beach in Victoria I didn’t get to surf because I was scrounging in every coastal town, all the little antique shops had a board hanging from the rafters or out the back and they were more than happy to sell them off.
There were 4 of us on a surf trip, camping by the road or on the beach but I slept and stayed with the car protecting the boards, I got some old 16 footers for $100 each and two original Terry Fitzgerald boards with Martin Worthington spray jobs. I think I sold the hollow boards for about $1000 each and the TFs were just under $2000 each. It’s no way to become rich but it’s an easy earner if you’re happy to snout around and do the legwork.
Hero status.
All the best