And board number two.
A late sixties Rick BM model mini-gun ('69?). Pretty good condition overall, and a neat looking board. (I still like the lines on these, though I could never ride a mini-gun like this worth a damn…)
Again, any comments or info are welcome. Approximate value? I dropped out of the collectors game a while back and have no idea of current market. Just like to surf an oldie or two when the chance comes along!
Thanks,
Size?
I spell Barry’s name wrong every time I write it. Crouched forward and trimming fast. Love that Fin and Pin. They hadn’t made the switch from Volan yet. I’m thinking '69 as well. Lowel
The BK Pintail came out in 1967. The length will give an idea of how old it is.
Thanks guys. The board is 7’4" at the tail repair.
'69 just sounds about right to me based on the whole package. Of course, we know there is pretty much always some wiggle room. The fin is killer on this board.
Any idea of how common/un they were/are? I just don’t know that much about the transitional shapes.
Not seen that often. I saw a couple at auctions and club events in the late 90’s when I was making that scene. With the pin lines and that fin; it’s a keeper. The “Transitition” period was short compared to how many years longboards ruled and then later as Shortboards dominated. There was a tremendous amount of variety in design and style for a very few years. Consequently fewer boards of any particular design were made. The industry and Backyard driven design were rapidly moving onto the next newest thing every time you walked into a Surf shop.
Seems like when I was more into it, I saw a lot of the Petrillo mini-guns, a Hansen or two here and there, various no-name and name brands in really small numbers. This one is maybe the second BK I’ve seen in person, so thanks for confirming the relative scarcity.
I’ve seen some clean surfing done on such boards in the right waves, just not by me!
They were pretty into them in Santa Cruz. Various shapers were doing them for O’Neill. Haut who was influenced by Brewer did them as well. You still see one of those once in awhile hanging in a shop. Down south in San Diego you saw a little of everything. Eighteen inch speed needles with square tails, fish, eggs, twins. Eventually everything moved toward Short( 6’ range) rountail winged single fins and twin fins or some variation on both. We used to like to say that the single fin and the twin fin got together and gave birth to the “Thruster”.
From 1969 to 1971 at Surf Systems, we had a model called the Santa Cruz that was sold in Santa Cruz, Hawaii, and the San Diego area. The board excelled in larger faster waves, reefs or beaches. Guys rode them from WindanSea to Pipeline, with comfort. Most so called mini guns suffer from too extreme lines, especially into the tails.
That is a beautiful board, and I tend to think it’s worth a pretty penny. For context, here’s a recent Rick Barry K board that sold for $2,500 on eBay, and it was professionally restored by Randy Rarick: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1966-Rick-Surfboards-Barry-Kanaiaupuni-Model-Triple-Stringer-Long-Board-/151549495662. Some caveats: the Rarick board is a longboard (versus the Pintail version you posted), and I don’t know if one model is more valuable than the other. Still, though, the one you posted looks like it’s in mostly original condition, which can’t always be easy to find. Here’s a pic of the Rarick board for contrast
Offered at $2,500 but there were no bids. Seller pulled board, so probably was sold outside of eBay. Who knows what board brought, but asking vs. selling are two different beasts.
Probably did a “glass off” frankenstein job on it.
Seller claims it’s original. No damn way.
In general there is a method of restoration in which one can restore foam, lam/logo, stringers etc to as new condition. So an arguement emerges in which one side says that a board in original condition that is a 9 or 10 would be a board with no dings that rarely if ever was surfed and was slightly yellowed by indoor UV. When you see a board in the kind of condition as in the pic of the Rick BK Longboard. You can assume it is either a New “Replica” made recently or an original that has been restored via the method that I mentioned in the first sentence of this post. Lowel
I never liked boards with the straight pin like you have, but my brother loved them. I found them way too stiff for me and only worked in big (2x OH) waves where you don’t make short radius turns. It may be because I’m more of a front footed regular foot surfer. When I surf goofy I have a stronger back foot. Here’s a couple boards I had in the late '70s with the straight pin.
The nice white one was made by Harold Iggy, the yellow one by a friend, both were customs for my brother. The discolored white was made by one of the Irons brothers, either Rick or Phil.
I hope you enjoy the board, it’s a nice piece of history. Definitely a collector’s board.
Thanks guys. This one has its battle scars, but it a a pretty solid, original example. With a very cool fin.
Personally, I agree with you Sharkcountry, I need a little more curve in my outlines. I was thinking that value would be in the 7-8 hundred range over here. Knowing that with vintage stuff, it’s all dependant on the buyer. Sound about ballpark?
Values aren’t what they were in the 90’s. And 2000’s. But it seems that in recent years there is a real interest in boards from the “transition era” amongst serious collectors. Lowel
I don’t know how to value surfboards. I just like riding them. I know a couple of people that have collections but I’m not into that. I have a couple of really good boards that I’ll only ride when the waves are pumping, but it’s because they get beat up when I use them.
Randy Rarick does a lot of boards like the above. he has a method to blow the glass off without removing much foam. His restored Boards at one time commanded big bucks at the Auctions in Hawaii. I don’t follow the collector board market. Randy is very good at what he does. Some people like to see the original glass dings repaired show the war wounds and keeping the original patina of yellowing fiberglass. Others went a full on restore. To each his own. My best guess on that pin tail would be late 1968- 1969. There is an old Photo of BK digging a trench into the bottom of a wave on a Board like that at Sunset Beach from around 1969
