I was in a local shop today, and saw a joel tudor longboard for $1100.00. Does anybody know why? Foam and fiberglass. He didn’t even shape it. Had someone else’s signature on it. Clear board, single stringer…not in this life mr. tudor.
Listen Dumbass, people like you are the reason why a quality made board’s value is not where it deserves to be. Stu Kenson is one of the most creative shapers out there and he works very closely with Joel in design of these boards. $1100 dollars is a great value. Sluggo
If someone lays down the cash (within the next several weeks) for that Tudor board, then it wasn’t overpriced. On the other hand, I myself would want a solid balsa board for that price.
Why not? it is a hand made item, by American craftsmen, who in any other field would get double to triple that amount of money for similar work. As for 1100.00$ for the balsa, better pony up a couple of grand more just to get in the game. I can make so much more, with less money invested, by going back to building solid wood cabinets. How many of the surf guys have no problem coughing up 400 bucks for a sack of krypt
Jim. Uhhh, I meant a used 7’ balsa gun…yeah that’s it. By the way, where is a good source for balsa blanks in southern California? Just want it to be already glued together and ready to shape. I’m ready to tackle this “beaver of a project” in the near future.
Walker is stocking Rhino balsa blanks and General Veneer in LA or Frost lumber in SD have wood for building your own
Look sucko, i’ve seen boards from some of the best builders in the world for $400 less, this wasn’t anything special. I’ve seen other boards of his on the rack for far less,and I never said he wasn’t a great shaper My friend bought a Sufboards Hawaii with a fin and a leash for under $800 brand new, with one of Jim’s beautiful fiberglass tailblocks, yellow resin tint, double stringer, red resin pinline, a really beautiful board. If you want to pay $1100 for a typical longboard, Great, keep that economy strong, But why are they so much more? Are they using some secret high tech materials. Maybe Joel requires so much per board for himself.Or maybe they just found a market for people who want to pay too much for a surfboard. People like you sucko. Uh, was that dumbass you said?
I’m just wondering did you see this board in Wilmington NC, becasue I have seen one just like it at Surf City. Every time I go there I look at it and wish I had that kind of money to put down on the board. It is actually on of my favorite boards in the shop.
Take the Sticker off and Stu could only sell it for the usual price. Never buy a signature model cause they automatically add on commission for the rider.
Why does a Reggie Jackson or Ted Williams baseball card fetch more money than some joe schmoe? The cards are all made out of paper right? Seems like a dumb question to me.
Why not? it is a hand made item, by American craftsmen, who in any other field >would get double to triple that amount of money for similar work. As for >1100.00$ for the balsa, better pony up a couple of grand more just to get in >the game. I can make so much more, with less money invested, by going back to >building solid wood cabinets. How many of the surf guys have no problem >coughing up 400 bucks for a sack of krypt Just out of curiosity, how many man hours are spent on a board like that? 10 tops? What’s the material cost, $100-150? Writeoff on shaping shack/equipment + electricity pr. board, $15? If this was wholesale I’d say the pay wasn’t bad. My guess is Tudor get’s a $100-$250 and that the surfshop takes a few hundred bucks too. Maybe a distributor takes his ‘fair’ share as well. Now it’s time to start complaining about the pay for those who actually make the board. If you sell boards for $300-$400, you can’t make all that much money, but I guess there goes less work into (most of) those boards. That might even go for the Tudors. But as people on this have pointed out time after time, it’s worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If you want to surf like Tudor you got to ride those boards. Hey Jim, I guess you could go back to cabinet making. The market for expensive furniture is no doubt better then the market for expensive surfboards. But I hope you stick with us. Where’s the fun in building cabinets anyway? regards, Håvard
pay everybody 20.00 an hour keystone the mark up nobody becomes a real estate sell out car sales man bus driver whine steward…shaping becomes a respectable aspiration,a day off with pay medical dental … legendary cheap boards are not cherished they are abused and left broken and alone . Appreciate or depreciate that is the question at 1100.00 it wont be ridden hard and will likely become as coveted as that orange bing gun from the ad that sold at the Seymour auction a few years back if it doesnt sell so fast more people can see it,talk about it,and assume their ecnomic stratum, The cheapest guys make their own and dont hustle friends and aquaintences for a cheap…rendition I made a blank from pieces of salvaged foam from beach and shaping room and wolfman balsa scraps from the hanalei dump '69 and rode it for 2 years and notmeyer did too after I was done I priced it at 3700,00 acouple years ago I would ask more now I would rather keep it than have depreciating currency.Tudor ,brad mc caul ,purpose ,corky,mike haley, nappy , john hawkshaw pia, the guys that own their old boards models etc cherish them because they cherish a memory that goes along with’em ,If I had my old olsen haut model I would cherish it because my grand father gave me his social security check from his hospital bed overlooking mile rock to pay for it , The guy that spends 1100.00 will be a special case perhaps a greater person than either or any of us, YOU sell the next one for more we will all get a raise.If you factor inflation my 63 yater w/t-band at 128.00 should price out at 1280.00 and thats manufacturer direct. AMERICAN SURF DOG ORIGINALS ? will disapear unless theybecome properly priced…very high they are being Plagerized by multi-national manufacturers as I speak, with duplicating machines and slick contracts designed to con kids out of believing in their own creativity and insight. I dont charge enough money some day I’ll wise up. I spend 3 times more time labor than on that tudorboard.[did you read that wholesoliliquy(sp)] aloha from waipouli where surfboards have been made for 1000 years that must mean somthing …ambrose
Hey mr. Why, if you want to compete with the Chinese, feel free to charge Chinese prices for your boards. Sluggo
uhh, sorry to knock you havard, but NO board will mmake anyone ‘surf’ like their ‘idols’.
A Reggie Jackson model Louiville Slugger is about $30 in the store, not any more than another bat. A Reggie Jackson Louiville Slugger used by Reggie Jackson is worth a hell of alot more no matter where you buy it. Value is determined by what someone will pay. I’m sure there is enough guys out there that either hope the board will make them surf like Joel or that because he surfs so well that any thing he puts his name on would be equally as good. From a nostalgia standpoint Joel’s own board should be worth more than a Joel Tudor model if you are so inclined. I would never pay that much $ for a board no matter who made it because I don’t have to. However it’s not my fault the craftsmanship is undervalued. If the board industry wants to change it needs to change from within. I don’t get my boards from a big name shaper. I don’t pay 1/4 of the price of Joel’s board. Every time I ask my shaper about charging more $ he talks himself out of it by guessing he will get less orders, “If I raise my prices then so & so down the street will lower and I will lose customers”. That attitude makes the condition exist, and that attitude will make it easy for foreign products to come in, at a low price, phase people out, then incrementally raise the price themselves. The whole board building industry needs serious help, but it has to come from its own. We consumers shouldn’t be obligated to band together and overpay for surfboards to create change. Why are surfboards the only things in the world that are cheaper to get custom made as opposed to getting one off the rack? The way it is now, why should you pay $600 for an Al Merrick “Flyer” at the shop when you can ask your shaper to make you a wide, fast, groveller type board for $300. Will it change, or will the craftsman all get phased out, or will it stay just like it is? I don’t know. The only thing I do know is I will find a board and some waves and do what I like to do for as long as I am able whether it changes or not.
Easy fella’s…The sky’s not falling!!! You can get to the beach in a Sentra ‘or’ a Escalade just like you can ride a no-name backyard board or a piece of Jewelry. I say Joel earned it, he played his game, now he’s smartly moved into business the last couple of years…More than can be said about countless hero’s that moved into less legal money making ploys!!! There are m-a-n-y shapers covering all markets. Can you imagine getting dropping in on by a kook and dinging you new $1200. 9’6"!!! No thanks!!! I’ll make my own…Resin swirls are so friggen easy and hide blank imperfections. I was just looking at a 70’s 5’9" Lightning Bolt Rory Russell twin-fin yesterday with six channels and loud intricate airbrush job. Probably sold for $145. back in '75!! Can’t even imagine gloss and polish with airbrush taping of that magnitude!!! These old school glassers of the 60’s-70’s ‘really’ paid some dues!!! Silane glass and FCS fin boxes must have been like a pay raise to a glasser. Unsung hero’s…hug a glasser!!!
Wayne Lynch and Joel Tudor have simply taken their considerable riding skills, reputations and pseudo-celebrity status to the bank. More power to them if they can sell boards at those prices.
I recntly built 2 funiture boards for an upscale Delmar glallery, they are 8’6" basswood and mahogany and cut and assembled in the way an Adirondack chair is. Material cost was just over 450.00 for the wood, my labor and machine cutting, 1,700.00, price tag, 8,000.00 each and they went out the door fast
My Grandfather invented the pattern lathe that makes the Louiville sluggers, he sold the patent for a bottle, as a youth my father used to make the bats
Some might think thats an outrageous amount of money for a surfboard. In the art world, rightfully appreciated as fine sculpture... thats just chump change. Whats the point if an artist has to die before his/her work is given the value it deserves? Ill be stoked for Jim, and those like him, no matter how high their asking price.