This is infuriating.
I stumbled across this website on Surfer Magazine's message board.
Stoked? Not really.
"If you're looking for a high quality, hand shaped surfboard this Christmas without the high shop prices. Then I guarantee I can help. We thought it just wasn't right that the surf shops were charging so much"
Are you kidding!?!?!!!! wtf!
High quality? = Made in Taiwan/China/somewhere in Asia.
Hand Shaped? = By a 9 year old boy earning 12 cents an hour.
High Shop Prices? = The prices are not high when you consider that these shapers make a living from their craft. Hand shaped and glassed surfboards. The shops have an overhead to pay employees, local shapers, and companies that are at the very least involved with the industry. Besides, the retailers barely mark up the prices of their surfboards. Surfboards are by far the least profitable items in any surf shop.
TFAD said it best on the message board..."Carpetbagger yuppies who import surfboards from China and sell them online out of their McMansion tract home." He runs an awesome blog over at SurfySurfy.
Check it out.
14 comments:
DIE YUPPIE SCUM!
hee hee
Hey whiney Beyatch! Welcome to the global economy. Tell it to all the displaced US manufacturing workers whose jobs have been eroding to cheap Pacific Rim labor sources for years. Say, "buh-by middle class". Stay in school, fool, you'll get it someday. Actually you won't get it until you enter the labor market and get your eyes opened up, son! Now go play with your little surf buddies.
Hmm. Yes, I do understand the global economy as well as what has happened to US manufacturing due to globalization and outsourcing. The point of this post was to express my discontent that it is now occurring(and has been occurring) to surfing. Surfboard production was, and to some extent, still is a handmade craft.
The US consumer is at fault for continuously demanding all products to be commoditized while simultaneously demanding exponential financial growth from the companies that manufacture these products.
It is unfortunate that price has taken such unquestioned precedence over quality and support for local craftsmen in a such a heartfelt industry.
ps. I finished college in 4 years with a double major and I am already in the workforce while still maintaining enough time to play with my little surf buddies. My eyes were never closed. :)
Not everyone can afford a hand-crafted, custom board. Overseas boards provide a decent alternative. Riding one doesn't make you a kook, donkey or foe of the industry. It just means you're a surfer on a budget.
Yo overhead movies, check your local surf shop for quality used boards made by surfers.
Remember the "you owe Simon Anderson 5 bucks" drama from the surf media? I guess the China importers are off the hook for using his design?
Danimal's comments are really thoughtful. But this post seens ti involve some actual reporting http://hubpages.com/hub/Stoked-Surfboards
American shapers should definitely keep promoting their craftsmanship -- there is always a market at the high end. But I'm also happy to have the choice of ordering an inexpensive, epoxy Stoked board to complement my hand-shaped Tim Nolte and (used) Kane Garden, both of which excel not only in performance but also in patching.
Importing pop outs while calling them hand shaped, all while infringing on somebody elses trademark!!
hey retard, they're made in australia!!! and the shapers are watched by a master shaper dickwad. and a lot of companies shape their boards in other countries i.e. rusty, and firewire, so shut the fuck up, they arent pop outs numbnuts. and the people who started the company started it because they couldnt find high quality cheap boards... just my two cents
hey retard, they're made in australia!!! and the shapers are watched by a master shaper dickwad. and a lot of companies shape their boards in other countries i.e. rusty, and firewire, so shut the fuck up, they arent pop outs numbnuts. and the people who started the company started it because they couldnt find high quality cheap boards... just my two cents
Ok. First of all. That is the exact reason I would never buy a Rusty, Firewire, Surftech, etc. They are shaped in other countries. Only supporting the stakeholders in those companies.
A hand shaped board from the US helps support an entire industry of local shapers, sanders, glassers, polishers, airbrushers, and most importantly local mom and pop surf shops.
They are pop outs. Shaped in another country by people who have little to no relation with surfing.
The people who started Stoked surfboards anger me the most because they constantly put down local surf shops. They say it isn't fair that they charge so much for a surfboard??? Hello. What planet are you from? At most, a local mom and pop surf might make 10% off of the final sale price of a surfboard. Not much left to help pay the bills and keep the lights on in the shop huh?
Once the surfshops are completely overlooked for surf related product, they have no reason to exist, and we would be buying accessories and clothing from Target and Costco. So, what is the greater evil?
You can have your two cents back as long as you spend them at a surf shop...Pac Sun doesn't count Broseph.
Also, try growing a pair and not posting as Anonymous.
Danimal is right, Channel Islands, Rusty, Firewire, Surftech, Pride, ect... are all made overseas (and I'm not talking about Hawaii or Australia). These boards are put together by people in Asia getting paid next to nothing, who may or may not even know what these boards are used for. Some who buy these boards agree with all of this but then counter this arguement by proclaiming they are more affordable. This is true, these boards are on average $15-20 dollars cheaper than locally shaped boards such as boards handmade by Tim Nolte located in the Outer Banks, NC. Point is, these China boards are being made for nothing and cost pretty much the same as locally made boards. Stop sticking up for your POS board that you bought because you didn't know any better. Now you do, and there is no excuse for . Support your local shaper.
All points well made. I'll never forget visiting business acquaintences in Germany years ago where the President's wife, while shopping for a simple kitchen utensil, would turn them all over to find where they were made to make certain that she was buying German.
We've lost that, and it's lost for good. I sympathize for the local craftsmen, but if your home was entirely made by middle class, english speaking, union tradesmen, could you still afford it? And that's why these other surfboard manufacturers are moving abroad.
Our entire economy is being hollowed out, and unless you are a doctor, lawyer, or other skilled tradesman, be afraid---very afraid.
In the meanwhile, pick your poison---locally (well) made, high value in a personal relationship, or overseas generic of unknown quality, but cheap.
Degree 33 does have hand crafted boards!
Degree 33 is a joke. The boards are not well designed and not suited for waves in San Diego. Support your local surfshop and shaper.
Chinese don't surf nor do they know how to shape.
Post a Comment