For Sale Vintage Christian Fletcher 6'7"

[leinosaur]

Bought used by me 1990 or 91 in Galveston TX USA, a few dings, dents and a small delam but good looking with all its punk cultural value intact

Starts at $675

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Christian ... nav=SEARCH

[waikikikichan]

So you had a starting bid of $675 US. with buy-now price of $1230. Then you re-listed for $460. Now your starting bid is $223 with a buy-now of $423. You should've asked us for the value, before listing the board. But as they say " Caveat Emptor ". Latin for "Let the buyer beware".

[jaffa1949]

Sadly the amount of bids begins to tell you the real relative value.
A name board is not worth much more than an ordinary board of same condition.
UNLESS ( and only for collectors) it is the very board someone famous won a world title or Pipemasters on. Preferable signed by said champion.

A brand name is just a board ! Sorry!

[Big H]

....and one with a sunwashed out label at that....

[leinosaur]

Yeah basically I had no idea (obviously) although I started off based on advice from a couple guys I thought would know. Luckily I was in no particular hurry. I got several messages, the shipping cost was a limiting factor but I will probably get it sold by making a surf trip farther afield than usual or sending it with a traveling friend.

$1k was a pipe dream but there does seem to be a niche market for fletcher stuff, judging by the responses (if not bids) that I got.

[leinosaur]

But as they say " Caveat Emptor ". Let the buyer beware

I was hoping for a bit more 'de gustibus non disputandum est' (there's no arguing taste) and a little less 'caveat emptor' but in the end it looks like it will still bring in a couple hundred bucks once I figure out delivery. West Coast shipping was a limiting factor, but I may broaden my eat coast horizons and let the board pay for the trip. Will report back if so.

Meanwhile I sold a used 6'10" egg via Craigslist last week and enjoyed a Maine break that was new to me in the bargain. I have one more on the block - a 9'0 - that may be gone by tomorrow. One poor guy was set to buy that one and his Volvo Wagon wouldn't start to get him to the meet-up, then he had to spend the cash on repairs. Luckily there was good surf so not a wasted trip, and the wife is stoked to see some turnover rather than only acquisition.

I am keeping my go-to 9'2" Magic model and a 7'6" pointy-funshape thruster that is lots of fun. Loving the Walden on the overhead stuff - rolling through every week or two of late - and the 9'2 is fun even in tiny waves but I have had a great time too on the handful of bulkier old school logs I have borrowed or rented in the past so I'm adding a 9'8" noserider to the quiver, it's in the glassing shack now. I windsurfed for several landlocked years on mostly 230 and 200 liter boards so I'm not scared of a little size!

[Big H]

Loving the Walden on the overhead stuff - rolling through every week or two of late - and the 9'2 is fun even in tiny waves but I have had a great time too on the handful of bulkier old school logs I have borrowed or rented in the past so I'm adding a 9'8" noserider to the quiver, it's in the glassing shack now. I windsurfed for several landlocked years on mostly 230 and 200 liter boards so I'm not scared of a little size!

230L!?!

Forget hanging 10.....you can hang a volkswagen.....

[Jester]

"Forget hanging 10.....you can hang a volkswagen..... "

Hahaha brilliant!!

[leinosaur]

My windsurfing years were mostly pre-driving but I did rack that Hobie/Alpha 230 on top of a '68 beetle a few times, along with a 16' fiberglass mast, looked like I was jousting! Crosswinds were a bitch.

[Big H]

Crosswinds were a bitch.

Perhaps consider tacking next time.......

[leinosaur]

Update: Sold! Or, rather, exchanged to local surf - shop owner for a Patagonia R4 hooded wetsuit, ($539 retail) and a promise to display it on the ceiling of the shop so I can come and visit.

To be fair to the naysayers, the pictures didn't do this board justice. It radiates radical stoke with a punk - ass stink-eye that follows you around the room and seems to say, "you got a problem? Yeah, you . You want to take it outside? "

The shop owner, though an East Coaster, is acquainted with the Fletchers from way back in the day (Shop opened in '83) and the first day he saw this gem (with first-generation AstroDeck, another Fletcher family product) was a day Christian was supposed to be at the shop for a meet-and-greet; however the talent didn't make it up from Rhode Island due to 'jet lag' (= hangover was my guess) but shop owner got all stoked when I showed up with the board. In fact the staff were outside processing rentals when I withdrew it from the stone . . . I mean from my jeep and were immediately like "Sick! Somebody go get Dave he's gonna love that" and fawning over it, albeit in the reserved, 'I have a surf-related-summer-job' cool-guy manner common to the beast.

Dave was indeed visibly stoked and had us pose for a selfie and put it on the shop FB page with the caption "well Fletcher didn't make it but one of his old boards did #vintagethruster " or similar. I think maybe RVCA didn't care for that press as the post was subsequently deleted.

All that was last summer, then a few months later when I decided to sell I contacted Dave first. At the time I was raising cash for a noserider, Dave said "I'm good but I'd say $500-1000 if you find the right buyer"

Another shop said similar when I brought it in years ago to have the dings repaired, along with a 7'6" Aussie fun-shape my brother-in-law bought in his 80's Navy days. They said "yeah this 7'6 will be good here but you're not gonna ride that 6'7" . . . You should put it on eBay as is, you'd be surprised what these vintage jobs can go for."

It may be the market too: Fletcher was the SoCal punk iconoclast in an otherwise conformist period, which seems to resonate with East Coast grit.

So anyway it didn't sell on ebay although I was contacted by several parties who said the shipping was the limiting factor, and I almost sent it to new jersey on a Co-worker's Subaru for a $300 buyer, but the logistics fell through, and I hung it back in the man cave intending to watch it appreciate further.

Then, I was just starting to figure out how and when to upgrade my wettie as I have no intention of letting winter push me out of the water this year (I skipped January and February last year, granted they were much harsher and usually when the swells were in, the roads were also icy and my approach drive is 2 hours) I have been adding compression layers under my 4.5/3.5mm e-bomb in the 42' water, depending on air temps. This scheme was still comfy for the first few hours even with air temps in the 20's F (-1 to -5 'C) with the water pushing 40' F (6 or 7'C) but last year the water got down to 33' and even turned to slush at Nantucket, so f#<% it, better go for the full-thick suit this year. Milder winter so the roads have been good, and the waves epic, especially as I grok which breaks suit my proclivities on different swell directions, tides and sizes.

I emailed Dave to check price on the R4 ($539 American) and inquired about the trade, not expecting much, but he replied immediately and was 'more than happy' to swap the rubber! I wasted no time, incredulous until the exchange was made. Dave wasn't in the shop when I arrived but had left instructions, so they were expecting me and were again psyched about the board. Two guys browsing were even more stoked on it, to the extent that one obliquely implied I was either heartless or foolish to trade it in (or, to my thinking, maybe just less of a yuppie!)

So, that's how that worked out.

Tonight I'm on an overnight surf trip to my favorite Rhode Island pebble bottom reef break, yesterday was unseasonably warm (10' or so) but I wore the new suit anyway, downright steamy even though really the rubber is only 5mm, the polyester/merino lining is cozy like coal in the grate, and just as red.

Tomorrow will be cooler and it looks like I will once again have the unique pleasure of surfing in snowfall.

Better rest up, now!

[leinosaur]