which al merrick board should i take out a mortgage for!!!

[the.ronin]

Oh crap there goes TWO life savings!!!




Anyone wanna lend me 3 bucks for food???

[TReMoR]

Go custom

I think you may have missed the sarcasm element of this thread.

sarcasm is hard to get when typed out .. haha.. i was rather confused if he was being sarcastic or not

[the.ronin]

Gotta read the fine print!

sorry im feeling a little grumpy and cynical coz the surfs is pants

Although ... most truths are said in jest.

[dukdiv]

The sarcasm is lost in the irony.
In 1969, Al Merrick was a lowly local shaper at a shop in Santa Barbara. His first big break came when Shaun won the world title on a Channel Islands board in 1977. Soon after that, he started shaping boards for some of the world’s best surfers. The rest is history.
With any luck your local guy won't ever make it to this level, lest you have to start bagging him too.
btw...your local shapers not selling off the shelve boards is he? (we all already know that answer).

I own customs made just for me, bought boards off the shelve too. Hell, my favorite stick is a second-hand custom made for someone else!
Self-importance withstanding... in the end it's all relative.
Well, off for a dp session now, in honor of this thread I'm taking out the CI MSF.

[the.ronin]

hahaha ^^ duk pwns!

But seriously, can I borrow a few bucks for lunch? [/joke]

[oldgrom]

Al has never been a shaper ha ha ha that's why he won't ever show to a shaper shape off ha ha ha his false credibilaty would be hammered.... He is a great business man and had shapers making sticks for him and as dukdiv put it... well that's just about it. Find the best surfers in the world have em surf on popcicle sticks mrket them just right with all the hype and wholla your CI. ha ha ha Go see a shaper!!! The real shapers can make clones of any stick for less and it won't be a disposable board. Take it home and paint the hex logo on it ha ha there your done. CI sticks ha ha ha welcome to the corporate world of monney.... I'd take a custom stick anyday over a shelf bought.. For less to boot hell might even get 2 boards for the price of a CI ha ha ha and have 2 better sticks.

[TReMoR]

he seems too famous to be a person like that.. haha
i mean.. if he is that famous for his boards he must have shaped one at one time....

[billie_morini]

I've been looking at both of the surfboards in the photo posted by
lollercoaster on October 23. One of them looks like it is made out of that soft foam and is a little squar-ish.

[ANZAC]

We do an Rx which is pretty much exactly the same profile of an MX, for about half the price of a CI. They can be custom made and fine tuned, for the same price as well.

[kamikaze272727]

So this is what all the fuss is about. My beginner surf buddy, who is still riding white horses on foamies bought himself a merrick shape. I bought a 7.3 mal, so he busta a move and got a 7.2 merrick hog.

Mine barely used at $300, and his is near new at about $600. I told him hes crazy to get such an expensive board as he's only been in the water about 5 times.

Actaully hes crazy to get such a small board as his virgin board.

But it all makes sense to me now. With Al, he will be ripping it up.

why didn't MY surfshop tell me it would be easier with Al Merrick?

[oldgrom]

Tremmor.... Are you kidding???? Really, come on do some homework and find the truth out about Al Merrick.

[essex sucks]

haha lol this is still going

[sebastiansurfer]

i love it when conspiracists fight
hes veryyyyy rich,knows rob machado,sponsors the large surf events
you shouldnt care whether or not he shows to shape offs or his sticks cost 600 bucks.he either shaped when he first started his buisness or hired a d*mn good one

buy what suits you,its all personal opinions
if you wanna get a local shaped.buy local and dont rip on the big guys
if your gonna buy big,dont show off or rub it in their face
my two cents

[drowningbitbybit]

if your gonna buy big,dont show off or rub it in their face

See, this is where all the kooks are going wrong.
You see a guy at the beach with an Al Merrick and you dont say 'whoa, bet he's good, and I wish I had that board'.
You say
If the guy then rips out back on it, then fair enough, you'll re-assess your opinion, but until proved otherwise,

On the other hand, you see a guy at a break with a board by a local shaper, you dont think 'aw, bless, he couldnt afford a Merrick', you think 'local' and give the guy the respect that deserves.

Nothing shouts 'wannabe' more than a board thats bought under fashion's influence. Im not saying Merrick boards are crap, Im saying that the reasoning to buy one is.

[oldgrom]

Al Merric and how he used to be,or HA HA HA must have shaped at one time.You Don't know who I am and what I know. Not tryin to bash you or him (well mabie him a little). He is an excelent bussiness man and knew this much surrond yourself with the best
and have them do the work for ya. Yes he did and does have some of the best stick designers then and now (since there all cnc now). Merric was a leading front runner in the downfall of Clark Foam and a few outher places
holding the corporate(Starbucks/Home Depot etc.) mind set of dominate and squash all competition,flood the market with sticks,get top surfers sponsered,and add campaingn the hell outa CI so it's all you hear about. I see it to many times so manny people rate anouther board to a CI stick,,, why??
If I can make or go to any good shaper and have an exact copy/clone of a CI board made and for about half the cost than what's the real reason for the want and purchace of a Merrick board outher than a "fashon statement". What your not cool if your not on one? I own a few CI sticks but I don't own them because they make me cool or surf better or wow now I fit in "hey everybody look at me I own a CI board". Name brand dosen't allways mean quality. It is though a for sure way of showig your stupidity for wasting more monney chasing a status symbol.

Good call drowning, that about sums it up.

[sebastiansurfer]

i concur