HISTORY

Two bodyboards from back in the day. A BZ diamond max from around ’88, and an A-Tach Seamus Mercado from the early 90’s.

 

Left we have the Manta Mozzie 1100 SD Pro, on the right is a Manta Assasin both boards are from the late 80s.

This is a Manta Mozzie 1260 late 80s apparently it was a one off thing that manta were testing back in the day. It has a hard  surface to lay on and was designed and shaped by Terry Fleming ( flog) .

There’s no denying that Tom Morey  has a unique wisdom and outlook on most things in life. Long time Morey Boogie Art Director  Craig Libuse  inherited Tom’s rolodex cards. He wrote down things about running the business and filed them. New employees were asked to read them as an introduction to the company. He has some interesting insights into running a company.  Below is a photo of the actual rolodex cards.

Toms Wisdom

Craig Libuse has been involved with Bodyboarding since almost day 1. Below we asked Craig to tell us about his longtime behind the scenes  involvement……In 1972, I was just out of 4 years in the Air Force. I got married and moved to Carlsbad a block from Tamarack Beach. I was riding a kneeboard at the time. I saw two kids on boogie boards in the surf (Bobby Szabad and Rick Broderson) and they looked like they were having a lot of fun. My wife was having trouble learning to ride a kneeboard so I asked them where they got the boards. They directed me to Tom Morey’s house on Chestnut Street a few blocks north. He was hand shaping blanks in his garage and packaging them with two coloured skins and a set of instructions. I bought a kit for $35 and made a board for my wife. Within a week I was back for another board for me. Tom mentioned he needed a logo, so I designed the original logo of the long-haired guy/girl in the tube that Tom envisioned. They used it for years. Tom paid me $25 for the full rights to the art. I was unemployed at the time so that was big money. Once Tom started making boards out of a small shop on Rooseveldt street he needed more artwork and ads and put me on the payroll. That job lasted 15 years. I started my own graphics business and worked 12 hours a week exclusively for Tom Morey & Company. When Kransco bought Morey Boogie they kept me on as Art Director. Over that 15 years I learned a lot from Tom, I wrote the article Selling Fun in Bodyboarding magazine 20th Anniversary issue which covers a lot of that. I was sure  in the right place at the right time. The Bodyboarding article below.

 

 

Dave Ballard Pole Cam on the South Coast 90′s photo Stroh

The Pipe Comp presso was always a big night where competitors, judges, photographers and other hanger-ons got to let off steam.

Big bad Burkes

Eppo

Manny Vargas always up for a party

Toby and Kingy representing the Aussies

The first beach to attract bodyboarders in numbers in the late 70′s,Sandy’s on Oahu’s Southside  is where the sport first got its roots and the s first pioneers like Pat Caldwell, JP Patterson and Keith Sasaki would meet up and push one another to bigger and better things..

Danny Kim, Ben Severson, Kainoa McGee and friends Circa 80s.