Con
Compared to many of his counterparts who built surfboards in the 1960’s, Constantine “Con” Colburn could almost be considered a senior citizen when he began surfing at the age of 22, in 1956. And though Con may not have been known for his surfing prowess, he made significant contributions to the sport as a product innovator.
A savvy young businessman, Con quickly recognized the growth-potential of the surf industry, and opened his first surf shop in Santa Monica, California, in 1958. Called the Surf House, it was originally a ding repair shop; by 1959, Con had changed the name to Con Surfboards, and operated three retail locations. The legend was born.
Along with his Con Surfboards business, he also started ConTrol Products, a company dedicated to developing new products for the surfing industry. Between 1966 and 1971, ConTrol introduced a floating removable-fin system, a surfboard traction spray and the first commercially-produced* surf leash, called the Power Cord. Con is also credited with inventing and introducing the leash plug during the same year; after other methods of attaching leashes failed, today’s leash plug remains essentially unchanged from Con’s original design.
KEY: O=Original, R= Repaired, RF= Refurbished. Condition of board rated: 1(worst)-10(best)
Length: 7′ 5″
Width: 18″ 5/8
Thickness: 3″ 1/2
Length: 7′ 0″
Width: 20″ 1/4
Thickness: 2″ 5/8
This collectable surfboard turns me on! Love the orange and red tint with yellow resin pin line. mmmmm Con Bolt lam. All original. Classic rounded pintail design. era, 1970’s. One of the cleanest coolest Con’s that I have seen and now own. I have another Con Bolt that is really cool that I will pull out soon and share with you all. Stay tuned. This bitchen piece I acquired thru Pintail Mike, thanks Mike! (o) 9.5/10
Length: 6′ 5″
Width: 21″ 1/2
Thickness: 2″ 7/8
Con Butterfly Egg Board, era, 1968-9. Clean, clean, all original with a green tint overlay with black pin line and center inlay pin line on deck. Check the art work at tail by fin box. Back in the day they took so much time on detail. It was all about the glide, the ride and style one had with their surfboard. Art! Style was master, not ariels or boost by todays standards. We have lost the soul in surfing to a certain degree. But there are those few who still know the feeling and still breathe the essence of the roots of surfing – MOTION OF STYLE! (o) 9.5/10. Pintail Mike Collection
Length: 5′ 4″
Width: 20″ 1/4
Thickness: 2″ 1/2
This maybe not the most collectable board, but when I came across this it caught my interest. Why you may ask? Well, I try to collect in sets. If you have not noticed by now. What do I mean by sets? Boards that I acquire, I try to collect in a manner where I can show the shaping evolution and or evolvement from the D-Fin Longboard (1960’s) to the Simon Anderson Tri-Fin (1980’s). This 20 year span was the Short Board Evolution as we know it today, the Tri-Fin. In the Con Set as displayed, you can clearly see the shaping evolvement from 1969( Butterfly Board) thru the 70’s (Con Bolt) to the Tri-Fin , 1980’s board to the left. I feel it is important to share this in my collection and inspire others to see how important this period of 1960-1980 was to all to be enlighten of what we ride today. (o) 7.5/10 Ebay Purchase
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Millersurf
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http://surfboardline.com/ Buggs
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Likeapageinabook
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Buck
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timmyjohn
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surferpl
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Federico Verlicchi
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Micco Godinez
Hi .i recently acquired a con 6’8 batwing swallow tail single fin in mint cond in a basement that has been there for 35 years. The pinstriping is rediculous. Also the deck drops in the rear? Any info? Worth? Thanks Adam
Can u shoot me some photos?
I have a con s shape board with one minor ding. I have been told it is a major collectable and many people have tried trading high dollar boards for it. Do you know how much it might be worth? Thank you.
Did you ever get a photo from Millersurf? 6’8 batwing swallow, step bottom surfboard?
Buck Barber
I recently bought a Con Surfboard at a garage sale. I was looking for some insight about this board. Large butterfly on each side, its called an iron butterfly and also says experimental on it
Aloha! I have a few boards but my first is my favorite (8′ Con egg shaped by the late Bruce Grant). I’m looking for another Con — something like the 6’5″ butterfly egg pictured above owned by Pintail Mike. Do you happen to know if he wants to sell it or if anyone is selling *their* Con? Mahalo nui loa. Pam.
Hello my dad has a CON surfboard and the series number is 753. We are looking to find out what year was shaped. Any info?
I have a single fin Con when they made boards like battle ship.
At the tail block sit it has the following numbers: 2807
Does that mean that Con was working on his 3,000 board?
Trying to find out when it was shaped.
No shaper signature or date, dimensions etc. Just the logo.
