Vintage Bodyboards Ultimate Guide

The Legendary Mach 7-7 boogie made in the early 80s went through a huge transitional period up until it completely evolved in 1991 through the help of 9-time world champion bodyboarder Mike Stewart.

He helped to design a board that could handle waves of up to 12 feet tall with an incredible amount of power and speed.

From the sort-of unpleasant yellow top original version to a sleek black deck, and a semi-flexible body to the improved X-Flex core reinforcement to create a stronger board overall, Mike Stewart truly reinvented a classic bodyboard.

In the year 1992, the Morey Mach 8-TX rode a high-flying wave into the bodyboarding community in a process they liked to call “air lubrication”.

Marketed as the “Anatomy of Speed”, the Mach 8-TX known for the dimples across the bottom layer that were made to allow the board to hover over tiny air bubbles atop a wave.

This inspiration for this idea was drawn submarine designs and was said to deliver better acceleration and more speed.

This board was definitely the future of the past. We’re still not sure whether or not these actually did what they were meant to do, though it was certainly a cool concept. 

Born out of the mind of bodyboarding pioneer and world champion Ben Severson, the 1990 BZ Ben bodyboard was easily one of the most high performance boards of the era.

Known for the smooth chines, crisp, stylish template, and stiff Arcel core, it was truly the front-runner in the lineup of BZ boards.

The board came without channels (grooves running down the rails of the board) so the rider could easily perform sliding tricks.

To make them even more special, only 999 of these bad boys were given a 3-digit seal of excellence by Ben, the man himself, making these an awesome collectors item.

Michael Eppo Eppulsten, the man that trademarked the backflip at the World Title at Pipeline in ‘93.

Easily one of the most explosive bodyboarders in Australia during the 1990s, Manta worked with Eppo to come out with a signature board.

With a 42” inch build, industry standard polypropylene, and channels for control this board was crazy fast.

They’re surely not the prettiest on the list, but they are still a great addition to any collection.

A much less popular board than the OG turbo from Mike Stewart, and somewhat wrapped up in mystique, the Turbo III took the Turbo line to the next level with its polyethylene X-Flex core and Surlyn bottom.

A layer of power flex mesh was sandwiched in between the core and bottom layer to deliver the perfect mix of strength and flex. Mike Stewart was at it again, creating super technical boards for all bodyboard shredders alike.

The Turbo boards were pioneering products of the bodyboarding community.

Back in the 90s, Chad Barba was the ocean madman of the Newport wedge, hitting some of the gnarliest waves on the planet.

Just as Barba ran away from the spotlight after the boogieboarding scene became too much, his boards did as well.

Easily one of the most obscure and mysterious boards on this list, the BZ Barba was designed similarly to the Ben T-10 boards and offers the same power for charging monster swells like the legend himself. If you can find one of these out there, we applaud you.

Wave Rebel, a now renowned brand that made their big debut in the early 80s when they lured a lot of the Morey Boogie boarders to their side, released a number of boards over a few decades as signature models for the riders on their team.

Kainoa McGee, now one of Hawaii’s premiere watermen, came out with a sweet little board back in 1992. Some of the features included an ultra high-density Volextra foam bottom, slick 50/50 rails, dual channel for grip, and ultra dense Volara lower rails for strength.

Rheopaipo boards started coming onto the scene after their popularity expanded from the Australian Central Coast in the 1990’s. Ben Holland really made a name for them as he one of Australia’s top riders, as well as paved the way for gymnastics bodyboarding with his wild flips and turns.

These boards are very rare nowadays. With their strong flex build, elbow leash design, and classic wizard logo, these boards are a serious find for any bodyboarding enthusiast.

​To give you an idea of just how much of an impact Guillherme Tamega had on the world of bodyboarding, they are still manufacturing these GT boards today. With a lineup of boards that spans back to the early 1990’s, the most popular was easily the 2000 pro model.

With a strong Arcel Core, Dura-deck and rails, and a sleek bat tail, these boards were meant to help you sail fast like Tamega. You can still catch these sorts of boards all over the Internet today in different styles and designs.

​The Mike Stewart Pro Comp boards first came onto the scene in 1990. Though the two versions of the boards look fairly similar, the inner workings are what set the two apart. A ton of boards at the time had stiff polystyrene bottoms, which Mike was not too fond of. They decided to throw a softer, yet still durable, Sturlyn material on the bottom that set the Mike Stewart board about from others in the Turbo line.

A year later, they came out with the Pro Comp II. Though the board was still a dark navy blue with almost identical features, the main differences were the diagonal facing logo change and the X-Flex core addition for extra strength. These are classic boards from one of the most recognizable rides in bodyboard history.

The Morey Boogie Mach SCS was easily one of the most revolutionary boards of the 1990s. With a super futuristic terminator-style chrome aesthetic, this board was a kind all its own.  Like the Mach 8-TX, Morey added dimples to the underside of this board, though this time, in a slimmer fishtail pattern.

The board was also the first of its kind, as it had a contoured bottom and finger grips on the front of the board. The SCS stood for “step channel system” and essentially made this board a heck of a lot easier to perform spin tricks on.

Paul Roach was known for his super aggressive drop knee style riding back in the 1990s. The Manta team designed a board that would help to accommodate that sort of style.

With an ultra strong core, this board was made to work with skate style moves of drop knee riders. You’d be lucky to find one of these things sailing around the Internet nowadays, as Roach has teamed up with DK and Cartel to make newer, more hi-tech boards.

Fred Booth was one of Custom X’s biggest bodyboard riders throughout the 90s. His style took advantage of both prone and dropknee riding, while he truly focused on free surf rather than hitting tons of contests.

Easily spotted by the giant “X” on the nose of the boards with “Booth” by the tail, the 50 / 50 Fred Booth boards have been in production for over 20 years. Originally designed in a bright Orange with a slick bat tail back, they have now been completely revamped with Polypro.

The Manta Mirage, not to be confused with the Mirage Comp, was actually a pretty incredible board that, in a way, outshined many Manta boards.

With the standard Polypro design and channels, the stand out part of this board was the raised edges that made it super easy to grip. The unique vinyl deck was also pretty sweet at the time, though a little kooky in retrospect. You can still find mirage boards all over the Internet in different colors and styles.

Back in the 90s, Spencer Skipper came onto the scene much like Mike Stewart, with a super laid back attitude and flow when it came to riding. With the classic performance template, the 1997 Morey Skipp SS offered the same features as other SS boards with a double X-flex mesh for ultimate strength and flexibility.

The shiny blue bottom with the dark yellow contrast on top gave an ode to the classic SS boards as well. Now that Skipper has made other boards with various bodyboarding companies, the OG Morey Skipp boards can be pretty difficult to find.

Macca was one of the earlier bodyboarders that paved the way for many big riders today. He was a huge knee rider until he strained his tendons and had to go back to shredding prone.

His signature Bullet design that came about in the early 90s banked off of the dimples on the underside of the board that some of the Morey boards were known for. The simple blue deck, white and black rails, and silver bottom, gave off that turn of the 80s-style just as Macca did.

Adam Smith, or better known to the bodyboarding community as Wingnut, bust onto the scene with the Manta team at only 10 years old! His signature board had some very recognizable features. The most obvious is the signature nosepiece that was on all Wingnut boards.

If that’s not enough the ocean blue top, fish tail back, and stiff design for ripping hard, were what made this board an all around winner. There are many kinds of Manta Wingnut boards all around the world in different designs and colors. The original design was so legendary, even Quigley is remaking it.