Hi I just picked up an old what I think is an original foamie polystyrene surfboard from the 70s. I can't seem to find any information on them on the Internet does anyone know any history when they stopped being made etc? cheers Max

the one I had as a kid was a Hanimex , circa late seventies .

I had one exactly like the pic above, except with a lightning bolt painted on it.
They were still being made in the early 2000's.

First time I stood up on a 'surfboard' was on one of them.

And it luckily never suffered from the dreaded snapped off fin!

I dread to think how they would handle standing up being used as a surfboard that convex V is like a speedboat hull and then the fin is like a fat I don't know what but it sure would be a thrill I'll take mine out on the water and have a play one day but really I got it for the kids.
Or maybe I'll paint it psychedelic colours and hang it up on the wall and turn it into a piece of I'm from the 70s art

hey Max,
I am often wrong, but in my memory, my foamy had double concave in the tail, to develop into a tri hull arrangement. The foam was a lot more dense and could tolerate a 4 stone kid standing on it on grass. It was superb for going over the falls at Port beach on a big day, or Leighton when trying to impress the girls.
The handles thing were a clubby led modification to replicate their paddle boards to run into the water from the beach in simulated rescue scenario's... and I though they were more early 80's. I've got no photo evidence, as I was the youngest of a big brood...
JR

Does look a lot like a Hanimex as ggh said
K-Mart and Target etc board

my nipples are starting to turn red raw just looking at those pics ................

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ggh said..
the one I had as a kid was a Hanimex , circa late seventies .

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SandS said..


my nipples are starting to turn red raw just looking at those pics ................

I had a Hanimex, remember it blowing along the beach at the Prom, and crying, and very sore nipples !!! Eeooowwwch !!!
Thanks for the memories

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Mark _australia said...
Does look a lot like a Hanimex as ggh said
K-Mart and Target etc board

Which one? The Foamie I posted? Or the KFC board?

Are yes the rash on the gut from the old GT foamie, would get that bad the rash would bleed.
they also made good shield's when having sand bomb wars. I had the red GT, they were faster
than the blue GT's..........

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Maxbicyclemax said..

Mark _australia said...
Does look a lot like a Hanimex as ggh said
K-Mart and Target etc board

Which one? The Foamie I posted? Or the KFC board?

sorry - your one

rash in the upper arms from paddling was worse than the gut rash I reckon...

Ahh back in the day when the point used to break( before Hiilaries),,,,,
me and me foamie

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Mark _australia said...

Maxbicyclemax said..

Mark _australia said...
Does look a lot like a Hanimex as ggh said
K-Mart and Target etc board

Which one? The Foamie I posted? Or the KFC board?

sorry - your one

Ohh! Your killing me.
So although it has Foamie cast in the moulded polystyrene, it's really a hanimex? From K-mart?
The dream is dead, I can no longer be as cool as I was in the dream.

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SandS said..


my nipples are starting to turn red raw just looking at those pics ................

LOL Gold!

Remember being sent home from school in first grade (1971) with a note for my mum. The note was from the school nurse advising I has suspected ring worms! My mum lifted up my shirt and started laughing, just had a body covered in foamie rash from surfing over the weekend.
My first real surf foamie was a GT, I learnt to stand up surf on that during our Xmas holidays down at Ocean Beach Denmark WA.
Still kept and rode a foamie like the pic at the top of the page up into my 30's when the surf was micro at Trigg Point

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shoodbegood said..

ggh said..
the one I had as a kid was a Hanimex , circa late seventies .

SandS said..


my nipples are starting to turn red raw just looking at those pics ................

I had a Hanimex, remember it blowing along the beach at the Prom, and crying, and very sore nipples !!! Eeooowwwch !!!
Thanks for the memories

i had forgotten about the rash talk about bleeding nipples