If, in the 1950s and 1960s you had a Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays or Hank Aaron baseball card, or in the 1980s or 1990s you had a few choice Nolan Ryan cards, or even better, an Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr. “rookie card” or in the early 2000s you scored a Tom Brady “rookie card,” you don’t need the sports trading card phenomenon explained to you. For some, collecting sports cards borders on obsession.
Here in the 2020s, surfing has apparently caught up with baseball, football and a few other major sports – surfing trading cards are trending in a big way.
Guy Motil, longtime volunteer and donor to the California Surf Museum, recently donated two of surfing’s most coveted cards: the Father of Modern Surfing, Duke Kahanamoku, and maybe the most desired card in any surfer’s collection, the “Kelly Slater Rookie” card. Both cards are from the 1987 Astroboyz set and have been part of Guy’s personal collection since they were manufactured.
The 1987 Astroboyz set is generally considered to be the first major set of surfing trading cards. Examples of this Duke Kahanamoku card have sold for over $8000.00, and the Kelly Slater Rookie card has recently sold at auction for over $3000.
Many thanks to Guy for jumpstarting this new and unique collection as his donation to the California Surf Museum!
