Toy Factory Surfboards - Made in England

Sounds pretty cool huh? Everyone loves toys, we all had them growing up and we all loved them. Well turns out that the reality and original concept of Toy Factory Surfboards in Newquay in the United Kingdom is even better.

The idea to house multiple shapers that share equipment, resources, materials and benefit from each other's influences in board design really is a stoke of genius. Head shaper Lee Barlett and Luke Hart from Fourth Surfboards head up the experienced team.

Toy Factory Surfboards mission includes providing a wealth of knowledge for any young aspiring shaper to pick at will and with an open door policy to pop in for a cuppa and a chat which helps to dispel the often wrong ‘grumpy shaper’ stereotype.

Ben from Toy Factory Surfboards agreed to have a chat with us about how the idea came about, where it is going and what the finished product is like.

SB: Hey Ben, cheers for the virtual cuppa and a chat. Who first had the idea to set up Toy Factory Surfboards and when?

Ben: Luke Hart, started Toy Factory Surfboards about 4 years ago after deciding to start his own surfboard factory. It was a small unit with one small glassing room and shaping room. It was just him for a while then after getting pretty busy pretty quickly, Luke took on another unit and started to bring more guys into the production crew.

SB: How many of you work there, do Lee and Luke do the glassing and spraying too or mainly just the shaping?

Ben: From starting with just Luke 4 years ago we now have 12 staff from glassers, sanders, office and accounts, tint specific glassers, and me on sales and marketing. Luke and Lee do the majority of the shaping but we have other shapers as well including Lewis Clinton from LC Surfboards and Andy Gale from Seduction Surfboards.

SB: I see you have a few English pros on your books, which are the best with feedback or perhaps the more interested in what they ride?

Ben: They all bring something different to the feedback they provide, some are very articulate, some talk more about how it feels, and the shapers work out what to change from there. The team are the test pilots and the ones who help us come up with all the models in the range. Without them we wouldn't have a brand.

SB: What is the best selling or most popular model to date?

Ben: The Doofer by Fourth Surfboards, its a great all round board, go check it out on www.fourthsurfboards.com

SB: While we realise it is not a YTS (Youth Training) scheme for future shapers and glassers but how much support would you provide for guys that are interested and have some skills?

Ben: We have trained up from scratch a lot of our staff. Our now good friend Juan had never seen inside a surfboard factory before he worked here, now he has his own brand, he can make a surfboard from scratch and has moved back home to Spain to start his own factory. We love seeing people stoked on what they do.

SB: Your prices on the boards are pretty good considering they are from blank to finish 100% in house. Is that a benefit of all sharing materials and space?

Ben: We produce around 1500 boards a year, we all work hard to produce the highest quality surfboards we can. Having shapers and brands make their boards here is great for the factory, it encourages everyone to stay on their toes and keep being creative and thinking of new ideas.

SB: What do you guys think about surfing being an Olympic sport?

Ben: It's cool, some people aren't into it and that's fine. We hope it will give the surfers a platform to show how good they are and represent their country. It's not to everyone's taste but if it's one of our team riders in the GB team we will be shouting from the roof tops for them to win.

SB: Can you describe how it made you feel the first time you caught a wave or got barreled?

Ben: Ha. Tough one, it's probably the best feeling there is that's why we keep doing it day after day.

SB: Thanks a lot to Ben for his insight in the Toy Factory, we did contact these guys at Boardmasters (Surf festival in Newquay) time of year which I know is crazy busy so double thanks.

It is very difficult to think of a reason not to contact these boys if you want a good surfboard. As well as keeping the creative buzz going and learning from the new and transitioning that to the functional, they are also sharing their skills, experience and design knowledge with the younger and less experienced.

We dig very much the idea of a new open source surf board building house where knowledge is shared and beautiful things are created.