Featured Collector | T K Brimer of the Froghouse Surf Shop

One of the most famous surf shops in the world is located at the north end of Newport Beach, CA right on Pacific Coast Highway. The Frog House is a surf shop in the purest sense of the word and has been operating at this location since 1963. A short walk across the street is the Beach and the 56th Street and River Jetties surf spots. The keeper of the keys to this retail surfing icon is an energetic man with a quick wit and a gentle soul, one, T K Brimer and has presided over the place for years.  ”We still have some of the old surf shop edge going on,” said Brimer from behind the big wood and glass counters.  What you will find at the Frog House is real surfers selling real surf products in a way that you won’t find at many other surf shops the world over. They know their surf, treat their customers with love, respect and fun, and offer up real value on the best products on the surf market today. If you can’t get it at the Frog House you can’t get it anywhere.

Along with his passion for his surf shop, T K set his eyes on the vintage classics years ago and never looked back. T K has over a dozen prime wooden pieces that make up a collection worth sharing. We had a day to catch T K out of the office and in his home living room to talk a little bit about the museum-like pieces strewn about his ceiling.

The view from PCH of T.K.’s surf shop,

the Frog House, in Newport Beach,

California .

The collector’s spread of wooden

pieces on display above the mini bar at

his residence.

The very first etching done which

shows native hawaiians using

surfboards.

This is an example of the 1st wood A close up of the etching shows the Authentication. This one is an original.

planks the Hawaiian’s used for flotation

and paddling through the ocean.

craft. The outline embodies similar

specs to the modern bodyboard.

The Frog House, bright and bold off the

Pacific Coast Highway in Newport

Beach.

e significance of these pieces reach

back many generations.

This piece, a handcrafted Hobie

original, was made from solid balsa in

the 1957.

A Hobie orginal foam surfboard from

1965.

A now iconic resin pattern from the

1960′s which defined the entire

longboard era.

T.K.’s collection primarily emphasized

the wooden originals that reach back to

the origins of our sport.