It all started in 1994 when…

Ratty (Rob) and his Japanese girlfriend ran a Surfing Memorabilia company in Australia called "Ministix.” They produced authentic miniature surfboards on the Gold Coast in Queensland and sold them locally, Nationally, and in Japan. In the course of running this business they produced a whole variety of classic products including a framed "History of Surfing" series (which Billabong displayed in their flagship store back in the day) and "The Nat Young Collection."  They met and collaborated with a range of other Surfing celebrities, including Jack Eden, Miget Farrely, Greg Noll, Mark Richards, Tom Carrol and Bob McTavish. They also got to work very closely with Chris Bystrom for many years. They produced mini boards for Nev, Brothers Nielsen, CocaCola, Bear, The World Surfing Games (1996) Surfing Australia and made trophies for local Surfing Events. They lived near the beach, not far from Burleigh Heads, and on the great swells they would just drop work and surf all day. They did this for five years.

On the surface it seemed to be an awesome life, but, like many young men today, Ratty had some serious unresolved issues at the time. It was becoming all about him. Mentally, he was literally running out of space! Life had given him the impression, that as a man, determination and will power and a certain type of male ruthlessness were all important aspects of the path to success. Over time, this incorrect attitude became enhanced by the belief that constant tension was just a normal part of the male surfing identity.  His stress levels rose the harder he worked, and the more successful the business became the worse he got. Even though there were two of them, it was tough working on his own. He struggled with the twin concepts of producing quality over quantity, art over money, and in his determination to discover better production methods he became totally consumed. The perfect example of a young man in a hurry on the road to nowhere!

“In hindsight I was struggling with the human condition of ego vs heart and the lack of this insight eventually took its inevitable toll.  After five years I got ill and we were forced to close up shop. It had all started out sincerely enough, but success had driven me into a corner”.

Re-uniting art and life had initially put Ratty on the right track, but it eventually led him into having to face his own nature and this had led him into total confusion...

Of course breathing in PU resin fumes all day had not helped! (yes, he wore a mask, but often used expired canisters) He was hospitalized for an extended period and when he got out it was all gone. He was totally lost, down on his knees, his face firmly in the gutter.

 In time, his faithful partner rekindled in him a sense of hope. They moved to Japan. By now his suffering had almost entirely stripped away his ego and, he soon found himself up in the snow -covered mountains… contemplating emptiness.

“Japanese mountains are so awe inspiring at that time of year. I remember looking through the tinted lens of my glasses at the suns rays as they glinted and fractured off the falling snowflakes. In that moment I realized that in the past it had been my own ego that had prevented me from awakening to the spiritual aspect of life. I hired a snowboard and spent three days of trial and error teaching myself the basics, and after thinking about it some more I decided to dabble in Buddhism”.

There was something very humbling about starting from scratch, but Ratty soon found that Buddhism lightened his spirit. He could let go, stop struggling and make peace with himself. He was learning how to take out his mental garbage and this allowed him to stay much more relaxed. He was back at last, at home in the present moment, and thinking more about others than himself.

They got married, and going forward his will to succeed became much less energy intensive, less draining and, in a new way, almost effortless.

“Personally I had found a redefined definition of grit which soon took on a new, enhanced, meaning for me. We started a new Community based business, in a new industry, which still runs successfully today”. 

It was only the other day that Ratty was up in his attic and decided to bring down some of the old factory boxes of Ministix Stuff. There was not a huge amount of stuff, but at least everything mentioned above, and he realized that he would need to clean up and repair some of it. There was more than enough stuff to restart the business. He’s still an Expat living in Tokyo, and he’s recently recommitted himself to re-launching the business, in that location, under its new name -Modelstix!

With a new found understanding, and the maturity that comes with age, his mission now is to continue on his quest to re-unite art and life, only this time at a slower, more mindful pace and with a continuing determination to help others in the process. He is not a religious person but the messages that his work carries are also deep and soulful, just as an old surfer should be…

Ratty now uses recycled surfboards to make his authentic products and, in the process, reduces toxic waste. Please check out the gallery pics on his modelstix.com site. The sample boards are all made from original materials and also include balsa and redwood parquetry.

Thanks for reading this story, please do retell it to others you know. We look forward to providing you with top quality surfing and snowboarding memorabilia products in the near future.

Yes, sometimes life can put our back up against the wall, but if we use our head, hands and heart to awaken from the dream, that wall could turn out to be the face of a red hot smoking barrel!

...So do remember, its not your life story that counts for much, its your FREAKEN ATTITUDE!

Please look out for the surfing ant logo!

See you out there! 

Sincerely,

Ratty and the Model Stix Crew.