is j-star owned by HO?

i was looking at some of the j-star products and alot of their stuff looks like old hyperlite stuff. like the empire board looks like a parks board and the insight boot looks exactly like the old high backs or 3ds, plus their foot beds look extremely similar to the old hyperlite ones. does any one else see this resembelance or am i just a complete idiot?

Empire is a 3DS to me- And yes, HO was related to JStar but I believe the O'briens held onto the line. Someone will correct me if I am wrong.

They are all owned by the same guy Bob Archer. He also owns CWB and a few others. J-star & Hyperlite shared the same mfgrs for certain products. The Empire is not a Parks board, it is Rusty Malinoski's board that is more based on the 3DS than a Parks board.

Actually the O'briens still own J-star and Jobe. Archer does not own CWB and he only owns a portion of Motion watersports(Liquid Force, Obrien, Blindside and Double up)

I'm pretty sure Bob Archer owns controlling intrest in CWB and Obrien, just as he did with HO.

You are right Randy, he does.

Herb O'brien owns Radar, Ronix, J-Star and Jobe. He did own HO, and then 50% of HO with Bob Archer. Since Herb designed the HO line and arranged for its production, it is not suprising to have similarities and sometimes identical designs. They may even share the same production factory. There is no reason to re-invent the wheel.

"There is no reason to re-invent the wheel."... So very true! By the way, thanks so much for the killer deal on my new Acme prop Karl!