Trying to ID a Dude?

We will eventually add photos, until then, check out:

 The Dude List

Most dudes have a small number imprinted on their backside.  Check their backs, butts, and shoes.  Find this number on the dude, then find it on the list.  This will tell you the dude's name, plus a brief description.  The names link to the information pages for each dude. 

Dudettes and Creatures are part of The Dude List.

Grimm Dudes and Skate Crew are not.

If you are having trouble identifying a dude, just send us an email:

steverotters@gmail.com

Also to understand the four generations of TDD, read this article. 

Most Wanted TDD

These are some of the specific TDD that we are trying to find.
If you have any of these please let us know.
We have tons to trade, both TDD and other toylines.
 steverotters@gmail.com

 

001 Billy

Billy is the OG TDD.  He is also a boxer.

He is basically the Tech Deck mascot come to life.  He is the finger riding the fingerboard in the Tech Deck logo.

Billy is the character with the most unique sculpts in the entire toyline.  He has a record of seven sculpts.

He is the only Dude to have three sculpts in G1 -- the first generation of TDD (defined by not having any arms).  Only two other characters ever had a second G1 sculpt produced: Stevie J and Petey.

Billy's first figure came out in Crew 2.  Remember that numbers were not added until Crew 10, and they do not reflect the release order at all. Still, this was one of the earliest characters produced in their inaugural year of 2000. This figure has blue and white sneakers and a red backwards-turned ballcap (like the logo).

His second figure came out in Crew 9.  He was dressed in a hoodie.  This figure was produced in many colors including neon pink and neon orange in the Hot Feet series.  The hoodie is supposed to resemble the robe that a boxer would wear upon entering the ring.  Funny thing about that.  Of all the armless (ergo handless) TDD, you can determine what they represent based on their attached accessory.  I mean, Scott has a football, Larry has a basketball, and Homer has a baseball bat. But they decided to make Billy here a boxer.  A boxer with no hands.  Is he a kickboxer?  What gives?

His third sculpt saw him come back as a generic logo dude with a backwards cap.  This was in Crew 11. This time they printed "Tech Deck" on the hat. While a couple characters sport a "TD" in their design, this is the only figure made with Tech Deck spelled out.  This figure has green, orange, yellow, and blue versions (but the yellow and blue versions lack the printing).

Billy's fourth sculpt was basically the last G1 figure produced, now with static arms. This is the definition of G2 -- figures have arms, but the arms cannot be bent or posed.  This figure is exclusive to one of the RC boards of 2003.  Here he has a red hat and blue sneakers.

His fifth figure is another G2 figure.  Now he wears a yellow hardhat -- like one you would wear on a construction site.  The hat has a magnet in it, which allows Billy to ride his skateboard upside down.  This is the only TDD figure with a magnet in his head.  It also reminds me of a 1980s Krazy Glue commercial where a dude puts glue on his hardhat and suspends himself from a metal beam.  Billy could recreate this commercial with his magnetic hat.  I think this figure is exclusive to the blue Magnetic Carry Case.  However, I have never seen one new, so I cannot say for sure.

His sixth sculpt is the "boxer" sculpt from G1, now with arms that can bend.  This is the defining feature of G3 -- bendable arms.  So, hey, Billy now has arms (and hands) and boxing gloves.  The figure finally looks complete and ready for a boxing match.  This design has yellow, orange, red, purple, and green figures.

His seventh figure is a brand new G3 design that came out in 2005.  Now he is a bare-knuckle boxer.  The gloves are off!  He has the bandages on his hands and a few cuts and scrapes on his head.  I am not sure why they turned him into a bare-knuckle boxer specifically, but there were a couple famous boxing movies that came out around the same time as this figure: Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Cinderella Man (2005).  Maybe this had some sort of influence on redesigning Billy. This figure has three versions: Brown outer shirt with light blue pants, white shirt with green pants, and red shirt with dark blue pants.

002 Lenny

Lenny is a punk rocker.

He is one of four G1 punks.  The others are Reginald, Syd, and Eddie.

Lenny's visual cue is always a spiked mohawk, a pierced right nostril, and a pierced lower lip.

He has many variants in G1.  He is also one of very few characters to have both an oversized G1 figure (from the RC boards) and a micro-figure (from the keychains).

His G2 figure is the G1 figure, now with static arms. He is positioned in a way that makes me think that he is swinging his arms back and forth.  It is as if he is moshing in a "circle pit" typical of hardcore punk shows.

There is a second G2 Lenny.  This guy has a helmet that is part of his sculpt (rather than being a separate accessory).  This figure is exclusive to the Downhill Dude playset, which also came with a version of Sumo San. 

Lenny's primary G3 figure seems a bit skinnier, and he is shirtless. Of course, he now has the bendable arms which are definitive of the G3 era.  He also has this odd hole in his mohawk.  I don't know why it is there, but it seems like maybe there were plans to stick some weird accessory through it.  At any rate, now you can hang Lenny from a necklace, or a backpack, or a ceiling fan, or a rear-view mirror (if you are weird like us). 

A second G3 Lenny sculpt came out in the Special-Ops series. Here Lenny takes on some kind of commando role.  I can't emphasize enough how ridiculous this series is.  First of all, there are these magnetic accessories that are so convoluted, ugly, and prone to becoming lost.  Second, they took the defining features of the characters and put them on the outside of characters' helmets. It makes no sense, but this is the gimmick.  When you remove Frank's helmet, you take off his defining neck-bolts.  When you take off Brad's helmet, you remove his Godzilla-like spikes.  However, Lenny is the sole exception to this gimmick.  They made him the way they should have designed the other figures. He has a helmet with a hole in it that slides over his mohawk.  He is the only one that they made the right way.  I still hate the concept of the series, but at least Lenny gets to keep his mohawk.

003 Andie

Andie is one of twelve dudettes.

In numerical order, she is the fist dudette.  In release order, she is the fourth.  Laverne, Laura, and Yoko all came out before Andie.  Natalie actually came out at the same time as Andie -- both in Crew 10.

Andie is a "lead singer in a ska band."  Considering her release in 2002, this makes her a relevant parody of Gwen Stefani, the lead singer of No Doubt.  This ska-rock band formed in 1986 and became massively popular by the late 90s.  While Stefani has gone on to have a lucrative solo career in pop music, she is still considered the vocalist for No Doubt whenever they decide to write albums or go on tour.

Anyway, Andie is also the dudette with the most variants.  There are five versions total.  The blond is the regular single-pack version.  The one with red (orange) hair came in a 3-pack.  The one with blue hair came in the Hot Feet series.  Then there is one with green hair and one with pink hair which were single pack variants.

004 Sumo San

Sumo San is the sumo wrestler.

His G1 figure is super boring.  It's just a fat dude wearing a mawashi (belt).  However, the design of the protective belt looks more like thong underwear.  Overall, Sumo San looks especially odd because he is just a nearly naked finger-figure with no arms and no charm. 

His G2 figure is a bit better.  It is the G1 figure with static arms.  He is holding a chicken leg in his right hand and rubbing his belly with his left hand.  It seems to suggest a stereotype that fat people can never stop eating, even while they are skateboarding.

Sumo San has a second G2 figure.  This one is not eating, plus he is wearing a safety helmet and safety goggles. It is exclusive to the Downhill Dude playset.

Sumo San does not have a standard-issue G3 figure.  His most common G3 figure is part of the Scuba Squad series.  This figure has a magnetic hand, a magnetic back, and a bunch of silly accessories.  A slight variant of this sculpt was re-released in the Magnetic Action 3-Pack along with Lenny and Whiplash.

Finally, Sumo San has a very rare G3 figure known as Sumo Santa.  This was a promotional figure given out in December of 2007.  It is a limited run of 500 and was not sold to the public.

005 Stevie J

Stevie J is the original black dude.

He came out in G1 Crew 1.  Dr. Digit came out in Crew 2.  Rasta came out in Crew 8.  Then, there would not be another black figure until Rod (#115), several years later.

Stevie J's original G1 figure was just a black dude with hair reminiscent of Coolio. This was a very popular rapper, circa 1995.  Even more than his hit "Gangsta's Paradise," Coolio was known for branding his image with his crazy hairstyle.  Now in his 50s, he is still rocking this hairstyle.

Stevie J was only one of three characters to have a second figure released within the G1 run.  His second figure was given cornrows, a backwards-tied bandana, and a microphone.  He now looks like TuPac.  This was another notorious mid-90s rapper.  Tupac Shakur was murdered September 7, 1996 and his killer has never been brought to justice.  This figure was made with five color variants.

There is a G2 figure that is basically the second G1 sculpt with static arms. This figure always wears red. He came as an exclusive figure in one version of the Dragstrip Race Set. 

An early G3 figure of Stevie J is just the second G1 sculpt with bendy arms.   This one came out in the Blastboards series.  He is identical with the bandana and clothes -- but now he also has arms to hold that mic.  He looks ready for an epic rap battle with Rap Masta Thumb.

A later G3 figure no longer carries a mic.  He still has a backwards-tied doo-rag, but he is now bald, and he wears baggier pants.  He actually looks even more like TuPac, but now he doesn't even get a microphone.  This figure has three variants.

006 Sven

Sven is the second surfer.  

Sven came out in Crew 13, whereas Fletcher came out in Crew 2.

Remember that the G1 numbers were added retroactively (and also with indifference to release order).  This is why Sven is #6 and Fletcher is #18, even though Fletcher was around first.

Fletcher came with only a surfboard.  Sven came with a surfboard and a skateboard (since most figures late in G1 crews were packaged with either a surfboard, a wakeboard, or a snowboard as a "bonus" accessory).

The G1 Sven is basically a kit-bash of two existing molds.  Sven has the same body-sculpt as Fletcher plus the hair from Stevie J.  Yes, Sven is a white-boy with Coolio-style dreadlocks.  (If Stevie J is a nod to Coolio, Sven must be the Weird Al "Amish Paradise" parody.)

To make matters more confusing, they also flipped the names (versus likeness) of the two surfers with their re-releases.  It is Fletcher who has dreadlocks in his G2 release.

Sven returned in G3.  He now has long straight hair, an unbuttoned tropical shirt, and a puka-shell necklace. He is giving the shaka sign with his right hand.  This gesture means "hang loose" in surf culture.

His likeness is that of Jeff Spicoli (portrayed by Sean Penn) from the 1982 teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This character embodies every "beach bum" or "surfer dude" stereotype.

In addition to being a recreational surfer, Sean Penn also narrated the 2001 documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys about the roots of professional skateboarding of the 1970s.  With ties to surfing and skating, I bet the Tech Deck designers loved Sean Penn.

By the way, the fictionalized version of this story was portrayed in the 2005 movie Lords of Dogtown staring Heath Ledger.  Tech Deck even made a "Lords of Dudetown" parody t-shirt for this movie!  There is Chito, Billy, Lenny, Eddie, and Sven.  

Finally, in numerical order, Sven is the first dude with a zood  (even thought he came out in the very last series of zoods).  He is a seal (or sea lion) on a boogie board.  His name is Damone.  This is another link to Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  A friend of Jeff Spicoli is named Mike Damone.

007 Dr. Digit

Dr. Digit is a P.I. (private investigator) who became a G.I. (US military soldier).

His G1 figure was specifically called Dr. Digit P.I.  This figure has a huge afro with a pick in it.  He is a spoof of a spoof of a private investigator, specifically the main character from the 2002 movie Undercover Brother (starring Eddie Griffin). This movie is a satire of blacksploitation films of the 1970s. 

His G2/G3 figure still has the afro, the pick, and the sunglasses.  He now also has a fancy 1970s styled suit and platform shoes.

Later in G3, he got a second sculpt.  He went from a P.I. to a G.I.  He now wears military attire and a combat helmet (with an afro pick stuck in it).  G.I. means "government issue."  G.I. was initially stamped on military equipment but came to be a nickname for any soldier in the US military.

Dr Digit (G.I.) was also issued in G4 as part of the Trick Dudes series. He does a trick called the "360 Shov-It."  Crash and Jack also do this trick.

There are five additional Trick Dudes.  Duke, Turbo, and Matt do the "Kick Flip," while Robo Supreme and Metal Man do the "Front Flip." 

008 Zobo

Zobo is the TDD clown.

"Zobo" is "Bozo" with the syllables switched.  This play on words is known as a spoonerism. 

Bozo the Clown was one of the most famous clowns in the world.  He was created in 1946 to be featured on a series of children's storytelling albums made by Capitol Records.  The name (and likeness) was later franchised out to local TV stations. This allowed many places around the world to have their very own Bozo Show.   Although his popularity peeked in the 1960s, Bozo persisted as a TV personality until 2001.

Zobo was one of the first TDD, coming out in Crew 1 in the year 2000.

There are three versions of his G1 figure.  The one with blue hair is the rarest. 

He returned in G3 with several variants.  One variant is yellow -- reminiscent of Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons.  Most G3 figures of Zobo come with a mallet accessory.

This most common G3 version also has a zood named Zeppelin.  He is a balloon animal, sort of resembling a dog.  A zeppelin is a rigid airship; which is sort of similar to a blimp (a non-rigid airship); which is sort of similar to a hot-air balloon; which is sort of similar to a balloon animal.  (I suppose.)

This particular G3 Zobo sculpt also has a G4 version in a comic-themed series of figures.  This variant seems to be a nod toward an obscure comic called Dead Clown, which was a Malibu Comics title that came out in 1993.

Finally, there was a second G3 Zobo sculpt which was part of the Special Ops series. I mention every time how much I hate this series because of its convoluted magnetic accessories and the weird hats and helmets.  That said, Zobo is probably the least awful among these horrible figures.  He does come with a cool "rubber chicken" after all. 

009 Crash

Crash is the TDD daredevil.

For all intents and purposes, he is a parody of Robert Knievel, aka Evel Knievel. 

In the 1960s and 70s, Evel Knievel made dozens of high-profile motorcycle jumps.  Mostly these were ramp-to-ramp jumps over several cars, trucks, or buses.  He was heavily promoted in his day and known for his flamboyant attire.  He even had a line of action figures and a biopic movie made in 1971.

Knievel is also known for his failed attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho on a rocket-powered motorcycle.  He survived the unfortunate crash and lived to be 69 years of age.

His son, Robbie, also became a well-known stunt performer.  Whereas his father did his jumps mostly on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Robbie was more into motorcross bikes.

Anyway, Crash has figures in G1, G2, and G3.

He even has a G4 figure in the Trick Dudes series. This figure does the "360 Shov-It" trick.  

010 Shik

Shik was a harlequin who became a mime.

A harlequin was a French stock character popular around the 1600s.  The nature of a harlequin was mischievous.  He was the sly and agile foil for the comical and bumbling clown.

Shik has four G1 figures: red and black, red and blue, green and black, purple and black.

Shik returned in G3 as a mime.  A mime is a silent performer with origins in ancient Greece.  In the 1950s, they became very popular in France. The most popular mime of all time is Marcel Marceau.  This French performer took his "art of silence" on tour all over the world for many decades, until his death in 2007.

Shik's G3 figure is the stereotypical street-performer mime with white face, a Breton striped shirt, and a French beret. There are at least five versions of this figure.

Shik also has a zood named. Mr. Del.  He is a capuchin monkey. This is the species of monkey that used to assist novelty street performers known as "organ grinders."   These people would basically play a song on a street organ over and over to avoid laws against begging or loitering.  The capuchin monkey was kept to draw attention or maybe do a trick.  This zood version wears a fez and holds a cup for collecting change.

Being a part of Zoods Crew 1, there are actually four versions of this zood.

I don't know why Shik's monkey is named Mr. Del.  There is a Christian rapper who goes by this name.  I don't think he has a song about monkeys or mimes.  I am really surprised they did not name the monkey Spank.  Now that would have been funny.

011 Rozz

Rozz is the original TDD alien. 

His name comes from Roswell, New Mexico which has become synonymous with "aliens" because of the famous "UFO incident" of 1947.

There was also a popular TV show about aliens called Roswell.  This show aired from 1999-2002.  The show went off the air the same year that Rozz hit the market.

Coincidence?  Or phenomenon?

The G1 Rozz was available in green, gray, and purple.   The green one is the hardest to find.

Rozz returned in G3 with a brand new sculpt. There are at least seven versions of this figure: green, bright green, yellow, blue, purple, pinkish gray, and black.

Rozz was part of Zoods Crew 1.  His zood is a little dude.  There are four versions of this zood, as the first series of zoods was the only series that had variants.  His name is #10566.  This suggests that he is just an unnamed specimen collected by the alien visitor. 

Turns out, this is the zip code for Peeksill, NY, which is about 50 miles north of New York City.  Peeksill is home to the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.  A quick Internet search shows that there have been several UFO sightings over this power plant since 1984.

Coincidence?  Or conspiracy? 

It seems like if they wanted to name the zood after the zip code of a place with a UFO sighting, they would have just gone with the zip of Roswell: #88201.  Duh, right?

Anyway, Rozz got a second G3 sculpt with a new name: Rozz Cow. 

Now he is an alien dressed as a cow.  Kinda weird, but still a better sculpt than many TDD.  This figure has four color variants: Dark brown, light brown, green, and white. 

In G4, the same white Rozz Cow was included in a space-themed series.   This figure has no magnets and was packaged with a small UFO figure about the size of a zood.

In that same space series, we finally got some brand new aliens: Ventura (Predator parody), Dylon (Cylon parody), Katsuji (Keyop parody), and Ziggie (Ziggy Stardust parody).

012 Julio

Julio is the Latin musician. 

Originating in Crew 3, his G1 figure was a darker skinned version of Crew 2 Billy.  For real, G1 Julio was just a variant of Billy's sculpt.   He was a generic dude with a backwards cap.  But like I said, he had darker skin.  (This was actually the only time, ever, that Tech Deck gave a variant a new name.)

G1 Julio has three minor variants: Black cap with black shoes, black cap with yellow shoes, and yellow cap with yellow shoes.  

According to both trading card series, there were some plans to release a G2 Julio.  He was drawn wearing a serape (a woven blanket-like shawl), a sombrero (a wide-brimmed hat), and holding two maracas (rattles used to make music).

For some reason, this figure was never produced.  This image is a rare non-dudette example of a redrawn character that was never made into a figure.

Julio did resurface in G3.  He is a very boring figure holding a guitar case in his right hand.  He also has long hair, a belt buckle, and boots.  He vaguely seems like a nod to Julio Iglesias, the best selling Latin artist of all time.

There are three variants of this sculpt also: black, orange, and pale blue outfits. 

013 Slam

Slam is the TDD wrestler.  

He started as a lucha libre wrestler, became a Hulk Hogan parody, and then returned to being a lucha libre wrestler.

Lucha libre is a form of freestyle wrestling developed in Mexico.  It literally means "free fight."  This goes back to the early 1900s.  Lucha libre wrestling is mostly known for its aerial techniques and the colorful masks worm by the contestants.

Slam's G1 figure is just a finger with a lucha libre mask.  I have found this figure with blue, red, yellow, green, and black masks.

Slam's earliest G3 figure (circa 2004) was designed as a parody of Terry Gene Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan.  He even has a championship belt and a bandanna that says "Dudemania."   Even this is a parody of "Hulkamania" -- the phrase that Hogan has been using since first winning the WWF Championship back in 1983.

I am guessing Tech Deck got a "cease and desist" on this one.

Within the G3 run, Slam returned to being a lucha libre wrestler very quickly (circa 2005).  This figure has no variants.  However, he does have a zood.  He is a donkey named Don.  

A "donkey show" is another Mexican form of public entertainment.  Ask your parents about it. 

014 Petey

Petey is the TDD demon/devil.

He is only one of three characters to have multiple sculpts in the G1 run.

The first sculpt came out in Crew 1.  Instead of being a devil-dude, he looks more like a dude wearing a devil costume (complete with horns and tail).  One version even looks like a dude wearing a red devil costume wearing a yellow raincoat.  Strange.

The second sculpt came out in Crew 11. He was redesigned to look like a devil-dude (with horns and tail) wearing sneakers, one of those single-strap backpacks, and a sun visor (worn backwards).

What's even stranger than having two sculpts in G1, is having both of those sculpts re-issued in G2.  This means they are the same basic G1 scultps, now with static arms. The second sculpt also has a detachable pitchfork accessory.

With the G3 revamp, Petey was made to look like a Hellboy parody. This was in 2004, and it coincided with the release of the first Hellboy movie staring Ron Perlman.  Hellboy is a comic book demon "good guy" who helps track down paranormal villains and rogue dark forces.  He was created by Mike Mignola in 1993.

This version of Petey has horns, facial hair, and cloven feet.  He is holding a candy bar in his left hand.  This relates to a scene in the movie where Hellboy is first summoned to Earth (as a baby demon) by Nazi occultists.  He is discovered by Professor Bruttenholm and is given a Baby Ruth candy bar to calm him.  The Professor takes him in and raises him, and we pretty much see Hellboy as an adult demon after this scene.  But, of course, there is another scene where grown-up Hellboy is eating a Baby Ruth.  Yay, product placement.

This figure was available in yellow, red, purple, and green versions.  Although you'd surely consider the red version the "regular" version (because of Hellboy), it is the yellow figure that is the most common version of Petey.

The yellow version also came with the zood.  His name is Ravage.  He is a little purplish-red creature that somewhat resembles the legendary Cthulhu.

A second version of the red Petey was issued in a G4 comic book themed release by Spin Master.  The G3 version has a tan overcoat, while the G4 version has a lavender overcoat.  Although the paint applications are a bit different, the G4 version is most easily distinguished by his lack of magnets.

015 Tank

Tank is the Army dude.

He has version is G1, G2, and G3.

Despite his military background, he was never given a weapon.

The G1 figure has two bandoliers (pocketed belts) slung across his shoulders.  He is also wearing a helmet known as the M1.  This was a very popular combat helmet used from WWII until 1985. 

There is one very interesting G1 version of Tank that came with the Daredevil Race Set.  Instead of his normal drab and camo colors, he is bright red, yellow, and purple.  He seems like a Hot Feet figure, but is not designated as such, and he does not come with a light-up board.  Oddest of all, this figure has a large "Z" on his helmet.  No other version of Tank has writing or letters on the helmet.  I don't know what the Z means -- it has no context to the figure or the toyline.  Also, it is strange that Tank is the only figure in this playset despite it being a "race." Finally, no other TDD has a Z or any other letter on his hat or helmet, making this particular figure seem really weird.

The G2 figure is the G1 figure with arms.  His is pointing forward with his left hand.  His right hand is kinda being held behind his back.

The G3 figure has a two-finger pointing gesture on his right hand.  Depending on how you position the arm, this may mean "look," or "file in."  His left hand is giving a thumbs up.  This could mean that there is a "friendly" ahead, whereas a thumbs down would mean "hostile."

The G3 Tank was also designed to reflect updated military attire.  He is wearing what is known as the PASGT (Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops).  This is the style of combat helmet and ballistic vest used from 1985-2005.  Tank has two G3 versions in camouflage that you might call "woodland" and "arctic."  Then there are two more versions of Tank painted instead on the basis of aposematism rather than camouflage.  The point here is to stand out rather than blend in.  They painted his helmet "safety orange" (aka blaze orange or hunter orange) in one variant, and yellow in the other.

016 Super Finger

Super Finger is the original TDD superhero.

His G1 figure was a spoof of Superman with his costume, logo, cape, and spit-curl.

There are three versions of this G1 figure and no appearance in G2.

His G3 figure was a complete re-design.  He still has a cape, but now he has a mask with some sort of head-crest. The costume design looks mostly like Doctor Fate (though the figure never appears in yellow and blue). The figure is generic enough by design that he basically takes on the likeness of well-known comic book heroes (and villains) just by adopting their iconic colors.

I have found this figure in the following colors:

1. yellow, green, and red -- resembles Vision
2. yellow and red -- resembles Red Tornado or The Flash
3. white, black, red, and yellow -- resembles Space Ghost
4. orange and blue -- resembles Hobgoblin
5. blue, purple, and gray -- resembles Bizarro
6. green, silver, and black -- resembles Doctor Doom (came out 3-4 years before Mood)

The last two variants came in the G4 single packs.

7. blue, gray, black, and yellow -- resembles Batman
8. black, red, white, and brown -- resembles Spawn

The orange and blue version has a zood.  I do not know his name.  Do you?

017 Tiki

Tiki is a Polynesian idol, in other words, a tiki. 

A tiki is a wooden or stone representation of a person.

In Māori mythology, "Tiki" was the name of the first man.

Tiki culture is a loose decorative style that was popular in the US in the 1950s and 60s.  This trend was punctuated by the acceptance of Hawaii as the 50th state in 1959. The exoticism associated with Hawaii brought about tiki idols, tiki mugs, and tiki bars. 

Tiki, the TDD, has three versions in G1, three versions in G3, and one version in G4.

He also has a little zood named Skippy.  He is a cute little squirrel. Aww.

018 Fletcher

Fletcher is the original G1 surfer.

He is a very boring dude with short hair, wearing sunglasses and loose-fitting board-shorts. 

He is certainly named after late 1980s surfing champion Christian Fletcher.

He was part of Crew 2.  The plug-board Fletcher came out in 2000, and the magnetic board Fletcher came out in 2001.  Both versions came with surfboards.

This was the second figure to have a board other than a skateboard.  (Flake was the first.)  Eventually Tech Deck would make more surfboards, snowboards, and even wakeboards.  However, these were "bonus" boards that came with late-series G1 crews (in addition to their regular skateboards).  The original Fletcher came with just his surfboard.

A second G1 surfer later came out in Crew 13: Sven. 

This is where things get confusing.  The G2 version of Fletcher clearly is the "evolution" of Sven.  He has dreadlocks for crying out loud.  G1 Sven has dreadlocks; G2 Fletcher has dreadlocks.

When Sven returned in G3, they made him this Sean Penn-looking beach bum.

Basically, they switched the two surfers (probably just by sloppy oversight).

Or, I guess Sven cut off his dreads and Fletcher decided to grow some. Yeah, that's what happened.  

019 Nick

Nick is the ninja.

A ninja is a covert spy or mercenary, with historic precedence going back to 15th century Japan.  While a samurai fought openly and with honor, the covert nature of a ninja was seen as a dishonorable means of warfare at the time. However, they were definitely used to stealthily spy upon or attack an enemy. Ninjas were also used for sabotage, arson, and assassination. 

The ninja as a stock character in popular culture goes back to the 1960s and the James Bond franchise.  They became especially popular in the 1980s as characters in toys and cartoons such as G.I. Joe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The G1 Nick wears a gappa (travel cape) and kusari (hood).  Although ninjas historically just dressed as civilians, it has become popular in media to depict them in black attire.  In addition to his "regular" black version, G1 Nick can be found in white, red, blue, and green.

Interestingly, these are the exact 5 colors of the ninjas in the toyline and TV show LEGO Ninjago.  This property also features a sensei, a samurai, a female warrior, dragons, and skeleton people.

These TDD were all out by 2002.  Ninjago wasn't created until 2011. Tech Deck did it first.  (Just sayin'.)

Nick's G2/G3 version has a fighting stance and a sword in his right hand.  The G2/G3 figure is a completely unique sculpt compared to both G1 and G4.

Nick is only one of two existing characters to get a brand new G4 sculpt (not counting Trick Dudes) and the other is Woody.  The re-sculpted G4 Nick was made with white and black versions only.   This seems to reflect the epic conflict between the characters Storm Shadow (white) and Snake Eyes (black), the popular ninjas from the G.I. Joe series of toys, comic books, cartoons, and movies.  The TDD figures have katanas (swords), also similar to the depiction of these famous characters. The relevance of the redesign certainly relates to the first G.I. Joe movie which came out the same year (2009) as these versions of Nick.  

020 Bruce

Bruce is the TDD martial artist.

He began as a loose parody of Bruce Lee, the most influential martial artist of all time.  He became a more specific parody of this actor as the figure evolved.

Bruce has distinct figures in G1, G2, and G3.

His G1 figure wears traditional Japanese wooden shoes known as geta. These are a type of sandal with an elevated wooden base.  The figure also wears a hachimaki.  This is a headband worn to symbolize courage and perseverance.  His has the Japanese "Rising Sun" flag on it.  Finally, he has a black belt.  This indicates that he has achieved mastery in his discipline.  This ranking system is a relatively new institution, originating in Japan and going back only to around 1900. 

I should probably note that Bruce Lee is Chinese-American and not Japanese.

His G2 figure was a new sculpt.  This figure is quite similar to the G2 figure of Timbo, the stuntman.  Both figures seem to be homages to the martial arts films of the 1970s (Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, etc). This static figure has a set of nunchucks in his right hand.

His G3 figure was another new sculpt, this time resembling a specific role played by Bruce Lee.  He now looks exactly like Kato, a character from the TV series The Green Hornet.  This was a TV show from 1966-67 that derived from a radio show, which aired from the 1930s-1950s.  It's about costumed vigilante crimefighters.  Kato is The Green Hornet's sidekick, bodyguard, and a skilled martial artist.  It was Bruce Lee's popularity on this show that got him the famous movie roles of the 1970s.  He was only 32 when he died from an allergic reaction to a controversial painkiller.

The Kato version of Bruce was definitely a relevant parody.  In 2004 (when this figure appeared), Kevin Smith was working on a movie adaptation of The Green Hornet.  In 2007, the movie rights switched hands and Seth Rogen started working on the script.  In 2011, the movie finally came out with Seth Rogen starring as the lead character and Jay Chou as Kato.  The movie was directed by Michel Gondry.  It is awful.

021 Tek

Tek is the original Tech Deck robot.

His origin is G1C1 (Generation One: Crew One) back in the year 2000.

His G1 figure seems more like a dude in a robot costume. You can see that he has fleshtone paint for his face.  This make the dominant plastic color seem like it is supposed to be interpreted a costume.  The "regular" and most common version is silver.  I have also seen this sculpt in gold, black, and blue.

His G2 version gained some static arms.  This figure is exclusive to the Launch-A-Dude Lighted Stunt playset. Again, he kind of seems like a dude in a robot costume. This figure is red.

His next G2/G3 figure was significantly redesigned.  He is now very much a robot indeed.  He has a large, single eye, no other facial features, and two tri-claw hands.  I have found five versions of this sculpt. Some have static arms (G2) and some have bendy arms (G3), but otherwise use the same mold. 

It took me awhile to figure out who this cyber cyclops is meant to resemble.  After all, the single-eye robot is a popular trope, especially for a menacing robot (Hal 9000, AUTO, Shockwave).  But the tri-claw "hands" surely also have significance. I have concluded that he is more-or-less a nod to the robot from Lost in Space.  Not the robot from the 1960s TV show, but specifically the robot from the godawful 1998 movie.

A different G3 sculpt came in the Scuba Squad series.  This one has an interchangeable magnetic hand, a helmet (why does a robot need a helmet?), and some other confusing accessories. Man, is this figure dumb.  In 2006, three of the four Scuba Squad figures were re-released with new paint variants in the Magnetic Action 3 Pack series. Tek is the one that was not re-released.

022 Flake

Flake is the TDD snowboarder.

He comes with a magnetic snowboard.

He has versions in G1 and G3.

His G1 figure came out in Crew 1, making him the first figure given a board other than a skateboard.  Fletcher would follow in Crew 2 with the first surfboard.

Flake is easily confused with Al Pine.  The trading cards call Al Pine a skier, but he comes with a snowboard just like Flake.

023 Rap Masta

Rap Masta (aka Rap Masta Thumb) is the TDD rapper.  

His G1 figure wears a beanie cap and balances a microphone on his right shoe.

His G3 figure wears a ballcap and holds a microphone in his right hand. Both his shirt and hat featured a stylized "RMT."  This makes him one of the most conceited dudes out there.

He actually wears a bandana underneath his ballcap, which is something Eminem was fond of doing around the time that this figure hit the shelves. 

Not much else is known about the so-called Rap Masta.

I heard his real name is Trevor.  I heard he went on tour with Masta Ace and Masta Killa, but he spent more time skateboarding than practicing his raps and he was booed off the stage and then kicked off the tour.  That is the rumor anyway. 

024 Homer

Homer is the TDD baseball player.  

His G1 figure balances a baseball bat on his left foot.

His earliest G3 figure became a catcher instead of a batter.  He wears a mitt on his right hand and is holding a baseball in his left hand.  He was one of the figures in the Blastboards series.  These were the first "bendy arm" figures available. 

His second G3 figure came to bat again.  This time the baseball bat is a separate accessory which is almost always missing in used lots.

This figure has a zood.  His name is Arby I.  This is a play on the term "RBI" or "Run Batted In."

His likeness is that of a furry mascot common to Major League Baseball.  There are several real mascots that are basically just funny looking creatures.  Arby I mostly resembles Wally, The Green Monster (of the Boston Red Sox) with maybe just a hint of The Phillie Phanatic (of the Philadelphia Phillies).

Let's not neglect that Homer also has a "B" on his hat that is styled suspiciously like that of the Boston Red Sox.  I am surprised that they made the G3 dude and zood both parodies of the same specific team.  Then again, the Red Sox were the World Series Champions in 2004 when this sculpt debuted, so I guess they decided to just go with the winners rather than the home team (which would have been the San Diego Padres).

025 Dakota

Dakota is the TDD explorer.

The defining feature of the G1 figure is his pith hat.

The G2 figure has the pith hat, some nifty arms, and a pair of binoculars in his right hand.

His G3 figure was a totally new design.  Now he was given a cowboy's hat (or a bush hat), a monocle, and a burly mustache.  They basically gave him the likeness of Theodore Roosevelt.  This was the 26th president of the US from 1901-1909.  He was also a well-known explorer and hunter.  Teddy Roosevelt even built a ranch in the badlands of North Dakota.

They gave this version of Dakota a real accessory -- a little plastic net.

Dakota has a zood named Hogan.  He is a little crocodile.  The name comes from Australian actor Paul Hogan who played the main character in the 1986 comedy Crocodile Dundee.

026 Al Pine

Al Pine is the TDD skier.  

He has figures in G1 and G2.

There are three versions of his G1 figure.  

While Flake got an actual snowboard, Al Pine was never given magnetic skis.  Instead, he was also given a snowboard.  So, basically, he is the other snowboarder. 

His G2 figure has his arms and hands positioned directly behind him, as if to increase his downslope speed. There is only one versions of this figure.  It probably came with some playset that I have not yet identified.  It has that G2 oddness about it. 

Al Pine never got a G3 or G4 figure. 

027 Woody

Woody is a pirate captain. 

His G1 figure's got the wooden peg-leg, the eye-patch, and the tricorne hat (with a TDD version of the Jolly Roger on it). You know, the works.  

In G1, there was also a pirate crewman: Splinter.
He later became an oceanographer. 

When Woody came back in G3, he was pretty much the same pirate, but now with one more stereotypical feature: The hook hand.

Woody has a zood. He is a parrot with an eye-patch.  His name is Roscoe. 

I think the name might relate to the 1984 film The Ice Pirates.  This is a science fiction film featuring a "space pirate" named Roscoe.  I am surprised that -- since they turned Erik into a space viking and Duke into a space cowboy -- they did not also turn Woody into a space pirate.  Opportunity lost.

G4 Woody has a completely new sculpt.  It is not obvious at first, since the basic design elements are the same, but it is a full resculpt.  The least subtle difference is that the new figure has hair.  But if you look closely, you will see that the face, the boots, and even the hat are also fairly different. Overall, he was redesigned as a bit of a nod to Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series which was between its 3rd and 4th films when G4 Woody came out. Captain Jack Sparrow is, of course, played by actor Johnny Depp.

Neal and Hunter also have possible links to Johnny Depp. 

028 Rusty

Rusty is the TDD redneck.  

"Redneck" is a derogatory term for a poor white person, usually from the southern US.  The term goes all the way back to the 1890s.

Rusty has a mullet, and his favorite movie is Joe Dirt.  

He is basically a parody of the main character from this 2001 movie (played by actor David Spade).

As silly as this figure is, he actually has version in G1, G2, and G3.  

029 Booger

Booger is the TDD dried nasal mucus.  

Haha.  Well, he really is a representation of the weird hot rod characters of the 1960s.   

Ed Roth (and other artists) would draw these gross creatures driving hot rods.  They almost always had bulging eyes and dangling tongues like Booger here.  The most well known example is good ol' Rat Fink.  A popular toyline of such characters were the Weird-Ohs.  In the 60s, these crazy characters were found in model kits put out by a company called Hawk.  They even took the Weird-Ohs out of their hot rods and put them on skateboards in 2008.  Though not TDD, we will feature these figures on this site eventually.

Anyway, Booger came out in 2002 as part of Crew 4.  I have seen this G1 figure in orange, yellow, dark green, and purple. The green is his "regular" color, though the orange version is the most common since it came in a 3-pack.

He is also the most impressive of the giant dudes that came with the RC boards.

In G2, they gave the G1 figure some arms.  I have seen this figure in dark green and light green versions.

In G3, he was redesigned with two sculpts.  They first put him in a trucker's hat with a smiley face on it.  His right hand is designed to grip an accessory, but they did not actually give him anything.

This figure has a zood.  He is a little green rat named Fuzz-E.  Man, he looks a lot like Rat Fink.

The second sculpt has a new name: Boog Rogers.  This guy has a raygun in his right hand.  It is not an accessory, but rather a part of the mold.  This green figure came with a pickup truck in the Dude Rides series. Later, a purple version of Boog Rogers came out in a space-themed series of G4 single packs.

The name is a play on Buck Rogers.  This science fiction character has appeared in many forms of media since 1929.  We're talking pulp magazines, comic strips, comic books, radio shows, TV shows, and movies.  When Boog Rogers came out in 2008, there was a new Buck Rogers movie in the works that was going to be directed by Frank Miller.  We know the TDD designers love Frank Miller (see Mickey, Leon, and Fred).  Anyway, the project was scrapped.

The Buck Rogers saga is set in the year 2419.  Buck Rogers is a hero who goes around saving folks with his various rayguns.  Basically what we think of as a futuristic raygun was developed by the Buck Rogers franchise.  Their iconic raygun toys go back to the 1930s.  

030 Bonz

Bonz is the TDD Grim Reaper.

Well, in G1, he was just a skeleton -- an armless skeleton with ten bony toes.  It is funny that the TDD are supposed to be fingers, yet Bonz has a rib cage.  Ribs in your finger?

In G3, Bonz returned as the Grim Reaper.  They forgot to give him a scythe accessory though.

He has a zood named Fluffy.  He is some kind of skeletal cow, I think.

Bonz has a third sculpt that came in the Scuba Squad series.  This sculpt seems to represent a time when he still had some decaying flesh.  He still has a bit of hair and clothes too.  This version comes with a silver trident and a cool skeletal shark. 

031 Draco

Draco is the TDD gargoyle.  

He is kind of a demon-dragon, but I lean toward calling him a gargoyle because Petey is our demon (devil) and Brad is our dragon (kaiju). 

The gargoyles used in architecture are based on the French legend of the Gargouille which was a menacing monster with a serpent body and bat-like wings. 

Draco has two distinct sculpts.  The G1 and the G3 versions are very similar (with the G3 version having arms, of course).  There is actually a blue G4 version which is very similar to the blue G3 version (minus the magnets, and now with a plug-back).

Draco has a zood which is a chewed-up winged teddy bear.  Having come out in z6 or z7, I do not know the name of this zood.

Email us if you know his name. 

032 Fu Man

Fu Man (aka Fu Man Finger) is the TDD sensei.

"Sensei" is the Japanese term for a teacher or mentor.  This applies to martial arts and other disciplines.

Fu Man's G1 figure came out in Crew 3. This figure has a long mustache and a conical hat.  In Japan, this type of hat is called a sugegasa.  This figure's hat is a separate accessory and often missing among used figures. 

Fu Man's G2 figure is basically the G1 figure, now with static arms.  They are positioned in a kung fu pose known as "the tiger."  Tiger style is a mystical form of kung fu made popular by the Wu Tang Clan. 

Fu Man's G3 figure was completely redesigned.  I am not sure what you call the pose they put him in.  He no longer has his sugegasa.  Instead, he is carrying what looks like a yoga mat.  He is one of the most boring Dudes ever.

In fact, it is Feng Long who makes sense as a G3 Fu Man.  By all appearances (especially the conical hat), Feng Long is the logical evolution of the Fu Man Finger figure.*

Anyway, Fu Man has a zood that looks like a little dude.  He is in the kung fu stance that looks like "the monkey."  His name is Ping.

This name probably comes from Mr. Ping, a character in the Kung Fu Panda franchise.  Mr. Ping is a goose.  He is also the adoptive father of Po (the Panda), who is the main character. 

*Trading Card Series 2 confirms this mix-up as fact.  The card for Fu Man shows us Feng Long.  Of course, Feng Long is not in the trading cards since they only went to character #99.  Doh!

033 Sergei

Sergei is the TDD Russian.

His G1 figure wears an ushanka hat.  It has the iconic "hammer and sickle" on it. This communist symbol was created during the Russian Civil War (1917-22). The symbol stood for the uniting of the industrial workers (the hammer) and the peasant farmers (the sickle).  Communist countries around the world still use this symbol.  It is commonly found on the flags of Laos, Vietnam, and China. 

The G1 Sergei would actually be banned in several countries (including Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, and the Ukraine) where the display of this symbol has been outlawed. 

No worries though, because in G3, they just made him a hockey player.  He has CCCP written on his helmet.  This is the Russian abbreviation for the USSR.  Also known as the Soviet Union, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics existed from 1922 until 1991.  

Between 1954 and 1991, the Soviet Union hockey team won almost every single Olympic tournament.

In fact, Sergei Makarov is the all-time leading scorer in the soviet league.

Sergei has a zood named Boris.  He is a tiny polar bear wearing an ushanka hat with the Communist star on it.  Aww.

There is actually a famous polar bear named Boris. He lives at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma Washington.  He was rescued from a Mexican traveling circus in 2002.  He is currently 30 years old and weighs 880 pounds.  Just thought you'd like to know. 

034 Adam

Adam was a Batman parody who became a zombie.

His original Crew 14 figure came out at the end of the G1 run of 2002.  This guy was such an obvious Batman parody.  Even the name points toward Adam West, who played Batman on the famous 1960s TV series.

He made no G2 appearance.  He returned in G3 as a zombie.

A lot of people are aware of this change, and I have seen a blogger suggest that there must have been a lawsuit.  While there was possibly a "cease a desist" from DC or WB, I really doubt there was ever a lawsuit.  Whether pressured to do so or not, I am sure that X-Concepts realized on their own that continuing to make such a blatant Batman-inspired figure might not be the best idea.

Funny thing is, once Spin Master bought the brand, they did it again.  There is a distinct version of Super Finger that came out in 2009 that is undoubtedly another spoof of good ol' Batman.  (Not to mention all their other awesome parodies of Marvel and DC characters.)

Funnier thing is, Tech Deck now makes legit Batman fingerboards in a licensing partnership with DC.  Currently you can find actual Batman Tech Deck fingerboards in stores. 

By the way, it is pretty common for an independent toy company to make their initial toyline of generic characters with the explicit desire of landing a partnership with a well-known character-rich property.  Tech Deck tried this with Disney, but I guess it did not catch on. 

Anyway, back to Adam.  I've found his G3/G4 zombie sculpt in five different versions that differ by skin color and clothing color.

Adam has a zood named Andy.  He is a blue-skinned disembodied zombie hand.  I am guessing the name is just a "handy Andy" pun.  But where have we seen such a disembodied hand doing such handy things?

Hmm.  If you take a second to connect Adam to The Addam's Family, you will get it.

Andy is a perfect little Thing parody!

In the original 1964 TV show, Thing was not a disembodied hand, but a hand that would emerge from behind a curtain.  The idea was that the creature of which it was attached was so hideous it must never be seen.  So all you would ever see is just the helping hand of some heinous beast known as the Thing.

In the three Addams Family films from the 1990s, Thing became a disembodied hand that could run around on its fingertips like a spider.   This is exactly what Andy the zood appears to be doing.

Also, don't confuse Andy with Andie.  One has no hands and one is nothing but a hand!

035 Ralph

Ralph is the caveman.  

His G1 figure is pretty weird.  He has a bone going through the skin on the top of his head.  He has no hair -- the bone is clearly piercing his scalp.  Then he has this long narrow spear attached to his back.  The spear is very odd.  It looks like a devil's tail because of its design, its placement, and the way the thin plastic curves over the figure.  It would have been much smarter to have given Ralph a club instead.

Speaking of which, in the trading cards, he is drawn with arms and a club.  

Another weird thing about the G1 Ralph is that his feet are upside-down.  His toenails are on the bottom of his feet.  Booger and Willy have the same unfortunate condition.

The G1 figure has five toes per foot and the G3 figure has four toes per foot.  When Booger and Willy were re-designed, they were both given shoes.

The G3 Ralph still has no club.  It really makes no sense.  It's like they just forgot.  In fact, they designed both of his hands as closed fists.  Since neither hand is capable of holding any accessory, you can't even give him a club from another toyline.  Doh!

There are five version of this figure.  Two are very odd.  One has pale bluish gray skin.  I guess this is a zombie caveman?  The other has green skin.  Maybe an alien caveman?

The two additional variants are painted to be obvious parodies of Fred and Barney from The Flintstones.  This was the first prime-time animated TV series and aired from 1960 to 1966.  In fact, Fred Flintstone was based on a character from the 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners.  That character is the bus driver with the short temper and big heart, Ralph Kramden.  So, I'm going to bet this is where Ralph got his name.

Plus, the names Fred and Barney were both already taken. 

Ralph has a zood named Ox.  He is not an ox, but a tiny Woolly Mammoth.

I am not sure why his name is Ox, but I can tell you that mammoths were common on The Flintstones.  Characters used them for food and transportation, in addition to analogs for showers, garden hoses, and even vacuum cleaners.  Gross.

036 Norman

Norman is the TDD psychopath.

He has figures in G1, G2, and G3.

His name certainly comes from Norman Bates, the main character in the 1960 classic Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho.

The character Norman Bates was based on real-life serial killer Ed Gein.

Ed Gein was also the inspiration for a number of other famous fictional serial killers including Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Buffalo Bill (Silence of the Lambs).

So Norman is kind of like an amalgamation of all the classic horror "slasher film" killers.

His G3 version even starts to take on Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th) more than the others.

Norman has a second G3 sculpt that came with his truck in the Dude Rides series.  The green figure came with the regular truck, and the rarer blue figure came with the deluxe truck.  This sculpt has the hockey mask of the earlier G3 Norman, plus what looks like a scuba mask, plus a bit of a Sturgeon-style fin on the top of his head.  Plus his hands and feet now have some webbing. 

I don't really get it.  I guess he's just been underwater so long, he's turning into a fish!

037 Rex

Rex is the Roman centurion or gladiator.  

"Rex" is the actual title for a Roman king.

In addition to his push-broom galea helmet, Rex's G1 figure has a sword attached to his side.  In fact, gladiator literally means "swordsman."

In G3, they did not give Rex a sword (or any other weapon).  At least his right hand was molded in such a way that it can hold a spear or sword.  You can outfit him with some weapon from another figure or even another toyline.

Rex has a little tiger for a zood.  His name is Brutus. There were several famous Romans who had this name.  Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic.  Marcus Junius Brutus was the dude who killed Julius Caesar.

Tigers were kept in ancient Rome for entertainment.  They were famously pitted against gladiators or lions.

In the 2000 film Gladiator, Russel Crowe's character fights and kills a tiger.  The 2nd century look portrayed in this movie is pretty much what Rex is all about. 

038 Erik

Erik is a Viking. 

The Vikings were the seafaring Norsemen of the 8th thru 11th centuries.  They came from Scandinavia on ships and colonized northern Europe.  They even made it to parts of North America. 

The most well-known Viking is Erik Thorvaldsson, also known as Erik the Red.  This is the fella who settled Greenland.  He also has a funny little Tech Deck Dude named after him.

Erik's G1 figure has an axe and shield.  His G3 figure has only an axe.

They both have the horned helmets which we associate with vikings.  Despite how popular this concept is, archeologists tell us that Vikings did not have horned helmets at all.

Erik also has another figure in the Astro-Nots series.  Here he has a fancy futuristic looking axe and a space helmet with those darn horns on the outside of it.  The idea of this figure could possibly relate to this obscure science fiction novel of 1962, Space Viking.  But, I doubt it.  It seems more likely that the TDD designers were just on this weird kick of putting the dudes in helmets and then putting their defining features on the outside of the helmets.  This was a really dumb series.

039 Suzy

Suzy is one of 12 dudettes.  

All of the dudettes are from the G1 phase (meaning that none of them have arms).

Suzy is a cheerleader.  Her visual cue is her two long ponytails.  She was made in three versions.

Her favorite movie is Bring It On.  This movie is from 2000 and is about cheer-leading, I assume.

Just kidding, I love that movie and I watch it every day!

Now I am just lying.  The truth is, I know it is about cheer-leading, but I have never seen it.

Maybe one day I will watch it with the three Suzy sisters. 

040 Fred

Fred is the TDD cyborg.

A cyborg is a bio-mechanical organism:  Part man and part machine.   

His G1 figure came out in Crew 5.

He has a G2 figure that is basically the G1 figure with arms.  This one is exclusive to the Loop & Grind Race Set.

His G3 figure was re-interpreted to become a RoboCop parody.  This 1987 film is about a cop who gets shot up, then some scientists revive him with cybernetic limbs and enhanced strength.  He then goes out to "serve the public trust, protect the innocent, and uphold the law."  Chaos ensues.

RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3 were written by Frank Miller (see Leon and Mickey). 

The regular version of this figure is silvery blue.  Then there are versions in dark blue, red, green, and black.

I don't think the fact that Fred is holding a banana has anything to do with the movie.  The TDD designers just like to give their figures non-lethal weapons.  Sure there are some spears and knives and swords, but all the guns are like suction-cup darts.  I think there is this idea of a "banana gun" just because of a banana's shape.  There may also be some old urban myth about someone robbing a bank with a banana. Who knows.

Anyway, at least Fred always has something to lure those Minions away from their criminal acts.

041 Bull

Bull is the Native American.
 
His G1 figure has a beautiful feathered headdress like one a chieftain would wear. He also wears moccasins rather than modern shoes.

He returned in G3.  This time he has a single feather and a tomahawk accessory.  He reminds me of the "crying Indian" from the famous Keep America Beautiful 1971 ad campaign.  Turns out, this actor was not even a Native American -- he was Italian. 

But seriously, Bull looks just like Sitting Bull, the Lakota who led an uprising against the US government at the Battle of Little Bighorn (Montana) in 1886.  I am sure this is where Bull got his name.

Bull has a zood in the Re-Leashed series of 2008. His zood is named Lemon Pepper.  He is an oversized bison with red wings.  This is a pretty obvious spoof of the name of the popular energy drink Red Bull.

Lemon Pepper probably has an ordinary zood in z6 or z7.  I have not been able to identify all of the figures from these crews.  It is possible that Spin Master made up an entirely new zood for the Re-Leashed line, but it seems more likely that Lemon Pepper already existed.  All I know about the zoods can be found here. 

Bull also has a second G3 sculpt known as Aztec Bull.  This was a compliment to Aztec Cluckers and was originally released as part of the Last Dude Standing playset.  The designers must have really loved this figure.  They released him again in G4 as part of a series consisting of various historical warriors.  Before that, they also put him in the Zoods Crew 6.  Here Aztec Bull has a zood named Eclipse.  I call him a pet rock, but if you look closely, he is really fat little snake. He looks like a rock because he really is nothing more than a rock carving of a serpent.  He looks like he was taken straight from an Aztec temple.

By the way, the addition of two Aztec characters was likely due to the hype surrounding Mel Gibson's Apocalypto film of 2006. 

To summarize the Bull dudes and zoods:  Bull has a winged-bison named Lemon Pepper, and Aztec Bull has a rock-serpent named Eclipse.

042 Cosmo

Cosmo is the TDD astronaut (or cosmonaut).

The terms are synonymous.  Cosmonaut is just the Russian term for what Americans call an astronaut.

Cosmo has many versions, G1-G4.

He also has a derpy little alien zood named Melvin.   

I am not sure how the name originates.  But, the zood came out in 2005.  In the same year, the Disney movie version of  Chicken Little came out.  This movie features a little alien named Melvin.  The style of the alien is drastically different, but still worth a mention.

More likely, Melvin is just a take on Marvin the Martian.  This famous Warner Brothers characters goes back to 1948.  Marvin is always trying to destroy the Earth (because it disrupts his view of Venus), but is always outsmarted by Bugs Bunny.  Melvin doesn't look like Marvin, but the name is close enough to suggest that Tech Deck brand of humor. 

043 Scott

Scott is the football player.

When the figure came out in 2001, as part of Crew 7, his packaging called him Biff.

When the poster was released in 2002, his name was changed to Scott. This poster show the exact G1 image, now with a new name. Both trading card series and the Clash Cubes also call him Scott.  I have no idea why the name was changed.

While there are a few historic football players that have been nicknamed Biff, the character that we most associate with the name is Biff Tannen from the Back to the Future trilogy. There could even be a link to Back to the Future II where 2015 Biff goes back in time and gives the 1985 Biff a sports almanac so he could use the outcomes of games to make bets and get rich.  Surely some of those bets were on football games.

Still, I don't know why they decided to change the name, but I like to think that the name Scott was chosen as the replacement because Doc Brown in always saying "great Scott!" in the Back to the Future movies. 

Anyway, moving on. The G1 figure "holds" a football on his left side.  When he returned in G3, he didn't even get a football at all.  It's kind of weird that he has no football.  They also gave him a gripping right hand for some reason.  This is the kind of hand that would hold an accessory like a spear or a net or a baseball bat.  But, he was given no accessory at all -- not even a freaking football. 

Scott has a zood named T. Dee.  He is a pig. 

The name is a play on "TD" or "Touchdown."  The fact that he is a pig is a play on pigskin. This is a slang term for the football itself that came about because early footballs were once made of an inflated pig's bladder stuffed inside a pig's hide.  Today professional footballs are made from cowhide, and recreational balls are usually just plastic.

T. Dee even has stitching on his back giving him that football look.  The original little zood came out in 2005.  When Spin Master bought Tech Deck, they re-released  Scott and T. Dee as one of four figures in their Re-Leashed line.  This time T. Dee is a large pig who pulls Scott along on his skateboard. More info on all the zoods can be found here. 

044 Rasta

Rasta is the Rastafarian.  

A Rastafarian believes that Haile Selassie I, the King of Ethiopia from 1930-1974, was the second coming of Jesus Christ.  These Ethiopian Christians living in Jamaica also believe that Zion (Ethiopia) was land promised to them from Jah (God).  Apparently, many of them also think that they are immortal.

To the layman, the Rastafari are mostly known for their dreadlocks, their connection to reggae music, and their spiritual use of cannabis (aka weed, aka herb, aka reefer, aka ganja, aka sinsemilla).  An event where Rastafari gather to smoke ganja is called a "reasoning."  Reggae music arose from such Rastafari reasonings in the late 1960s.

Anyway, Rasta is the TDD stereotype of all of these things.  He has versions in G1, G2, G3, and G4.

He also has a zood named Zion.  He is a lion.  Zion the lion.  The lion is a symbolic animal to the Rastafari.  This comes from the Lion of Judah.  They believe that Haile Selassie I is the decedent of Judah through King Solomon and King David.

Rasta's little lion Zion even wears a crown.  Aww.   

045 Donnie

Donnie is a Zorro parody.

Zorro is a fictional character that dates back to the pulp magazines of the 1920s.  He is a masked vigilante who lived in California during the Mexican and/or Spanish rule.  He is a defender of the common man.  He is athletic, acrobatic, and skilled with a rapier (sword).  The character has appeared in over 40 films between 1920 and 2005.

Zorro is just the secret identity of the character named Don Diego de la Vega.  

So, that is how the TDD got named: "Don" became "Donnie."

Donnie was a relevant parody, at the time of his release because of the The Mask of Zorro (1998) and the sequel The Legend of Zorro (2005), both starring Antonio Banderas.

Donnie has a rapier, just like Zorro.  This is glued to his side in the G1 version and a separate accessory in the G3 version. Of course, they end up missing on both figures.

"Zorro" literally means "fox" in Spanish.  You would think that they would have given him a little fox  as a zood, but it never happened.  Oh well.  A bit of an oversight, in my opinion.  But what does the fox say?

I mean: ¿Qué dice el zorro? 

046 Willy

Willy is the TDD cyclops.

One-Eyed Willy.  Get it?

No?  Ask your parents.

Tales of cyclopes go back to ancient Greece and Rome.  Paleontologist believe that folks in those days found the skulls of prehistoric dwarf elephants.  The large nasal cavity (where the trunk used to be) was interpreted as a single eye socket.   Since they had no knowledge of modern elephants, they imagined this idea of giant cyclopes.

Yes, the plural of cyclops is cyclopes.

Willy has versions in G1 and G3.

I have found the G1 version with brown hair, blonde hair, green hair, and red hair.

The strangest thing about the G1 figure is that his feet are basically upside-down.  It is so weird.  His toenails are on the bottom of his feet.  Ralph and Booger have the same affliction. 

Willy's G3 version wears shoes.  I have found the G3 version with brown clothes, gray clothes, and purple clothes.

By the way, if you are looking for Wet Willy (the World Industries character), go here. 

047 Duke

Duke is the TDD cowboy. 

Actor John Wayne was nicknamed The Duke.  John Wayne was in over 250 movies from the 40s-70s, many of them Westerns.  He became an American icon, known for Western films like The Searchers, Rio Bravo, and True Grit. He died in 1979 of stomach cancer.

In just two movies he says the word "pilgrim," as in "take'er easy there, pilgrim." In the 50s and 60s it was a sort of meme to use this word when doing your best John Wayne impression.  It has stuck to this day.

I bring it up because Duke has a zood named Pilgrim.  He is a rocking horse.

Duke has an iteration in all Tech Deck generation.  He is one of the most thoroughly represented dudes.

In addition to G1-G4, he is in the Astro-Nots series as a "space cowboy," plus the Trick Dudes series, doing the "Kick-Flip" trick.

048 Henry

Henry is the Medieval knight. 

He has G1 and G3 versions.

He has a zood named Connery.  

Connery is a small European dragon. (Feng Long has a pet Chinese dragon.)  

Sean Connery played King Arthur in the 1995 film First Knight.  

The real-life King Henry VIII was such a fan of the Arthurian legend that he had the Winchester Round Table made depicting himself in the seat of King Arthur.  This was in 1522. 

So, the TDD name probably comes from King Henry VIII.  The "Knights of the Round Table" tale dates back to 1155.  None of the knights were named Henry.  They probably should have gone with Hector as the TDD name.  Sir Hector was a real knight.

049 Mort

Mort is a robot.

His G1 figure came out in Crew 13.  This is a manga-inspired design, very similar to Gundam SD.  Two versions of this sculpt exist.

His G3 figure became a Transformers parody.  Specifically he is a Megatron parody.  He is grayish blue and white with a big purple M on his bucket helmet.  I only know of one variant of this sculpt.  It pretty much looks the same, but has metallic paint.

Mort has a zood named Blazer.   He is a robot bat.  This makes him a parody of Ratbat.  He was one of several cassette tapes that Soundwave could deploy to gather information on the Autobots. These characters are among some of the original Transformers from the mid-1980s.

050 Minga

Minga is a robot.

His G1 figure came out in Crew 15.  This was the very last G1 Crew.  Only one version of this figure exists.  Like Manga and Mort, Minga's G1 figure is a nod to the Japanese Gundam franchise.

His G3 figure became a Transformers parody.  One version looks like Optimus Prime.  One version is red and orange and seems like a nod to Inferno (or maybe Rodimus).

In the Re-Leashed line, the red-and-orange Minga took a version of Manga's original zood Click.  He is a gigantic "mouse" (as in a computer mouse).  He is one of four oversized zoods, designed as pull-back-racers which can drag the dudes.  He is large and blue, whereas the original Click was small and white.

051 Manga

Manga is a robot.

The G1 figure came out in Crew 4.  He resembles some sort of Japanese manga-style robot (or mech), particularly those from the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise called Gundam SD.

In Japan, manga refers to a simplified style of drawing or cartooning.  In the US, manga refers to any comic coming from Japan.

In G3, Manga became a Transformers parody.  In one version, he is specifically an Optimus Prime parody.  A second version is black, gold, and red.  This version is probably a nod to Grimlock.  A third version is green and purple.  He resembles Devastator.

In the Zoods Crew 2, the green-and-purple version came with a zood named Click.  He is a mouse.  A computer mouse. The trackball design of a hand-controlled pointing device -- the hardware that we call a mouse -- goes back to 1965.  

For some reason, when Spin Master "Re-Leashed" four of the zoods, they gave Click to Minga instead of Manga.