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.

052 Ronin

Ronin is the TDD samurai.  

The term "rōnin" was a specific term for a samurai who had lost his master.  Basically if a master was killed -- according to the Code of the Samurai -- the samurai without a master was supposed to kill himself.  However, sometimes they did not. These former samurai were unemployable and homeless, often living as criminals, thieves, and mercenaries.  Rōnin was a derogatory term for these fallen samurai. 

Today, the term is still used as a slur against a drifter or vagrant. 

Ronin's G1 figure has the classic Medieval Japanese samurai look.  He is wearing the ō-yoroi armor which includes the kabuto helmet. This is a 10th century look.

His G3 figure took on a look more like the Edo period.  This "shogun" attire represents something like the 16th century, as reflected in many popular films.

Rōnin are often depicted in the jidaigeki (Japanese historical dramas) of Akira Kurosawa, in particular Yojimbo, and Seven Samurai.

053 Brad

Brad is the TDD kaiju.  

Kaiju is the Japanese term for an enormous creature that shows up and destroys mankind's cities.  It literally means "strange beast."  The term daikaiju is sometimes used to specifically denote the giant monsters.

Wreaking havok since 1954, the most popular kaiju of all time is Godzilla.

Like many Japanese kaiju toys, Brad has been released in multiple colorful varieties.

His "evolution" is pretty straightforward.  The G2 figure is the G1 figure with arms, and the G3 figure is the G2 figure with arms that bend.

Then they made another G3 figure in the Astro-Nots series.  Man, the design of this figure is dumb. They took one of the coolest characters and made one of the worst figures.  First, this is the series with additional magnets in the hands and on the backs -- a detail that is just silly and unwanted.  Second, they put Brad in clothes.  Why?  Third, they took away his fire-breathing flame. Why?  Fourth, they put the spikes (that are supposed to be on his head) on the outside of his helmet.  It makes no sense.  Not only is the oversized helmet a ridiculous accessory to begin with, it just looks absurd when on the figure, hiding his facial features.  Of course, the figure also looks stupid without it because now he has no spikes on his head (and no fire-breathing flame).  All of these accessory packs suck for the same basic reasons.

If that wasn't bad enough, Spin Master re-released this version of Brad in the G4 phase.  This time, they did not even bother to include the helmet at all.  So you get Brad wearing human clothes (and gloves) with no spikes and no fire.  Man, did they ever neuter Brad. You can identify this figure from the G3 version because it does not have any of the magnets. What a horrible design.  I wish they had just re-released the regular version of Brad -- which is an awesome figure.

Also, it seems that Brad was probably originally going to be called Dudezilla.  In the second trading card series, there is a "Monster Mash" card with Brad and Frank N. Finger.  Here is the text on the card:

Can anything save Dudeville from these rampaging monsters? Will it be destroyed?  No, silly, this is just a movie set.  Look for "Dudezilla Returns" this summer in theaters.  

Ah, I see. Dudezilla is just a movie character played by actor Brad.  He is always being type-cast as a villain.  Poor Brad. 

054 Arnie

Arnie was a bodybuilder who became the Governator. 

His G1 figure was a Crew 14 dude.  He is lifting a "1,000 lb" dumbbell with his right foot because, hey, he has no freaking arms!

There seems to be exactly one version of this figure.

Arnie is short for Arnold.  Let me go ahead and say that the name comes from Arnold Schwarzenegger:  The Austrian bodybuilder, turned world-class actor, turned politician.  He was the two-term governor of California from 2003-2011. 

Because of his role as the cyborg assassin in the 1984 blockbuster The Terminator, there was all this hype and publicity during his campaign calling him "the Governator." I guess people probably used this nickname throughout his two terms.   

So when Arnie made his TDD return in 2004, he became an obvious Governator spoof.  He is part politician with his three-piece suit, his "Vote" button, and his thumbs-up.  However, the skin on his left hand and the left side of his face is melting off to reveal that famous cyborg assassin from the future.

There are four versions of this sculpt: Blond, brunette, brunette with red cybernetics, and black hair with gray skin and copper cybernetics.

The regular brunette (brown hair) version is the most common, by far.

Arnie also has a zood named Freedom.  He is a little bald eagle.  Awww.

It is the blond version that came with the zood.  This version reminds me of Donald Trump -- maybe like a Terminator Trump.  A Trumpinator.  "I've come from the future -- to make America great again!"

055 Jack

Jack is a jack-o-lantern dude.

Carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns as Halloween decorations goes back to the 1830s.  The Headless Horseman (often depicted with a jack-o-lantern for a head) from the Washington Irving story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," goes back to the 1820s.

The G1 Jack has no arms (of course) and a little cape giving him that Headless Horseman vibe.

The G2 Jack is basically the G1 mold (with the feet leveled off), now with thin arms like those of a scarecrow (he still has no hands).  This version was available in blue, green, and purple.

The first G3 figure is the exact G2 figure, but he now has wires in the arms so they can be bent and posed.  This figure is gray and was available with the 2004 PC Game Bare Knuckle Grind: FreakTown. 

A second G3 figure was completely redesigned.  Jack now wears a striped sweater, no cape, and has a crow on his left shoulder.  His head has a built-in peg that makes it intentionally removable.  He can also hold his own head in one of his hands.  (Oh yeah, he now has hands.)  In addition to the color of the stripes on the sweater, the pumpkin-head color varies with this sculpt.  The head comes in orange, white, and black mottled with red. 

This version of Jack was given a zood.  In addition to the crow that is part of his mold, they gave him another crow.  His name is Brandon.  The name comes from Brandon Lee, who starred in the 1994 film, The Crow.  Brandon Lee actually died while filming this movie.  He was accidentally shot with a gun intended to be used as a prop.  Brandon was 28.  The film was still released and has become a cult classic.

A G4 Jack uses the G3 mold, but now has the copyright of Tech Deck's new owner, Spin Master. Plus now there are no magnets involved.  His sweater has a very distinct paint job reminiscent of another movie icon.  The red and green stripes now make him a bit of a Freddy Kruger homage.  Of course, Freddy is the dream-demon from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.  This Wes Craven slasher series goes back to 1984 and features nine movies (plus a TV show).

A second G4 figure uses the same Freddy-inspired design (minus the crow on his shoulder) and is part of the kinetic Trick Dudes. The eight characters in this series are made of hard plastic, come attached to their boards, and do silly "tricks." Jack does a trick called the "360 Shov-It."

As you can see, Jack is one of the most thoroughly represented dudes. He has been produced within all the generations.  One weird thing is that in the second series of trading cards, he is still drawn as his G1 figure.  The second series of cards came out in 2004 when TDD was well into their third generation of figures -- ones with bendable arms.  Jack had already been released a couple times as a figure with arms at this point, so not updating his artwork for the card series is just pure sloppiness.

056 John

John is a Rambo parody.

Rambo is a film franchise staring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo.  There have been four films total. The first film came out in 1982.  John Rambo is a veteran of the Vietnam War.  His character is known for his expertise with weapons and combat.  He is also known for his recklessness, toughness, and violent behavior.

John, the TDD, even wears a bandana (just like John Rambo in the movies).

For the G3 figure, they doubled-down with the Rambo references and gave him a bow and arrow (just like Rambo III).  Both the bow and the suction-cup arrow are separate detachable accessories. This means they are almost never present with his figure.  Contrast this with the G4 figure, Archerveld, who's bow and arrow are part of the figure mold rather than separate accessories. 

057 Roger

Roger is a green beret. 

Here is a wikipedia nugget: 

"The United States Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service and headgear, are a special operations force tasked with five primary missions: unconventional warfare (the original and most important mission of Special Forces), foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter-terrorism."

More than any other military outfit, the Green Berets appear in pop culture -- often because of the rogue or covert nature of the characters and their operations.   Roger could essentially relate to any of these properties: G.I. Joe, The A-Team, Rambo, Predator, Lethal Weapon, plus a bunch of Steven Segal flicks.

Of particular interest is the G.I. Joe franchise, since they are an analog of Green Berets and several key characters wear actual berets (including Flint and Lt. Falcon).

The TDD name Roger comes from the military voice procedure meaning: "I have received all of the last transmission."

Unfortunately Roger was not popular enough to ever move past the G1 phase of figures.

Roger that. 

058 Rick

Rick is the TDD scuba diver.

He has various figures in the first, third, and fourth generations.

He has one of the worst designs because his scuba gear completely covers his face.  You cannot see the eyes and mouth that give the dudes their distinctive look.  You can't see any eyes or facial details at all, which makes him super boring.  

Rick has a zood named Nailz.  He is a shark.  I guess the name just has to do with his teeth.

There was once a WWE wrestler named Nailz (Kevin Wacholz), but I don't think this TDD has anything to do with him. 

059 Natalie

Natalie is the TDD nurse. 

She is one of 12 dudettes.  All dudettes came out in 2002 in the original (armless) phase.

Her bio says that her hobby is "mouth-to-mouth."

Um... gross.

060 Reginald

Reginald is a punk rocker.

His figure exists only in the G1 (armless) phase.  He is one of two G1 punks with spiked hair.  The other is Eddie.  Reginald has more hair than Eddie, and it is spiked higher.  He also has "Oi!" written on his shirt.  "Oi!" is a punk expression and also a British punk rock subgenre.  It usually relates to early UK punk bands like The Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols. 
 
When Eddie was redesigned in the G2 and G3 phases, he was given hair that looks like Reginald's original hair.  Reginald, by name, was never re-released.  Basically the G2/G3 Eddie looks more like the "evolution" of Reginald than Eddie.  It looks like X-Concepts had a little mix up.  Just sayin'.

Anyway, I don't think the name relates to anyone in particular.  However, it might be interesting to point out a few dudes named Reginald who became entertainers (and picked much better names for themselves).

--Elton John's real name is Reginald Kenneth Dwight.
--Fieldy, the bassist for Korn, is named Reginald Arvizu.
--The rapper we know as Redman is known to his mama as Reginald Noble.

There is also the Kansas City alternative rock band called Reggie and the Full Effect.  This is the pet project of James Dewees, the keyboardist for The Get Up Kids, in addition to a bunch of other bands. 

061 Ace

Ace is the TDD fighter pilot.

His G1 figure has the likeness of the Red Baron or some other WWI pilot.  The Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen) was a celebrated German pilot who had the most kills of any WWI pilot.  He killed 80 people and was an "ace-of-aces."

An "ace" is an actual military term defined as someone who has shot down five or more enemy aircraft.

Ace has a G2 figure which is the G1 mold, now with static arms.  They are outstretched as if he is pretending to fly.  You know, like you did when you were a kid.

He was redesigned for G3, now appearing as a modern fighter pilot with helmet and G-suit.  In this regard, you may consider him a Top Gun parody if you want. This famous Tom Cruise movie is about the drama of becoming a fighter pilot in 1986.

062 Syd

Syd is another punk rocker.

In the G1 (armless) phase, there were four punks:  Lenny, Eddie, Reginald, and Syd.

Lenny and Syd are the two with mohawks.  Lenny has the spiked mohawk and Syd has the backcombed mohawk (called a "deathhawk").  Syd also sometimes has a shirt with the union jack on it.  The union jack is the national flag of the United Kingdom.  Not all variants of Syd have the flag on his shirt.

Syd was an early entry into the G3 phase.  The first bendy arm figures came out in the Blastboards series of 2004.

His name (and the union jack shirt) seems to reference Sid Vicious, the bassist of the UK punk band The Sex Pistols.  However, neither Sid Vicious nor anyone else in The Sex Pistols ever rocked a mohawk.

In fact, it is the dude called Reginald who actually looks more like Sid Vicious.  Plus, his red-haired variant even reminds me of Johnny Rotten. 

063 Spin

Spin was a disco dude who became a pimp.

In G1, he was an armless white dude wearing an afro and sunglasses.

Spin was among the first 12 dudes ever released, way back in 2000.  Remember that the numbering system was not created until Crew 10.  When the numbers were applied retroactively, Spin was the Crew 1 figure arbitrarily given the highest number.  This fact has no relevance to anything, but if you would like to know more about the G1 Crews and numbering, read this article.

In G3, he returned as a pimp with a fancy hat, pimp ring, and a pimp cane.  

Okay, so maybe he isn't a real pimp, but a dude dressed as a pimp for Halloween. 

Besides, Jimmy is the real pimp.  

064 Helen

Helen is one of 12 dudette figures.  All dudettes were from the G1 era and are armless. 

Having come out in 2002, Helen is a Xena parody.

Xena: Warrior Princess was a TV show that aired from 1995-2001.  This show was actually a spin-off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.  Xena was portrayed by actress Lucy Lawless.

The show featured a mix of Greek, Roman, and other mythological characters, including the race of Amazons. In this regard, Helen could also be considered a Wonder Woman parody.  This DC Comics character is an Amazon princess and superhero.  Notice that Helen has a lasso at her side (a reference to Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth).

Helen was probably named after Helen of Troy.  In Greek mythology, Helen was considered the most beautiful woman in the world.  It was her abduction that brought about the Trojan War.

Other related dudes:
Willy -- the cyclops
Rex -- the Roman gladiator
Art -- Kratos (God of War) parody
Leon -- the Spartan (or King Leonidas parody)

065 Pierce

Pierce is basically a Pinhead parody.

Hellraiser is a 1987 horror film by Clive Barker.  The main antagonist, Pinhead, is a supernatural being summoned from an extraterrestrial realm.  He is articulate and intelligent, unlike other contemporary horror icons that are either silent (like Jason Voorhees) or wisecracks (like Freddy Kruger). Nine films are currently in the Hellraiser franchise.

Pinhead's design was inspired by the fashion associated with the industrial music scene of the late 1980s.  A person involved with the industrial scene is sometimes called a rivethead.  The aesthetic includes para-military attire, dark colors, fetishwear, and of course, lots of piercings. Pierce fits right in with this subculture.

Ultimately, Pierce gels with both the contemporary horror parody dudes, as well as, those representing various musical genres.  It is also worth noting that Craig Jones, who plays synths for the band Slipknot, also wears a Pinhead-inspired mask.  Slipknot was massively popular when Pierce first hit the market in 2002. In the 2004 PC Game Bare Knuckle Grind, it is revealed that Pierce speaks with a strong German accent. This suggests another link -- this time to the German industrial-metal band Rammstein -- also very popular in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Anyway, Pierce was issued in G1 and G2 phases.  He was re-designed and re-issued in G3 only in the accessory-rich Scuba Squad series.  Here he has a magnetic hand and a magnetic back for his various gear. 

066 Sludge

Sludge is the TDD metalhead.

He likes to rock out with his tongue out.  His G1 figure is this head-bangin' dude with brightly colored long hair and stompin' boots that look like dragons. 

His G2 figure is the same mold, now with static arms.  With both of his new hands, he is giving the hand gesture known as the "sign of the horns."  This hand gesture was popularized by artists such as Gene Simmons (Kiss) and Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath).  It has remained a popular gesture of the heavy metal scene to this day. 

The TDD website long ago revealed that Sludge had a G3 redesign.  Unfortunately, it was never produced as a figure.  This design is an obvious homage to Gene Simmons, the lead singer of the band Kiss.  This would have been a really cool parody figure, but I am guessing Tech Deck did not want to risk a lawsuit.  Pfft.  Oh well.

Besides a couple of the dudettes and Sludge here, all of the other images of dudes on the website were actually made into figures.  The website featured bios and images up to TDD #114 (Thunder), suggesting that updates ceased at some point in 2005. The website remained visible until 2015, but no bios were ever added for figures #115-164 in that entire 10 year period. 

067 Laverne

Laverne is one of twelve dudettes. 

All dudettes came out in 2002.  None of them have arms.

In release order, Laverne and Laura (#69) were the first dudettes to hit the market.  They both arrived in Crew 8.  Andie (#3), did not arrive until Crew 10.  Although this was all in the same year, I have to imagine that Laverne hit the shelves first. Remember that the first 60 (or so) figures were not released in numerical order.

Anyway, Laverne is a "greenskeeper" and her hobby is "curling."

All I know is that she is the dudette with the strange vertical ponytail.  I have found her in three different version.  I dig that they changed her hair color and not just her clothing color.

I thought she might have been named after the city of La Verne -- a suburb of Los Angeles.  At first, I thought that X-Concepts was based out of a Los Angeles suburb as well.  But Escondido is actually closer to San Diego, 90 miles south of La Verne.

I also thought maybe "la verne" meant something cool in Spanish.  Maybe something to do with being green or gardening?  But all I can find is that "verne" is actually a French grape used in wine-making.

Laverne is probably just another name with no cool link to pop culture.  Maybe one of the TDD designers named the figure after his mother?  Who knows.

Along with Barbie (#88), Laverne was the only other dudette to show up on the TDD website with a significant redesign.  However, this design was never produced as a figure.  None of the dudettes ever moved forward into the G2 phase with the newly added arms.  This image is only an indication of what could have been.  My guess is that the dudettes were simply deemed not popular enough to warrant ever being produced again. Oh well. 

068 Frank

Frank (aka Frank N. Finger) is the TDD representation of Frankenstein's Monster.  

Mary Shelly's novel Frankenstein was published in 1818.  Since then, the monster has become one of the most recognized horror archetypes all over the world.  The most popular portrayal comes from the 1931 film Frankenstein, where the monster is portrayed by actor Boris Karloff.  This is where we get the lasting image of the visible stitches, the protruding flat-topped head, and of course, the neck-bolts.  (Karloff is also the name of the zood cat of Phinger Tut.)

Frank N. Finger began his life in 2002 as part of Crew 7.  This G1 figure has five versions.

There was no G2 release. The redesigned G3 figure isn't that much different, except, you know, he now has bendable arms.  Three version of this figure exist.

Then there was another G3 sculpt that came in the accessory-laden Special-Ops series.  This one has the ridiculous feature of having his neck-bolts on the outside of his army helmet accessory.  So basically, when you look at this figure without the helmet, he has lost his most defining feature.  When you look at it with the helmet, it still looks odd because the helmet is too big, does not fit right, and seems entirely out of place.  The overall design is a real "lose-lose" rendition.

Finally, we have to mention that Frank has a zood named Wilder.  He is a dog stitched together from parts of a dalmatian and some sort of blue dog. He has neck-bolts just like Frank.
The name Wilder comes from actor Gene Wilder, star of the 1974 horror parody film Young Frankenstein.

Other Dude parodies of famous monsters:

The Mummy (Phinger Tut)
The Vampire (Simon)
The Creature (Sturgeon)
The Werewolf (Stuart)
The Zombie (Adam)

069 Laura

Laura is a Lara Croft parody dudette.

All twelve dudettes came out in 2002 during the G1 phase of TDD.

Lara Croft is the heroine of the Tomb Raider series of action-adventure video games that began in 1996.  She is an explorer, an archeologist, and a legendary treasure hunter. 

In 2001 a live action movie was made of the franchise, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.  In 2003, a sequel was made.  Lara Croft is played by Angelina Jolie in both films.

Since this figure came out in 2002 -- right between the two movies -- Laura was a great parody of something current and relevant at the time of its release.

070 Yoko

Yoko is one of the twelve dudettes.

She wears a Japanese kimono and has chopsticks in her hair.

There are three versions of this figure: Red, green, and neon green.

The neon green was part of the Hot Feet series.  The only other dudette to get the Hot Feet treatment was Andie.  The two shades of green Yoko might be hard to distinguish, especially if you are just looking at one without the other next to it.  However, you can always tell the Hot Yoko by her bright pink chopsticks.   

Yoko is a popular Japanese female name.  The most popular person with this name (at least in the US) is Yoko Ono, the widow of musician John Lennon.

I thought for a minute that the inspiration for this figure might be the fictional character Yoko Littner -- the warrior woman from the anime Gurren Lagann.  After all, this character even wears chopsticks in her hair.  However, this show did not start until 2007, and the TDD figure came out in 2002.

Maybe Yoko is a reference to some other famous fictional Japanese woman warrior?

071 Eddie

Eddie is another punk.

His occupation is as a "preschool teacher" and his hobby is "playing connect the dots." 

His G1 figure was a pretty generic dude with spiked hair.  There are three versions of this figure. 

Eddie is unusual because he has two G2 figures.  The first is basically the G1 mold, now with static arms.  This figure was exclusive to one of the RC boards. 

His second G2 figure gave him a brand new design.  He now has stylishly spiked hair, a pinstriped suit, a spiked bracelet, a skull ring, and a pierced tongue.  This figure has static arms and he is definitely giving the "two-fingered salute" which is the UK equivalent of the US "one-finger salute."  (You know, that middle-finger gesture of defiance and contempt.)

Stylistically, this figure seems like the "evolution" of Reginald.  In fact, I think it should have been released as Reginald's G2 figure instead of Eddie's.  First of all, it just looks more like him.  Reginald is the punk with the high-spiked hair.  Second, the "two finger salute" shows that he is British, just as Reginald's G1 figure had "Oi!" written on his shirt.  Seems like a logical update. Third, Eddie already had a freakin' G2 figure!

Anyway, regardless, Eddie's G3 figure is the same as this G2 figure -- now with bendable arms and without the rude gesture. There are many versions of this figure since it was part of the first Zoods Crew, which had so many variants.  One variant has blue skin and silver hair.  Weird.

The final variant (G4 Street Crew) gives a definite nod toward DC Comic's Joker as he has green hair and a purple accented suit.  (Interestingly, Simon already had a Joker variant.)

Eddie's zood is a wild pig.  Perhaps you could call it a warthog or a razorback.  His name is Butch.

Although I can't think of any particular reason why the dude was named Eddie back in 2001, I can think of one possible reason they named his zood Butch in 2005.  Eddie Munster, the werewolf child from the popular 1960s show The Munsters was played by actor Butch Patrick.

Does this have any relationship to TDD?  Who knows.  I don't even know why they gave Eddie a razorback as a pet.  But I do know they probably didn't want to name him "Tusk," as that is the name of the razorback mascot for the University of Arkansas.

I should also mention that the name Eddie was reused as the name of the griffin zood of Theodore. This is the only time that Tech Deck gave a zood the same name as an existing dude.  Doh!

072 Larry

Larry is the TDD basketball player.

His G1 figure has the basketball at his left side.  His G3 figure has it in his right hand.  Both figures are bald.

The G1 figure has the number "01" on his shirt.  The G3 figure says "Dudes."

We can assume that the name comes from the basketball legend Larry Bird, though the figure is not really a parody.  For one thing, Larry Bird is not bald. For another, he always had the jersey number 33.

Since the numbering system was well established by the time Larry came out in Crew 14, I kind of wish they had written his figure number 72 on his jersey.  Oh well.  Probably some bald baller with the number 72 would claim that the TDD was made to be him and demand some toy royalties. Toyalties?

073 Chuy

Chuy is a Hispanic TDD.

His G1 figure has slicked-back black hair and a small soul-patch.

His G3 figure wears Locs-style sunglasses, has a mustache, plus an arm tattoo.  His occupation is as a "hydraulics specialist" and his hobby is "low rider scooters."  On the retail packaging, it says that his favorite phrase is "Who you trying to get crazy with, ese?"

This is a line from the Cypress Hill song "Insane in the Brain," which was a huge hit in 1993.

This basically makes Chuy a parody of Senen Reyes, better known as Sen Dog, the Cuban-American rapper in Cypress Hill.  

074 Crystal

Crystal is one of twelve dudettes.

The dudettes were only issued in 2002 during the G1 (armless) phase.  No dudettes were ever reissued with arms (nor were any new dudettes ever added in the later years).

Crystal is a brunette b-girl with two tiny pigtails. Her occupation is as a fashion designer, and her hobby is "flirting." She has a mole above the left side of her lips.  Women tend to call a mole in this place a "beauty mark." She is the only dudette with such a facial mole.  This puts her in the Guacamole Club with Marilyn Monroe and Cindy Crawford.

Possibly this mark is intended to just be a piercing (known as a "Monroe piercing").  Her name is Crystal, after all.  So maybe it is just supposed to be a gemstone and not a birthmark.  Who knows. 

075 Fuse

Fuse is the TDD DJ.

His G1 figure is a rather generic dude in headphones.

Late in G1, X-Concepts threw us some real Tech Deck Duds.  The worst were LA Rock and Fuse.  Honestly, it seems like the designers were running out of ideas.  (Plus, I am sure they were confronted with the limitations of having no arms.)  I mean, how can you really design a DJ who can't even hold a record?  Anyway, by Crew 15, I bet they couldn't wait to put arms on their figures and start fresh with some new ideas. 

Well, in G3, instead of a fresh idea, they decided to throw out two Fuse sculpts that really aren't that different from one another.

For the first, they glued a record into his right hand.  Okay.  For the second, they put a removable record accessory in his left hand.  Woo-hoo.  I mean, yes the sculpts are a bit different, but both are boring as heck.  Fuse is still just a dude in headphones.  And since the second record was not glued in (like the first design), it always gets lost.

In all, Fuse has a gluttony of nine variants.  That's at least eight too many.

Moving on. 

There is no real-life DJ of significance who goes by "DJ Fuse."  However, the DJ for the Digital Underground has been "DJ Fuze" since 1990.

There is also a prolific house DJ who goes by D:Fuse.

Just thought you'd like to know.

076 Candie

Candie is one of twelve dudettes.

All the dudettes were released in 2002 during the G1 phase.

Therefore, none of them have arms.

Anyway, Candie is a "dancer."  Her visual cue is her afro-puffs.

I don't know anyone who has ever rocked this hairstyle quite like the rapper Robin Yvette Allen, better known as The Lady of Rage.  In 1994 she even had a bit of a hit with a song explicitly about the hairstyle, "Afro Puffs," featuring Snoop Dogg.