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.