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.