TDD Skate Crew

The Skate Crew was a series of TDD that featured mascots and derivative characters from actual skateboard companies (Blind, Pig, Toy Machine, and World Industries).  While under the "Tech Deck Dude" brand, they were not part of the numbering system. 

There are 53 unique figures in the collection.
There would be 54, but the same Reaper came out in both Series 1 and Series 5.

Series 1 (2001)

Series 2 (2002)
This is the Reaper doing the "shhhh" gesture. 
Stuntman is not on a bike.
Mixmaster is holding a Walkman.  

Series 3 (2002)

Series 4 (2002)

Series 5 (2003)
I found images of all 11 unique figures from Series 5 before I ever found a checklist.  I never could determine if there was a 12th figure.  Turns out it is just the exact same Reaper from Series 1.   Here are the images that I collected: 

Here are some boxed prototypes from Series 5 that someone sold on eBay, finally confirming who was in this series. There is that Reaper again from Series 1.

Funny that Series 5 was another set of 12 (like Series 1).

Series 6 (2004)
Probably the hardest figures to find. 

Series 7 (2008)
This series is not labeled Series 7, but I am calling it that.
These were released by Spin Master (not X-Concepts).
They do not have magnetic feet and were sold only at Target stores.

There were at least twelve 3-packs also issued.  The figures in the 3-packs are slight variants compared to the single packs.  For example, a small paint detail might be brown instead of black.

Re-releases (2009)
These 6 figures were re-released by Spin Master.
They do not have magnets and were sold only at Target stores.
There are also some slight color variations.
Heavy Metal Flameboy now has a red (not black) guitar. 

Here is a breakdown by company:

Pig -- 4 figures (Bunny, Penguin, Pig, Count)

Toy Machine -- 4 figures (4 versions of Turtle Boy)

Blind -- 12 figures (Reaper 1, Reaper 2, Gravedigger, Thugsta, Slingshot, Shocka, Clubber, Stuntman 1, Stuntman 2, Mixmaster, Munchies, Jive James)

World Industries (Devil Man) -- 4 figures (Devil Man 1, Devil Man 2, Cool Devil, Recruiter)

World Industries (Wet Willy) -- 10 figures (Wet Willy, Big Willy, Bruce Will-lee, Super Shooter, Tiger Willy, Fireman, Tag Team, Terminator, Got Milk, Caveman)

World Industries (Flameboy) -- 19 figures (Flameboy, Mullet Boy, Foolio, Heavy Metal, Full Metal, Swamp Thing, Trooper, Chopper, Lite Weight, Chad, Monkeyboy, Mad Scientist, Superfly, Hangman, Tag Team, Skullboy, Savage, Pirate, Street Fight)

Total unique sculpts: 53.

One more thing.  These are not by Tech Deck.  Toy Machine independently released these three figures in 2000.  I suspect they are the size of TDD, or maybe a bit larger.  They tend to go for $20+ each, which is too much for me.  Maybe some day I will find them randomly.  That would be cool.  I really like the guy known as Transistor Sect.



Oh yeah.  Then there is this.  This is the Screaming Hand figure based on the classic Santa Cruz skateboard designed by Jim Phillips.  Though not a Dude, it is by Tech Deck (Spin Master) and came out in 2009.  It goes for about $60 and up.   I'm trying to find one cheaper.

TDD Video Games

In 2004, Tech Deck teamed up with Criterion Software to make these four CD-ROM games called Bare Knuckle Grind.  First of all, I have never played these games.  According to reviews, they are awful.

The point of this post is to show you the figures that came with the games.  I am pretty sure that none of these figures are exclusive to the game packs.  In fact, these eight G3 figures are among the most common out there. It just seems like they are in every used lot that I come across. They are definitely the most common color-variants for each Dude. This suggests that the PC games were mass produced and were probably available for super cheap at a store like Big Lots. It is also worth mentioning that the paint quality on these eight figures differs from what you usually find on TDD.  The paint has a perpetual stickiness to it that just attracts grime like you would not believe.  This also makes these 8 figures some of the filthiest that you ever will find when buying used Dudes.

DownTown -- Rap Masta and Dr. Digit



FreakTown -- Norman and Jack



SpaceTown -- Tek and Rozz



FarEastTown -- Nick and Brad

Here is the promotional copy used for the Bare Knuckle Grind PC Games:

"The Tech Deck Dudes now have their own towns filled with adventure and extreme sports fun! Explore them all by playing a popular Dude character that can pull off sick skate tricks and take on wild challenges! Simply choose a character and a town and let the fun begin! By approaching other Dudes and taking their challenge, you can explore, fight robots, collect trading cards, smash stuff, and do tons of skate tricks!"

Also, right at the start of the Tech Deck mania, there was a Game Boy video game made.  This did not come with a figure, but I will mention it here anyway. This came out in 2001 by Activision and Nintendo.



Here is the promotional copy for the Game Boy game:

"The Tech Deck phenomenon, in which you use your thumb to steer a miniature skateboard over obstacles, has been brought to the portable market courtesy of Activision. You assume the role of the Finger Guy, a thumb with a face and a desire to catch big air and perform crazy tricks.

The goal of Tech Deck Skateboarding is to collect 50 different Tech Deck boards scattered around ten different skateparks. Parks are filled with giant obstacles from the real world, such as baseballs, shoestrings, and other objects you'd expect to find in a miniature universe."

TDD Zoods

The Zoods are the pets of the Dudes.

The name is a portmanteau of the word "zoo" plus the word "dudes."

Zoo + dudes = Zoods.

The boards for the Zoods Crews are longer than usual.  This is so both the dude and the zood can ride together.  Series 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 all had red boards.  Series 2 had blue boards. 

Series 1
1. Rozz & #10566
2. J-Dub & Mitch
3. Eddie & Butch
4. Mikey & Petro
5. Tré & DJ
6. Simon & Azrael
7. Cluckers & Benedict
8. Snake & Spitz
9. Shik & Mr. Del
10. Woody & Roscoe
11. Rod & Banx
12. Phinger Tut & Karloff

The first series had twelve figures.  They made another three variants for each of the twelve dudes and zoods. These were available in special 2-packs that also came with Clash Cubes. This means every Series 1 zood has four different versions.  This was the only Zoods Crew that has variants.


Series 1 Variants

Series 2
13. Manga & Click
14. Henry & Connery
15. Turbo & Boogaloo
16. Cosmo & Melvin
17. Sergei & Boris
18. Frank & Wilder
19. Ralph & Ox
20. Scott & T.Dee
21. Rick & Nailz
22. Jack & Brandon
23. Bonz & Fluffy
24. Rasta & Zion

Series 3
25. Arnie & Freedom
26. Jimmy & Vinny
27. Tiki & Skippy
28. Hunter & Gonze
29. Lazlo & Burly
30. Dakota & Hogan
31. Splinter & Klaus
32. Slam & Don
33. Feng Long & Fang
34. Rex & Brutus
35. Homer & Arby-I
36. Hadoo & Ken

Series 4 
37. Adam & Andy
38. Bernie & Filch
39. Hadder & Cheddar
40. Mort & Blazer
41. Petey & Ravage
42. Theodore & Eddie

Series now feature six figures instead of twelve.
Also, the Zoods no longer have embedded magnets.

Series 5
43. Art & Aries
44. Campbell & Jerry
45. Duke & Pilgrim
46. Fu Man & Ping
47. Thunder & Venom
48. Zobo & Zeppelin

Series 6 and Series 7

I cannot find images or information for all figures. 
If you can help out, drop me an email at steverotters@gmail.com

Series 6
49. Aztec Bull & Eclipse (a pet rock serpent)
50. Chito & Kixx (a rabbit)
51. Grillz & Fresh (a skunk)
52. Neal & Brady (another dog) 
53. Booger & Fuzz-E (a green rat)
54. ???

Series 7
55. Lump & Gamma (a green sting ray)
56. Baumer & Morty (a hawk)
57. Uzie & Romeo (a soccer ball armadillo) -- need an image
58. Sven & Damone (a seal on a boogie-board) -- need an image
59. Draco & ??? (a teddy bear with wings) -- need an image.  I don't know his name. 
60. ???

In 2009 Spin Master temporarily revived the idea of the zoods in the Releashed series. Unfortunately, there were only these four packs. As you can see, the zoods are larger figures featuring the toy gimmick that we call "pull-back racers." The additional gimmick is that the zood can drag the Dude along on his skateboard by holding a string attached to the zood. 

It appears that there are two old zoods and two new. 

1. Nick and Stera
2. Scott and T. Dee
3. Minga and Click*
4. Bull and Lemon Pepper**

*In the original Zoods Crew 2, Click is the zood of Manga, not Minga. 

**At first glance, I thought Lemon Pepper was Ox, who is the zood of Ralph.  But Ox is a woolly mammoth.  Lemon Pepper is a bison.  He has little red wings -- as a Red Bull parody.

Finally, here is some stuff that I don't know much about.  These were all in eBay lots that I did not purchase.  If you know more about these, drop me an email.

1. The first is the zood of Superfinger (the orange and blue version).  I do not know his name.  I do not know if he is from series 6 or series 7.  I cannot find an image in package. 

2. This sure looks a zood, but I am not sure.  In fact, it seems like it could very well be the original version of Lemon Pepper (he is a Red Bull, after all).  It is the size and style of the zoods, and it was in a TDD lot that had other zoods.  But, here's the thing -- if this is indeed a zood, then we are beyond the number of unknown slots for z6 and z7.  Was there a Zoods Crew 8? (Yikes!)

3.  This is most certainly a zood.  I have seen it twice in TDD lots.  I do not know his name, which dude he belongs to, or if he is from z6 or z7.  My guess is that he goes with either Tek or E. N. Stein, but I do not know for sure.  

G2 Packs

The most difficult TDD generation to decode is G2.  These were the first figures with arms -- arms that cannot bend.  They were available in 2003 only.  G2 was just a momentary phase between the armless dudes of G1 and the dynamic, bendable arms of G3.  This page takes a look at how the G2 figures were packaged.

This 8-pack is an interesting place to start...



The first thing I notice is that it is a Toys-R-Us exclusive.  Does this just mean the 8-pack package type? Or does this mean the actual figures within?  Are all these color-variants TRU exclusives? 

The second thing I notice is that the names and numbers are not included anywhere on the pack.  This is very unusual for any TDD release.  I think this is the only package example without names.  This may suggest that the packaging was hastily designed and released quickly to fulfill a specific demand.  Maybe a demand that arms be added to the Dudes? Most likely, several plastic inserts with who-knows-how-many 8-figure combos were used to fill the same generic box.  This further suggests that the G2 figures were released hastily and perhaps temporarily, by design.

This is who we are looking at:
Jack, Dakota, Snake, Dr. Digit, Duke, Lenny, McShanks, and Whiplash.

This is the very first appearance of McShanks (#89), Snake (#91), and Whiplash (#94).  These three characters never appeared in G1 and are brand new to the toyline.  The other five figures are re-sculpts from G1 figures.  They are literally G1 molds with arms added.



Taking a look at the back of the box, we see images of twenty-one characters.  These are all G1 images -- not one character has arms.  This is further evidence of sloppiness.  Why are G2 figures in a box that features G1 artwork? Looking closer, we notice that one dudette appears -- Andie (#3) -- even though we know not a single dudette was carried past G1.  Looking even closer, we see one mysterious character who has never appeared as a TDD figure....



Who is he? Well, it stands to reason that this is an early design for Sturgeon (#123).  The image is worth pointing out because the design is quite unique, and it is odd that this is the only character on the box who had not already been released as a figure. Remember, the box shows G1 images, but contains G2 figures.  My best guess is that the design was altered to appear less like the Universal monster Gill-man, aka The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Maybe this resemblance even led to some kind of delay, with Sturgeon finally being released in G3 -- looking quite different.




Anyway, moving on, I do know that there were some 3-packs released in G2.  These seem to have been made in at least two versions each.  I do not know if one version of each pack was "short-packed" -- meaning that less were intentionally made available, thus creating "chase" figures.

These are the 3-packs:

Cluckers -- Pierce -- Rasta
Marc -- Sumo San -- Dirk
Snake -- Jimmy -- Duke
Doc -- Jack -- Tank
McShanks -- Moto -- Dakota
Whiplash -- Fu Man -- Fletcher

Finally, many of the most unique G2 sculpts are playset exclusives.  

Anyway, if you have any other G2 info, or pictures of figures in the packages, drop me an email:
steverotters@gmail.com

TDD RC Dudes

There are three types of Remote Controlled Tech Deck Dudes:
Regular-sized G1 dudes, Giant-sized G1 dudes, and regular-sized G2 dudes.

The first came out in 2002 and were distributed by Toy Island.  This gimmick was a "mini R/C" which came with a regular TDD figure. The figures included were not even exclusives.  Shown to be available are Sludge, Syd, and Ronin.  (Though possibly there were even more available, and they could have been shown on a separate checklist.)

The second series also came out in 2002 from Toy Island.  These are the Giant Dudes. The figures are around eight inches tall.  The capacity and range of the RC skateboard is the same as the minis.  It appears that Lenny and Nick came packaged individually. 

Back of box details:

"Come with everything you see here"

Six more RC Giant Dudes came in 2-packs.  Now there is an additional gimmick of "trash talking" phrases that come from the controller (not the board or the dude).

As you can see, Toy Island paired Stevie J with Rap Masta Thumb, Tank with Crash, and Booger with Manga in their three sets. 

Finally, there was a third RC series that is part of G2 (dudes with static arms).   There were only two dudes issued in these sets: Billy and Eddie (both with exclusive figures).  These were distributed by X-Concepts without a partnership with another company.

G2 Billy

G2 Eddie

Back of box details:

G1 Other Merch

This page is a catch-all for G1 merchandise that is not a figure or toy.  In 2001 and 2002, these characters were hot stuff.  There is only one or two independent toylines per year that get this kind of attention.  So let's have a look at some other products featuring the Dudes!

These are not my items or even my photos.  
This is stuff I find on ebay.  

Folders

It's Back-To-School time -- let's see who you can get to represent your homework holder.  I kinda think some of these choices were made as if they were thinking kids would sync them up to their courses, like:  Natalie for Health class, Helen for History, Sergei for Geography, E. N. Stein for Science, etc.  It certainly isn't the worst idea.

I also noticed that some have 3-hole punches (and some don't), and some have the word "Dude" (and some don't) -- so this probably represents BTS 2001 and 2002.  If you compare this to the character release order, it appears that the ones that say 'Dude" probably came out in 2001 and the ones that just say "Tech Deck" came out in 2002.

I am a bit surprised that three dudettes made it onto folders (Helen, Natalie, and Yoko).  Helen and Natalie didn't even bring their boards!

Pencils

I found these #2 Pencils on eBay.  The back of the packs say "Over 30 Styles Available."  I assume this means Dudes, not pencils.  That statement suggests that these came out in 2001, probably between Crew 3 and Crew 4. But some of the characters featured would put their release in 2002, sometime after Crew 7.  Of course, it is possible that the pencils were issued depicting characters that had not yet been made as figures. 

Though it is hard to tell in the image, I am pretty sure this is who made it onto a pencil:

Pack One: Shik, Duke, Billy, Woody, and Biff (aka Scott)

Pack Two: Rap Masta, Ace, Lenny, Tank, and Art.

Vending Machine Stickers

You know, those little sticker machines that are at the front of the supermarket. I think these are pretty cool. Back in the day, you would have gotten all four of these for $1, maybe just 75 cents.  Currently, the seller wants $15 each! Haha -- eBay sellers and their constant relisting of self-proclaimed treasures. Anyway, they are marked (c)2001 and distributed by Brand Imports.  They are 3.75 inches by 2.75 inches. 

 

 

Skateboard Stickers

These stickers are vinyl decals that you would put on an actual skateboard.  I do not know how they were marketed or distributed.  Four of them are 3.75 inches at their widest, and Draco is 4 x 4.5 inches.

 

Metal Signs

If you really want to announce your TDD fandom, you get yourself one of these metal signs fer yer wall.  They are 10 inches by 12.75 inches. Plus, you can stick your Dudes to them!  Mind blown!



More?

That's all for now! I bet this hardly even scratches the surface.  I bet the Dudes were on backpacks and lunchboxes too.  If you know of something else -- drop me a message! 

Also check out the T-shirts and keychains pages.