Toys R Us Exclusive 8-Packs (2002-2003) & 6-Packs (2005-2009)

Toys R Us gained the rights to exclusive Packs of Tech Deck Dudes in 2002, with G1. This gave buyers more bang for their buck, as buying this one 8-pack would cost less than buying 8 single packs. 

Generation 1 Toys R Us 8-Packs (2002-2003)

The early 8-Packs were a bang for your buck deal for the buyer, giving more figures per dollar than if the consumer bought 8 single packs. None of these were exclusives, just a bundle of 8 random single-pack figures. There are no card-backs or assigned figures, as each seems to be all over the place?

Some 8-Packs included just the regular crew single-pack variants:

  

Others included the more colorful "Hot Feet" Crew single pack variants

 

Some G1 8-packs were a mix of Hot Feet and regular Crews:

Following these mixed Hot Feet and Regular Crew packs in 2002, X-Concepts evolved the line into Generation 2 (G2 dudes had static arms). 

Generation 2 Toys R Us 8-Packs (2003)

Rather than mix-up Hot Feet single pack variants and the mainline single pack figures, Toys R Us just offered 8 Mainline crew variants. Evolution Crew 1-3 dudes were mixed and put in these 8 packs. 

Interestingly, these packs still had the same exact images on the back as the 2002 G1packs. They still had the same image of G1 figures with the TRU logo.

One thing noted by the Tech Deck Dude archaeologist/archivist himself, Steve Rotters, was that Sturgeon (#123) appears in a G1 sketch here. Even though the figure never hit shelves in G1 and wasn't released until deep into G3 in 2006's Clash Crew #1.

Generation 3 Toys R Us 6-Packs 

Toys R Us got a "TRU" -ly good deal in 2005, when the store's packs (now including 6 figures instead of 8), came packed with store exclusive color variants! 

This meant the consumer needed to buy these TRU packs to get these color variants.

In my opinion, many of these variants are superior and more vibrant than their main Evolution Crew counterparts. Some highlights include the silver Henry and the burgundy cloaked Bonz.

The first set included six 6-packs holding figures from Evolution Series 4, 5, and 6—which were released in 2004. 

TRU 6-pack (2005) Card back:

These are pretty hard to find new in the box, and since in 2005 online toy retail was not what it was compared to the next couple of years that followed, I can't find old lots of these toys. 

Here's some of them new in the package! 

 

2006 6-Packs:

The TRU 6-pack line continued on in 2006 but was now different from the clear-cut 2005 pack.

Instead of just releasing the dudes from Evolution Series 7, 8, and 9, this line instead began to reprint some Blast Board figures or use slight variants from BlastBoard figures and earlier Evolution Series.

As a result, the dudes left out of the packs are some of the coolest dudes that dropped in Series 7-9: G3 Minga, Manga, Cosmo, Ronin, Tiki, and Simon are all missing here.

Instead of getting those 6 figures we got EXACT recycles of Snake & Flake from BlastBoard Crew 2, near-exact recycles of Whiplash (now with a purple jumpsuit) and Moto (Now with a black helmet instead of white) from BlastBoard Crew 2, a random grey-skin version of E1 Eddie, and a new Krusty the Clown parody version of E6 Zobo (alright, that's last one's pretty cool).

Regardless, this is still a bit of a shame, the 6 dudes from Evolution Series 7, 8, and 9 that are among the most memorable were left out. Since the single packs for G3 Evolution Crew had 12 dudes each, it would've made more sense to just release one of each from all 3 crews, 12 dudes per crew, and get the needed 36 slots.

But, we at least get great new variants (including an exact Iron Fist version of Thunder, a purple devil Petey, an updated G3 version of the black and gold Crash we got in G1 Crew 1, and a colorful blue variant for Chito!)
Here's a close-up of the dudes in greater quality:

 

  

 

2007 6-Packs: 

Now the line (and the broader X-Concepts) has been absorbed by Spin Master.

Instead of releasing 1 set of 6 TRU 6-Packs, Spin Master did 2 sets of 3 TRU 6-Packs. Unsure if they did a split over Q1&Q2 then Q3 & Q4, regional, etc?

Here are all six 6-Packs released in 2007: 

This time, the majority of the dudes are recycled and could also be found in the prior year's 3-packs, 2-packs, 6-packs, Clash Crews 1-3, or Zoods Crew 4 & 5.

Some of these reprints show either safety regulations or cost-cutting from Spin Master. The re-issued purple Whiplash no longer has a third magnet to sit down on his board with, just as an example. They also stopped painting around the magnets, so magnets are just the same color as the shoe/foot of each dude.

2008 6-Packs:

The Tech Deck Dudes rebranded with "Ridiculously Awesome" single packs, 3-Packs, and 6-Packs in 2008. All of these came in the Orange/Yellow packaging which differentiated from the established Blue/Red packaging we saw from 2003-2007.

These were the last six packs to include dudes with magnetic feet. 

Which is your favorite? There's one correct answer: It's Thunder in his Luke Cage color variant. He perfectly complements the previously released Iron Fist color variant. I suppose they're Heroes For Hire!

2009 6-Packs: 

At the end of the line, Generation 4 figures (like these 2009 pack dudes), no longer had magnetic boards/feet, they had a hole added in their back to hold peg boards, and all had the same red board (which was smaller than the usual boards from prior years). 

They were mostly reprints that did not have their original accessories (ex: Frank N Finger (no medical tools) Duke (missing his cowboy gun), and Baumer (no tennis racket)).

 

Even the 3 packs of trading cards in these no longer had the dude's bio on the back.

The only new variant in these 2009 packs was Nick in White (a parody of GI Joe's Storm Shadow).

The 2009 six-packs, Trick Dudes, and the last street crew single packs marked the end of TDD.