This is the History of the TechDeckDudes . com site (2001-2009)
Techdeckdudes . com is now a modern site revamped to promote the 2018 Spin Master Tech Deck Dudes relaunch.
Before this, it was a site left dormant since 2009. However, this forgotten but still accessible Flash site was only in its fourth or fifth form.
Let's reminisce and take a peak at the dudes' site and TDD content on X-Concepts LLC's site (abandoned in 2005/2006 following Spin Master's acquisition of all Tech Deck brands).
Tech Deck Dude's website launched in April 2001, when the line still had plug-feet G1 dudes with no arms or rollable boards.
It would go on to document the growth of the line. Pardon me, the EVOLUTION in years to come, as their iconic packaging said.
I've broken down the site into Four Phases, keep reading to reminisce!
Phase I: The Original Dude Site (April 2001-December 2001)
The original Intro page included prototype Decos of Crew 1 Dudes; many of these details would be changed in the actual retail releases (ex: Tank's grey boots turned wheat, crash's visor turned blue).
Click to enter Home, and Stevie J will greet you. Or rather, a Stevie J with a welcoming grin taped over his usual aggressive expression.
The exact copy reads:
"Yo dudes! Welcome to the Tech Deck Dudes home page.
Hey my name is Stevie J. What up!
Here you can see and hear and even e-mail all the Tech Deck Dudes. You can find out what they like and all kinds of other righteous stuff. So like Lenny says "Rock on" and use all the links above to find what you want."
The Wayback Machine (archive.org) pull does not load the bottom image, but I assume the "Brought to you by" image is either the X-Concepts LLC logo or the Tech Deck logo.
There were three other pages:
1. Bios - bios of the original 12 dudes
2. Email - Email your favorite dude
3. FAQs
Phase II: The Latter G1 Revamp: (Late 2001-December 2002)
With plenty of time to spare for the Holidays, the team revamped the site to feature all the new dudes and
Being a grab of an old Flash site, half the images don't load, but the following is below the Jc Penney promo:
In this era, G1 Dudes and Dudettes had store exclusives.
Some crews were only at JCPenney, Toys R Us had G1 value 8 Packs, KB Toys had the rights for Dude carrying cases, etc.
"PICTURES" had wallpapers
Love this shot of all the original crews:
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Revisions were made to the site all throughout 2002 and early 2003
A promo for a new crew, new bios for those new dudes/dudettes, more pics of Skate Crew lines, The Downhill playset promo, etc.
Phase III: 2003-2008: The Prime Years aka The Blue Website
Tech Deck Dudes were at their sales peak in G2 and G3 (2003-2006). These were the years with dudes with arms (G2 Dudes) and dudes with bendy arms (G3).
The site changed during this era to a more sophisticated Flash site.
Now, there were buildings in "Dudeville" to click on.
In the bottom third, kids could check out the newest series (Bare Knuckle Grind video game, Evolution packs, and action subthemes like Blastboards).
I theorize that the Products section and the latest and greatest featured products in the footer were no longer frequently updated in 2005-2006 due to the finalization of Spin Master's acquisition of all Tech Deck properties.
I have yet to find a cap of the site from the Wayback Machine that shows offlines like Zoods or Clash Cubes in this blue Flash site era.
Phase IV: 2008 Spin Master's "Ridiculously Awesome" Era Revamp: The Orange and Final Site
The Ridiculously Awesome rebranding by Spin Master in late 2007-early 2008 saw the brands colors go from blue to orange/yellow:
The site stayed similar but swapped some assets to reflect newer late G3 and G4 dudes.
The Sound/Shop page had Hadoo (2006) added in
The Products in the bottom row include: 3-Packs (2008), Vanformer set (2007-2008), single packs (2008), Ripboards (2008), and interestingly, Trick Dudes?
The Arcade got a Zoods revamp:
The Megaplex saw G3 2005-2007 variant dudes:
Top row: Snake, Donnie
Bottom Row: Duke, Billy
The downloads page still maintained wallpapers from G1 (dudes with no arms) and added new orange Zood and G3 dude wallpapers.
Top Row: Snake, Woody
Bottom Row: Shik, Mikey
(from left to right - Henry, Scott, Minga, and Julio's unused maraca design)
Above them on the home page are Katsuji (2008) and Mort (2006,2007)
(from left to right: Woody, Tre, Banx (Rod's pitbull Zood), Billy in his hoodie
Saving Home Page for Last:
This page had Big E, Slam, Woody, and Tiki in moving assets with altering slogans:
Above them on the home page are Katsuji (2008) and Mort (2006,2007)
Below them are Booger (2006, 2008 re-released) and Lucasberg (2008)
Big E:
Slam:
Woody:
Tiki:
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