The Tech Deck Dude Designers

The Design Team: The Dudes Who Made... Dudes! 

Sorry, G1 fans! I'm not sure of any details regarding the team behind the dudes for Generation 1 (2000-2002). The dudes behind those dudes without arms remain a mystery to collectors. 

However, I was able to find A LOT regarding the G2-G3 era. Thanks partly to Toy Insanity on YouTube and someone on Blogger called Steve Rotters.

X-Concepts had in-house designers, which included toy industry greats like Chito Arellano as Lead Product Designer (who you may know in G3 as Dude #100, Chito) and Mike Petrosky as Creative Lead (who you may know in G3 as Dude #117, Mikey). 

Steven James: Graphic Designer (X-Concepts, 2000-2007), Franchise Manager of Tech Deck (Spin Master, 2007-Present)

Steven James and his brother Rod James co-created Finesse skateboards.

When I used to access the old "Dude Museum" blogger pages, there was a misconception Rod WAS a TDD designer. Still, he is technically the brother of one designer and a notable pro skater who worked with said brother on creating Finesse.

I always wondered how they snuck in Finesse logos onto "Rod" and grew up to figure out Finesse was ROD James and his brother. Rasta's Zood is also one of Steven's Rasta Lion designs from Finesse decks. 

Steven handled the Tech Deck fingerboard line mainly, it seems? This makes so much sense, as a successful skateboarding company founder and pro skater would be the perfect asset to a team to network with skate brands to license their iconic decks. 

Lastly, X-Concepts' Micro Icons line was seemingly headed by him? He even had his own art style-inspired subtheme called "Souljahs." The boxes for these say "created by Steven James", which led me to google this name with X-Concepts to figure out who this person I hadn't seen yet was.  

Also, have you seen the iconic Tech Deck or Dude TV ads back in the day? He managed those too. 

If you follow Finesse Boards today on IG, Steven is still making Tech Decks for Spin Master. This to me, makes him the most make-or-break figure in extreme sports toys. So much work behind the scenes has been done by this guy to create iconic early extreme sports lines, and he still works on the biggest extreme sports line of all time, Tech Deck, to keep fingerboards and expand them into new licenses. 

Jeff Batson: Senior Designer (X-Concepts, 2001-2004): 

X-Concepts also had a Senior Designer named Jeff Battson (2001-2004), who created their iconic early Tech Deck Dudes Flash website, as well as the packaging on the following lines:

• Skate Crew (World Industries/Blind/PIG/Toy Machine licensed figures)
• G3 Evolution Crew 
• G1-G2 Hot Feet
• TDD trading card series
• Creatures
• Bare Knuckle Grind Video Game cases
• Playset boxes
• Other X-Concepts LLC properties (Tech Deck, Citizen, Modifiers, Water Worms)

Chito Arellano: Lead Product Designer (X-Concepts, 2003-2007)

Chito designed/drew the dudes for X-Concepts from the end of the G1 in 2003 through G3- leaving in 2007 or 2008 shortly after Spin Master took over.

In the toy industry, the design teams create concept artwork then sculpt the toy, and work on the paint master. 

These paint masters, with the final mold and paint application (Deco), serve as the template for mass production in toy factories.

A fan on Devian Art over a decade ago created a Model of the 3D toy as well:

For Tech Deck Dudes, the designers had an extra task in production... joke writing! Every card back on the packaging and in the trading cards had favorite sayings, favorite movies, professions, and other jokes relevant to the dude. I hope they added "puns" to their skills on their resumes. 

Chito still works on iconic toylines and makes fantastic art toys and prints you can buy @KWESTONE

Mike Petrosky: Designer (X-Concepts, 2004-2006), Lead Product Designer (Spin Master, 2007-Today)

Mike Petrosky was another designer in the X-Concepts era of 2004-2007. He likely took over as head designer in 2007-2009 after Spin Master acquired all Tech Deck brands. 

He is the designer who worked on dudes introduced in the revamped "Ridiculously Awesome!" orange packaging. 

I did a quick Google, and it seems he is back at Spin Master!

There was an IG post for the #techdeckdudes that showed Mike and Chito would even write letters to kids with signed thank yous with their dudes (Chito being Chito #100 and Mike being Mikey #117). 

This very sweet letter is an example of A++ customer service, especially for guys whose clients were kids writing about their favorite toys to them. 

Paul Wilson:  Senior Designer, Boys (Spin Master, 2007-2009)

One Spin Master era designer I want to highlight that I found while digging was Paul Wilson. He designed/sketched and made an original cardboard model for the G4 Tech Deck Dude Vanformer Action Set and Tech Deck Fingerboard sets (Brooklyn Banks Ramp & Fingerboard Display Carrying Case).

I quickly looked at his artist site; he is back at Spin Master working on Play School lines. 

Since hardcore collectors care about the "behind the scenes" and love to hear about the history of toy lines they enjoy (ex: The Toys That Made Us Netflix show or The Magnificent World of Toys on YouTube), it felt necessary to highlight these incredibly gifted great designers. This team produced toys enjoyed by millions of kids. 

Thanks for the dudes, dudes!

Note: If anyone knows other designers for the brand so we can shout them out, please send over any info!