Exclusive Photos:
Danny Way practicing for Luxor jump

A skate photographer only gets a few lucky breaks in his or her life. (Actually, where are the female photogs?) All my time and effort has paid off now that I gained secret access to Danny Way’s training facility for his upcoming skateboard mega jump of the Luxor Hotel and Casino. I’m headed to the big time now. Exclusive pictures after the jump.

Exclusive Photos: Danny Way practicing for Luxor jump

Why don’t people take me seriously as a publisher and photographer? I’ll never know.

The training facility, AKA Tech Deck Bowl-A-Dude play set sells for $19.99, but my wife picked it up for $5.99 at one of those overstock department stores. It was an open box, so it was a little cheaper than the other ones they had in stock, but all the pieces were there.

Here it is, set up in all it’s glory. I had to wait until my 2 and a half year old son took a nap to photograph it. He would not let it out of his grubby mitts. I actually had to sneak into his room after he fell asleep to get the guy and the skateboard, since he insisted on sleeping with them.

Our hero about to undertake his perilous quest. The pins in the foreground are magnetized with a weak magnet just strong enough to make them stick to some metal spots hidden under the plastic. That way they aren’t constantly falling over if you bump the track.

Looks a little like Evel Knievel, doesn’t he? Like Evel, his rig is custom made. The skateboard deck and trucks are cast out of solid metal, unlike the standard Tech Deck Dudes that have a plastic board with a thin magnetic strip of “grip tape” applied. What? Come on, you’ve played with one before…

There’s no turning back now! It was a pain to shoot this. I had to release the launch button with one hand while lying on the ground and hitting the shutter release. I’m sure I looked irregular to everyone driving past my front yard.

Approaching the target. I finally got my wife to help with this shot, after much eye-rolling. “How old are you?” was the phrase she muttered under her breath. Check out those eyes on the pin in the middle. They are more than a little reminiscent of something.

This Tech Deck Dude is aptly named Crash.

The launching mechanism is just a spring loaded shelf that holds the rear wheels of the skateboard. Pressing the button retracts the hooks and the Dude starts to roll. You can move his takeoff ramp from side to side and angle it as well. It’s a little funky because unless the ramp is faced almost perfectly straight forward, a lip will be formed that bumps the Dude off course.

Cool Mod looking pins! Gratuitous product shot. This site needs a photo editor.

Why are the tech Deck Dudes always so Angry looking? I guess it’s cool to look mad all the time. You think I’m not aggro? I must be cause I look so pissed off! I would have been angry if my wife had paid the full purchase price for this toy. My kid’s got too much plastic crap already, and we’re trying to cut down on it, skateboard related or not. At six bucks though, this was well worth it. My kid is obsessed with it and it’s actually a lot of fun to play with him. However, I am dreading the inevitable crying fit on the first day we lose the specially weighted all metal skateboard that Crash rides. The standard board/Dude combo is too light.