Huffy Skateboards, Thunder Boards, Quick Thunder, Thunder Star, Thunder Bolt, and more: Part 1

There are rabbit holes and then there are all engulfing black holes of time wasting. I Had an idea to do a quick post about a clear plexiglass skateboard from Huffy from the 70’s that I thought was interesting. Huffy sure wasn’t the first bicycle company to get int o skateboarding (probably ACS,) and wasn’t the last one (Haro) either. My buddy Shawn still has his first skateboard, a wooden Huffy Quick Thunder. I asked him to send me some pics for the post and decided to dig up what I could in the meantime. It turns out they made a host of plastic and wooden skateboards (some in the 80’s), and even a fiberglass model, not to mention some prepackaged accessories. I had over 80 photographs, so I’m going to break them in to 3 or 4 posts by category, starting with the plastic boards.

Near as I can tell, there were 3 models of plastic Huffy skateboards, not counting the plexiglass model. Each model was produced in assorted colors, namely red, blue (possibly 2 shades,) yellow, black, and orange. The first one I’ll show is a symmetrical twin kick blunt nose board that is similar in shape to the classic California Freeformer deck that you may remember. Huffy likely copied Freeformer instead of using the same manufacturer because the construction is different. (See the included pic at the end of this section.) This board is 19″ long and I’ve seen it in orange, royal blue, and possibly another version of blue. Most of the images came from EBay or online auction aggregators. A few came from the very excellent Vintage Skateboard Collections.

Near as I can tell, there were 3 models of plastic Huffy skateboards, not counting the plexiglass model. Each model was produced in assorted colors, namely red, blue (possibly 2 shades,) yellow, black, and orange. All of them have open bearing wheels. The first one I’ll show is a symmetrical twin kick blunt nose board that is similar in shape to the classic California Freeformer deck that you may remember. Huffy likely copied Freeformer instead of using the same manufacturer because the construction is different. (See the included pic at the end of this section.) This board is 19″ long and I’ve seen it in orange, royal blue, and possibly a turquoise version. There are some red-ish versions online but the ones that look closest to red have orange listed as the color.

It’s possible the third blue is the same as the middle one but appears differs due to the white balance or some sort of exposure compensation. It’s also of interest that there are two differnt truck styles on these boards. The orange and turquoise boards have blocky truck hangers with right angles and the royal blue version has rounded hangers and a standard screwdriver slotted head kingpin as opposed to a bolt. These trucks are assembled without a baseplate, with the bottom of the board essentially acting as the baseplate. While it’s probably not impossible to replace trucks on a board like that without marring the deck, it’s highly unlikely. I have not seen this board in a yellow color. Please let me know if you have.

Here’s the California Freeformer version of this shape. From the top it looks very simian, but the bottom is distinctly different.

Next up we have the Thunder Board 23. The 23 likely denotes that this board is 23″ long (because it is!) This deck has absolutely no kicktail. While the 19″ board has a sort of stochastic texture pattern on top, this board has a scalloped pattern that was also found on boards mage by Roller Derby. It’s hard to see in some of these pictures but there is a “23” raised logo visible on the tail. I have only seen a yellow version of this board.

The third plastic Huffy skateboard model is the Thunder Board 24… because it’s 24 inches long. here were at least 3 variations of the 24″ model. These 24 models all have the word “Action Tail” underneath the “24” logo, unlike the 23 models, which sadly had no action. The orange one in these pictures has the stochastic pattern a raised Thunder Board logo on top with trucks that are formed into the deck-as-baseplate. This board came in a yellow and red version too. Note that the trucks in the orange version appear to be black, but they are just poorly lit as the alternate views show. The red version however, does have a rounded hanger, unlike the yellow and orange. The gallery makes it look like there is also an orange-yellow version but I’m pretty sure that is a yellow board photographed in adverse light.

The next variation has a sort of starburst pattern on the top with an embossed Thunder Board logo and full trucks that include a metal baseplate. The bottom of this deck is completely missing the thicker structural formations on the bottom. I’ve seen this in blue and red plastic. The orange-ish one in the pics below was listed as red in the auction, so it’s likely another case of less than ideal lighting.

The third variation of the Huffy Thunder Board 24 features the same starburst pattern on the top of the deck. the 24 logo remains on the tail but unfortunately, a sticker has replaced the embossed version of the main Thunder Board logo. More on that in an upcoming installment. I’ve only seen black versions of this board.

Here’s an interesting tidbit. An “Action Tail 24” was seen in a 1977 comic book as one of the prizes you could earn by selling crap in a sales club. This surely has to be A Huffy Thunder Board, and the mystery board would likely never have been identified were it not for my copious “research.”

Lastly, check out this amazing find that I got really excited about when I saw it turn up in image search. Yes, very excited, until I clicked through and realized it was just a fender for a child’s bike.

Thanks you for coming to my TED talk on plastic Huffy skateboards from the 70’s. Tune in to part 2 where I’ll cover wooden Huffy skateboards. In Part 3 I’ll tackle plexiglass and fiberglass Huffy skateboards, and in part 4 I’ll show you an assortment of skateboarding accessories from Huffy.