So this isn’t the main toy, but rather the toy’s pet. According to Club Penguin, the black puffle is strong and “loves the skateboard.” I kind of like this, but not for 33 bucks. Is that a grind rail on the side of the ramp?

In 1991 there was an animated series based on a spinoff novel from Ian Flemming’s James Bond series. I just watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the first time in… decades, and I was suprised to learn that it was also based on an Ian Flemming novel and produced by Albert R. Broccoli, the guy who did all the early James Bond movies. Ian didn’t write the James Bond Jr book, so he can’t really be blamed for the atrocity that is the James Bond Jr cartoon. They made over 60 episodes, but apparently the toy line was more popular than the actual series. What you see here is the Gordo Leiter figure, complete with weaponized skateboard. Turns out there were two episodes that featured skateboarding. [Sources: Wikipedia and James Bond Jr Online]

This is from a Tom and Jerry themed Subway kids meal toy from 1994. the wheels underneath are one solid bar that is strangely arced in the center, so he likes to fall over if he’s on an uneven surface, which goes nicely with his bicycle style helmet. There were three other figures, but I’ve only got this one.

If you’re a fan of this site then it should come as no surprise that after the jump you’ll see way too many pictures of these Toyboarders that are essentially the skateboarding version of plastic army men.

You see detective, this type of lichen is native to the Pacific Northwest, and by the flowering buds on the trees in the background are blooming early, which is caused by excessive urethane and concrete fumes found in high concentrations in certain cities. We ran the numbers on recent eBay auctions and cross referenced them with known habitual skateboard toy collectors in the same region, and it all points to…

Rio is the name of an animated movie that, near as I can tell from the previews they are showing on TV, has no plot other than the fact that a bunch of cheeky animals are hanging out together in Brazil. The movie doesn’t open until this weekend, but that hasn’t stopped 20th Century Fox from hooking up with McDonalds for a Happy Meal Promo. Finding out when the movie opens led me to another trailer where I learned the bird can’t fly, and he rides a skateboard in the movie.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out in 1988. I should have saved this for Easter.

Grimace hasn’t been around much lately. I figured he’d been put out to pasture, but a source on Wikipedia says he semi-recently appeared in a 2009 commercial. Grimace originally appeared as an evil villain, now he’s just another old man on an old school board. Grimace may say 80’s but the copyright says 1992. It’s got one of those friction flywheels in there. It’s actually pretty well built for a fast food giveaway.

So there’s a line of toys looking to compete with the Tech Deck Dudes series. It’s called Wild Grinders. They’ve been out for a while, but when they first came out they weren’t pushing the Rob Dyrdek affiliation. That’s right, this appears to be owned or at least fronted by Rob Dyrdek. You’ve got to admire his thinking here, an extension of the Street League philosophy. He’s recognized an are where someone is making marketing skateboarding and injected an actual skateboarder into the organization by starting it himself. Maybe I’m reading too much into it. There’s a WIld Grinders TV commercial running that I’ve been meaning to get online, but instead I’ll spotlight this strange marketing agreement with MovieTickets.com. I’m not sure how many kids are going to buy movie tickets online. Someone must think they are going to, because there is a Wild Grinders spot for MovieTickets.com that is playing in theaters across the country. It’s even going to be in 3D when shown with 3D features. You can watch it after the jump, but be forewarned, On the web site they have the effrontery to make you sit through a completely untargeted commercial before they let you watch…

I’m a mechanical man. I’m a mechanical man. 2 mechanical arms. 2 mechanical legs. I’m a 2 + 2 = 4 man.