I was going to pass on posting about the re-rerelease of the Back to the Future Hoverboard replicas from Mattel until I watched a little bit of another Hoverboard video featuring Bob Gale, the co-creator of Back to the Future. He’s talking about items featured in an auctioned that benefitted the Michael J. Fox Foundation for parkinson’s research. Blah, blah, blah until you get to the part about one of the original props being auctioned at Sothebys for $17,000, and then being resold a few years later for $55k. (!) Also interesting, the mechanical effect used to make the hoverboard appear to float when thrown on the ground. The video shows two different boards, one used for the wire flights and one used for the throw down.

Check out this Lego hoverboard that actually floats, thanks to some magnets. – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

MattyCollector.com reports that Mattel is going to release a hoverboard of sorts… Details are slim. It apparently “glides over most surfaces,” whatever that means. So is it just a slippery board or does it have wheels hidden inside it that aren’t visible from the top Finally! This totally awesome 1:1 replica of the hover board from the BTTF 2 and BTTF 3 films includes multiple whooshing sounds and will glide over most surfaces (does not actually “hover” – check back in 2015 for that feature). We’ll be taking orders for it March 1 – March 20, 2012, and the final product will be shipped around November/December 2012. Because this is such a high-cost item, there will be a minimum number of orders required to go into production. If we don’t receive the minimum orders, won’t go into production and customers will not be charged. The price will be announced later this month. (Note: Hover board does not work on water.) Also, what’s up with the name Matty Collector? It’s Mattel’s weak attempt at branding a web site aimed at adult collectors. Really? That’s what you came up with. Horrible web site on top of that. Poorly organized. Meh… Photo is…

Just don’t stray too far from the approved hoverboarding facilities… I know the supercooled exhaust is there for reasons of physics (I assume) but it also nice retro-futuristic icing on the hovering cake. Premiers tests du skate à lévitation supraconductrice construit à l’université Paris Diderot-Paris7. Hey, that’s French for Back to the Future! – Thanks to Andrew Wahl for the tip.

The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest was a 1986 retread of the original 60’s version of the show. Episode 16 of season 2 was titled Other Space and features hoverboard action. In the words of Grover, who unearthed this footage, “They hover the shit out of this episode.”

Two of the best animated shows ever. What about Family Guy? Meh. It has its moments, but it’s not in the same class as these two. This is actually part of a panel from a Fururama comic book where the Futurama cast is trapped in a Simpson’s comic book by evil floating brains. I found this over at Insane Journal after getting sidetracked while doing an image search for Stella Stevens on a skateboard. It was a fruitless search, but I did find illustrations of Fry and Bart Simpson skateboarding together. There’s even a Back to the Future plug. Let’s analyze that. A real movie reference in a comic book that takes place inside the universe of a different comic book. Now if only there was a skateboard in The Venture Brothers.

Before you get too excited, although it is technically “real,” it’s just maglev technology, you know, electromagnets that you can buy off the shelf, provided you go to the right store. This hoverboard only works on the platform that houses the electromagnets, and while it can carry some weight, it’s not near powerful enough to hold a human. A clever and fun demonstration of a simple idea, really. The creator Nils Guadagnin says there are also lasers involved to help balance, but I’m not sure how or why they are needed. Video after the jump. – Thanks to Concretin Nik for the tip.

Here’s a hoverboard shot from a Photoshop contest for “Coolest toy ever” on Worth 1000. I thought it might be one of mine at first, but it turned out to be an EPM shot of Holly Lyons from Rich’s 2007 Trifecta Lincoln City coverage. Rich’s pics have been getting poached by the Photoshoppers lately, and even though it must be somewhat annoying, this is a pretty funny end result. – Thanks to Sheltered Productions for the tip.

I hate it when I get my skate culture tips from the mainstream media. This is the second one today. Remember the guy who was so into Back to the Future that he fabricated his own movie prop skateboards? Well now he can bid on the real fake hoverboard that was used in Back to the Future II, that is if he’s got at least $30,000! That’s no typo, it’s the actual starting bid. If you don’t have an extra 30k laying around, you can always bid on the more recent and reasonably priced replica from the Good Wood auction. Pics after the jump.

There are a lot of charity board auctions these days, and they tend to get lost in the shuffle. I checked out some of the offerings for Good Wood and found several that I liked, not all limited to the one I chose for this post. Winner for the “Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?” category is Jeff Mullin’s Back to the Future deck. Hello McFly! Check out the Good Wood. It’s called Good Wood 2008 – “Give Back”, an auction-cum-party presented by Aww Sweet & Alldaybuffet at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn. 50 artists will be auctioning off one-of-a-kind custom skate decks to support Stoked, an organization that mentors kids through action sports. On Saturday, July 26th from 7 to 12 pm, bid on a custom deck (all priced below $500), dance to beats by Brion ISAACS (33Hz and ShindigNYC) and help prove that “one teen at a time, counterculture WILL change the world.” Full flyer and info after the jump.