The Tale of Peter Rottentail

As a bona-fide toy expert, I often get asked to identify toys and toy accessories. Usually I can answer without a lot of effort, through either my own vast storehouse of knowledge or via the internet, through groups I follow with multiple experts weighing in, or by directly contacting other individuals I consider equally genius experts.

In all the years I've been collecting toys I've never been more stumped than I was by a query that came to me via email back in January of 2016. (Unless you count my own search for the Rabbagator). It seems Michelle had an important toy that she had been given years ago stolen from her work desk, and she wanted help identifying it so she could track down a replacement. Unfortunately she didn't have any pictures, (you mean not everyone photographs their toys?) and could only provide me with a written description. As you will see later in the post, her description was dead-on; had her toy committed murder a police sketch artist could have easily drawn him from her description, and the cops would have arrested the murderous rabbit post haste. In fact, I had even drawn a picture of it for myself based on her description, hoping it would jog my memory and I'd be able to identify it.

Unfortunately nothing in her description rang a bell for me or any of the handful of others I presented it to. She initially described her cherished toy thusly: "...It is a blue bunny, he has a bandolier (spelling?) Of small mice. He also is wearing a loin cloth and has spikey shoulder pads (armour). His ears are wrapped together and he barely stands. He is very very muscular."

My initial thoughts ran the gamut from Space Usagi to Bucky O'Hare, from TMNT to MOTU, but her bunny was none of these. I scoured the internet, asked at toy collector message boards, directly contacted fellow toy collectors...nothing. I asked a handful of follow-up questions of Michelle, hoping to hit on a new piece of info that may lead to the right rabbit, but got nowhere. All I hit were dead ends.

At this point all I could do was hope I stumbled on to the toy in question, either in an image online somewhere or in person on one of my frequent toy hunts. Michelle probably figured I had given up.

Jump ahead to May 2017:

I attended the May 20th San Jose Toy Show with my oldest daughter, in large part due to the appearance of Lee Meriwether, Catwoman from the '66 Batman movie. Before standing in line for Ms. Meriwether's autograph, we literally, and I mean literally, perused EVERY SINGLE VENDOR in the show, finally coming upon the VERY LAST table for the VERY LAST vendor in the VERY FAR corner of the building. There on a table full of random toy detritus I saw it, and I damn near couldn't believe my eyes...a muscular blue bunny, wearing a bandoleer of mice, with a spiky shoulder pad and ears wrapped together. Holy shit IT'S HIM!

I couldn't believe my eyes. After all these months, I had never forgotten about this mystery bunny, and had hoped luck would lead me to him one day, and here he was! There was no doubt in my mind the second I picked this rabbit up that it was our blue barbarian bunny!

I bought him from the vendor and immediately sent a picture to Michelle, who confirmed (through admitted tears) that I had located her long lost rabbit. I later did some google searching (once he was in hand he was much easier to identify, the magnets on his feet convinced me immediately that he was part of one Tech Deck line or another, and the Rosetta Stone effect took hold rather quickly from there). Turns out he's Tech Deck Grimm Dude Peter Rottentail from the Storybooks Gone Wrong series.

I snapped these pics so I could share Peter's tale, then I dropped him in the mail to Michelle. They have now been reunited, and Michelle even paid me a handsome finder's fee for my troubles (really it was no trouble at all! Thanks again Michelle!)

Freakin' Tech Decks...sheesh! Who knew?!?!

Tech Deck Dude Batman aka 'Adam'

Tech Deck Dudes were little finger skaters (literally, these guys are severed fingers with feet and sometimes arms. You can tell by looking at the backs of their heads, you can always see a fingernail) and oftentimes they were parodies of existing pop cultural icons. Which was definitely the case when Tech Deck released 'Adam' who is without a doubt Batman.

Adam was released with a skateboard and a snowboard. Little magnets on his feet helped him cling to either board.

Tech Deck released a lot of parodies and homages in their Dudes line over the years, from Ghostbusters to Hellboy to Xena and all points in between. However Adam must have pushed DC too far, for as quickly as he was released he disappeared from shelves and any mention of him by Tech Deck also disappeared (at the time there was an official Tech Deck website and they literally removed all mention of him.) Additionally, the name 'Adam' was suddenly given to a zombie Dude.

I've always imagined Tech Deck received a 'cease and desist' from DC/Warner Bros. ala that lawyer in the Simpsons. However I'm amazed the Batman 'parody' they made was seemingly the only one that caused them any grief, as they continued for years producing Dudes of inarguable pop culture iconography (hell, they even produced a Dude of The Dude from The Big Lebowski!) Fortunately I bought one when I did (a little secret: I purchased TWO and still have one MOC!) because these guys never show up on eBay or in my second hand hunts. I don't know how many made it to retail, but people who have them must not let loose of them very often!

Tech a look at my Deck, Dude!

Tech Deck Dudes were again brought to the top of my mind the other day, so I thought a little retrospective was in order. While it seems Tech Deck is not longer producing their copyright-skirting finger-skating figures any longer (I haven't seen them in stores for a couple years now, all they appear to be making are the boards themselves) the ones I have will always hold a place in my heart, and there are still a few I'd like to track down in the future!

Here's a re-cap of the one's I have or have had in my collection:


The first Tech Deck Dude to ever really catch my attention was 'Adam.' I recall seeing this guy in the store and being floored that Tech Deck would dare fly in the face of DC and Warner Brothers and produce this knock-off. Apparently I wasn't the only one to feel that way, as 'Adam' didn't last long as was eventually stricken from Tech Deck's line-up. Smartly, I bought two and still have this one and one mint in package!


The Tech Deck Dudes design aesthetic later evolved to include arms. I eventually discovered 'Minga,' an Optimus Prime wannabe and knew he had to be mine!


Around the same time this Kato inspired 'Bruce' hit the scene. I sure wish Tech Deck would have gotten around to a Green Hornet figure!


As Tech Deck Dudes began to hit their twilight, Dudes began to appear with little pet sidekicks. What's true in sit-coms is true in toyland. 'Mort,' resident Megatron faker, came with a little RatBat 'Zood.'


The Dudes further evolved with the elimination of their magnetic feet - by the time Ghostbuster 'Murry' came about he held fast to his board via a peg. Murry also came with a ghost 'Zood' whose name I do not recall.


The very last Tech Deck Dude I purchased in store was way back in 2010 at a discount outlet store - another sign of the death of a line. 'Nightwatchman' is a clear rip-off of The Watchmen's Nite Owl II. By this time the Dudes were not only pegged to their boards (instead of the classic magnets) but Nighwatchman came with a clear plastic 'arm' to pose him mid-rip on a base that could be connected to other Tech Deck Dude bases for hours of displaying fun.

While Tech Deck Dudes started out innocently enough, with various general designs, by the end the pop culture references were the bulk of the line. I'm just surprised they were able to pull it off for so long.

Here's a handful of Tech Deck Dudes I missed out on but wouldn't mind tracking down someday:

This one here is probably the one I regret not buying the most: #147: Nate. Nate is of course inspired by the Ninja Turtles and was released near the very end of the line. I saw him in Toys R Us once but passed on him. Lame!

Tech Deck Dude #036: Norman. Norman is a bit of a mish-mash here, he looks like he's supposed to be Jason from Friday the 13th but he's been given Aquaman colors in this iteration. Which means he, Adam, and Superfinger (see below) would make a great Tech Deck Justice League!

#014: Petey is clearly Hellboy.

#140: Robo Supreme is an Ultraman wannabe.

Another one I had in hand but put back on the shelf. #148: Stuart is a Teen Wolf Tech Deck Dude!

#164 Mite is a Tick rip-off complete with two Sporks!

Shik just looks like Harley Quinn so yeah.

Tech Deck Dudette Helen looks like Xena.

Finally: Superfinger. I almost bought him as well once but ironically he didn't look enough like Superman for me to do so at the time (his colors are all off!) Obviously Tech Deck rectified that problem with Adam, but got sued in the process. Pretty sure this guy was canceled too.

Will Tech Deck Dudes ever make a triumphant return to toy store shelves? I don't know, but I am sure a generation of kids and collectors will one day look back on these guys with a nostalgic eye, and maybe they'll get super articulated pain-in-the-butt-to-buy-online-only Tech Deck Classics!

One can only hope.

Who Watches the Copyright Lawyers?

Tech Deck does it again:


This time the good folks at Tech Deck bring us Nite Owl, or as they label him: "Nightwatchman." Clever.

I ducked into a local Ross to kill some time this afternoon, and I stumbled onto this guy. As soon as I saw him I knew I had to add him to my small army of Copyright infringing Tech Deck Dudes.

Having not purchased a Tech Deck Dude in a long while, I noticed a couple new differences. One, these new Dudes have a base and a plastic "armature" that pegs into their backs. Kinda cool for display purposes.

But the most glaring difference: the decks/feet are no longer magnetic. The deck is now held onto the feet via a peg, with each foot having a hole to place the peg into. Not nearly as cool as the magnetic ability of past Dudes, because they could also be placed on refrigerators and other metal surfaces.

Regardless, I'm glad I found this Watchman Wannabe.

Super awesome bonus, the cute cashier at Ross is also a barista at a local coffee shop.

Me: "You also work at the coffee shop, right?"
Cutie: "Yup."
Me: "I thought you looked familiar."
Cutie: "I'm stalking you."
Me: "I can handle it. I'll be seeing you around then."

With a line like "I'm stalking you," how can I NOT be attracted to her? Looks like I'll be caffiened up and dressing-for-less a lot more in the foreseeable future!

Also, I realize my comeback was super lame.

I'm Just a Skater Boy...

Actually, I'm not. I haven't owned a skateboard since the late seventies. Those skinny vinyl/plastic numbers were pretty sweet...but I digress.

These guys are skater boys - finger-skater boys that is!

They are also blatant ripoffs of pop culture icons that border on (if not cross by miles) copyright infringement - maybe skateboarding, or at least finger-skating, is a crime after all!



Let's start with Adam. Yup, that's the name Tech Deck gave Batm...I mean this non-descript blue and grey clad pointy eared utility belt wearing individual (back off, lawyers!) when they released him a few years back. I think they actually got some heat from this one, because he was only around for a very short time, he has never been re-released, there is no mention or sign of him on the Tech Deck website, and the name "Adam" has been used on a different figure (a Zombie) ever since.

As you can see, Adam is an OG Tech Deck Dude, from back before they gave the figures arms. Their schtick is that these guys are little living fingers. They even have fingernails sculpted into the backs of their heads. Whatever - if anyone can fight crime without arms, it's Batman.


Up next is Megatr...I mean Mort (whew, that was a close one!) Mort is a recent release and can still be found on the shelves. He's a special Tech Deck Dude who comes with a pet "Zood." Mort's zood is a total rip...er looks vaguely like the G1 Transformer Ratbat if you squint.


This here is Bruce. There was once a famous Kung-Fu expert named Bruce Lee, who played a character named Kato on television. Kato was the Green Hornet's chauffeur. I don't know why I mentioned all that, as clearly it has no relevance to this Tech Deck guy who they call Bruce.


This is Minga *coughcough Optimus Prime coughcough* Sorry. Where was I?


"One shall stand, one shall fall...off the half pipe."


"You remind me of a kid I once knew. He was a good soldier."

Tech Deck does characters like this every so often. There's a Robocop, a Terminator, a purple Hulk, and just recently I spotted two new releases blatantly ripping...I mean vaguely reminiscent of Dr. Doom and Onslaught from Marvel comics.

They're usually pretty cheap - around 3-5 bucks each, so I suggest you grab the ones you want when you see them. You never know when a lawyer might be walking down the toy aisle, or reading a toy blog for that matter ;)

Geek Credentials

Chunky B over at Eclectorama has started a new internet Meme: "Geek Credentials." It sounded like my cup of meme, so here's my contribution to the newest sensation to rock the inter-nation!

Remember the scene in The Dark Knight, where a bunch of Gothamites have dressed up as Batman and have decided to become vigilantes of their own? They just end up getting in the way, or dead, and tend to make matters worse for our hero in blue and grey.

Well let me tell you, you ain't a Bat-Geek unless you have a few guys like that in your collection. The wanna-bes, the fakers, the posers. You know the ones: the "I can't believe it's not Batman" crowd.

Well behold, and BELIEVE!

"...I agree, that Bale kid gave a great reading. But the agency sent over four more at the last minute...let's at least see what they have to offer before calling it a day."


First up we shall examine Adam. This guy is so "not Batman" that the toyline he was produced for, Tech Deck, was actually forced to stop producing him. See ya' later, finger skater.

Next up is Bat-Duck. He was actually released as a McDonald's premium many years back, along with Super-Bugs, Wonder-Pig, and Taz-Flash. Very spiffy figures...but sorry duck, no luck.

The outfits are removable, but the movie is sans nudity, so it won't score you any more points. Next!

Here we have Wile E. Coyote in his Bat-Man's Outfit. Manufactured by Acme.

Flight capabilities? Impressive. But...green?!?! We'll call you when they cast for Hal Jordan. And...sheesh...eat a sandwich will ya? You're nothing but skin and bones!

Finally we have Bartman. From the Secret Identity handbook: Page one. Chapter one. Don't use your real name as a component of your superhero name. Have you ever heard of a hero named Bat Wayne? Peter Spider? Super Kent? Guy Gardner?...

Never mind.

As a Post Script, I give you a couple "I can't believe it's not Batman" characters who actually kind of are. First up is Batzarro from DC Direct:

As drawn by Ed McGuinness in Batman/Superman, this guy is pretty fun. He has real chains hanging from beneath his cape (because they make a lot of noise) No eyes, an inverted Bat as well as an upside down utility belt (with opened pockets, having spilled out their contents long ago.)

I'm so geeky, I even drew him once. How's THAT for Geek Creds?


And lastly but not leastly we have Ace the Bat-Hound. From the recent Krypto the Superdog cartoon and toyline, this guy is the bee's knees. His collar serves as his "utility belt" and his cape flows majestically in the breeze, ready for the call to action from his "partner" Batman!

So there you have it. I'm a geek. (As if there were ever any doubt ;) )

Do you claim to be a geek? Prove it. What're your creds, Fred? Join in the Meme, Joaquin. Create a "Geek Credentials" post of your own, Joan!