Mattel's Hot Wheels now has the means to take on the world of fingerboarding head-on.
The popular car model manufacturer recently announced it has partnered with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk to develop and manufacture its very own fingerboard line, complete with shoes for people's fingers to put into, per CNET.
Hot Wheels allegedly developed its new fingerboard line to compete against Tech Deck, a company dedicated to developing and manufacturing fingerboards, per Gizmodo.
Hot Wheels Fingerboard Line And Stakeboarding Sets Details
Hot Wheels' new fingerboard line, which was aptly named Skate, will allow you to do pretty much any trick a Hot Wheels car race track allows. They can go for donuts, giant piranhas, and even roller coasters within the skateboard sets that come with them.
Unlike Tech Deck's fingerboards, Hot Wheels' Skate fingerboards come with tiny shoes for you to put your fingers into to simulate your feet, making stunts easier to pull off. However, more experienced fingerboards can take the shoes off if they so wish.
Thanks to Hot Wheels' partnership with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, these fingerboards look and feel like a skateboard Tony Hawk himself would use, and it shows. According to SI Showcase, the fingerboards themselves are "pretty tough" and were "up to snuff."
Tony Hawk was reportedly excited about the partnership as he felt Hot Wheels has a "great creative team and direction." He later revealed that Hot Wheels played an important part in his life as a skateboarder as he used to have Hot Wheels cars do loops and set up tracks for them to do so. This would later stick with him as he saw it was possible to stick to a wall during a roller coaster loop.
He also described the beginner-friendly ethos of the fingerboard as the fruit of the inclusivity skateboarding symbolizes in general, per CNN.
"I feel like skateboarding is the great equalizer," Hawk said. "And anyone is invited to jump in. You're only judged by your skating and not by your background. And uniqueness is key - uniqueness is welcome."
Interestingly, Hawk's favorite trick with a Hot Wheels Sakte fingerboard is a hand-plant or an invert. He reasons that he used to do those tricks with his fingers during school, even before the popularization of miniature skateboards.
A Quick History Lesson To Fingerboarding
Another interesting fact is that miniature skateboards, or fingerboards as we call them now, can be traced as far back as the late 1960s when tiny skateboard keychains were being sold at skate shops. These miniature skateboards would then be used to simulate actual skateboarding, and in the mid-1980s, the sport of fingerboarding was born.
One of the more popular fingerboard manufacturers back then is Tech Deck, which is still active to this day, albeit as a company under Canada's Spin Mater.
Hot Wheels Skate Price And Availability
Hot Wheels' Skate fingerboards will be initially available exclusively to Walmart in August, with the line's Amusement Park Skate Set costing $29.99. Meanwhile, a single Hot Wheels fingerboard will retail for $2.99, while a Hot Wheels Skate Drop-In Skate Set Assortment will cost $14.99.
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