Complete with moving wheels, graphics and trucks, a fingerboard or finger-skateboard is a miniature version of a skateboard in 96 – 110 millimeters long with a variety of widths. Instead of feet, skateboarding tricks performed using fingers. First created as homemade toys in the 1970s using cardboard, coffee stirrers, and Hot Wheels axles, fingerboards have been a peripheral part of the skateboarding industry since the late 1980s and were originally marketed as key chains in skate shops.
Fingerboards are now available as inexpensive novelty toys as well as high-end collectibles, complete with accessories one would find in use with standard-size skateboards. Fingerboards are also used by skateboarders as 3-D model visual aids to understand potential tricks and maneuvers; many users make videos to document their efforts. Although barely rideable, they were improved upon by the Tech Deck brand which mass produced a rideable miniature skateboard.
To use a fingerboard one's middle finger goes on the "tail" (back end), and the index finger goes on the middle of the board or vice versa if it does not feel comfortable to ride in the fashion that was previously stated. Many people though, find it easier to start with 3 fingers. A variety of innovative tricks from classic, so-called "old-school", to more original and creative maneuvers can be envisioned and done on a small scale either for the enjoyment alone or as a precursor to one's skateboarding experiences where individual style and diversification of tricks is rewarded.
In England, Germany, Austria, and United States, fingerboarding is really popular. Fingerboarders even have regular contests, fairs, workshops and other events. Teri Werner, owner a skateboarding shop in San Pedro, California, promotes fingerboarding by holding contests on the store's fingerboard ramp with one contest having 175 entrants in two categories, plus another hundred spectators. In 1999, fingerboard-product sales were estimated at $120-million. This proved that fingerboard is now become more than just a collectible toy but a practice into a form of mental skating.
In Bali, this toy can be purchased at Xtreme Toys:
Jl. Legian, Kuta | Ph: 764 476
Kuta Square #D28, Kuta | Ph: 756 291
Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai #774 Nusa Dua | Ph: 848 0471
Bali Collection Blok B1 #2, Nusa Dua | Ph: 772 539
Fingerboards are now available as inexpensive novelty toys as well as high-end collectibles, complete with accessories one would find in use with standard-size skateboards. Fingerboards are also used by skateboarders as 3-D model visual aids to understand potential tricks and maneuvers; many users make videos to document their efforts. Although barely rideable, they were improved upon by the Tech Deck brand which mass produced a rideable miniature skateboard.
To use a fingerboard one's middle finger goes on the "tail" (back end), and the index finger goes on the middle of the board or vice versa if it does not feel comfortable to ride in the fashion that was previously stated. Many people though, find it easier to start with 3 fingers. A variety of innovative tricks from classic, so-called "old-school", to more original and creative maneuvers can be envisioned and done on a small scale either for the enjoyment alone or as a precursor to one's skateboarding experiences where individual style and diversification of tricks is rewarded.
In England, Germany, Austria, and United States, fingerboarding is really popular. Fingerboarders even have regular contests, fairs, workshops and other events. Teri Werner, owner a skateboarding shop in San Pedro, California, promotes fingerboarding by holding contests on the store's fingerboard ramp with one contest having 175 entrants in two categories, plus another hundred spectators. In 1999, fingerboard-product sales were estimated at $120-million. This proved that fingerboard is now become more than just a collectible toy but a practice into a form of mental skating.
In Bali, this toy can be purchased at Xtreme Toys:
Jl. Legian, Kuta | Ph: 764 476
Kuta Square #D28, Kuta | Ph: 756 291
Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai #774 Nusa Dua | Ph: 848 0471
Bali Collection Blok B1 #2, Nusa Dua | Ph: 772 539
