So what exactly is a fingerboard?  Often thought of as mini skateboards, these are a fast growing hobby for kids and adults alike.  They are controlled with either the index and middle finger, or with the index and ring finger.  The object of a fingerboard is to perform tricks and stunts that skate boarders do on their full sized skate boards.  Don’t be fooled; these tricks are tough to pull off, but very rewarding and entertaining once you are able to master them.  We will cover a variety of techniques as well as places to find the best fingerboards out there.

Fingerboard History

The fingerboard originated in the 1970′s as a mere homemade toy.  They eventually made it to skate shops as little novelties and key chains.  The earliest fingerboards were not really usable as toys and it was very difficult to do any real tricks with them.  It wasn’t until Tech Deck created a high quality miniature skateboard that could actually be ridden with fingers.

The first company to license fingerboards was Bratz Toys.  The boards were created by Pangea and used designs from current entertainment properties at the time.  These designs included Heavy Metal, NASCAR, Speed Racer, Woody Woodpecker, Crash Bandicoot, among others.  This is what motivated the Tech Deck company to create their boards based on local skate brands rather than coming up with their own original branding for the skateboards.  In 1999, Tech Deck managed to secure the licensing of large skateboard brands for the design of their fingerboards, and began to sell their mini skateboards in locations  like Walmart, Target, and other large retail stores.  This same year, the collector bug hit big with the Tech Decks, and people were collecting these toys just as they were collecting Beanie Babies the previous year.

As the fingerboard craze grew, the entertainment based brands couldn’t hold up against the major skateboard brands of the Tech Decks, and they eventually foundered.  Later finger boards came with removable parts, and actually had to be built out of the packaging.  The separate trucks, deck, and wheels all could be assembled by hand.  They also featured unique graphics painted on the underside of the board just like their larger full-scale counterparts.  This made the new generation of fingerboards especially collectible and an addictive hobby.  Sales from these little skate boards were estimated at $120 million that year.