Fingerboards Get Thumbs - Up From Skateboard Enthusiasts

Twelve-year-old Rick Jones watches the rain spatter the 30 foot curved ramp he and his dad have constructed from scrap lumber and paneling in the side yard.

Too wet and dangerous to attempt the gravity-defying moves he and his buddies practice on an almost daily basis, Rick and his fellow skateboarders will simply move the action indoors, where they'll do kick flips along the coffee table, ollies across the oak bookshelf, and pop shove-its on the kitchen floor.

And all this with mom's approval.

Of course, they'll be setting aside the full size boards for their four inch replicas - a hot new craze called a fingerboard.

What began as amere fad just over a year ago among a few Northern California teens has taken hold of youngsters from coast to coast.

Selling for between $6 and $12 each, kids use their middle and index fingers to propel the mini boards through exact maneuvers they have perfected on the real things.

And it's easy to understand the appeal: relatively affordable, fingerboards are begining to show a collectability like that of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars,while the pocket-sized toys are easy to carry and ready for action anywhere - most noticeably at schools, where they are fast becoming the bane of teachers and administrators. The drawer space that once was the final stop for such contraband as Tamagochis and Pogs are quickly filling with the wee-wheeled wonders.

"The school drinking fountains work good for turning flips," says Carlos, one of Ricks pals who is the proud owner of seven fingerboards. "And you can't get hurt on them, either."

It doesn't stop there. Also available to fingerboard fanatics are a wide array of accessories including realistic looking ramps, staircases, rails, and scaled down picnic tables on which to do twists, flips, and grinds. Some boards even come packaged with tiny tools and socket wrenchs to change wheels.

Besides the life-like play they provide, graphics that adorn the boards also account for the demand. X-Concepts, manufacturer of Tech Decks,the most popular brand of fingerboards, have secured licenses to clone look alikes of skateboards made by such industry leaders as Birdhouse, Black Label, and Zero. Even Tony Hawks, acclaimed as today's best professional skateboarder, has lent his name to Tech Decks line, which now numbers 208 different boards and counting.

Chris Byrne, editor of the Toy Report, a weekly newsletter for the toy industry, predicts fingerboards will rival Pokemon as this year's top toy.

Numerous knockoffs that skimp on quality have flooded the market, and Byrne warns that youngsters won't be fooled. "The flaw is kids are likely to reject something that they don't think is authentic."

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