Back to the Future is my favourite movie of all time. It needs no introduction (even if I just gave it one, albeit on a personal level). Merchandising isn’t scarce per se, but you can hardly claim the franchise to have been exploited ad infinitum. Action figures, for example, have never been released.
The items that have been released were either promotional (e.g. the Pizza Hut sunglasses from 1989) or exclusive (Nike produced the power laces-less sneakers to help The Michael J. Fox Foundation, but you had to pay three arms and four legs to acquire a pair), with only a few exceptions. In March 2012, Mattel announced they would produce the second movie’s famous Hoverboard in time for the holidays. Demand quickly exceeded supply, but yours truly pre-ordered one. The board’s production was overseen by series co-creator Bob Gale and visual effects maestro Michael Lantieri.
After some delays, this arrived on my doorstep in January 2013.
A box within a box.
A box within a box within a box? This starts to sound like Yzma’s rambling in The Emperor’s New Groove.
The Hoverboard, after some assembly. Three AA-batteries power the plank, comparable in size to a regular skateboard. When you move the device around in various directions, you will hear authentic movie sounds like ‘whoosh’ and ‘zzzoom’.
The underside of the board. When you hold it like that, the sounds stop. An essential technique to save on batteries. “Unless you’ve got powah!”
This small standee (with the Back to the Future logo) is also included, to support your board and make your sanctuary extra stylish. Or geeky.
Mattel’s official Hoverboard is no longer available, but can be found on second hand sites. In a nice touch, a mini Hoverboard was included for those who placed the pre-order. Let’s hope this means we’ll eventually get action figures as well. Get to it, Mattel!
