BTTF Hoverboard history

g k

g k

New Member
I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some info on how they built the original Hoverboards for BTTF 2? From what I've seen so far I know they used some foam boards and some wood ones depending on what was needed of it for each scene. I guess I'm just wondering where the other parts of the board come from or if they were just scratch built then cast. I really enjoy hearing the back story of these. Thanks!
 
I'm sure hero boards were foam with beveled edges and stunt boards were made from wood with rounded edges. Parts like the magnets were vacuum formed and at least one of the stunt boards didn't have magnets because it was never going to be seen from underneath.

The details on hero boards seem to be a combination of physical items glued and others just having a big vinyl sticker.

The cringe footage for me is watching that 720P video where they use a cordless drill to tech screw MJF's Nike MAG to the top of one of the stunt boards. Images of the stunt boards show what appeared to be steel connection plates (similar to what holds a roller skate boot to the plate) through these shoes to the boards. This board had no magnets underneath.
 
Thanks for the reply. I've seen a couple of those bts videos and I know the one you're talking about with screwing into the board. I hope to make my first board soon, I just love to learn about the history of these things.
 
g k said:
Thanks for the reply. I've seen a couple of those bts videos and I know the one you're talking about with screwing into the board. I hope to make my first board soon, I just love to learn about the history of these things.
Click to expand...

Will you make a foam or wooden board?

Good luck finding the right lenticular material. It is still available apparently, but I could not track it down, so had to invent an alternative that gave a similar look when I modded my Matty Collector Hover Board.

That thing is a mess out of the box. It is a combination of hero and stunt, with great big sticker that peels over time. The construction is actually quite good, but there are about 30 screws on the bottom holding the thing together, many of which are hidden under that sticker. Considering they had access to the real hero boards, it makes you wonder how they they got it so wrong. And that sound card is just damn annoying.
 
I plan on making my Marty board out of foam and just print out the design. It doesn't have to be screen accurate, just good enough to hang above my TV. Hopefully after I make this one I can challenge myself to make a Pitbull board.
 
g k said:
I plan on making my Marty board out of foam and just print out the design. It doesn't have to be screen accurate, just good enough to hang above my TV. Hopefully after I make this one I can challenge myself to make a Pitbull board.
Click to expand...

Cool. There are some very good graphics here that you can have printed out. I used these for the base of my modded Matty Collector.
 
cavx said:
I'm sure hero boards were foam with beveled edges and stunt boards were made from wood with rounded edges. Parts like the magnets were vacuum formed and at least one of the stunt boards didn't have magnets because it was never going to be seen from underneath.

The details on hero boards seem to be a combination of physical items glued and others just having a big vinyl sticker.

The cringe footage for me is watching that 720P video where they use a cordless drill to tech screw MJF's Nike MAG to the top of one of the stunt boards. Images of the stunt boards show what appeared to be steel connection plates (similar to what holds a roller skate boot to the plate) through these shoes to the boards. This board had no magnets underneath.
Click to expand...

I love that footage, old school special effects.

Both Hero AND Stunt boards had bevelled edges as well as rounded edges, there were so many boards used in production that they differ from each other quite significantly. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) no found parts on this one, all custom.

The condenses measurement that people generally use is 28.5" x 8" x 1". The angles and sizes of the bevels are all different from board to board. More often than not you'll want to go with a thicker bevel on the bottom than on the top.

G K, Hit me up when you want to build one, I've still got some parts laying around so I can probably steer you in the right direction. :)
 
BTTFSpencer said:
I love that footage, old school special effects.

Both Hero AND Stunt boards had bevelled edges as well as rounded edges, there were so many boards used in production that they differ from each other quite significantly. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) no found parts on this one, all custom.

The condenses measurement that people generally use is 28.5" x 8" x 1". The angles and sizes of the bevels are all different from board to board. More often than not you'll want to go with a thicker bevel on the bottom than on the top.

G K, Hit me up when you want to build one, I've still got some parts laying around so I can probably steer you in the right direction. :)
Click to expand...

66840-341176.png


One of my favorite images is this nice close up of both the shoes and the board where you can actually see the clear soles of the MAGs against the midsole. In this scene, the edges of the board are quite rough with flat bevels and you can clearly see the magnets underneath. Would this be a foam board?
 
cavx said:
So is this a hero or stunt board?
Click to expand...

It's a hero, from what I remember we all settled on the lenticular boards with hand laid vinyl and details would be the hero boards because they were meticulously made, each of them different. The stunt boards are the ones consisting of a single laid decal with a simulated texture. They were cheaper and easier to make from what I understand. In that photo the wearer of the shoes is probably being hung from piano wire, hence the lightweight foam board, you don't want to be "weighed down" in that sort of situation.
 
BTTFSpencer said:
It's a hero, from what I remember we all settled on the lenticular boards with hand laid vinyl and details would be the hero boards because they were meticulously made, each of them different. The stunt boards are the ones consisting of a single laid decal with a simulated texture. They were cheaper and easier to make from what I understand. In that photo the wearer of the shoes is probably being hung from piano wire, hence the lightweight foam board, you don't want to be "weighed down" in that sort of situation.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. i wonder if that is even MJF?
 
Meanwhile I prefer to call them "lenticular board" and "photo board" instead of "hero board" and "stunt board", since both versions were used by MJF even in close-ups. As far as I know, the only reason why they made the photo boards is, that the lenticular boards were extremely damaged while filming and it was too expensive and time-consuming to build new ones.
 
121Gigabytes said:
It's funny, in that screen-shot of Marty's MAGs, they look nearly identical to HC's MAGs, with the sharp, short "ears".
Click to expand...

No, they are full height.

- - - Updated - - -

121Gigabytes said:
Here is my Mattel hoverboard re-done with Roland's upgrade kit that he offered a few years ago. It made the Matty board an outstanding example of a stunt/hero board hybrid.
Click to expand...

That looks really nice. So that is real velcro over a sticker?
 
I have just gotten back my MattyCollector board after it was stored in my attic for a few years... stickers have started to peel.. is this upgrade kit from Roland still available?

Also has anybody's sound effects stopped working and does anyone have a solution for fixing?

Thanks
 
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