Walk into any proper skate shop and you'll see it happen. A kid who's only been skating six months picks up a Toy Machine deck because the graphic looks mental. A bloke in his thirties picks up the exact same deck because he remembers seeing Toy Machine videos twenty years ago. Somehow, despite skateboarding changing beyond recognition over the last three decades, Toy Machine has managed to stay relevant to both.
That's not an accident.
In a world where brands seem to appear overnight and disappear just as quickly, Toy Machine feels like one of the last genuinely authentic skate companies still doing things its own way. No corporate rebrand. No desperate attempts to chase trends. No pretending to be something it isn't. Just skateboarding, weird graphics and a stubborn commitment to staying true to the vision that made people fall in love with the brand in the first place.
Founded by professional skateboarder and artist Ed Templeton in 1993, Toy Machine arrived at a time when skateboarding was beginning to redefine itself. Street skating was exploding, skate videos were becoming cultural landmarks and a generation of skaters wanted brands that reflected their personalities rather than simply selling them products. Templeton created exactly that. The company was built around his own artwork, his own sense of humour and his own view of skateboarding. More than thirty years later, that's still what makes Toy Machine different.
The thing most people notice first is the graphics. Even if you've never stepped on a skateboard before, you've probably seen the iconic Toy Machine Monster somewhere. The angry horned face has become one of the most recognisable logos in skateboarding, right up there with some of the biggest brands the industry has ever produced. Then there are the Sect Eyes, the strange creatures, the unsettling cartoons and all the slightly twisted artwork that has become synonymous with the company. Every graphic feels like it came from the same universe. A weird, funny, slightly chaotic universe that could only have come from Ed Templeton's imagination. That artistic identity has always been central to the brand and remains one of the biggest reasons skaters keep coming back to it.
What makes Toy Machine even more impressive is that it never relied solely on graphics. Plenty of brands have cool artwork. Very few have managed to back it up with generations of genuinely influential skateboarders. Throughout its history the team has included names like Brian Anderson, Elissa Steamer and Jamie Thomas, riders who helped define entire eras of skateboarding. Today's roster carries that same spirit. The names may have changed, but the formula hasn't. Toy Machine has always attracted skaters who do things their own way, who look comfortable skating rough spots, awkward transitions and crusty streets rather than treating skateboarding like a training exercise.
That's probably why the brand still resonates so strongly in places like Nottingham. Skateboarding here has always had a bit of grit to it. We don't have perfect Californian weather. We don't have endless marble plazas. We have rough ground, old architecture, strange DIY spots and a skate scene that has always been built around creativity rather than perfection. In a funny way, Toy Machine feels perfectly suited to that mindset. It celebrates the weird side of skateboarding. The side that isn't always polished. The side that's more interested in finding something interesting to skate than finding something easy to skate.
From a product point of view, Toy Machine decks have earned their reputation because they simply work. Whether you're looking at one of the classic Monster graphics, a Templeton artwork release or a pro model from one of the current team riders, you're getting a skateboard built for actual skateboarding. They aren't wall decorations pretending to be skateboards. They're boards designed to get scratched, chipped and absolutely battered. That's how they're supposed to look. The best Toy Machine deck is never the one hanging pristine on a wall. It's the one with half the graphic worn away from months of sessions.
Maybe that's why Toy Machine has survived while countless other brands have faded away. It understands something fundamental about skateboarding. Trends come and go. Social media platforms come and go. Tricks evolve. Graphics change. But the feeling that made people step on a skateboard in the first place stays exactly the same. The excitement of rolling away from something you've never landed before. The laughs with your mates during a session. The stories that come from spending all day trying one stupid trick.
Toy Machine has spent more than thirty years celebrating that side of skateboarding, and that's exactly why it still matters today.
At Wobble we're always excited when fresh Toy Machine stock lands because it's one of those brands that never really goes out of fashion. Whether you're buying your first proper deck or replacing your fifteenth, there's a good chance you'll find yourself drawn towards that little angry monster staring back at you from the wall. And honestly, there's probably a reason for that.
