Toy Machine’s newest video “Vaccine” dropped last week, and as is the trend these days, this thing isn’t particularly long at all. Similar to other videos like Vans’ “OK, Alright”, the video is a super easy to watch 15 minute webclip featuring a couple of full parts (and one mini-section) to appeal to those with shorter attention spans. Don’t let the short length fool you though: this thing is as full and packed with shredding as any previous “feature length” Toy Machine video.
The video opens with a montage of some of the team busting out a handful of tricks each. There are some of your bigger names on the team here such as Daniel Lutheran, who throws out a sick ride on 5-0 from a ledge onto a gate/fence, and Leo Romero, who assaults a variety of handrails with his trademark legendary style in a tight 30 seconds.
The rest of the team members who appear in this opening montage aren’t messing around. Blake Carpenter kicks things off with a couple of smooth lines to start the party, with a hefty hippy jump thrown in for good measure. Jeremy Leabres rips all terrain, including a nice backside air on a bizarre oververt wall thingy in a car park.
Child prodigy, turned iconic pro in his own right, CJ Collins continues to prove he’s an all terrain powerhouse with some heavy street moves, culminating on a boosted Frontside Air on a bizarre dish obstacle. The opening montage ends with Matt Bennett doing a signature Bennett grind combo, and Myles Willard getting busy with wallrides and cruisy street lines, finishing the opening section with a beasty Front Heelflip over a kicker to handrail gap.
This leads the way for a short mini-section from personal favourite Axel Cruysbergh. Mr Armanto proves why he’s got his name on a board is a short but sweet section where he seeks out and tackles some weird terrain. The Front Blunt on a bank to rail early on had me raising an eyebrow, as did the on trend extremely long Front Feeble on a handrail. The real knockout here is the utterly weird handrail/wave combination Axel 5050’s, as he transfers from grinding a rail, to grinding a wavy ledge, and then back onto the rail… It’s hard to explain, but you’ll know it when you see it.
Cruysbergh is followed by Braden Hoban, a man who has been really making a name for himself out on the internet with some viral clips of him 5050-ing around some weird circular planter. In this part he closes things with the roundabout double 5050 that came in at the number 1 spot on last week’s Triple on this very blog, but there are plenty more absurd tricks in this part that haven’t been posted up on Instagram.
The opening trick is just ridiculous – a series of 5050s on handrail after handrail after handrail down a hill that just never seems to end. That should give you an indication of what’s to follow. Early on Hoban drops a cheeky Front Board to Hurricane, hinting at his level of handrail dexterity that comes out in full force later in his part. An epic, long 5050 on a gargantuan kinked handrail also shows that he can get into “mega street” territory when it’s called for.
A Kickflip to Front Board Shuv Out signals a series of tricks where Braden sneaks in some shuv-its at the end of handrail tricks. These are just utterly mind-blowing, because in most cases the shuv is almost imperceptible to the human eye. Hoban is a master at doing this when you least expect it. He does it a couple of times throughout this part and it’s always a surprise. Also, it must be a prerequisite that to join the Toy Machine team you must pay homage to Ed Templeton by learning Impossibles, because Hoban casually chucks them into some hubba tricks near the end of his part.
This part is followed by another short montage section, closing out the rest of the team. I mentioned Impossibles in the last section, but Georgia Martin throws one down a stair set that clearly shows why she’s on Toy Machine – Ed must’ve seen flashes of his youth in her skateboarding, because it’s clear that Templeton influenced her massively.
Daiki Ikeda throws a hardflip down an absolutely massive stair set. Susie Heath is clearly an ATV that I can’t wait to see more of – Manny tech, wallrides and transition shredding, and each one done with pure style. Jay Richards closes this section: a tiny kid who tanks it at massive stair sets, and definitely doesn’t suffer from the “little kid style” you sometimes get with kids like this. One to watch as he continues to improve and no doubt he’ll be closing the next Toy Machine video if he continues on the path he’s on.
“Vaccine” ends with Dashawn Jordan, another dude who’s sick tricks have cropped up on Insta this week following this video’s release. A real modern street powerhouse, Jordan makes a statement of intent with his opening trick: A laserflip to lipslide. Dashawn is not playing around here.
What follows is a controlled assassination of handrail spots: a lightning fast noseblunt on a wobbly, dodgy looking rail, and a long, pinched overcrook are personal highlights. Not only content with shutting down handrails, Jordan has plenty of controlled, dexterous tech to entertain in this part too. Early on a Frontside Flip Fakie 50 in a ditch bank to block shows some versatility, and a motorbike towed boosted Frontside Flip up a hefty 5 set shows that he’s not afraid to hit stuff at speed.
There’s some tech/gnar combinations in here too: a surprising 360 flip to Nose Manual into a huge drainage ditch is some Skate3 nonsense (in the best way possible), and Dashawn tackles an extremely awkward, fence skate-stopped bank to bank gap with a Back 360 Kickflip. He closes his section, and this video, with an incredibly long Frontside Noseslide Flip out at the legendary LA Courthouse.
I’ve been a huge fan of the Toy Machine videos since the minute I started skateboarding, and whilst, as mentioned, this thing is shorter in length, it honestly doesn’t feel it. This thing carries all of the feel of those older videos, and the level of skating is appropriate for 2021, without ever feeling like it’s not befitting for Ed Templeton’s legendary company. It’s an absolutely fantastic watch and worth your time just to see the viral tricks from Braden Hoban and Dashawn Jordan in full context. The Bloodsucking Skateboard Company has still got it!
The Terrible Company 
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