When it comes to skateboarding, Tony Hawk is a god among men. And just in case you needed tangible proof of his divinity—what, landing a 900 isn’t enough?—Hendo Hover posted a video today of the legend riding on the world’s first real-life hoverboard. Eat your heart out, Marty McFly.
Hendo’s running a Kickstarter campaign to bring its hoverboards to life—a campaign that’s already more than fully funded despite having nearly a full month left on the clock. As this video proves, Hendo’s technology is already baked enough to create a real world prototype. From the Kickstarter description:
“The magic behind the hoverboard lies in its four disc-shaped hover engines. These create a special magnetic field which literally pushes against itself, generating the lift which levitates our board off the ground.”
That’s pretty damned cool, and Wired took a stab at explaining the physics behind the device if you’re interested. But even if you aren’t, just bask in the majesty of Mr. Hawk goofing around on the world’s first honest-to-goodness hoverboard.
Yes, controlling the Hendo looks a bit clunky, but c’mon—it’s a freakin’ hoverboard.
The video can actually be seen as an atonement of sorts for Hawk. Earlier this year, he appeared in a video showing off another hoverboard. That video turned out to be an elaborate Funny or Die hoax, breaking the hearts of Back to the Future II fans around the globe.
The Hendo Hoverboard is the real deal, even if its need for a metallic surface to ride on is kind of a bummer. Also a bummer: You won’t be able to ride one of these for a while. Once the Kickstarter ends, the hoverboard will (theoretically) move into the production stage, and the first 10 units have already been gobbled up—at the jaw-dropping price of $10,000 a pop. (Smaller, hovering development kit boxes are also available if you back the Hendo to the tune of at least $300.)
But hey, at least we have this utterly majestic video. And if $10,000 for a fancy toy (albeit one whose underlying technology could potentially have great import to the transportation industry) is a bit too steep for your wallet, a new Tony Hawk game for consoles was announced just last week—though it isn’t due to land until sometime next year. In the meantime, you can always give this killer Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 playlist a spin on Spotify while you wait for the glorious gravity-defying future to reach the masses.