Twenty-three years ago, as ‘Back to the Future, Part II’ first hit theaters, kids everywhere got their first look at a toy from the future.  It was the Mattel Hoverboard, the skateboard without wheels that uses futuristic technology to float inches above the ground. Rumors swirled in the ’80s and ’90s that the Hoverboard was real (rumors fueled by director Robert Zemeckis) but, alas, much to the disappointment of children everywhere, the Hoverboard was just another piece of movie magic.

But now, just three years shy of 2015 – the “future” of ‘Back to the Future, Part II” – Mattel has finally announced the Hoverboard for sale.

From the official Mattel press release:

Finally! This totally awesome 1:1 replica of the hover board from the BTTF 2 and BTTF 3 films includes multiple whooshing sounds and will glide over most surfaces (does not actually ‘hover’ – check back in 2015 for that feature). We’ll be taking orders for it March 1 – March 20, 2012, and the final product will be shipped around November/December 2012…The price will be announced later this month. (Note: Hover board does not work on water.)”

So there’s the good news and the bad news.  The good news is that your childhood dream of owning a Hoverboard can finally come true this Christmas.  The bad news is that, like Nike’s release of the Marty McFly Air Mag sneakers, this doesn’t include any of the futuristic technology that made it so cool.

What you can basically expect at this point is an exact prop replica of the Hoverboard used in the film.  This is cool for display in your house but not so much for escaping the grasp of Biff Tannen and his gang of thugs.  For that, it looks like we’ll have to keep waiting for the future to arrive.

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