Joycult Fingerboards: From Fingerboard Revolution to Second Life

From handmade urethane wheels and 2010s hype to a new era under Dynamic's Scott, Joycult remains one of the most recognisable names in fingerboarding.

There are plenty of fingerboard companies that have made good products. There are considerably fewer that have actually changed the culture. Joycult is one of them.

Today, Joycult is once again producing wheels, decks, trucks and accessories, with an increasingly impressive range of collaborations and licensed products. But to understand why the name still carries so much weight, you have to go back to the period when Joycult helped transform fingerboard wheels from a niche accessory into one of the most desirable parts of a complete setup.

The Beginning

Joycult was founded by Matt in Canada, with the company initially concentrating on wheels rather than decks.

The philosophy was relatively straightforward: make fingerboarding feel more like skateboarding.

That meant moving away from the plastic wheels associated with toys and early fingerboarding and embracing polyurethane, the same basic material used for skateboard wheels.

Joycult began producing its wheels in 2014, and the company quickly became associated with a particular aesthetic: colourful urethane, realistic shapes and a premium presentation.

The timing was important. Fingerboarding was becoming increasingly serious, and riders were beginning to look beyond the traditional Tech Deck setup. Handmade decks were becoming more sophisticated, trucks were improving and urethane wheels were developing rapidly.

Joycult entered that market at exactly the right moment.

According to accounts of fingerboard-wheel history, Joycult's urethane wheels helped push the market forward around 2015, when their appearance and smoothness generated significant attention.

And then something happened that every small fingerboard company dreams of.

Joycult became hype.

The Rise of the Joycult Wheel

During the mid-to-late 2010s, Joycult became one of the names that people associated with premium fingerboard wheels.

The wheels weren't merely functional. They became part of the identity of a setup.

Collectors wanted particular colours. Riders wanted particular shapes. Older releases became desirable. Drops generated excitement.

The company had effectively turned a component into a product category with its own culture.

That was an important development for fingerboarding.

Instead of simply asking, What wheels should I put on my board?, people began asking, Which wheels do I want?

That distinction is significant. It is the same transition that happens in skateboarding when equipment stops being purely functional and becomes part of a rider's personal style.

Joycult was one of the companies responsible for making that transition happen in fingerboarding.

When Success Became a Problem

But the Joycult story also demonstrates the danger of rapid growth.

As demand increased, so did expectations.

The brand developed a reputation for desirable products, but it also became associated with complaints surrounding fulfilment, customer service and quality control. Some of those criticisms became a major part of the public discussion surrounding the company.

By 2023, Joycult's original operation had effectively reached the end of the road.

And this is where the story could easily have ended. A famous fingerboard brand had become a cautionary tale about what can happen when a small operation grows faster than its infrastructure.

But instead, something unexpected happened.

2023: Joycult Changes Hands

In 2023, Scott from Dynamic Fingerboards acquired Joycult.

This was an important moment for the fingerboarding industry.

Scott publicly confirmed that he owned the brand and that Matt was no longer involved in the business. Contemporary community discussion showed just how significant the announcement was, with many fingerboarders expressing optimism that Joycult could be rebuilt under new ownership.

The acquisition wasn't simply about buying a name. It represented an attempt to rescue the reputation and legacy attached to that name.

The challenge was obvious:

Could Joycult become Joycult again without repeating the problems of the past?

A New Era

The answer appears to have been a gradual rebuilding process rather than an attempt to immediately recreate the old hype.

Joycult's current positioning is noticeably broader. The company now sells wheels, decks, trucks and other products through its official store.

Its wheel catalogue includes the 3.0 Lite, Classic and XL formats, alongside different shapes, sizes and durometers. Current examples include Firefox 60D, Limewire 69D, Skyrock E 65D and Real Street True Wear.

The company has also maintained the visual experimentation that helped make Joycult recognisable in the first place.

The result is a brand that still feels distinctly Joycult, but with a much more developed product ecosystem.

The Joycult 3.0 Era

The 3.0 series is arguably the clearest representation of the modern Joycult approach.

Rather than producing one generic wheel, Joycult offers multiple formats:

• Lite 3.0
• Classic 3.0
• XL 3.0

There are also different wheel sizes and profiles, allowing riders to choose something closer to their preferred skateboard setup.

Current releases include colours and formulas such as Bruiser, Cappuccino, Nebula, Fishscale, Glitterbomb, Jade, Orange Agate and Golden Pearls.

This is important because modern fingerboarding has become considerably more specialised.

A 29mm setup with small wheels can feel completely different from a 34–36mm setup with large wheels.

Joycult has adapted to that reality.

Joycult and Independent

One of the biggest developments in the modern Joycult era has been the company's relationship with established skateboard brands.

Joycult currently offers Joycult x Independent Stage 11 Polished fingerboard trucks.

The significance of this shouldn't be underestimated.

Independent is one of the most recognisable names in skateboard truck history, and bringing an officially licensed miniature version of the Stage 11 aesthetic into fingerboarding represents a direct connection between the two cultures.

The trucks are currently listed by Joycult at $64.99, and the company describes them as part of its current truck range.

They are also stocked by established fingerboard retailers, demonstrating that the collaboration has become part of the mainstream premium fingerboard market rather than simply a novelty release.

Joycult x Santa Cruz

The same strategy can be seen in Joycult's work with Santa Cruz Skateboards.

The current catalogue includes miniature versions of recognisable Santa Cruz graphics, including:

• Dressen Rose Dagger
• Pace Deathtrap
• Asta Cosmic Eyes
• Knox Punk Reissue
• Meek Slasher Yellow Reissue
• Winkowski Bigfoot

The sizes range from 30mm through 36mm.

This is a fascinating direction for Joycult.

Rather than simply trying to compete against other fingerboard deck manufacturers with another generic graphic series, the company is leveraging its position to bring established skateboard graphics into fingerboarding.

That gives the products something that many fingerboard brands cannot easily reproduce: heritage.

Joycult x Creature

The collaboration strategy has now expanded further.

Joycult's current deck catalogue includes Creature graphics such as:

• Logo Stump
• Provost Metal XX
• Catacomb Relic
• Navarrette Pharaoh
• Hitz Haksaw
• Gravette Hippie Skull

These are available across different widths, including 30mm, 32mm and 34mm.

That gives Joycult a particularly interesting position.

The company isn't abandoning its fingerboarding heritage. Instead, it is connecting fingerboarding to the wider skateboard industry.

Joycult x MOB Grip

The same philosophy extends to grip tape.

Joycult currently offers a Joycult x MOB Grip four-pack, adding another well-known skateboarding name to its product ecosystem.

Taken together, the Independent, Santa Cruz, Creature and MOB collaborations represent something much bigger than a collection of licences.

They demonstrate an attempt to position Joycult as a bridge between skateboarding and fingerboarding, something that was part of the brand's original philosophy.

The 2025 Interview That Changed the Conversation

Another important chapter came in December 2025 when Matt, Joycult's original founder, appeared on the USAFBL Fingerboard Podcast.

The episode, titled "The Rise, Fall, & Truth Behind Joycult", dealt directly with the history of the company.

Matt discussed the origins of Joycult, his decision to concentrate on wheels, the company's rapid growth, COVID-era pressures, fulfilment problems, online speculation and the eventual sale of the business.

That interview was significant because it provided considerably more context around a period of Joycult's history that had previously been dominated by community speculation.

It also reinforced an important point:

Joycult's history is more complicated than simply "good brand became bad brand."

Running a small manufacturing company during a period of explosive demand can expose weaknesses that aren't visible when a business is small.

The problems were real, but so was the enormous pressure created by the brand's success.

The "Matt Era"

Within the fingerboarding community, older Joycult products are sometimes referred to as "Matt Era" wheels.

The term has effectively become a way of distinguishing products made under the original ownership from the modern Joycult operation.

Community opinion about these wheels remains divided.

Some older riders remember them as some of the most visually appealing and influential wheels of their era.

Others remember quality-control problems and difficulties receiving orders.

That split is important because it shows just how complicated brand legacy can become.

A product can simultaneously be historically important, aesthetically influential and operationally problematic. Those things aren't mutually exclusive.

Has Modern Joycult Recovered?

The evidence suggests that the modern company has made substantial progress.

Current retailers are stocking Joycult products, the official website has a substantial catalogue, and the company has expanded beyond wheels into licensed decks, trucks and grip.

There is also evidence from the community that some riders view the new Joycult products positively.

For example, discussions surrounding the modern 3.0 wheels include users praising their feel and describing them as a harder material than the originals, although community opinion remains mixed.

That last point is worth emphasising.

Joycult doesn't have universal approval. Nor should it.

Any established brand is going to have people who love the products, people who prefer competitors and people who remain sceptical because of the company's history.

But the modern Joycult operation appears to have achieved something considerably more important than universal approval:

it has become relevant again.

Joycult in 2026

Looking at the current catalogue, Joycult in 2026 is a very different company from the one that dominated the wheel market during the 2010s.

The brand now has:

Premium wheels

The 3.0 range provides multiple sizes, shapes, colours and formulas.

Fingerboard decks

The company is producing its own decks alongside major licensed collaborations.

Official skateboard collaborations

Santa Cruz, Creature, Independent and MOB all feature in the current ecosystem.

International distribution

Joycult maintains wholesale/distribution enquiries and continues to appear through specialist fingerboard retailers internationally.

In other words, this isn't simply an old brand surviving on nostalgia. There is an active product strategy behind the name.

The Bigger Question

The interesting question now isn't whether Joycult can return to its old level of hype. It probably doesn't need to.

The fingerboarding market has changed considerably since the company's original rise.

There are now countless wheel manufacturers, increasingly sophisticated decks, high-end trucks and an enormous amount of choice.

Trying to recreate 2015 would probably be the wrong strategy.

Instead, modern Joycult seems to be doing something smarter:

using the reputation it built in fingerboarding to create a bridge between miniature skateboarding and the real skateboard industry.

And that could ultimately prove more sustainable than simply chasing hype.

From Hype Brand to Heritage Brand?

This may ultimately be Joycult's greatest opportunity.

During its first era, Joycult was a hype brand.

People wanted the latest wheels because they were Joycult wheels.

Today, the company has the opportunity to become something slightly different: a heritage brand.

That distinction matters.

Hype eventually disappears. Heritage can last for decades.

Santa Cruz has heritage. Independent has heritage. Creature has heritage. Blackriver has heritage within fingerboarding.

Joycult now has the opportunity to establish the same kind of long-term position within the premium fingerboarding world.

It has the history. It has the recognition. It has the products. And, perhaps most importantly, it has already survived the collapse that destroys most small brands.

Final Verdict

Joycult's story is one of the most interesting in modern fingerboarding.

It started with a simple idea, make better, more realistic wheels, and became one of the most influential wheel brands of the 2010s.

The brand then experienced the problems that can accompany rapid growth, eventually changing ownership in 2023.

Under Scott and the Dynamic connection, Joycult has been given another opportunity.

The modern catalogue suggests that the strategy isn't simply to reproduce the past. Instead, Joycult is building a much broader product range and increasingly connecting fingerboarding with established skateboard brands.

That makes the current Joycult particularly interesting.

The original Joycult helped create the premium fingerboard-wheel market.

The new Joycult is attempting to build something bigger from that legacy.

Whether it eventually becomes one of the dominant names of the next generation of fingerboarding remains to be seen.

But one thing is already clear:

Joycult isn't dead.

It has survived one of the most turbulent stories in fingerboarding, and in 2026, it is back in the conversation for very different reasons.

And perhaps that is the most impressive part of the Joycult story.

The brand got a second life.