Collecting modern monsters

In a previous blog I talked about how Hot Wheels stopped producing Monster Jam toys in 2018 to create their own line. Mattel also partnered up with the Bigfoot Team, and a few independent monster truck owner / drivers to bring an arena show to fans. Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live was now in its eight year with no sign of slowing down. This change of toy companies allowed me to focus back on something that I had been a fan of all my life. As long as Feld Entertainment controlled Monster Jam, and the majority of monster toys then I couldn’t bring myself to collect anything. Once I had an alternative it would be easy to start again. As with everything in my collection I had to be very selective. I had a budget I couldn’t go over, and very little space in my home to display anything. This meant that I could only collect a handful of trucks that really meant something to me. I’m going to feature them today.

I’m going to start with the most obvious toy. Bigfoot was the original monster truck, and the one that I grew up with. I was a fan from day one. I was also a fan of the owner Bob Chandler, and various Bigfoot drivers for decades. The next one I added to my collection was for the missus. When Bigfoot started gaining popularity in movies, and TV Bob’s wife Marilyn asked why he should be having all the fun. So he built her a baby blue Ms. Bigfoot. It was almost identical to the original Ford F-250 that he used for Bigfoot. He even kept it on 48-inch tires which was what the original Bigfoot drove around in before Bob put it on 66-inch tires. I covered Marilyn as the first female monster truck driver, and the truck on a previous blog. It was important for me to have the Chandlers at the start of my new collection.

The next two trucks were also complimentary for a different reason. The Grave Digger was always a tough competitor. Despite the feelings I had for the Feld company, I had nothing but respect for Dennis Anderson, and his family. He built his own truck, and legacy in many early competitions. Plus the Grave Digger had a fantastic look often imitated, but never duplicated. It earned its spot at the top of the collection. Note that the version I got was a classic design. The skull, cemetery, and haunted house were similar to the "Grandma" version with the words Grave and Digger on top of each other, as opposed to side-by-side. Right next to it was the Bone Shaker. Larry Wood’s iconic Hot Wheels design was every bit as brutal as the Grave Digger. There was a reason why it was the star of Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live. The old school hot rod-turned-monster truck was just too cool for words.

The next truck was actually a fictional rival to Bigfoot. Snake Bite debuted in 1991, it was the first monster truck to have a custom 3D character body. Underneath the snake-shaped shell was actually a rebuilt Bigfoot IV. This allowed Chandler to run two trucks in shows, and competitions. The team really committed to the rivalry. They said the truck came from Cobra Creek, Colorado (which didn’t actually exist). They also had the drivers wear snake-patterned airbrushed masks. Veteran Bigfoot drivers like Andy Brass, Dan Runte, Larry Swim, Chris Norman, and a few others played the characters Colt Cobra, Ricky Rattler, Vic Venom, Kris Kopperhead, Andy Anaconda, or Sid Sidewinder. Hot Wheels was on board the rivalry, and made some popular toys featuring both trucks. The Carolina Crusher was another formidable competition monster truck. It was built, and driven by Gary Porter for years, and years. He stepped away from racing for a while. He returned in 2014 to drive once more for the 30th anniversary of his truck. He eventually sold the rights to Paul Shafer, who later sold those rights to Pace Motorsports which became Feld Motorsports. Despite all this I still held Mr. Porter, and his truck in high regards.

The next truck in my series was created by Rosalee Ramer, and her father Kelvin Ramer. Kelvin built, and drove the Time Flys truck. Rosalee grew up learning how to fix trucks alongside her dad. There were pics of her as a little kid doing repairs. By 14 she was driving competitively. Making her the youngest professional monster truck driver ever. Her truck was called Wild Flower, and was easily one of the most unique trucks ever built. Next to it was King Krunch. It was an old-school truck that also represented generations of competitors. It was originally built by Scott Stephens from Texas way back in 1982. He toured the country for years, and his son Colt Stephens became a driver as well. Scott also built two of my favorite trucks, the jet-powered Coors Brewser, and the Coors Light Silver Bullet. Those trucks would never be made into toys, so having a King Krunch was as close as I could get.

The next two trucks embodied the spirit of the early monsters. Those trucks were literally inspired by ancient monsters, and cryptids. The first was the Cyclops. It was a 1969 Chevrolet C-10 built by brothers Fred and Gary Dykman out of Arizona. It was similar to the Grave Digger in that it was a famous mud truck that got coverage in the 4x4 magazines, and later become a monster truck. The Dykman brothers were very committed to the Cyclops gimmick. They had a giant animated eye hidden under the hood. It would pop out, and look around before starting a run. I remember seeing this live as a kid, and the audience went crazy when it happened. The Michigan Ice Monster was a 1983 Chevrolet C-10 by Brett Engleman. It was only in competition for a few years before Mr. Engleman stepped away from the sport. This was also one of the old school trucks that I saw live for the small window it toured originally. There was a smaller version of the truck called the Michigan Ice Monster Jr. It was built from a 1975 Chevrolet Blazer, and owned by Jesse Birgy.

The next two trucks represented the smaller owner / drivers that carved out their own path, and became successful. Titan was an awesome 1972 Chevy C-10 truck owned, and driven by Donald Epidendio from Lower Lake California. He drove as a member of the Straight up Racing team, and took part in the Monster X Tour. He also competed in several Monster Jam World Finals as well. There was something about the old school square body trucks that I thought could never be topped. Bigfoot, Cyclops, King Krunch, Titan, Giant, and a few more were all square bodied classics. The next monster in my collection was easily the most successful to feature a car body. The Avenger had a 1957 Chevy Bel Air body. It was owned, and driven by Jim Koehler from Columbus Michigan. He owned, and operated Team Scream Racing, and ran in the Monster Truck Throwdown Tour. He had an outspoken personality, and knew how to fire up the crowd whenever he got on the mic. He was possibly the greatest ambassador the sport had ever seen.

The next truck owner / driver Dave “Heavy D” Sparks was half of the Diesel Brothers alongside “Diesel Dave” Kiley. Sparks fell out of favor in my eyes for a number of reasons which had nothing to do with his arrest, and release either. It was more about his outspoken defense of immigrant Mexican laborers while also revealing he was a MAGA Trump supporter. Rather than waste my time on this glaring contradiction I would rather talk about the Brodozer. The Ford Super Duty truck was one of the first modern diesel trucks to compete in Monster Jam. I wrote about it years ago. The next truck belonged to an owner / driver that was a tough competitor. Joe Sylvester out of Canton Ohio played by his own rules, and had a truck that reflected that. My favorite version of Bad Habit featured a Jeep Gladiator body. There was a build with an Escalade body but I thought it was too bland. Mr. Sylvester held the records for both the fastest truck in the quarter mile, and furthest jump. 

The next truck in my collection was the Lucas Stabilizer, which was driven by Cynthia Gauthier. It was the only truck owned, and operated by Feld that I collected on purpose. I did so for two reasons; because Ms. Gauthier was an exceptional driver who had been competing for years with different trucks, and different teams. She had long since earned a truck of her own. The other reason why it was in my collection was because it was a callback to the classic Peterbilt monster trucks like Big Pete, and Super Pete. I also had a truck that was featured in the first few years of the Hot Wheels Monster Truck Tour. There was a WWII airplane-themed square body truck called the V8 Bomber. It looked hyper-American. On tour it was driven by Stevie Snellen, and built on a version of Basher with a vinyl wrap. Mattel realized in hindsight that maybe it wasn’t a good look to have a truck like this on tour that glorified war machines. This was especially true as they took the tour international. So they came up with a different theme.

I did collect one vehicle that wasn’t based on a specific truck. That was the Cremator, a hearse-bodied monster. There were other hearse monsters in the past, and I would like to talk about them one day, but this was a Hot Wheels original. The last monster truck in my collection was Wreckreation. It was an RV monster truck which was run by Tomfoolery Motorsports. The Pagliarulo family out of Florida owned and operated many trucks including the classic Michigan Ice Monster, and Excalibur, as well as the newer Jester, Kraken, and Missfire. Matt Pagliarulo was a veteran driver, and his children Michael, Nick, and Brooke were competing alongside him. The trucks they owned were cool, however they didn't appeal to me as much as this RV. Wreckreation captured the essence of everything I loved about monster trucks. It had a classic square body, a solid color, and a very strong visual theme.

The trucks that told a story were always the ones that I gravitated toward. Wreckreation could have come from the actual first generation of monsters. There were pics of early trucks such as Bigfoot, and King Kong with camper shells on the bed. Remember that Bob Chandler, and Jeff Dane would take camping trips using their actual daily driver trucks? They would hit the trails, and mud bogs as weekend warriors. Wreckreation was carrying on that tradition. It was possibly the last of the working man's monster campers. By contrast I never cared for the trucks with animal, zombie, or robot bodies. Those weren't cohesive themes. They didn't tell a story, they were just gimmicks.

Of course I needed a place to store my trucks when I wasn’t playing, I mean, when I wasn’t studying them for reference. Hot Wheels released a Bone Shaker Monster Mover in 2018, the same year that they released the Bone Shaker monster truck. It could store a dozen models. How amazing was this?! I put the most important trucks to me in the carrier, in case I ever cleared enough space in the home to display them. You’ll have to guess which ones those were.

So this wrapped up my look at the monster truck toys I currently had. Were there any toys that you collected because they meant something to you? Tell me about them in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; the abridged history of the brawler

There would be no fighting game genre without the advent of the brawler. If you want to learn about the history of beat ‘em ups then Bookmark This Page.

The Abridged History of the Brawler, a pre-rumble...

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 1

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 2

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 3

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 4

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 5

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 6

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 7

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 8

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 9

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 10

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 11

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 12

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 13

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 14

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 15

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 16

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 17

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 18

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 19

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 20

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 21

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 22

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 23

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 24

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 25

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 26

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 27

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 28

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 29

The Abridged History of the Brawler, Part 30

Were you a fan of the brawler? Did you have a favorite title? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; the Games Workshop series

I love games of all types, even the tabletop games that existed before video games were created. If you want to learn the history of one of the most influential companies ever then Bookmark This Page.

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 1...

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 2…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 3…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 4…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 5…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 6…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 7…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 8…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 9…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 10…

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, part 11...

Building a gaming legacy, the Games Workshop series, final part

The passing of a legend, remembering Wayne England.

Why limited-edition tabletop game items are so cool. A 1UP classic...

Bungie drops something very familiar - A 1UP classic from November 29, 2012 

Freeblade, one of the best mobile games ever made... 

Freeblade, the elements of great game design...

Did you ever play any tabletop games? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

How Bigfoot got revenge on Monster Jam

The past few weeks I had talked about how I rebuilt my monster truck library after a series of rainstorms destroyed it. I shared being a lifelong fan of Bigfoot, and some of my favorite toys as a kid. I also reflected on the early days of monster truck competitions in the ‘80s, and how Feld Entertainment pushed Bigfoot out of the spotlight in the ‘90s. By the 2000’s Monster Jam, which was operated by Feld had become a part of mainstream culture. Monster Jam products flooded the aisles of every store. Monster Jam shirts, backpacks, lunch boxes, skateboards, remote control cars, bikes, and toys were everywhere. The big chain retailers like Target, and Walmart carried all things Monster Jam. Even bookstores like Barnes and Noble carried Monster Jam products. In my opinion there hadn’t been any quality 1:64 monster toys since the Super Chargers by Matchbox. This was 15 years before all of these new toys popped up. I wasn’t in a rush to buy anything from the company. I was still upset with how Feld had pushed Bigfoot out of their platform. Worse yet that they made it appear that they were the authority on all things monster truck. As a lifelong fan of off road culture it was hard to find things to collect that didn’t have the Monster Jam branding. The company seemed to crank out more unique monster truck toys in a single season than had ever existed for the entire duration of the Matchbox Super Chargers from 1986-1994.

I would never bash the quality, or selection of the toys themselves. Just as I would never say a bad word about the teams, and drivers for the company. The Monster Jam models were very well made. They were highly detailed. They were also more accurate in scale, and proportion to traditional toy cars, and would be the envy of any toy collector. If I were born in the ‘90s there was no doubt that I would have been bought everything Monster Jam throughout the 2000’s. In addition to the sheer number of available trucks it was their playsets that really caught my eye. At first they were built around the traditional stadium shows, with ramps, cars, and even magnetic sand that you could shape. Later on there were the playsets that had their own original themes. Dinosaurs, zombies, dragons, and more. These were things that appealed to the kid in me. It turned out that there was a reason for these fantastic sets. Mattel produced the Monster Jam toys from 2000-2018 under the Hot Wheels banner. The same creative minds at Hot Wheels were putting their talents into making the best Monster Jam playsets.

Having the Hot Wheels team on board also explained why every season saw a rapid release of new trucks. Mattel released around 50 new, and 130 variant Hot Wheel models every year. Some years they created even more. Coming up with a fraction of those numbers for Monster Jam would be simple by comparison. Kids of all ages could enjoy the vehicles, and sets coming out of Mattel. The quality, and diversity of products had always been held to a high standard. Everything seemed to be great for collectors. For almost three decades Mattel had cornered the toy car market. I want you to remember that in 1997 Mattel purchased perennial rival Matchbox. The company had a stranglehold on the best cars, and tracks around. Suddenly in the summer of 2018 Monster Jam announced that they were ending their run with Hot Wheels, and giving the license to Spin Master toys. The collector forums lit up. This was a multi-million dollar property! What was the reason for the change? Was there a falling out with Mattel, or did Monster Jam buy their own toy manufacturer?

Mattel announced that they were producing an entirely new toy line called Hot Wheels Monster Trucks. The vehicles were similar in build, and scale to those of Monster Jam. Kids, and collectors would be able to put the trucks side-by-side, and not see major differences. The Hot Wheels monster tires were a couple millimeters narrower, but also a couple millimeters taller. In this way Mattel could technically market them as having bigger wheels. The most important part to me was that Hot Wheels would feature Bigfoot at the launch. A few months later they announced that they would also be producing an arena tour. In one quick motion Monster Jam was put on the defensive. Feld had to get an entirely new company to produce toys to the same standards set by Mattel. Then they had to figure out how many customers the Hot Wheels Monster Truck Tour would be taking away of the Monster Jam tour. It didn’t take long for collectors to notice how much Spin Master was poaching the ideas from Hot Wheels. 

Mattel had been developing playsets that told stories for decades before they made monster trucks. In the early days their playsets were fairly standard. They might feature a city center, car wash, parking lot, or construction site. Any kid would be happy with those. Then Mattel challenged their designers to make sets more creative, and interactive. They were essentially creating theme parks for their toy cars. It was not uncommon to have a set based on a haunted house, exploding volcano, rampaging robot, or giant shark. This approach worked for their regular car line, as well as for Monster Jam. Spin Master had to keep the over-the-top feel going, or risk losing customers in the process. Only sales figures would say if they managed to keep up. It didn’t seem to be a big problem for a company with deep enough pockets. There was no independent monster truck organization, or team that could compete with the billions that Feld Entertainment was worth. Not even Bigfoot Inc. had that kind of cash, influence, or connections. Mattel on the other hand was a massive corporation. They were worth twice as much as Feld. In fact the Hot Wheels brand alone was worth billions. It had been a household name for generations, so they didn’t have to try hard to introduce themselves to customers.

Mattel had a very smart marketing strategy with this rollout. They wouldn’t be trying to produce a television series, or put on a stadium show on the scale of Monster Jam. So the logistics, marketing, and overhead were not going to be as expensive. Hot Wheels also had a more targeted approach to the community, and the fan base. It was something that the company had learned during their Hot Wheels Legends Tour, where they created a type of mini car show at every town. So they knew how to target their core audience, while also making a unique event for casual fans. Similarly Monster Trucks Live would be performing in local arenas. Every major city had a venue large enough to host them. Since the arenas were indoors then they could have a show regardless of the weather. Mattel didn’t have to rent out a stadium, haul tons of dirt in, or sell a massive amount of tickets in order to recoup the cost. Recently Monster Jam was having difficulty selling out the bigger venues. This was especially true in a sinking economy. Mattel changed up the format of the show, it wouldn’t just be a rehash of Monster Jam with different trucks. They brought in junk cars, and painted them in bright colors for the monsters to smash. This detail went back to the roots of the sport.

It was something more exciting for fans like me to watch rather than the dirt ramps used by Feld. An arena show ensured a more intimate experience. Seats were closer to the action. The sights, and sounds of car crushes was more intense. Plus smaller shows gave Hot Wheels the ability to host two or three events every weekend instead of a single massive show. Making the transition from Monster Jam to their own toy line was relatively simple for Mattel. The speed in which Hot Wheels was ready for their own tour was unprecedented. Team Bigfoot did the majority of the heavy lifting, but they were joined by other trucks including Holman's Beast, Son of Beast, Basher, Heavy Hitter, and more. Contrary to popular belief Bigfoot did not retire once it had been pushed out of Monster Jam. In fact it had been on tour nonstop for 50 years. It appeared on TV, and movies, but also independent monster truck shows, car shows, county fairs, and other sponsored events.

Bob Chandler had been steadily building newer, and better trucks all the while. This allowed him to run three, four, or more versions of Bigfoot trucks simultaneously. The most recent build as of 2025 was Bigfoot #24. They even had an all-electric Bigfoot (#20). The team had a dedicated crew of mechanics, trailers, and drivers. This allowed them to tour coast-to-coast, and even overseas as well. Mattel was able to work with them, and a handful of other indy monster truck teams to decide which toy trucks would get full size counterparts. Best of all those smaller teams would be able to cash a check from Hot Wheels without breaching any contracts they had with Monster Jam. The trucks that normally appeared on tour with Monster Jam would never appear on the Hot Wheels shows as they had a completely different name, and body. Mattel wouldn’t actually be building an entire fleet of trucks, but instead just creating bodies to place over existing trucks. A traditional truck shape would get a vinyl wrap, making it appear like a specific Hot Wheels model. More unique body shapes like robotic rhinos, neon dinosaur skeletons, tiger sharks, and fire trucks would be created as well. 

Mattel would create the illusion of having a fleet of monster trucks, enough to rival Monster Jam. Each season they could introduce entirely “new” trucks, which were actually just new bodies. They could ensure that the most popular trucks would always be available for a venue, even if they had to swap chassis. It was great for marketing. A relatively low cost for them to undercut Monster Jam, while reaping all of the rewards. Gen-Xers like me grew up with Bigfoot, there were millions of kids that had never seen the truck up close. It made me happy knowing that that the tour would create an entirely new generation of fans. Not only that but kids would be encouraged to find a favorite truck to cheer on. It was a genius move to use the Bigfoot, and other independent fleet of trucks with custom Hot Wheels bodies. At the same time Mattel was looking at the long run. The company heads knew that Bigfoot would always be owned by the Chandler family. So they needed to create their own co-star. In this way if Mattel ever decided to retire the tour then they would still own their new stars. They just needed to figure out who was going to headline alongside the king. The company had thousands, and thousands of Hot Wheels bodies that they could have used. The first one they settled on was a genius choice.

The Bone Shaker was one of the baddest-looking trucks of the past 20 years. It was part rat rod, part street pirate, and all attitude. I’m glad that Hot Wheels didn’t try to create another truck clone. There were dozens of active monsters, with traditional body shapes. Most of them were touring in independent monster shows all across the country. There were some nice ones, but in all honesty the majority were forgettable. Mattel needed something with a unique look, and a solid name. Something that would be remembered long after the tours ended. Most important they needed a ride that would be easy to identify on the toy shelves. Of the thousands of Hot Wheels models they could have selected Mattel definitely chose the best one. They didn’t just build an adequate co-star for Bigfoot. They built their response to the Grave Digger. They sent a shot across the bow of Feld Entertainment. The origins of the Bone Shaker went back decades. It was a descendant from the very roots of hot rod culture itself. A period where nothing was impossible, no build was too outlandish, no motor was too big or too loud. A time when alien-shaped show rods, and Rat Finks were warping young minds, and building a new automotive culture.

Larry Wood was an icon in the toy industry. He first worked at Ford designing cars, but thought he could do something more with his talents. So he left Detroit, and moved to Los Angeles. He ended up at Mattel designing Hot Wheels from 1969 to 2019. He created hundreds of models, and tracks during his career. My brothers, and I had owned many of them. As we got older we would gift them to our cousins, nieces, and nephews in the US, and Mexico. They in turn passed many of those surviving toys onto their children. I don’t think Mr. Wood realized that his influence was not only generational, but also multicultural. The cars he created had been in my family, or extended family for 50 years! What was astounding about the designs of Mr. Wood was that he managed to capture the spirit of the era. His cars in each decade worked for the period, but still looked cool to this day. I dare you to find a toy from the ’70s that would still resonate with kids today. This body of work was something that very few designers in any field had managed to achieve. I would argue that he reached perfection in the 2000’s by harkening back to the cars that influenced him.

The Bone Shaker was first introduced in 2006. It became an instant hit. Kids, adults, and even casual toy fans were drawn to it. It had the perfect mix of real world performance-meets-fantasy that defined the Hot Wheels brand. Over the next decade it was reproduced, recolored, and repackaged again, and again by Mattel. I think the success of the car was because it was a callback to the hot rods that Mr. Wood had grown up with. The Ford Model-T was not known for its performance, but because it was the first mass produced American car. After the 1920’s there were plenty of surplus Model-T bodies collecting dust in garages, and junkyards. They would become the platforms for automotive mad scientists. Modified Model-T’s aka T-Buckets were among the first hot rods. They had their hoods, and fenders removed to shave weight. They also had an exposed souped-up engine. The same things were also done with Ford Model-A, and Model-B bodies from the 1930’s.

The Bone Shaker was styled closer to the Model-A rods. Mr. Wood was growing up when young Americans were creating an entirely new automotive movement. Hot Wheels had made many types of rods over the years, but the Bone Shaker was different. It wasn’t a rat rod either, whose bodies covered in rust, and patina added to their character. The Bone Shaker told a unique story. One that was more of a vibe, rather than a specific time. Mr. Wood used his Hot Wheels magic to make his idea come to life. He chopped it, gave it an intimidating stance, painted it a solid color, with a pirate motif, and added a gigantic chrome skull at the front. These elements were all in varying proportions, and it took somebody with a lifetime of experience to find the right balance.

The Bone Shaker was so revolutionary that it became one of the very few models produced by Mattel that could be transferred to different platforms. First they went with a Baja race truck, then they went to a monster truck. They even produced an “Experimotor” version aka a ‘toon version called the Skull Shaker. In every case the Bone Shaker looked amazing. It was around this time that Mr. Wood decided he was ready to step away from Mattel. The Bone Shaker monster truck toy debuted in 2018. The real life monster truck came out in 2019, the same year that Mr. Wood retired. It was a legacy that he should be proud of. It was important to me as well. Hot Wheels left Monster Jam behind, and put Bigfoot back in the spotlight. I could start collecting again. I’ll highlight the trucks I picked up on a future blog. Were there any companies that you didn't care for that got some karmic justice? Tell me in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; The best games from IGS and their PGM arcade machine

I sometimes wrote about indy developers, or indy publishers that made fun but rare games. In this series I talked about a Taiwanese company that made arcade games to rival the best from Capcom, and SNK. If you’ve never heard of IGS then Bookmark This Page.

A look at IGS, Demon Front - A 1UP classic from December 27, 2011

A look at IGS, the Gladiator; Road of Sword. A 1UP classic...

A look at IGS, the Martial Masters. A 1UP classic... 

Did you ever hear about IGS or their Poly Games Master arcade rig? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; The origins of the Middle Eastern fighter

Fighting games had a mixed take on Middle Eastern characters over the past 40+ years. If you want to see the good, and bad origins of those characters then Bookmark This Page.

The Middle Eastern fighter, building a legacy, part 1...

The Middle Eastern fighter, building a legacy, part 2…

The Middle Eastern fighter, building a legacy, part 3…

The Middle Eastern fighter, building a legacy, final part… 

Did you have a favorite middle eastern character? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The Monster Wars that turned the public away from Bigfoot

In a previous blog I talked about rebuilding my monster truck book, and magazine library. It was something that I had originally built up through the 1980’s, but was destroyed by a freak series of rain storms in the mid 1990’s. It left me disheartened, and unwilling to have anything to do with monster trucks for more than a decade. Thankfully street basketball, and the urban vinyl movement created new interests for me to follow entering the new milennium. I ended the entry by talking about how I rebuilt the library over the past few years. I also started collecting classic monster truck toys to display on my work desk. I went back to the Matchbox Super Charger trucks from 1985-1986. These were some of the most memorable toys to me as a kid. They set the standard in my book. If you were born in the ‘90s or early 2000’s then you always had monster trucks on television, and monster truck toys on the toy shelves. To you they had always existed, and always were a part of motorsports culture. I’m here to tell you this wasn’t always the case.

As member of Generation-X I was a kid when monster trucks first made the news. I first saw them in magazines, and couldn’t believe that there were trucks so massive that they could crush cars. It was the ultimate power trip! My brain melted when my brothers, and I saw the first televised monster truck race between Bigfoot, and USA-1 on That’s Incredible in 1983. I remember finding out about it thanks to TV Guide (ask your grandparents). I spent all week hyping my classmates up in elementary school. I told them that there was going to be a monster truck race on TV. They didn’t grasp the concept, and didn’t seem to be remotely interested in what was about to happen. From that point on I would check the listings to see if there were any other monster truck related events. Sadly there would be nothing else for a couple of years. Then in 1985 I found out that there was going to be a TV special on the weekend. It was called Battle of the Monster Trucks. It would feature a bunch of monster trucks going against each other across multiple events. To say that this was the most important televised event of my childhood would be an understatement. It would become the first entry in the most important trilogy of my childhood.

The next year we saw the Return of the Monster Trucks, and it was rounded out by the War of the Monster Trucks. The success of these specials lead to the creation of different racing leagues, and different touring shows. The majority were organized by the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA). Sponsors realized that they could capture the public by featuring the best monsters in live competition. This early period for organized monster truck events had the same kind of energy as the birth of NASCAR some 40-years earlier. Just like NASCAR it was beer, and tobacco companies that saw the motorsport as a way to build a customer base. One of the biggest contests around was the Mud & Monsters series presented by Camel cigarettes. All of a sudden local television, and cable channels were fighting over broadcast rights. This started to put a rift in between the various trucks, teams, track operators, and owners. There was no doubt that backroom deals, and exclusive contracts to feature the biggest names were being created at this time.

It was the late ‘80s, and early ‘90s when the regular televised events started growing in popularity. I was entering my teen years, and super excited to see that monster trucks had become a part of mainstream culture. The one thing that I began to notice was how some of the contests were pushing certain trucks more than others. In particular the black, and green Chevy panel van known as Grave Digger was getting a massive push from the commentators. I pointed it out to my brothers, and after a few weeks they also noticed that the Grave Digger was getting the majority of air time over the older, and more established trucks. I said if I didn’t know better it looked like they were trying to push Bigfoot out of the spotlight. That was not to say that Bigfoot was unstoppable. USA-1 won the series champion in 1988, and Equalizer in 1989. Bigfoot didn’t capture a championship until 1990. The Grave Digger didn’t win the championship until 1999, after Bigfoot had already won it seven times. If you look at the list of monster truck racing champions from 1988-2005 you can clearly see how dominant Bigfoot was in competition. Yet that didn’t seem to be the narrative according to television.

I felt like I was watching a biased show. It was never that the Carolina Crusher, Taurus, Bear Foot, or the Equalizer had better season than the Grave Digger, but rather that the Grave Digger just had a bad run. I started to feel a little jaded with the entire format, and way that TNT Motorsports was presenting the contests. My suspicions were slowly growing into a full blown conspiracy. To me the smoking gun was when Bigfoot owner Bob Chandler went back to the drawing board. He built a better Bigfoot after narrowly losing the championship two years in a row. Team Bigfoot had once again raised the bar. Bigfoot VIII was so dominant that it was banned from competition. This lead to a lawsuit against TNT. They argued that Chandler’s “third-generation” monster truck was too far advanced for the competition. What Chandler had done was improve on the building techniques of himself, and his contemporaries. Bigfoot VIII featured a tube chassis designed on a computer. It had a lightweight body, and was closer to a Baja racing truck than an old school monster truck. This was a template that would be modified even more through Bigfoot XI aka Wildfoot in 1993. It set the standard which would be copied by the rest of the industry for more than a decade.

The Bigfoot Team was losing points during the season while they were appealing the ban in court. Rather than sit out the season Chandler decided to run an older truck, and stay in contention. Despite a number of engine issues Rich Hooser did the impossible. He ran Bigfoot IV against newer monster trucks, and won. Andy Brass also drove the truck to several victories as well. Watching the truck which was originally built in 1984 hang with newer machines made me an even bigger fan. I thought that Bigfoot was fighting the good fight, and showing the country why it was called the King of the Monster Trucks. It seemed that TNT always downplayed these scrappy victories. They would make excuses for the other trucks in the series, and never give Bigfoot the credit it deserved.

I began questioning why it was okay that other teams were allowed to make improvements to their rides during the off season, but Chandler was punished for doing the same thing. I remember how radically different Awesome Kong looked after a crash in 1988. The red Ford with the aircraft engine was easily one of the greatest builds I had ever seen. Then one day after a crash repair it returned to competition with a squished frame over a tube chassis, and a new engine. Builder / driver Jeff Dane said it was to help improve visibility, and make it in time to enter the season of competition. To me it looked like a way to shave weight off of the truck, and have just a hair of an advantage over the other trucks with heavier metal bodies. As much as I respected Mr. Dane, I was skeptical that he was allowed to compete with his radically different truck, at the same time that Bigfoot VIII had to sit out. TNT commentators always seemed to play favorites on the air. Similar things could be said of the other televised contests. It didn’t make sense to me at the time why there seemed to be a bias against the most popular truck in the world. Then I got older, and looked at the big picture.

I mentioned previously how Feld Entertainment bought out the United States Hot Rod Association, and became the De facto organizing body for monster truck competitions. They bought out entire teams, or signed them to exclusive contracts so that they could only appear on Monster Jam tours, and Monster Jam television programming. You can read the history of the different companies that came together to form Monster Jam in this Wiki article. Only as an adult did it make sense why the TV shows were pushing the Grave Digger so hard. Feld would have more control over the marketing, licensing, and merchandise rights of certain trucks. The Grave Digger team run by Dennis Anderson didn’t have the bargaining power that Chandler did. Eventually Anderson would sell the rights to Feld as well. I respected Anderson, in fact I gave him his flowers when I talked about the Grave Digger earning its reputation, and Anderson being an important contributor to the mega truck movement. I was upset watching the artificial rise of the Grave Digger while Bigfoot was getting pushed out of the spotlight. Feld standardized the builds of each truck, poaching the technology that Bigfoot was built on. They pre-packaged trucks with corporate sponsor names. If there was a cartoon, movie, or comic book that they could license then you were guaranteed to see it at the next stadium show. Scooby-Doo, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, and Spongebob Squarepants were just some of the many branded trucks.

Feld pulled off a quiet coup that the public would never know about. You could watch this well researched video to see why Bigfoot and Grave Digger won’t compete against each other again. It was something that I don’t think modern monster truck fans realized. Bob Chandler had been iced out of the sport that he helped create. Team Bigfoot was still able to perform around the world, but to smaller venues, and no dedicated television appearances. This greatly limited the earning potential of Bob Chandler. It didn’t matter that he helped form the Monster Truck Racing Association for the safety of drivers, and audiences. It didn’t matter that his quest to improve on every version of Bigfoot was copied by this contemporaries. Monster truck television shows, and stadium tours had reached a point where they could operate successfully without Bigfoot ever appearing. The important thing to me was how Feld pushed another truck to be the flag bearer for the sport. The years of publicity worked on the masses. By 2019 Motor Trend said that the Grave Digger was the OG monster truck. It was a slap in the face to Bigfoot, USA-1, King Kong, and every other truck that contributed to the culture well before Grave Digger.

Feld also changed the look, and feel of monster truck competition. The original monster truck contests were rough, and tumble affairs. They felt organic. They grew out of the actual off road community. Like a rodeo put together by locals. By comparison Monster Jam was a highly polished event. It was assembled by a corporate boardroom. Ready-made for TV, like dressage for expensive show ponies. Actual measurable events like the hill climb, mud bog, sled pull, and car crush were previously used to determine which was the best truck around. The entire racing element had taken a back seat to the freestyle competitions. That format was much more subjective. Since Feld controlled the biggest shows, and the biggest teams, then they were able to define what monster trucks were all about. Then there was a darker undercurrent about big business corrupting the sport.

Previously I had compared the way Feld operated their business to WWE. The McMahon family owned a majority of the names, and likenesses of the wrestling characters. They treated the talent as independent contractors rather than employees. So they didn’t have to provide them with medical, insurance, or retirement plans. Yes the performers were paid well, but they made a tiny fraction of what the McMahons did. The Feld family owned a number of teams, but also contracted work to smaller groups. The Feld family was worth billions, whereas the superstars like Dennis Anderson were worth a few million, and the lesser known independent teams worth less. Knowing that the owners of the WWE leaned very heavy to the right politically made me wonder about Feld as well. According to OpenSecrets.org Feld Entertainment made a majority of political contributions to the Republican Party through the years.

As a minority living in the USA it pained me to see the sport was being controlled by people that didn’t always consider me a part of this great nation. This distressed me greatly. I was a lifelong fan of the monster truck community I wanted to buy some toys, but I didn’t want to support Feld (or the WWE) in any way. I had to figure out something to collect, but what? I’ll talk about it in a future blog. Were you a fan of a sport, team, or star performer only to find out something that made you lose respect in them? Tell me in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark this page; A look at Rising Thunder and the robot based fighting games

I love fighting games of all types. Did you ever play the ones featuring robots? If not then Bookmark This Page.

The road to Rising Thunder, part 1...

The road to Rising Thunder, part 2…

The road to Rising Thunder, part 3…

The road to Rising Thunder, final part 

Did you have a favorite robot fighting game? Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Bookmark This Page; Capcom fumbles the designs in Street Fighter V.

I’m probably best known for my deep dives on fighting character designs. There was something about the work that went into Street Fighter IV, and V that seemed out of place. If you want to see how Capcom missed the mark with some character designs then Bookmark This Page.

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, part 1...

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, part 2…

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, part 3…

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, part 4…

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, part 5…

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, part 6…

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, part 7…

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, part 8…

Representation Matters! Or, what happened to Birdie, final part…

What is going on with the Street Fighter V character designs? Part 1, who is F.A.N.G?

What is going on with the Street Fighter V character designs? Part 2, where did F.A.N.G come from?

The Ken reaction, part 1...

The Ken reaction, part 2… 

Did you like or loathe the character designs in Street Fighter V. Let me know about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!