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!

American Daredevils, the monster trucks that changed the world, part 1...

 

Where were you on Memorial Day, Monday May 27, 2019? If you were like me you were counting down the minutes until a monster truck jumped over a flying airplane. It was simply too outrageous to be true. There was a social media push months before the event which was hard to miss. I didn’t let on to my coworkers, who were focused on the NBA, and various boxing championships happening around then. Monster trucks were for kids, but it was constantly on my mind. I had always been a fan of monster trucks, I mean going back almost 40 years! But that love had been dormant for a long while.

 

My prized collection of off road, and monster truck magazines was destroyed in a freak Southern California rainstorm more than a decade ago. Since that time I couldn’t bring myself to look at anything monster truck related. It just hurt to think about what I lost. When I heard that some crazy person was planning on jumping an airplane that passion came roaring back. Every moment spent in the playground with my Matchbox Super Chargers was recalled in vivid detail. Powering over Hot Wheels on miniature sand dunes at the park, crushing makeshift cardboard race tracks on rainy days. The tiny button that I had made reading I (heart symbol) Monster Trucks was pinned inside my wallet, like a secret message that only true fans knew about. Every video game, every toy featuring a monster truck was forever a part of my identity. My friends and family all knew it. That bit of me had been in a coma, it was now waking up.

 

I planted myself in front of the television hours before the event. Turning off my phone and other distractions so I could live in the moment. The stunt came from the mind of a kid like me. Somebody with an overactive imagination. In this case the kid was the burly Dave “Heavy D” Sparks, one half of the “Diesel Brothers.” Sparks along with “Diesel Dave” Kiley run the Diesel Power Gear shop and website. Their adventures are covered on the Discovery channel. They build for customers, but also give away trucks. Their marketing must be working because they are flooded with projects week in and week out. They've created many amazing builds. Many of them are featured on their show, however their star is called the Brodozer. It is the first diesel truck in Monster Jam competition. It is a bright yellow 2018 Ford Super Duty Crew Cab inspired by an offload truck that Sparks had built years earlier. This new monster truck is a real beast. With a Duramax Diesel engine generating 1,100hp, it has enough power to make the 5 ton truck do backflips!

 

Sparks splits his time between running the business and driving the truck on the Monster Jam circuit. He’s just one of three people that pilots the Brodozer. Diesel Dave also gets a chance to run it, and second-generation monster truck driver / builder Colt Stephens as well. Sparks was the one behind the wheel on Memorial Day when he jumped over an 800lb plane piloted by Anthony Oshinuga. Getting the stars to align took a lot of hard work, and months of preparation. Every challenge behind the attempt, from locating a pilot to prepping the truck would be recorded. Legendary monster truck driver Tom Meents would help make sure that Sparks was prepared. It became the narrative behind the fifth season of their show. The Brodozer team was promoting the event on every media outlet they could find. You can imagine that it didn’t take much to get me interested. I was on board and counting down to the big day.

 

The original idea was for the Brodozer to break the monster truck distance world record on Memorial Day. Monster trucks had been setting distance records for more than thirty years. The lead had changed hands a few times in the past decade. Almost exclusively between Dan Runte in Bigfoot and Joe Sylvester in Bad Habit. Runte was possibly the best monster truck driver of his generation, and Sylvester was a young-guns champion and accomplished driver on several popular trucks. The two had gone over 200 feet in their rivalry. Sparks did not feel confident that he would topple their records. So instead of distance he decided on something more spectacular. The Brodozer would jump about 100 feet in distance, but at a height of around 40 feet, leaving enough space to allow an airplane to fly underneath it with room to spare. This was an insane idea to say the least.

 

Discovery made an event out of the jump. It was very much in the style of classic television spectacles. They stretched out the show by featuring other record-breaking attempts, and guest commentators. For those old enough to remember, ABC Wide World of Sports would host specials featuring motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. When I was a little kid my family would huddle around the TV hoping to see a man jump his motorcycle over a row of buses or die trying. The Brodozer jump made me feel like I had traveled back in time. It was an electric feeling! As much as I was enjoying this moment I knew there would be a new generation forever be changed by this event. It’s hard to put in words how much a sensational stunt could change a life. It made me think about how I was fortunate enough to live through some revolutionary pop culture periods.

 

The jumps (and horrific crashes) of Evel Knievel became the stuff of legend. I was born after Evel’s greatest stunts, but his name was inescapable growing up. Evel had become so big in his lifetime that a movie was made about him while he was still active. Can you remember a biopic for a singer or actor being made at the height of their career? More often than not they are filmed decades after their death. Such was the influence of Knievel. This daredevil “fad” was not short-lived, but instead lasted decades. New comic book heroes, movies, and tv shows revolved around motorcycles. To be fair Evel was not the first person to shift the pop culture sphere through the ‘70s and even early ‘80s. Everyone wanted to become a martial artist thanks to the films of Bruce Lee. Kung-fu became hot on TV, in comic books and toys around the same time as well. The influence of these icons never faded, and in fact, continue to color pop culture 40-years later.

 

The kids that grew up with Bruce Lee and Evel Knievel are now running companies. They are writers, directors, animators and producers. They get to decide what the entertainment industry focuses on. Look at the character Duke Caboom, introduced in Toy Story 4 in 2019. The entire series is a love-letter to childhood, and the toys that meant the most to us. Kaboom was inspired by the Evel Knievel stunt cycle, rather than the toys of today. You can imagine that if he was covered in stars and stripes then the Disney would have owed the Knievel estate a big paycheck. Instead they painted Caboom in the colors of the Canadian flag, red and white with a maple leaf on his cape to avoid any trademark infringement. Even with those changes audiences could guess who inspired the toy.

 

Kids are going to remember every detail of watching the Brodozer jump over an airplane. They are going to fondly recall the summers spent lining up jumps for their motorcycle and monster truck toys. They are going to draw, write about or become the daredevils in their own life story. Eventually there will be a generation that doesn’t know the names of Knievel, or where monster trucks came from. There are many names that should never to be forgotten. Pioneers of motor-sports and pop culture deserve some recognition. I want to talk a moment about the forefathers that made monster trucks popular. We will look at these people in the next blog. If you 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!