Buckles - Since you were on the show at that time, what is your take on how much Mattel invested in the show? I remember the show before Mattel and after, and although I agree with John that the show was always self-sustaining, it did appear to have been blessed after the purchase. Irvin had brought in the best designers and craftsmen, but it appeared that they had MORE spangles to work with after Barbie and the Hot Wheels started showing up at the garbage stands. ~frank |
Friday, August 28, 2009
From Frank Ferrante
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6 comments:
don't know that Mattel had that much impact; i was there when they owned the show and they were soon thereafter immersed in their own financial malaise; the circus became one of their few profit making enterprises and with two units launched in the late 60s the cash flow for RBBB was very good so Irvin could easily afford to bankroll decent wardrobe with guys like Don Foote on board. irvin sold the circus for stock which i believe was rendered near worthless by the time he bought the show back in 1982--so the Mattel deal was NOT a positive move at all; on the surface it seemed good at the time (Irvin got lots of Mattel stock and a potential cash cow to fund circus world) but for Irvin the Mattel deal went south pretty fast in my mind and i'm sure he privately regretted it. ultimately t here was no real upside or synergy or anything. His best move was NOT selling Sells Floto to Mattel and keeping the concessions for himself. By the way, Sept. 6 is the 25th anniv. of Irvin Feld's death.
don't know that Mattel had that much impact; i was there when they owned the show and they were soon thereafter immersed in their own financial malaise; the circus became one of their few profit making enterprises and with two units launched in the late 60s the cash flow for RBBB was very good so Irvin could easily afford to bankroll decent wardrobe with guys like Don Foote on board. irvin sold the circus for stock which i believe was rendered near worthless by the time he bought the show back in 1982--so the Mattel deal was NOT a positive move at all; on the surface it seemed good at the time (Irvin got lots of Mattel stock and a potential cash cow to fund circus world) but for Irvin the Mattel deal went south pretty fast in my mind and i'm sure he privately regretted it. ultimately t here was no real upside or synergy or anything. His best move was NOT selling Sells Floto to Mattel and keeping the concessions for himself. By the way, Sept. 6 is the 25th anniv. of Irvin Feld's death.
Jerry,
Thank you. Although I of course wasn't there at the time, that is pretty much the way I heard it many times. Yes, Sept. 6th is a day etched in my mind.
Wade Burck
Boy oh boy Jerry do we ever
remember these details very
differently but I don't feel
it would be appropriate to put
much of this in print
I'm amazed at how many versions
of these stories abound
Many by folks who weren't there
Jerry,
That's EXACTLY the way I remember it too. And, Jerry and I were both there.
Jack & Jerry
I certainly wasn't referring to
either of you as not being there
To me one of the worst things
about reading stuff in print is
how easy it is to get it wrong
This is probably not a good
topic to discuss here but if
either of you would care to
get in touch with me I'd be
more than eager to review any
of these elements
I was referring to some showfans
and "authors" of volumes of
circus history
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