Saturday, August 19, 2017

#18 Red Show


5 comments:

Eric said...

The 117th Edition Red Unit spec that introduced KING TUSK in 1987-1988. Compared to the specs produced while Mattel was still paying the bills, this one was decidedly low budget and consisted primarily of KING TUSK being paraded around an empty, blacked out arena. (Money that would otherwise have been spent on spec wardrobe, floats, blankets for the pay-off elephants, etc. undoubtedly went towards paying off Tommy’s purchase price.) Even the music score was largely recycled from production number music prepared for previous editions, including the 108th Edition’s elephant act.

Eric said...

The dramatic, minor-key music that was played when KING TUSK was walked around the arena was MARCH OF THE MOGUL EMPERORS from Edward Elgar’s "Crown of India" Suite composed in 1912.

Mike Naughton said...

Speaking of Mattel and their connection with the Felds and RBBB GSOE....
Mattel produces Hot Wheels toys (cars, trucks, etc). including a selection of "Monster Jam" trucks which are miniature replicas of the fleet of Feld MotorSports.

Search Google for Mattel Monster Jam Trucks Feld Motorsports for more information.

Roger Smith said...

I was visiting in the immediate aftermath of Lee Keener's departure. I wanted to catch up with Lee and get the skinny, but missed him by minutes. That night, it naturally fell to Gunther to work Tommy, and the whole backyard crowded all vantage points to see how this played out. Gunther was obviously nervous when he brought Tommy in, stopped him just inside the entrance, barely long enough for an announcement and for the spots to pick them up. Then Gunther quickly turned Tommy for a hasty exit. You couldn't blame him, suddenly in charge of a great tusker who had just had a change of handlers. Thankfully, Tommy was a good boy, and there was no trouble.

On Castle, we had Lee and his Diano 5 on abig date, and the locals crowded them and my Cat Dept. into a tight corner of a small barn. When I returned from working and rolled the cages back in, I had to literally brush against Tommy's right front leg to make my turns. He could have sent cats, cages, me, and all through the wall into another ZIP code, but all he did was gently move over and let me by. With Lee's permission, I thanked Tommy with candy bars, not forgetting to also have one handy for his co-stars. Tommy was a true gentleman and a great star. God rest him.

Paul Gutheil said...

Diane & I were blessed on more than one occasion, thanks to Buckles and Jimmy, to "visit" with Tommy. He was as you say he was and I got a number of pics of PR folks and others with him, a real joy. I hope sometime Buckles and/or Shannon will share the photo of Shannon, Tommy and Shaquille O'Neal. When you put a huge bull like Tommy next to a 7'4" 300+ pound NBA legend, Tommy looks just a little less imposing. It's a fun pic.