Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Tribute Thread!

[Hepcat]

Here's a boss magazine ad that Revell ran for these slot car kits in 1965:

[Newton]

Chuck Kaparich's FINKOSEL is an incredible piece art. He is a true Master in vision and the ability to carry it out and complete his vision. I'm not sure if everyone here recognized the name of the artist that made the concept drawings for the FINKOSEL project ...John Detrich ...but he is UMA's member ...INKFINK. What an extraordinary partnership these guys made together ...I cannot think of how proud they must be to be apart of something this unique. My "hat's off" to both!

John Detrich did a Design for me years ago, Fink on a BSA Flattrack Racer and I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck when I lived in Missoula
Scootin-Newton

[Hepcat]

I've always loved these Rat Fink hats:

[Hepcat]

Some interesting and useful information regarding the scarcity of the original Revell "Big Daddy" Roth fink kits can be gleaned from this book published in 1996 by noted board game enthusiast and collector Rick Polizzi:



The book contains the following estimate of prices for boxed Revell "Big Daddy" Roth kits:

Outlaw with Robbin' Hood Fink $450
Tweedy Pie with Boss Fink $450
Scuz-Fink with Dingbat $300
Super Fink $300
Fink Eliminator $215
Angel Fink $180
Drag Nut $150
Surfink $150
Mr. Gasser $140
Mr. Gasser in BRM (slot car) $120
Rat Fink in Lotus Ford (slot car) $110
Rat Fink $90
Mother's Worry $75
Brother Rat Fink $65

Now we can argue from now until the cows come home about a current price list let alone one from 1996, but the fact is that Polizzi's estimates provide a very decent ranking of the relative scarcities of these kits. Quite simply, I'm in general agreement with Polizzi's assessment and I've not only been a huge fan of "Big Daddy" Roth and his T-shirt designs and model kits since I was a kid, but I've been collecting these and other select model kits since 1982-83. My biggest disagreement with Polizzi's ranking is that the Rat Fink in Lotus Ford kit should be up there in the top five when it comes to relative scarcity.



Anyone interested in board games might want to pick up these other two books by Rick Polizzi:





While not as comprehensive as some other books on board games, I found them more interesting because of their focus on the games of the baby boomer era. Polizzi was also the publisher of a short lived magazine on board games also entitled Spin Again which only ran for five issues in the early nineties.

Here's a great picture of Rick Polizzi with his board game collection from his website:

[Hepcat]

Here's the official Ed "Big Daddy" Roth website:

Ratfink

A few, but sadly not many, vintage T-shirt designs from the sixties are available.

[The Batman]

'Enjoyed seeing so many Daddy Roth and Rat Fink items recently. So here's a few oldies for you guys.

[Hepcat]

Where/when were these pics from?

[Hepcat]

Rat Fink Rings made their appearance in candy and convenience stores in 1965. They consisted of a ring that was a base for a detachable Rat Fink figure:









The Rat Fink figures came in at least twenty(!) different colours with at least eight different eye colours making for a minimum of 160 different combinations! Any collector worthy of the term will of course not be satisfied until he has every possible combination.

While fakes from 1984 exist as well, they're bigger and marked 1984 on the back making them easy to tell from the originals. Here's a great website with lots more info on these rad cool rings:

RatFinkRing.Net

Some of the Rat Fink charms that were sold in vending machines such as the ones on the card below were cheap knock-offs of these rings. The fellow running the above website calls the knock-offs Crap Finks.



I keep wondering though whether the rings or any of the Rat Fink figures sold as charms in vending machines were properly licenced by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and what if anything he received from their production and sale.

[marsattacks666]

Rat Fink Rings made their appearance in candy and convenience stores in 1965. The consisted of a ring that was a base for a detachable Rat Fink figure:









The Rat Fink figures came in at least twenty(!) different colours with at least eight different eye colours making for a minimum of 160 different combinations! Any collector worthy of the term will of course not be satisfied until he has every possible combination.

While fakes from 1984 exist as well, they're bigger and marked 1984 on the back making them easy to tell from the originals. Here's a great website with lots more info on these rad cool rings:

RatFinkRing.Net

Some of the Rat Fink charms that were sold in vending machines such as the ones on the card below were cheap knock-offs of these rings. The fellow running the above website calls the knock-offs Crap Finks.



I keep wondering though whether the rings or any of the Rat Fink figures sold as charms in vending machines were properly licenced by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and what if anything he received from their production and sale.

Crazy cool.

[Monolith]

I finally completed my collection of the Mr. Gasser and The Weirdos LP's, so I thought I'd post a pic. Capitol released three Weirdos records- Hot Rod Hootenanny (1963) was first, followed by two in 1964, Rods And Ratfinks, then Surfink!. Mr. Gasser was rumored to be Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and it looks like he did the munching sounds on "Termites In My Woodie" but it's not him on vocals. The musicians were uncredited. I've had Surfink since the '60's and it's my favorite of the three. Come to find out, the music on these records is so good because the musicians were all top-notch session players now known as The Wrecking Crew. Some of the musicians you hear on these three records include; Leon Russell, Glen Campbell, Billy Strange, Gary Usher on vocals- he's worked with The Beach Boys, The Birds, and Dick Dale. Jerry Cole on guitars- he's worked with Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the Beach Boys. Howard Roberts on guitars- he played that great guitars on the Twilight Zone TV Theme, and The Munsters TV Theme, and The I Dream Of Jeannie Theme. James Burton is on these records- he's played with Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, John Denver, and both Elvis's (Presley and Costello). Earl Palmer plays drums on these LP's. He's played with Fats Domino, Little Richard, Phil Spector, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Neal Young. Steve Douglas plays sax, he's played with Duane Eddy, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and The Ramones. Hal Blaine plays drums on these, too, he's played on over 140 top ten hits, 40 of which are number one hits. And Carol Kaye plays bass on these- she has played on 10,000 recordings! She's recorded with The Doors, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Simon And Garfunkel, Frank Zappa to name a few. She's also played on numerous TV show themes like Mission Impossible, M.A.S.H., Get Smart, Mannix, Cannon, Hawaii Five-O, Wonder Woman, Bonanza, The Addams Family, and The Brady Bunch- just to name a few (!!!).

 

[Hepcat]

I finally completed my collection of the Mr. Gasser and The Weirdos LP's, so I thought I'd post a pic.

I wonder how much these LPs would go for these days in NM condition?

I've had Surfink since the '60's and it's my favorite of the three. Come to find out, the music on these records is so good because the musicians were all top-notch session players now known as The Wrecking Crew.

Okay! I'll have to give my own Rods 'n Rat Finks and Hot Rod Hootenanny LPs a spin this week.

[Monolith]

I wonder how much these LPs would go for these days in NM condition?

Okay! I'll have to give my own Rods 'n Rat Finks and Hot Rod Hootenanny LPs a spin this week.

There's an original '63 copy of Hot Rod Hootenanny on e-bay right now. Looks like it's in similar condition to mine, but it has holes punched on the edge of the cover and the buy it now price is $199. The originals are rare. They reissued all three records in 2011. The reissues are plentiful.

[SpeedierThantheGrave]

Repros, but these Weird-Ohs Repulsives model kits should be fun to build.  I haven't seen these before, but I like their Rubber Uglies style.  They're listed as $10 each w/ free shipping.  But I offered $5 each for all four and the seller accepted. It looks as though theres still a a couple of each left, if anybody else wants 'em.  Here's a link to one, you can click on the seller's Other Items for the other three.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Weird-Ohs-Repulsive-Monster-Model-Kit-Voop-By-Hawk-Skill-Level-2/362175086028?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

[Hepcat]

Hey! Those are reissues of the Lindberg Repulsives from the sixties:



Here are the threads that first mention the rerelease of the Repulsive line:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=10611.msg168223#msg168223

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=28756.msg474072#msg474072

I'm a bit miffed that they've been relabeled Hawk Weird-Ohs though. They're far from being thematically similar to Weird-Ohs.

Here's the thread on Hawk Weird-Ohs:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=12257.0

 

[Ash]

1st post here, I'd like to thank the members and site for this thread, Big Daddy was a bit before my time but I'm familiar with it from the car shows in the 70's my dad took me to when I was a kid, use to love those shirts and I remember all the knock-off stuff too. I went through this whole thread sometime ago and watched the doc and ended up engrossed myself in all things Fink the last year, got a fire lit under my dad too talking to him about it(which was more his time) and after going through some medical problems got his old Trans Am out of the garage and back on the road going to car shows again.

Thanks for all the Fink art and inspiration, just getting back into airbrushing after 25 years and did this quick freehand Surf Fink(touched up the wave up in PS), his red color came from a painted 60's surf fink I got off ebay that didn't have the wave or board -