# My Tom Daniel Interview



## Seventy7 (Jul 4, 2012)

Hello everyone, 

I recently reached out to the legendary Tom Daniel and asked him if he would answer some questions that I could post for the fans. Here is the complete unedited interview, copied from my email. 

I have to say Mr. Daniel was an absolute pleasure to speak with and I'm honored to have had this conversation with such a great designer and awesome person.


Hey Tom thanks so much for taking the time to do this. I had said in the 1st email that I was kind of a late bloomer in finding your kits and creations so with that some of these questions may come from different angels so to speak. I really wanted to ask about you a few things directly that I couldn't find answers to anywhere else so I'm going to start with one that has kept me up at night for awhile now...

The Munster's Koach. Not to take anything away from George Barris but his name is synonymous with both the Koach and Dragula. Being a fan of this sort of thing I checked on a few forums, did some searching on the web and to my surprise Tom Daniel was mentioned a few times in regards to that car. So are you actually the designer of this car? *"Yes"*. What was your involvement with the Munster's cars and your relationship with George Barris if any.
*
"Too long of a story to fully relate here - though the complete saga will be included in a chapter in the coffee table book I have ben working on."*

You have been involved with diecast cars as well and I know there is direct involvement with Mattel. A few months ago I was snooping around on ebay and came across 2 vintage Hot Wheels that I had to own on the spot! Paddy Wagon and Stagefright. Paddy Wagon is an obvious one being there was a kit as well.

* "The Mattel Hot Wheel version of my Paddy Wagon plastic kit design (for Monogram Models), and was one of several Mattel produced back in the early 1970s - all after the fact of my model kit designs, so I was not directly involved with them. I do not believe I have ever seen the 'Stagefright', so cannot comment - except to say that many of the plastic kit companies tried to emulate my designs and try to get market shares for themselves. More or less standard business practice"*


Stagefright however was pretty much screaming Tom Daniel at the top of it's lungs but I couldn't find any information of your involvement with it. Are these cars some of your creations? Larry Wood is pretty much the be all, end all in the Hot Wheels universe but I'm curious to know if you had any involvement with HW and worked with Larry Wood designing these cars.

*"I was an outside design consultant to Monogram and Mattel (after Mattel bought Monogram in the early 70s), so I was never an 'employee' of either company. Larry Wood was just a young designer working for Mattel at that time, so I had no direct contact with him. I do recall, however, that he 'lifted' not only a name I came up with for one of my kit designs (Poison Pinto), but also used my decal design from the kit as well for 'his' Hot Wheel deign . But then, Larry once told me at a Mattel dinner (many years later at the Petersen Museum) - when I asked him about it and he replied that he "only steals from the best". So, I guess that was his sincere form of flattery".*

One of the coolest aspects to your kits is the amazing box art. With all the artwork there is I'm wondering if there is any chance of putting out a coffee table book of sorts of the box art. Any chance that fans might see something like this in the future?

*" As mentioned above, the coffee table book is in the works. The text is almost complete, but the selection of images still needs to be completed which will REALLY be the hard part as there are literally many hundreds to choose from"*

How much involvement did you have in the box art?

*" Most of my box art assignments included not only the Face Panel, but detail drawings and art for the box side panels as well as the hand drawn lettering as seen for example on the the S'Cool Bus and T'rantula. kits.*

Are these your illustrations?

* There were a very few that were done by other illustrators who did work for Monogram. Garbage Truck was one; Devil Chopper another."*

Your kits are widely different but all have a very signature look to them. Did you ever think to yourself ahead of time that you had to approach something in a different way? Was there any sense of caution or apprehension when you did something like a motorcycle or one of the mini bikes for the 1st time? Just curious to how designing something like Satan's Cycle or Popper Chopper may have differed from some of the bigger names like Beer Wagon or Bad Medicine.

*" After the huge success of the Beer Wagon and especially the Red Baron - which sold over 2 million kits in the first couple of years - (and is the #1 all-time best selling plastic vehicle kit, and #2 all-time best selling plastic kit overall), I was given a free reign to do whatever I wanted to do. Being an industrial designer, that was a heady time for me - a once in a lifetime chance to not only 'push the envelope', but bend, twist and completely refigure to my hearts content. The "FUN" line of Monogram/ 'TD' kits were far and away the best sellers, although I did add to the mix what are considered "serious" designs as well - which could be built into 1:1 versions and driven on the street or drag strip."*

Fast forward to more recent times and you have a signature HO slot car Drag Strip from Auto World. How did that come about? How did the choice of cars included with the set happen? Also was there ever any interest in slot cars in the past?
*
" A young entrepreneur named Tom Lowe contacted me back in the early 1990s about wanting to roll out a line of 1:64 die cast toy vehicles - all based upon my Monogram Models kit designs - which he marketed under the "Whacky Winners" name. I was less than enthused at the way they turned out, but they did sell pretty well. Over the ensuing years, Tom continued to market my designs in various formats including his line of HO scale electric slot car drag race track sets. S'Cool Bus was made into a slot racer; and the 'BAD BRAT' was a name I used for the other slot car drag racer (the design was from my former Baja Bandito/Baja Beast Monogram kits.) Same basic body design, but with new graphics and colors to go with the new name."*

If you had to pick 5 of your favorite creations of any kind what would they be? Feel free to elaborate.

*"Certainly, Red Baron, Beer Wagon, S'Cool Bus, Paddy Wagon and T'Rantula would be on the list... also Dragon Wagon, Rommel's Rod..... so, we'll make it 7."*

And if you had to pick 5 of your least favorite creations or maybe 5 creations that gave you a hard time in some way what would those be?

*"To get more 'mileage' out of very costly tooling, Monogram liked to redesign some aspects of various kits. Same with some of my kit designs. Some were done after my direct involvement with the company during a period in the 1980s. Sand Shark was one of the unfortunate ones that emerged from the Dog Catcher; Hang Man from the Dragon Wagon; and Vanbulance from the Baja twins another... Worst of all, they ruined the tooling of the California Street Vette and made it into a Corvette station wagon!"*

Reading some of the information on your website (Tomdaniel.com) I read some of the interviews and there is mention of a vintage Corvette and I believe a pick up truck (?) that are being worked on. How are those coming?
*
" The Corvette is - after some 24 + years - finally in the shop going through rehabilitation. No exact date for completion as there are always glitches that pop up. The 1966 Chevy C-10 went through complete motor/chassis rebuilds - such as a crate motor 350 Chevy Turbo Hydro with shift kit, but I have not gone so far as yet to do body mods or slick paint job - primarily because I use it as a 'truck' which means it does get used as such and I don't want to have to worry about dust, dirt and scratches in the line of duty"*

.Any other plans for your garage and rides? 
*
" Not really."*

I know I have mentioned it before but I'm just a fan, no affiliation except for the facebook group Clasicplastic101 and I'm a member of a forum called Hobbytalk.com. This interview will be posted in both places where it's a pretty tight knit community of modelers and fans. With that being said what is one thing that us fans would never suspect Tom Daniel of having an interest in? We know cars, models, diecast...what is something you're passionate about that no one would ever guess??

*" Aside from long time (make that 'life time') passion for fine art painting - in most all mediums, i.e., watercolors, oils, acrylics, etc., I am VERY passionate about OUR country, and VERY concerned about the ongoing encroachment of our liberty and freedoms by those who think America is evil; those who want to end our very way of life in order to "conform" to Internationalist 'norms' of mediocrity - and usurp our National Sovereignty in the name of 'absolute' Egalitarianism - which is a form of utopian insanity."*

Last question--if for whatever reason from this point on you could only be remembered for one kit, what would it be?

*" The Red Baron - of course! What are you absolutely most proud of in your career as a designer? From a 'serious' industrial design viewpoint, that would have to be my design of the AMERICAN WAY - an 800 + MPH World Land Speed rocket powered vehicle - which can be seen both at the "Career" page at the 'TD' web site; and in my "WHAT'S NEW" TD 'sez' column (which shows the model ON THE SALT at Bonneville, Utah.) That design was done back in the mid 1980s and still looks like it would do the trick today*"

Mr. Daniel I just wanted to thank you again for taking the time to do this and making a few fans happy by getting to read such a thing. I was overwhelmed when I heard back from you the first time. My plan is to post this and not only make the existing fans happy but bring the new guys, the younger guys on board so they'll know who you are, what you're responsible for and hopefully get them building and collecting your great creations!
*
" My pleasure, Jess. As mentioned. I'd like to see my answers unedited on your part. PLMK when you plan to put the interview on line. TD"*

Jess


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Thanks for posting this "77" and Thanks Tom for this cool interview :thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## Seventy7 (Jul 4, 2012)

mcdougall said:


> Thanks for posting this "77" and Thanks Tom for this cool interview :thumbsup:
> Mcdee


Anytime! Glad you enjoyed it!!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

I'd like to add my thanks to you for posting this interview Seventy7. I've been building the Revellogram kits that were based on Mr. Daniel's designs almost since I started building models in the late 1960s, and I believe he is one of the most (if not _the_ most) prolific car designers ever.

And, just on the off chance he'll read this thread, I'd like to personally thank Mr. Daniel for the countless hours of fun and pleasure he's given us model-building lunatics!


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Ditto, thanks so much for posting your interview. You did a good job, BTW, with interesting questions that led to informative answers.


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## harpooner54 (Sep 15, 2008)

Thank you Seventy7 for posting this interview & thank you Tom Daniel for
all your creations.

-David


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## Seventy7 (Jul 4, 2012)

Hey guys! Glad you enjoyed the read! Mr. Daniel was super cool to talk to and we've exchanged a few emails since the interview and he HAS read all your comments and checked out the forum here. He sounded pretty happy to read everything.

Thanks so much for the good word, personally I can't wait to read his book just so we can get the dirt on the Munster's Koach!!

You old schoolers already know, but for you new guys I hope you all build one of his kits and get to challenge yourself with some of the most creative concepts out there!

Please check out http://www.tomdaniel.com/ for more info!!


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## Lemmy (Jun 27, 2010)

Awesome interview, thanks for sharing it!


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## Rattrap (Feb 23, 1999)

I corresponded with Mr. Daniel a few years ago. He's a real gentleman.

One thing he mentioned to me was that he played a while with the idea of SF and fantasy designs thanks to a contest taking place at his art school. Unfortunately, he said, he was up against a fellow named Sid Mead, so he decided to stick with cars.

Still, wouldn't it be fun to see a few futuristic designs from him?


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## redline hunter (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks for doing this!




Doug


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## spacetrader2000 (Jul 19, 2009)

Great interview! Thank you for doing this.


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## Rondo (Jul 23, 2010)

It's great to hear from TD and that he is putting a book together. Hopefully it will capture his artwork in it's full glory. 

His Paddy Wagon was one of my first car kits. I killed it of course but soon got the Cherry Bomb which will always have a place in my heart. Won't say I did a great job but it LOOKED good nonetheless. The re-release of so many TD kits has been great, especially with original box art. It really takes you back and gives you another chance at old builds or those you never got around to.


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