In 1995 I arrived at The Franklin Mint. I was hired as a Design Manager but within 6 months my boss promoted me to Design Director. It was, in hindsight, one of the best jobs I ever had. I worked with some of the most talented people both in and out of the company. Even the contract workers were some of the best in the industry.

Design and Marketing had been two separate divisions at the company and often times this made for problems in program management. I felt that a greater cohesion between the two divisions would help foster faster development and better sales, so I began working very closely with Matt Manion (then Marketing Director) and Lewis Checchia (a Marketing Manager). Lew had some interest in old cars and tractors and we often spoke about vintage toys, tin toys, and the nostalgia associated with them.

Part of the new strategy in the Precision Models group was to build a line of products that was structured with solid sales (Mustangs, Bel Airs and Corvettes), good old standards (50’s cars, old classics, and Harleys), and R&D. We limited R&D projects to about 5-10 per year with some actually tooled and others just tested. With Direct Response (sold through mail, catalog, and print media) you can test a product “Dry” (using photos of a car or model but not investing in tooling) or “Damp” (testing with pics but with product already in the early tooling stages). In the case of Big Mike, the Tonka Truck, we dry tested it with the hopes of earning sales that would warrant not just one reproduction Tonka toy, but perhaps many.

Big Mike was an easy choice. In 1997 ebay was hardly a blip on the sales screen. Nearly all secondary market collectible toys had to be purchased through specialty stories or through collector clubs out of private collections. Buzz around the shows and conventions indicated that vintage Tonka trucks were coming on pretty strong in the market place. Lewis and I both had Tonka toys and figured that the iconic ones from the 50’s would be the best to study for replicating. Additionally, Big Mike was an easy sell to the company owner Stewart Reznick. Stewart loved farm and construction trucks.

Since we felt that a fully accurate model would be the best way to go, we decided to purchase the best example we could find and then restore it to factory original exactly as it had been nearly 40 years ago. Our Research Department was dispatched to locate the best one we could find as well as other classic tin toys and stamped steel models of similar styles. We bought three models – a classic Coke carrier, the Big Mike, and a vintage Milk Truck. The Big Mike was the best looking and we felt would be the best cross-over for the other markets we had already grown. Truck buyers, Tractor buyers, and classic Cars of the 50’s buyers all would be potential buyers for this truck.

The Big Mike truck was delivered to Gary Bredeal of Paramount Industries in Langhorn, PA. Gary managed all our prototype model work through his shop. His team of model builders and craftsmen were second to none in creating beautiful handmade models of pre-production cars and prototypes for sales literature. Gary knew we would have to buy at least one more Big Mike to use for spare parts so we purchased a second and ultimately a third (to get the best combination of wheels and tires) in order to achieve the finest model we could.

The Big Mike prototype was completely disassembled, stripped of the old paint, and primed for the new paint. The exact color was determined with assistance from Tonka as the licensing team at Franklin had acquired permission to test the product using the Tonka name. Arrangements were made by contract to pay a royalty to Tonka for use of the name. The exact color orange was sourced and mixed in durable automotive type paint. The wheels, tires, and all trim were properly prepared and mechanically reconditioned to function as new. The hydraulic lifting mechanism was the most difficult to get right but we were able to do it even though the “feature” itself could have been faked with photo manipulation.

Before we took the model to Paramount, our in house graphic designer Melanie Rehm did a careful study of the worn but complete graphics on Big Mike. She was masterful at creating all new graphic files based on artwork or decals from old toys or full sized cars. She measured each of the decals and used the exact fonts for the lettering to generate all new artwork. Her files were then sent to ColorComp where two sets of custom dry transfer artwork were prepared for Paramount. Dry transfers are printed on a waxy substrate that allows the artwork to be rubbed down into place using a burnishing tool. The process is tricky to do and can often result in damage or cracked artwork if done too vigorously or by someone who is not familiar with the process. Paramount staff was very familiar with the transfer process and applied the artwork exactly using reference photos from the original truck as well as dimensions supplied by Melanie.

Gary delivered the finished model roughly three weeks later. Though I am not 100% certain of the total cost, I am certain it would reflect at least a hundred hours of work given all the staff time, the purchase of the originals, and all the restoration work. While this might seem like a lot of time and money, it would be a drop in the bucket if Big Mike were to achieve the sales we had experienced in some of the smaller program successes…in excess of $500k profit just in first year sales.

Big Mike tested with a full color fold-out brochure featuring the model on a custom wood display. The model was shot in a classy wood trimmed home with traditional den décor and leather furniture. This setting implied a man of means with a nostalgic heart. This worked great as a motivational sales tool on lots of our Male Themed collectibles. The four-color brochure was mailed out to a “test” audience in various zip codes. Those who replied with an order card were logged into the daily sales charts on the program. As was often the case with projects like this, Matt and I would check the dailies every morning after 10am when the orders were processed and tabulated.

Sadly, Big Mike did not test well. Often times when a test is close but not definitive we would run it again. Big Mike was not even close. Some of us speculated that perhaps the price might have been the culprit (we promoted it at over $100) but others thought it was more likely that the toy itself did not have the mass appeal we had thought it would. Too many kids who loved dump trucks went on to love cars or motorcycles and forgot about their adolescent phase with dirt. The few that DID order Big Mike were sent small thank you items along with a letter indicating the project was “not to be produced at this time”.

The Big Mike model stayed on display in my office for a few months and then was packed up and stored in the product storage room. When we moved to another location, the storage room needed to be cleared out completely. Our boss frequently had us do this to make room for more current projects, but we never told staff to do it. Instead, we would do it ourselves with the provision that we could take home a few items that would otherwise end up in the company dumpster. I took Big Mike home. It was too nice and too cool to see get tossed out with the rest of the projects that never made it.

Roughly two years later, I left Franklin Mint as Director but remained as a contract designer assisting with the development of dozens of new model cars and other products. I continued this role off and on until 2010 when the company (fully restructured and sold despite devastating annual losses) finally stopped manufacturing their products and ceased Die Cast model car production. Big Mike was market tested when Franklin Mint was making over $800MM in annual sales with over 4000 employees. Today they make a fraction of that amount with staff of fewer than 50.

This Tonka Big Mike is THE model as built and configured for the Franklin Mint under the Design Direction of Raffi Minasian in1997. The model is in the original restored condition having been unaltered and remaining in Minasian’s personal collection for the past 15 years.

Raffi Minasian

Design Director Franklin Mint Precision Models 1995-1999

Design consultant on contract to Franklin Mint 2000-2010