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6 feet 290 lbs.
A very prominent Beanie Baby expert Rod was featured in a profile as a Beanie Baby expert
in The June 1999 (pg.270) Issue Of Mary Beth's Beanie World Monthly,
which at the height of the Beanie Baby craze had a circulation
of over 1,000,000 readers.
Rod bought his first Beanie Baby in Mid-1997.
"I bought my cousin some for her confirmation and bought some extra ones for me because I like them,"
Rod says is how he got started collect Beanie Babies.
His first Beanie baby was Tank the Armadillo.
Rod also has an impressive collection of Bean Bag toys
(Ty. Inc. has Beanie Babies copyrighted.)
He wrote 9 articles as a Mary Beth's Staff Reporter in 1997.
Some of his favorite interviews including, Mary Beth, editorial-chief and tv spokesperson for Mary Beth's World Magazine and the president of
Slinky (for Slinky Pets).
Rod says, "The Slinky Pets were Slinky's but cover with fabric like bean bag toys
and they had a fabric head too like bean bag toys."
Rod adds, "The president of Slinky's gave me the history of Slinky's which was cool.
An army engineer accidentally dropped a tension spring and it walked and that
is how the Slinky's legend started."
"Slinky's president sent me a box of Slinky Pet's after I interviewed him." says Rod.
He also adds, "He has my dream job, being president of a toy company.
His Bean bag toy collection includes the rare, Dennis
Rodman (Star Sack) dolls. One each with the hair colors of
red, green and yellow. A Peaceable Planet prototype
Dolphin and Beverly Hills plush promo dolls of Gore 2000 and Bush
2000 (whatever happened to that guy?) and Ganz's WeeBears.
Rod also appreciates the Meanies bean bag toy line such as
Splat The Road Kill Kat, which is a cat that was run over with tire marks on his back.
Rod works currently for Screen Magazine where he is Circulation Manager.
He also has written articles in the past for Screen including six articles about
George Tillman Jr. and Robert Teitel, who later went on to be director/writer and producer, respectively on the hit
movies: Soul Food and Men of Honor.
Rod is a former Galesburg, Il two-time summer tennis league champion going 15-0 over two years. He has 9 single trophies for the Peoria Region and 7 double trophies.
Rod credits his tennis talent for trying to emulate John McEnroe, who he once played
hit against in a tennis clinic.
"Volleying and serving are my strengths just like John McEnroe. It has often been
said my style of serving and volleying are a lot like McEnroe by opponents and/or
bystanders." Rod adds, "Of course on a much smaller scale talent-wise."
In 1977 Rod also was second in the Peoria Region (15 and under) in pass, shoot and dribble
contest. And he won the convented Galesburg Railroad Days
free-throw contest in 1990 defeating all of the area top basketball players including many college players.
Rod is currently a writer for The Big Fat Nude Hippo Show, though Rod states,
"I have been on a diet the last year and have dropped 60 lbs, so now I am a smaller
hippo at 6 feet, 290."
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