Chat with the inventor of the PLAYPAC

[steven whysel]

Just found this site and soooo happy to see that my dream/reality still lives on. All those PP owners who want to learn more about the PP's conception and birth and share their experiences are welcome.

[Donna D.]

Welcome Steven. Why not start the discussion by telling us some of the history? Inquiring mind want to know

[steven whysel]

Donna, Back in 1971 I was a Volkswagen dealer. I had many customers who were trading in big cars for a VW who loved trailering and could not find a solid wall trailer light enough to be towed by a BUG. Of course there were light weight collapsible camping trailers available. I did market research and determined that there was a sufficient market to explore. I found the Boler then being built in Winnepeg and negotiated for the rights to build and sell it in the U.S. When the terms became too onerous I decided to start from scratch. I hired a well established industrial designer, Toshiko Sako,and the rest is history. I will discuss in future epistles the building, marketing, distribution and its demise if there is sufficient interest.
Steve

[Mary F]

Steven, Thanks for posting! There are many people who are interested in the history of these little trailers in general, and I'm sure there are several who either have a Playpac, used to have a Playpac, or wish they could lay their hands on one. How absolutely cool that you are around and willing to share your experiences!

[steven whysel]

Mary, it will be fun sharing my experiences with all those who love white eggs.
Steve

Steven, Thanks for posting! There are many people who are interested in the history of these little trailers in general, and I'm sure there are several who either have a Play Pac, used to have a Play Pac, or wish they could lay their hands on one. How absolutely cool that you are around and willing to share your experiences!

[Frederick L. Simson]

Steven, you are a treasure!

There have been many times I have fantasized about interviewing the creator of my trailer, the Fiber Stream. Your story would be just as compelling. Being a Dealer for an automotive company must have given you an interesting business perspective. I have known inventor types who might have tried to build something and then fail selling it. It interests me that you had sales expertise, and went out to hire a designer, with maybe greater success. I am interested in your learning experiences along the way, and how you overcame obstacles. The Playpac is so different from the Boler. How did you choose that design?

[Paul from NWOnt]

I posted something similar to this a short time ago. I often wonder how the original members of the manufacturing team appreciate that the fruits of their labour are still being enjoyed. I also wonder if there's bitterness that this support didn't exist in sufficient quantities when the trailers were originally produced.

So many questions are forming, but I would mostly just like to say thank you. Your efforts helped spawn a special way of looking at the out-doors.

[Tim Wood]

Steven, Welsome and yes do tell us more, I don't have a PlayPac but I'm always interested in the History of any trailer. I think anyone here would like to hear it from the Horse's Mouth. Thanks for joining in

[steven whysel]

Frederick, when I commissioned the Industrial Designor he was given the following guidelines: It must be light enough to be towed by a VW bug, Have a private bathroom, be able to sleep up to 6, have an ultra modern design(for 1971). He determined that it would be based on a fiberglass body. He first presented drawings of possible designs. When the final design was picked he built a 2 foot scale model. We started attending RV and auto dealer shows with the scale model and based on the super reception we decided to go ahead and build a life size model. The story will take many more messages and I will continue the history as my time permits.
Steve

Steven, you are a treasure!

There have been many times I have fantasized about interviewing the creator of my trailer, the Fiber Stream. Your story would be just as compelling. Being a Dealer for an automotive company must have given you an interesting business perspective. I have known inventor types who might have tried to build something and then fail selling it. It interests me that you had sales expertise, and went out to hire a designer, with maybe greater success. I am interested in your learning experiences along the way, and how you overcame obstacles. The Playpac is so different from the Boler. How did you choose that design?

[steven whysel]

Paul, I have no bitterness. The Playpac was very well received and sales were flourishing in the Eastern half of the U.S when the Arab oil embargo helped put us out of business. It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, something that I had no control over. The day before the embargo we had approximately 23 dealers (RV and VW dealers) I believed we shipped about 75 trailers before the embargo.
Steve

I posted something similar to this a short time ago. I often wonder how the original members of the manufacturing team appreciate that the fruits of their labour are still being enjoyed. I also wonder if there's bitterness that this support didn't exist in sufficient quantities when the trailers were originally produced.

So many questions are forming, but I would mostly just like to say thank you. Your efforts helped spawn a special way of looking at the out-doors.

[Bonnie]

I own a stripped down PlayPac and I'm busy refitting it. One of 75. That's a neat tidbit to know. Please do continue your story.

There are, I think 5 other PlayPac owners on this board. And I know of at least one other owner. So we are approaching 10% still in use.

[CindyL]

Maybe we ought to try to find a PlayPac. We have a '69 Beetle that we hope to take to a VW show some day. We already have a trophy we got when we showed our Eurovan pulling our renovated Burro.

Thanks, Steve, for your willingness to share. We currently own a 16' UHaul trailer. Over on uhaulcamper, we had someone like you drop in. I think we scared him away with all our questions. He answer a couple and then did not return. But it was still great to talk to someone who, while he did not design the trailer like you, worked on the original ones. Being both a VW and fiberglass owner, I am enjoying your posts.

CindyL

[Mary F]

Steven (and anybody else who is new here), you may have seen it already, but we have an ongoing topic called Egg History - Boler Descendants, Can You Fill In the Blanks? that you might find interesting. It's 7 pages long, and I only made it through page 3 (for now). Not sure if the Playpac is represented or not, but we need to add it to the timeline.



Or, maybe I misunderstand??? Is the Playpac ineligible for that list because it was a new design? (Aren't all these things Boler descendants?)

[Pat B Ohio]

Sir, the old brochure said it could be configured to sleep 6. How was that done? No kitchen?

[Roger H]

Steven, allow me to extend you my welcome to our forums! We're glad you found us. Here you'll find a group of enthusiasts who enjoy the lifestyles that these kinds of campers allow.

I've had four Scamps, two 13's, a 16' custom deluxe, and a 19' custom deluxe; a 1999 Love Bug II 18' (an orphan built here in Iowa), a 1987 Burro 17' wide-body (another Iowa-built orphan), a UHaul 13', a Trillium 15' (briefly) and two Bigfoot trailers; a 17' and now a 25'. After researching some of the history of Burro and Love Bug some years ago, I briefly considered resurrecting the Burro marque here in Iowa, but ultimately decided I didn't have enough time to enter into a new venture of that size.

There are many of us here who enjoy the ingenuity and uniqueness of these small fiberglass trailers, and it's great to have an early pioneer in these products on board!

Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and please continue to tell us the tale of the PlayPac!

Roger

[Charlene C]

Hi, great to find out more about my PlayPac. I needed something larger and now have my PP for sale.
Charlene in Greensboro, NC

[steven whysel]

Bonnie, I will look forward to seeing your finished product. It feels like you are giving a new suit of clothes to one of my "children"
Steve

I own a stripped down PlayPac and I'm busy refitting it. One of 75. That's a neat tidbit to know. Please do continue your story.

There are, I think 5 other PlayPac owners on this board. And I know of at least one other owner. So we are approaching 10% still in use.

[steven whysel]

Charlene, I'm sure you'll find a buyer soon who will treat my "baby" well. How long have you owned it? What improvements have you done?
Steve

Hi, great to find out more about my PlayPac. I needed something larger and now have my PP for sale.
Charlene in Greensboro, NC

[steven whysel]

Bonnie, It's great to know you are a "foster parent" to one of my babies! When I decided to proceed with the construction of a full size model the next step was in finding the right company to build it for me. The designor had worked with a company in NJ who had experience with working with fiberglass prototypes. It was quite an exciting day when I saw my dream become a reality. I towed it behind a 1971 VW bug in a big field in NJ and was thrilled. The next step was getting it to upcoming RV and auto dealer shows as well as deciding who would be the company to get the contract to build them. We were the first RV company to show at the National Automobile dealers convention in Las Vegas in 1971. We were particularly targeting VW dealers and of course the domestic dealers who were already selling Ford Pintos, Cevy corvairs etc. To be cont'd
Steve

I own a stripped down PlayPac and I'm busy refitting it. One of 75. That's a neat tidbit to know. Please do continue your story.

There are, I think 5 other PlayPac owners on this board. And I know of at least one other owner. So we are approaching 10% still in use.

[steven whysel]

Cindy, maybe you can get together with Charlene post#16 who has a Playpac for sale. I won't be scared away but since I still work full time I will not always be prompt to answer. I have every intention of continuing the history as well as answering questions. Happy trails!
Steve

Maybe we ought to try to find a PlayPac. We have a '69 Beetle that we hope to take to a VW show some day. We already have a trophy we got when we showed our Eurovan pulling our renovated Burro.

Thanks, Steve, for your willingness to share. We currently own a 16' UHaul trailer. Over on uhaulcamper, we had someone like you drop in. I think we scared him away with all our questions. He answer a couple and then did not return. But it was still great to talk to someone who, while he did not design the trailer like you, worked on the original ones. Being both a VW and fiberglass owner, I am enjoying your posts.

CindyL