Lowrider bobblehead creators, and Isotopes, get it right
Published
Modified
Rob Vanderslice and Joseph 鈥淏last鈥� Leyba put in a long day鈥檚 work in the hot sun on Saturday.
No, they weren鈥檛 among the fans who started showing up at Isotopes Park on Saturday at 5:30 a.m. to get in line for what the Triple-A baseball franchise is saying was one of their most anticipated fan giveaway promotions in its two-decade history.
They didn鈥檛 have to.
The two sa国际传媒官网网页入口 artists and lowrider enthusiasts were the creative brains behind the design of the special Mariachis-inspired lowrider bobblehead figurine that was given away to the first 3,000 fans at Saturday night鈥檚 Mariachis/Lowrider Night game at Isotopes Park, where the Isotopes beat visiting El Paso 7-3 for their third-consecutive win.
The announced crowd of 14,591 was the fourth-largest minor league turnout in the country this season.
鈥淲e were amazed at the translation of our ideas into the final product (fans) are getting here today at the game,鈥� Vanderslice said about the bobblehead that fans were proudly walking around the stadium with once gates opened at 5 p.m.
鈥淵ou gotta think, this thing鈥檚 getting made in China, and you鈥檝e got a communication barrier from lowrider guys (in New Mexico) getting all the way to them. It鈥檇 be like us trying to (design) a Chinese dragon or something.鈥�
He and Leyba noted the 鈥渢eam effort鈥� that included several people working in the Isotopes front office made Saturday a success.
It began with several thousand fans waitng outside the stadium several hours before the game sitting in lawn chairs, listening to music, dancing and watching the dozens of lowriders on display parked around the outside of Isotopes Park.
There were also 45 lowriders parked on the outfield warning track, where fans were allowed to walk around to look at before a boisterous lowrider parade driving off the field before first pitch.
While giveaways and promotions are a big part of minor league baseball, for the Isotopes, getting both their Mariachis promotions and Saturday鈥檚 lowrider promotion right was important.
鈥淲e try to be collaborative, and the word I think that鈥檚 really important that I use for these things is we try to be authentic,鈥� said Isotopes general manager John Traub.
Vanderslice and Leyba said Assistant General Manager Adam Beggs approached them and made very clear that the Isotopes wanted to involve the lowrider community and not make any assumptions along the way about how the giveaway should look.
鈥�(Beggs) had started something, which was really cool, but then we came in and we鈥檙e like, man, hey, let鈥檚 do a different car, let鈥檚 tweak this and tweak that and it turned out where people can look at this and say, 鈥楾hey did the lowrider community good,鈥欌�� Vanderslice said.
Added Leyba, 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important (that the Isotopes take the time to do that). ... We have our input 鈥� 鈥榙on鈥檛 do this because we wouldn鈥檛 do that, do this or do it like that.鈥� When they honor that and keep getting it right like that, it draws other people in, you know?鈥�
The final product for Saturday鈥檚 Pepsi-sponsored giveaway featured one of the Isotopes popular alter-ego mascots, the Mariachi de Nuevo Mexico driving a car that had a creative paint job designed by Leyba and Vanderslice.
鈥淭o see how much detail they were able to fit in there and on such a small thing to get it to look that good, we love it,鈥� Leyba said.
But just how close did that final product come to looking like what the designers had in mind?
鈥淐lose enough. It鈥檚 real close,鈥� Leyba said about the car that looked an awful lot like a 鈥�59 Impala with their magical paint job on it.
Then his co-creator chimed in with the punchline and some good-hearted laughter.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 far enough that it won鈥檛 get the Chevrolet trademark (involved),鈥� Vanderslice said.
