Top Ten Coasters- 1980

Like Bosshawk mentioned earlier, I think it's pretty clear that this is one person's top-10 list. That said, I decided to make a top-10 list of my own, also from 1980. :)

1. Sooperdooperlooper (HP) - I absolutely adored this ride.

2. Comet (HP)

3. King Kobra (KD)

4. Rebel Yell (KD)

5. Galaxi (KD)

6. Scooby-Doo (KD)

7. Trailblazer (HP)

Uh, make that a top-7 list. With only 2 parks to my credit at the time, that's all I was able to rate. ;) So...I think it would be fun, and interesting, to see what some of your top-10 (or whatever number) lists are. Any takers?

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-Vater
'These pretzels are making me thirsty.'
Take a ride...
*** This post was edited by Vater 3/10/2003 11:31:14 AM ***

S:KoS,

neat topic, but I have some questions to shine some light on this list...

What's the title of this "Book of Lists" you found it in?

Does it give any info on who this Tom Gunderson is?

Later,
EV
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"I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine"
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957

Nice list Vater! I unfortunately didn't ride a coaster till '82. I have a picture of my first ride though! :)

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

Echovictor-

The title of the book was "The Book of Sports Lists #2". This list was under Arts and Leisure.

Book info- copywrited 1980 by Associated Features Inc. The catch on the book is that it invites anyone to send in one of their "favorites list" to be published.

Seeming that Tom Gunderson wasn't famous, he was probably one of us coaster freaks from the 70's. Some of the contributors seem to be in here more than once, but the only of Gunderson's. It says that he is from Port Charlotte, Florida. He states his fanatic, that he goes to parks for the coasters, and that nothing has defeated him. His "iron stomach" enabled him to ride a coaster after a full bowl of spaghetti. I guess that that was a feat back then, because I can easily do a footlong sub with everything on it , as I once did before Talon!

Thanks for your replies and appreciation. I thought it was interesting, and since most of the site is people older than me, that you would enjoy it.

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I lost my hat on Poison Ivy. How pathetic.

S:KoS, as one of those *older than you*, thanks for posting the topic. Certainly is interesting to see how some things have changed drastically, while others have stayed pretty much the same...(Anton and wood, they never go out of style)....;)
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Dr. Thrill IS my family practitioner
Would you just LOOK at what you've done to CoasterBuzz - you're going to have to clean it up ;)

Looks like SFoG was the place to be back in 1980! Seeing Python on anybody's top 10 list just makes me laugh.

The earliest I could really do a Top 10 list would be around '85, and tops on my list would probably be Beastie :)
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SRM 2003-Look for the guy with my name on his chest

My first coaster was Gemini in 88 then quickly followed by Blue Streak, this is prob why Gemini is still in my top 5.

My parents always raved about the Jumbo Jet, and were quite mad when it was taken out. Just another thought wouldnt it be neat if CP's Cyclone was still standing, or they rebuilt it, just a thought.

Some observations in taking another look at this guy's 1980 list........

Seven of the ten are in the south/southeast - This makes sense because of the guy's homebase in Florida. Note the absence of any eastern seaboard or west coast parks.

Seven of the ten are steel - I would estimate this based on the "new-ness" of the steel loopers and corkscrews at the time.

Nine of the ten are at the only (then) national chains (Six Flags, Busch, or Disney)

This last one makes me think about my own early coastering experience. IMHO, the biggest thing to affect our hobby has been the Internet. Before being on-line, I had no idea that places such as Knoebel's, Holiday World, or Silverwood existed. Being in the computer-coastering community has greatly increased my plans on places to hit to catch some rides.

My train of thought here is that, back in 1980, very few people knew about all of the parks out there, so it makes perfect sense that this guy would have almost all national chain coasters on his list, cause these were the only places he knew about.

I can even relate my own personal example of my first-ever dedicated coaster trip back in 1988. My fellow Detroit buddies and I went to CP and PKI (being regionally known) and also to BGW. Why there? Because it was the only other park we had heard about within shooting range of PKI. I had never heard of Geagua Lake, Kennywood, or SFKK (which was not SF at the time, right?). Heck, we even drove within a stone's throw of King's Dominion, never even knowing it was there.

I'd love to see a top 10 list from this time period from someone who knew the scene real well back then, like an old-school ACE'r or something. Anyone like that here?

Later,
EV
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"I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine"
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957

EV, did you actually not see Kings Dominion when you passed it? I can't imagine missing something like the Eiffel Tower from I-95.

I do agree with you, however, regarding the notion that the internet is responsible for the majority of our coasting knowledge (speaking from personal experience). I only knew of a handful of parks before I had access to the internet--Kings Dominion, Hersheypark, Wild World/Adventure World (now SFA), and BGW (they're all relatively close to home); Disneyland and WDW (who hadn't heard of the Disney parks?); and Kings Island and BGT (heard through word of mouth that KD and BGW had 'sister parks'). I didn't find out about Cedar Point until '97, and that was because I recevied my first coaster book for my birthday (White Knuckle Ride by Mark Wyatt). It was all over when I discovered ultimaterollercoaster.com and rcdb.com. ;)

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-Vater
'These pretzels are making me thirsty.'
Take a ride...
*** This post was edited by Vater 3/11/2003 2:22:42 PM ***

The Hurricane rules. I rode it when the park was called Boardwalk and Baseball. I love that tunnel under the walkway, which they aptly named "eye of the hurricane."
*** This post was edited by BassHedz 3/11/2003 2:12:38 PM ***

Vater,

We were coming across I-64 from Ohio direction to get to Williamsburg. We were never on I-95. It's just that compared to the haul from PKI to BGW, I considered the little bit up I-95 from Richmond to be "a stone's throw"

Later,
EV
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"I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine"
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957

Ahh, I thought you were being literal, since it is right off the Interstate. ;)

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-Vater
'These pretzels are making me thirsty.'
Take a ride...

Thanks for starting this S:KoS. I actually have a copy of that book (and it's predecessor). I was going to look for the copyright date, but I have no clue which box in the attic it's in. I completely forgot about those books. I'll have to take the time to dig them out and see what's in the first one.

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Goccvp1

I sure do miss the Idora Wiildcat & Jackrabbit.

Sure there was no popular internet, but there were bulletin boards back then. I'm sure someone had a coaster-related board.
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If you have a problem with clones, the solution is real simple—Stop traveling.