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It’s safe to say that Booster is Huss’ long awaited answer to the Mondial Shake, and many – myself included – regard the Booster as one of the finest rides from Huss, whether by design or (as we suspect) not.

So, why is this wonderful ride a folly? Well, it just wasn’t good business sense. The 32-seater Booster takes as many lorries to move as a 48-seater Breakdance, meaning it costs more to move but makes less per ride. The numbers just didn’t add up.

Just three Boosters were sold – two to German fairs, and one to the Finnish park Linnanmäki. One of the German Boosters has recently been sold, while the other one is up for sale and likely to be gone by the end of the year.

While hundreds of Huss rides continue to loyally serve their owners built on the promise of German build-quality, Huss soon announced that they were to move their manufacturing facilities from Bremen to Hungary.

German showmen are notoriously patriotic, and have always favoured the likes of Huss and Mack over alternative manufacturers even if they have to pay over the odds.

Huss rides are no longer German, but Hungarian, and as they’re now Hungarian, they are no longer tantamount to superior build quality.

Showmen, it seems, agree. Whether or not this is a carefully orchestrated attempt at a boycott, or just the fact that Huss have disillusioned and abandoned their main customer base, the only new ride of note being a new Pirate Ship, Das Clubschiff.

Having dug the knife in, Huss then proceeded to turn it in the wound by focusing all new research and development on a range of new ‘Giant’ rides specifically designed with the theme park in mind.

This move has always struck me as peculiar, because as I said earlier, one of Huss’ strongest aspects was their effortless ability to cater for both parks and fairs. Yes, most Breakdances were destined for the fair circuit, and most Pirate Ships set sail for tens of parks globally, but they were also popular on the other side of the fence, while the Top Spin was pretty much evenly spread between parks and fairs.

It smacks of cutting your nose off to spite your face to turn your back on years of good relationships and reliable trade at the European fair to focus all attention on the notoriously fickle faction of theme parks around the world.

Mondial, probably the closest equivalent to Huss, interestingly took another avenue, and are focusing on more compact versions of their rides. Rides like the Capriolo have sold over here in the UK, while their new Diablo is a far more versatile take of their Inferno.

So, in 2000, Huss announced their new range of ‘Giant’ rides;

The Giant Top Spin, a 68ft-tall 77-seater version of the Top Spin.
The Giant Frisbee, a 138ft-tall version of their Frisbee.
Jump2, a 75ft inverted version of their original Jump.
And Delirium, a 64-seater prototype spinning family ride

All four of these giants were marketed as offering high capacity at a low cost, while filling the void between the marketability of a roller coaster and a flat ride. They also advertised the concept of ‘Land of the Giants’, kind of like a super-sized version of ‘Huss Land’ at Heide Park showcasing Huss’ flagship Giant rides. Continues...