ChatGPR: Craig Dyer
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Gene Fetty: [00:00:00] Hey, what's up everybody? Gene Fetty with AAI here with our new series. chat GPR. So we are out live, uh, in preparation for the Anson open house here in Burleson, Texas. Uh, we did a nice, uh, collision, large damage, gluepole repair training yesterday here. Uh, Christina and Craig and the whole Anson crew was very welcoming as always to have us in.
Uh, and today we're set up to, to kick off our chat GPR series. And I thought what better way to kick off the whole series than to get, uh, Mr. Craig Dyer, uh, from Anson, uh, who is, man, I don't know anybody that has more glues and more, more knowledge of the types of glues in the business. Uh, than this man right here.
So Greg, thanks for having us out and welcome to the show.
Craig Dyer: I'll tell you what y'all are already making our week better and it's going to be a great weekend here at the open house. And, uh,
Gene Fetty: yeah, we do have a lot of glues. You sure [00:01:00] do. You sure do. So, and that's what we want to talk about today. Uh, a little on the history of glue.
When did, when did y'all, when did y'all start? Uh, getting into glue and, and really adding that to the, to the inventory here at Anson. Well, I'm, I'm a PDR
Craig Dyer: tech, ex PDR tech now. Um, just like you back, started pushing dents, fixing hail damage cars. Uh, we would sneak little wires and things. on rails, trying to fix them.
And that's all you had a company called worth of Germany came out with a kit. Yep. I remember that kit and you had big oval tabs like this round ones, like this three different colors of each, which changed the flexibility and durometer. It was built, um, as far as I understand to help out in the body shop stuff, just really, you know, pulling stuff out, but not fixing it.
Um, so us, PDR [00:02:00] guys would take these tabs and the ones we would cut little crease tabs, right? The bigger ones we'd cut down to nickel dime quarter, you know, and um, We thought that was the cat's meow, you know, um, so that that's my first recollection There's nothing prior that i'm aware of right? Yeah, and
Gene Fetty: that was probably what late 90s is when that came out.
Yeah
Craig Dyer: And so a lot of us in the PDR industry were using that and it was working. We thought it was great, but, you know, needed some improvement, something for our industry.
Gene Fetty: Right.
Craig Dyer: The glue that you got in these kits, uh, some people May disagree with me, but it was, uh, it was crap.
Gene Fetty: Oh, it was terrible. You couldn't get it off the car.
It was sticky, gooey. Oh, I remember it. Yeah.
Craig Dyer: The only value that glue had is, uh, the way their tabs were built. They were so big. You could use almost anything, right? Yeah.
Gene Fetty: When you get that much service area. [00:03:00] Yeah. Yeah.
Craig Dyer: So, uh, Oh, back at the end of nineties, around 2000, 2001, things started changing, uh, the first glue that I would call a real, uh, glue.
PDR glue for our industry. Uh, was the Amar brothers out of Humboldt, Texas did a dent out red. That was my first glue. Yeah. Uh, we, we did a cactus green. Both of those at this point have been around ballpark 22, 23 years. Right. We also did a black glue. We call it black widow now. Uh, really good for like Houston, Texas weather, warm and humid and stuff.
But those three, by my memory, we're basically the only ones to 10, 12 years ago. Right. Um, and I know when I went full time with Anson, uh, we did the pink bubble gum and pull another glues out. You know, people were excited and it's still popular with a lot of people. That's their [00:04:00] favorite. But, uh, initially I think it was, Oh, this is new.
Gene Fetty: Right. Well, everybody wants to try what's new. What's what they walk in and Craig, what's the new deal? What's the new glue? What is it? Yeah, you know after almost 30
Craig Dyer: years around this stuff our van drivers Still hear the same thing. What do you got new? Yeah, I got new and So we thrive on that we cater To the customers best we can and that's kind of my job is creating new products, right?
And to this day even new glues Well, that's awesome.
Gene Fetty: That's cool. That's very cool. So let's, uh, let's talk about glue. You talked about cactus green. Uh, and I remember we had a hail guy come in. It must've been in 2011. Okay. And, uh, he ordered, he called Hanson right before the internet and everything called in.
He said, Hey, I've got, yeah, maybe facts. He said, Hey, I've got a whole, a whole box. I think he was buying it by the pound, uh, back in the day of the green glue. And he's like, man, this stuff is awesome. It's great. [00:05:00] Uh, So I can remember, so that was 13 years ago, uh, that, that the green was popular and we were talking this morning beforehand, uh, how popular is the green glue?
Yeah. Well,
Craig Dyer: I can tell you this much, uh, social media wise, you'll see everybody's favorite and sort of rightfully so always gravitate to what works for you. Um, But our conversation this morning, I told Gene, I, I can tell you with absolute fact and proof, the two biggest sellers in the world are Cactus Green and Tadwell.
Gene Fetty: Right here. It's. That's it. You know. That is the name of the game, right? That's what it is. I still have, so going back to my early Kiko days, Uh, in the system, it was, uh, collision glue, right? Cam auto collision. Yes, sir. Cactus green and tab weld. Yes, sir. And I've still got techs all over the country that, that say this green is where they go.
It's just their go to glue. They love it and [00:06:00] it works.
Craig Dyer: There, there's, I don't know how many new glues have come out that I've personally been involved with. Right. And, uh, yeah. Other people coming out with more, but nothing has slowed down Tadwell and Cactus Green.
Gene Fetty: Yeah, and Tadwell, I remember when Keith First brought this out to the market and man, it is a hard pulling glue.
And my favorite part is, is summertime when we get into those hot days. This is one of my go to hot weather glues, right? It just seems to work better or work well on those hot, humid Pittsburgh days. It's not like. Texas hot, but it's still pretty warm.
Craig Dyer: No, it's a, it's an awesome glue. Uh, there's going to be people disagree.
Well, of course, no, I like X, Y, Z glue better. Okay. God bless you.
Gene Fetty: Right. Right. Well, I can remember even going back to that den out, uh, and, and you already said it like find the glue that works for you. I even talked to my buddy, John. Uh, or Xan for us Americans. Uh, and he talked about, I tried to convince [00:07:00] him to try this glue, try this glue.
He said, listen, I've been using this glue and I don't know what brand it is or what it is. He said, but I've been using this glue for so long. I know every nuance about it. And I was like, you know what? How many trophies does he have on his wall? So he's probably right for it. Yeah, exactly. I think he's got it dialed in.
Uh, and I can remember the den out red, which is that high, high humidity, hot weather glue. Yep. When I found that, that it worked, this would've been late oh 8, 9, 10. Uh, man, I used that year round in Pittsburgh, so I didn't care if it was, I was on, on the car lot and it was 30 degrees changed full time, knew I just needed to work faster.
Yeah. Uh, but yeah, learning a glue, uh, is, is a big deal. Yeah, for sure. No, no doubt. I think
Craig Dyer: the biggest leap that the glue industry has ever had so far. Was when the den out red glue came out just because there was such an infancy and finally. A real glue for our industry, not that whatever worth adds a fake [00:08:00] glue, it's probably good for something.
Right. Right. Oh, all of a sudden, you know, we can use this by then we, we knew how to use alcohol or we thought we did. Right. You know, people tried other stuff. Sure. 91 percent or 99%. It's the only way to go though guys. Absolutely. Um, but, but over the years, um, we we've had some failures. You know, uh, I did a formula years ago called gold rush.
Okay. It was ran wrong, but for whatever reason, we, we didn't send it back and it sat around forever. Well, that particular glue, we're now using a company out of Brazil, Brazilian hell glue. It's an awesome formula. We put a label over the bags because we had gazillion bags and that's recent just in the past year or two that, and that's another formula that's, uh, those
Gene Fetty: formulas are getting popular around the world.
Nice. It's those little changes and then. Right. It's, [00:09:00] it's that adoption. Yes.
Craig Dyer: Yes. Uh, if you hadn't tried to say a Brazilian glue and you've been using den out red, which still holds its own with anybody when you first try it, I don't know, maybe it's like, Oh, it doesn't feel right to me. Right. Well, it's not the glue.
It's us.
Gene Fetty: Yes. Yeah. It's what we're used to. It's what you're used to. Yeah, absolutely.
Craig Dyer: But, uh, yeah, it's been quite a, you know, when the tab weld was done, that probably put. the next level as far as something popular and sales and all, right? You know, there's going to be people tell you, Oh, that's not even close to my favorite well, God bless you, whatever you use is great.
I'd prefer you didn't go to a big box store,
Gene Fetty: store, like, you know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean. Well, right. That's, you know, it's, it always drives me crazy. The technicians try to cheap out. And cut corners, why not work with something that's proven, but more importantly, especially in such a small, [00:10:00] uh, niche industry, why not support the innovators who are putting the time, money and R and D into new products, be it glue or a tool or a tab or a light, right?
Support the people that are innovating and driving innovation. Instead of, uh, trying to save a buck and supporting these huge corporations. And in my opinion, you need to work for us.
Craig Dyer: I'll tell you what I tell people. This may sound a bit rude. Melissa may edit it. I hope not.
Gene Fetty: Well, that
Craig Dyer: one's live. So there's no editing on that one.
I tell people, you know, they'll come to the store, probably need glue. It's like one out of every 300. Oh no. I go to XYZ big box store and I'm a pretty nice guy. Sure. But I don't let that go. I'm like, Oh, is this a hobby for you? Right, right. Exactly. Seriously, guys, is this a hobby or how you're supporting your family?
Use the best stuff you can get from a professional PDR supplier. Correct. You got them all over the United States and Europe. [00:11:00] You're going to spend five bucks more on that much glue. Do it because there's fine stuff and more coming in. What keeps more coming are you guys exactly financing the R and D.
Gene Fetty: Right. Well, and look at the innovation, right? Like so worth started in 99, early two thousands, uh, Hanson and, and Dan out, start bringing glues and then, you know, Keith and black plague starts bringing this, the tab weld and the, the black plague tabs or the gangrene tabs. Uh, and then Kiko starts innovating and cam auto comes into the picture and now, now because of innovators and because of small companies.
Uh, with backing by the people that are using this every day. You're, you're innovating and now we're reaching from the PDR world and building a bridge over into the collision world. Right. And, and literally I hear from texts that, that glue pull repair changes their lives and changes how they [00:12:00] repair cars, uh, all built and born out of the innovation from small companies like Anson, like Kim auto, like Kiko.
Yep. Absolutely. You know,
Craig Dyer: it's, um, man back in the days when there was no glue pulling. To see that worth thing like anyway, right to go from there to now. It's uh, it's amazing That's quite an evolution, especially what you guys can do on the big smash. It's unbelievable. You know, my motto and
Gene Fetty: Smaller debts bigger dollars.
Craig Dyer: That's
Gene Fetty: right. We're going
Craig Dyer: for big debts and big dollars. You guys have all that big smash glue you use more
Gene Fetty: glue Yes. Well, of course, of course we do. Yeah. I can do a whole lot of hail cars with a few sticks, right. And one smash and we're cruising through it. Oh yeah. I'm getting 25 bucks out of you. If you do a big smash.
That's right. We like it. That's, that's good. So talking about those big smashes, let's talk about some of the collision glues that are on the [00:13:00] market, because I promise you these collision glues are not available in any big box stores, right? That stuff that this and the way these glues pull and the nuances that come with them.
are not available anywhere else. Absolutely. Right. That is, that is where it's at. I'm aware of. Not that I've seen either. So with that, right. Like I think the first real collision glue that hit this space, uh, is this is the cam auto collision glue, right? Yup. It is the collision glue that obviously cam auto cells.
It's also the collision glue included in the Kiko systems. Uh, do you remember the video that Charlie Charles cam auto put out where he glued the tab to the front of the car and picked it up off the ground with collision glue? Yes. Like if that doesn't talk about how strong and how incredible collision glue is, uh, this glue right here is built out of a top quality factory.
Yep. Absolutely. So now American made as well. [00:14:00] Oh, that's good. Yeah. Oh, that's real good. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. That's, uh, anytime we can support America, that's, I'm a, I'm a fan. Yeah. I'm a fan. Uh, so now you guys have also moved into the collision space, right? With, with some glue. A little bit. Yeah. Yeah. We try not to interfere with anybody else.
Sure. But listen, it's a big market and there's room for everybody and there's always room for more innovation. Uh, you've got two glues. That I just, I think they shine, uh, and they sort of, and in my mind, right, they sort of sandwich the, the cam auto glue. So it's like, it's like this right here. So the cam auto, I would call the, the middle of the road.
works for everything on the collision side of things, right? It's a great glue. I really have no complaints with it on either side, right? We've got our tequila collision here. I remember when you sent me a bag of this before it was in the tequila bags. [00:15:00] And I also remember when you sent me the Anson hard pull before it was in bags, right?
And like big Ziploc bags, full these two glues. Uh, I've not found any glue anywhere that holds up to double action moves. So that's, that's tension out or pulling out or tension left and right. And then smack in the hammer or hit smack in the panel where you're really sending that shock and vibration through.
This stuff just holds like it will take as much abuse as you want to throw at it. Now it's not the strongest, hardest pulling. It's super flexible. It is very flexible, but when you need that move, when you're trying to flow that metal back in that tequila collision, but just, it's there for the, there for the ride.
Yeah. That's, that's about as strong as it gets. Now this, yeah, this, so this, and it's in hard pull, right? And I love the new packaging because right, selling more glue. This fits great in the, in the toolbox drawer. It's double [00:16:00] the sticks of a bag. Uh, that's where it's at. This has become my go to everyday collision glue.
Uh, it's what I live my guns up with. And I'm even using it on some of those harder, heavier hit, like oversized rail hail dense. This gets down to the bottom. It bites still got that collision glue flex flexibility and lets you work it up and pull it up. I find that it, even in the cooler weather, right?
When we get down to the bottom of the range in the mid seventies, it still doesn't get real chippy, right? It's, this is. This has become my glue. This would be the, the, if the glue is going to approve, approve a collision glue, right? And that's it right there. You know, I'm glad
Craig Dyer: to hear it. We're hearing that more and more over the past couple of years.
Um, you're, you're in Pittsburgh. Yep. Yep. And I will tell you on this glue, like Gene said, down to seventies, it doesn't get chipped or brittle or whatever. If you can't control your [00:17:00] condition some, and you're working in 40 degree weather, you're going to get some chippiness, brittleness. Of course, of course.
Gene's other favorite. You're not going to get that. No, that's kind of seen this go brittle. I have not. No, it's so flexible. So just, just so you know, on the glues, uh, this one here is made by tech bond in England. You know, a lot of people think, uh, worry about keeping secrets. It's tech bond in England makes this for us.
Okay. It's super flexible. Some people call it a solid free glue. I don't believe there's any such thing. Uh, these two glues, the cam auto collision, which is awesome. The Ants and Collision are both made by the same factory. They're different glues. Um, here in the United States. So, and you got three of them here and two of them are made right here in the United States.
Uh, we love the factory that builds this. It's the biggest, uh, adhesive [00:18:00] supplier. In the States, maybe the world, we never asked them to, but they defer anybody in the automotive industry to us. Oh, that's cool. You got to go through Anson. Oh, wow. Well, that goes from starting off with them. 2000, 2000. Sure.
Right. Paying our bills, doing a high volume. Yep. Yep. Yeah. And you know, things like that. So, uh, we're pretty proud of that.
Gene Fetty: We never asked for that. Right. That's cool. That's, that's, that's when you know, you're dealing with A good solid company, right? That's that's taking, that's taking care of people.
Craig Dyer: They won't just do that with anybody.
And there's other glues we build for other people. It's like, I called around and you know, it's, uh, that's nice. Right.
Gene Fetty: And we never asked for it. Right. That's listen, that's just playing the long game.
Craig Dyer: Yeah.
Gene Fetty: Yeah. Yeah. I absolutely love it.
Craig Dyer: Glues, man. That's one of the most talked about, highly debated things in our [00:19:00] industry.
Well, that's just fine. That's the end of the day. Go out and fix your hell cars with whatever you like. Or your collision cars with whatever you like. Yes, or your collision cars. Yeah.
Gene Fetty: The smaller this bigger dollars guy doesn't do collision stuff. No, no. Uh, man. So that's probably our most asked question.
Like they'll watch a pool. What glue was that? What glue was that? Yeah. It's also my least favorite question. Yeah. What glue is that? It's the glue that works. It's the process. Yeah. So it's a, it's, so to, to answer that question fully, yes, the glue is important, especially on this collision side, right? Like these glues are special, but it is, it is a combination of the glue, the tab technology, the lifting device.
Yeah. the preparation, right? The process, all of that comes together. And that is really where the magic happens, right? Even in class yesterday, man, I can't believe that holds. I can't believe it pulls like that. We're using top quality [00:20:00] products, doing proper prepping procedures, proper pulling procedures, and then magic happens.
Yeah. Yes. And then a talent like yours makes
Craig Dyer: upper level stuff even better. Well, that's thank you. I appreciate that. I appreciate it. I'm just
Gene Fetty: trying to be a humble guy. I just know how to make tabs, stick to metal or stick to paint and make metal flat. That's, that's about all it's about. I guess so it's don't overthink it.
Right. Yeah. So, uh, well this is awesome. Greg, thank you so much for taking some time and sitting down with us. Uh, before we check out of the interview, uh, we're live, we're good. No questions on live. That's all right. Uh, Anson pdr.com right? Yep. Is the website for Anson. That's our website, anson pdr.com. And, and make sure you go to the app store.
To the app store and download the Anson app. Uh, you'll stay in touch with the guys that are driving around the country and I happen to know that they do some [00:21:00] specials for the app users. For the app orders. So maybe you'll get a little surprise glue stick in your next order. So every
Craig Dyer: [email protected].
Or the app store always gets a goodie bag. There's thousands of you out there that know this, download the Anson app. Use it. When you order every month, you get a free pack of glue every month. Oh, that's awesome. Given away well over six figures of free glue every year. That is awesome. I'm getting a shock.
This month we're in May. Yeah. Uh, Brazilian hell glue called gold rush. Thousand orders, 25, 000 Wow. That is awesome. So download the app. Yes. Free pack of glue. Oh, I might want to try that.
Gene Fetty: Order. Right. We try to make it super easy. Exactly. Exactly. Well, listen, we can't thank, I can't thank you enough, sir, for sitting down for the interview and the graciousness of your whole Anson family.
It's just, you, you guys are [00:22:00] just salt of the earth people. And we're so blessed to be able to come down and spend time with you. And we're so, so, uh, grateful, uh, for, for the space that you gave us to, to help teach this and bring things forward. So we're excited to have y'all down.
Craig Dyer: Yesterday was a wonderful day.
It was a great day. A great class. Christina fed us to a full.
Gene Fetty: Oh, that dinner last night was unbelievable.
Craig Dyer: Yes. But yeah, I'm going to wish you all smaller dents and bigger dollars and excellent glue pulling. I love it. Gene Fetty. Good deal.
Gene Fetty: Thanks. Thank you, Greg. Yeah. Appreciate it brother. Yep.
