Random Inside Great Truck Nuts War That Consumed Lives Of Two Businessmen (11 items)

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  (#4) AlltheNutz.com Set Off A Full-Blown Balls War

  Shortly after their launch, the two truck nuts manufacturers were quickly knocking on each other’s proverbial doors demanding that the other revoke their claim to being the first - and best - truck ball maker. When neither Saller nor Ham was willing to back down, the competition between the two became far more heated, resulting in aggressive phone exchanges and emails. 

  In 2009, their feud reached new heights when Ham, the owner of YourNutz.com, decided to stoke the fires of competition by launching an all-inclusive truck nuts e-shop called AlltheNutz.com. AlltheNutz, true to its name, was built off the ambition of selling every type of bumper ball accessory on the market in one place.

  However, Ham's number one competitor, Saller, refused to sell his merchandise on the site. Ham’s pursuit for all the balls on the market brought his and Saller’s feud to a breaking point.
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  (#6) Ham Infiltrated Tombyll’s Factory Under An Alias But Was Kicked Out

  At the height of Ham and Saller’s balls battle, during which Ham was trying to manage the successful launch of a new, all-inclusive truck ball e-store, Ham decided to get creative with his extraction methods.

  When Saller refused to sell Ham any of his ball products for resale on AlltheNutz.com, Ham decided to go straight to the source - undercover. 

  He went directly to Saller’s San Bernardino manufacturer, Tombyll Plastics, and attempted to buy some products under the alias “Bozzy Willis.” Tombyll quickly caught on to the ruse, and asked Willis, “Do people call you by another name, Bozzy? Do they also call you... David Ham?” 

  With this, Ham knew his cover had been blown, and Tombyll escorted him out of the building. Ham left the premises - sans balls.
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  (#9) 'I Thought, "Wow, They're Both Dead, That's Amazing."'

  The technicalities of the feud were somewhat behind the two founders, but the air of competition was still thick with hostility. A number of years passed, and, shortly after the passing of his web development partner, John Beaman, Saller decided it was time for him to step down from his truck nuts empire.

  Saller sold the rights to Bulls Balls to his long-time business partner and product manufacturer, Chad Tombyll, in 2013, and left the legacy behind. Just one year later, Saller passed.

  Upon hearing about the passing of Saller and his loyal web developer, Ham called Tombyll to verify the news. Upon learning the truth, he says his response was, “Wow, they’re both dead, that’s amazing.”
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  (#7) Bulls Balls Was Accused Of Price-Fixing

  Whether a result of the feud with Ham or actual customer dissatisfaction, reviews for Bulls Balls began cropping up accusing the company of price-fixing and manipulating consumer demand.

  The following is one such inciting review - to which the Balls Balls owner himself, John Saller, responded (see image): 

  This guy owns over 30 websites selling the same thing. He is illegally fixing prices and cancelling dealers who discount. He had a free giveaway that I was the first to request and once he got my personal information he said I didnt "qualify" he uses "arbitrary discrimination" to defraud whomever he pleases. This guy is dangerous DO NOT BUY FROM bullballs.com, instead there are a few sites that give excellent service and prices such as allthenutz.com Bulls balls, truck nuts, bumpernuts are all the same thing.
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  (#11) The Balls Ran Afoul Of The Law, Prompting Free-Speech Debates

  Almost as soon as the various styles of truck nuts hit the streets, complaints about their offensiveness rolled into legislative inboxes around the country. Citing the accessories’ vulgar indecency, upset neighbors, parents, and passersby began calling for their ban on city streets. 

  These complaints led many cities to begin debating whether the objects did, in fact, cross a line of social appropriateness or whether they were protected under the laws of free speech. In one 2011 case, a South Carolina woman was ticketed for sporting a pair. 

  Though a handful of states attempted to make truck nuts illegal, only Florida was successful. Mayor Ken Durham of Edgefield, South Carolina, explained the difficulty in the conflict’s nuance: 

  It's kind of hard, we see both sides of the issue. You got personal freedoms, personal property rights, freedom of speech. And on the other hand, what can't you do in this case to offend people?
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  (#1) Two Men Claim To Have 'Invented' Automotive Novelty Testicles

  It’s hard to say exactly when novelty testicles first started showing up attached to the back bumpers of pickup trucks, but by the mid to late 2000s, they appeared to be everywhere. The rise of the fad itself has been most frequently attributed to one of two men: John Saller or his competitor David Ham. 

  Though it is clear from the pair’s conflict-ridden history that they would certainly prefer to never have their names appear in the same sentence, both lay claim to the original idea of attaching plastic ball sacks to the bumpers of cars and trucks.

  Sellar's brand bears the name Bulls Balls, while Ham went with Your Nutz.

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