I was lucky enough to find a 1962 (3) Parade King in mint condition. It has sat on a shelf for the past 50 years and looks as good today as it did when it came from the factory. It even still has the original guarantee card to be sent in by the music store tied to a lug screw. I learned on a Parade King in drum corps back in 1964-68 and this was the model drum that my corps used. I found this forum when I started to look for the badges and serial numbers used and have found out a lot of useful information. I am a died in the wool Slinky fan and have been since I first played on one. My friends and husband have moved on to Peal and Premier (especially my husband, he loves the duel snare pipe band drums from Premier) but I have stuck with Slingerland. The drum has a stained and varnished mahogany shell finish and the original gut snares. I am in Slinky heaven!