Do you think there were boutique builders back in the old days in North America?..I see a few pop up from Europe now and then.

I have a Toad fiberglass conga that I bought from Ray Ayotte in the late 70's. He had about 20 of them made up 'offshore.' That was before everyone went offshore. Ray got the name by thinking about the Toad drumstool he had Walberg and Auge make for his drum retail business (Drums Only! in Vancouver) at the time.

Maybe a retailer did the same thing with Hardel drums - maybe not offshore but it's possible they had a builder make them for their music store. Some information will turn up sooner or later.