When designers who didn't know the reference asked about him, I just said, "Trust me, he's great." Later when working on reprints, I also wanted to reference the Wondrous Tails weekly missions, and Tome of Legends felt like the perfect flavor fit by adding counters to your book and granting you rewards for doing so
A 3/4 with flying for 3 was an insanely valuable creature back in the day, but that 2-mana cumulative upkeep was stifling to say the least
For a total of 3 mana (2G), you get to double a creatures power and toughness for the turn
Ability: Make sure it's an official ability Held Item: (optional) Preferred Move Set: Because super powered monsters need some sweet moves
Maybe a friend gave you a bunch of cards, or in those first couple of Drafts you got more cards than you know what to do with
And in this case the +1/+1 trample part stick around