Con-Man: Star Wars Celebration 2015 Friday

We didn't make it down for Thursday's trailer unveiling with J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy and cast but we did show up Friday afternoon for some floor walking at Star Wars Celebration. If you'll recall, I bought tickets for this sumbitch 20 months ago! 20! Originally, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was scheduled to open in May but has since been pushed back to December. Abrams, Kennedy and cast were on hand to show off a goosebump inducing trailer and the show is expected to net 60,000 fans overs four days. We got a sweet suite over at The DoubleTree and walked over to check out the floor for a bit. Surprisingly not a ton of cosplay, mostly Storm Troopers and Han Solo's thus far and lots of peeps brandishing light up light sabers. The floor is spaced pretty well with not as many vendors or an artist alley a la WonderCon. The autograph section is huge and there's various stages for video games, Star Wars shop and Funko's.

Right away we were distracted by the FULL BAR on the floor so we got some Jack and Gingers where our homeboy bartender gave us a little extra and making them into doubles. Thanks, pal. Hope that three buck tip helps you out cause you deserve it. Although we only had about 30 minutes to walk the floor we ran into one Travis Moody from GodHatesGeeks! The Trav showed up to the Sunbow Celebration of Transformers and G.I. Joe: The Movies and here's hoping we collaborate on something soon. Some more walking around and we passed the Tattoo area, a surprising if not surprising rising addition to the convention scene where goers can immortalize their favorite popular culture characters on themselves while being surrounded by like minded peeps.

The Arena has become the Main Stage for panels and events and there's tons more seating on the floor than at WonderCon. Our emcee was voice actor something something who has a panel tomorrow night preceding Mark Hamill's and does the voice for Obi-Wan as well as Fred Flinstone! We were there to embrace one Anthony Daniels aka C-3P0 who came out to the stage then left, then came out again through the audience, shaking hands and getting people excited. I can't really tell you what happened over the nearly 60 minute panel besides it being a lot of fun. Did you know there was a C-3PO cereal and Star Wars Underoos? The gold robot even became the subject of a frigging tape dispenser, that someone in the audience had one of! Questions were asked at random from numbered envelopes and Daniels was a true showman, making jokes, engaging the crowd and thanking them for making his near 40 years with the Star Wars franchise such an enjoyable two way street. Apparently he came out and greeted the huge lines of fans waiting to get into the convention center today.

During his panel, Daniels talked about the enthusiasm of the fans, getting a call from Kathleen Kennedy asking if Daniels would take a call from Abrams and being offered the chance to only voice C-3P0 before declining and performing the part as well. There was the story about the Star Wars Christmas song that saw Daniels hop a Concorde flight to New York, perform the song then hop back on the Concorde and head back to England. Much of it seemed planned out but it was very entertaining. The new trailer was played again and it looks great on the big screen.

It was a fun start to the weekend with incredible energy and a good vibe all around. Looking forward to walking more of the floor tomorrow, picking up some swag and seeing more panels. Until then, I'll see ya over at Tocshe Station picking up some power converters!

Con-Man: WonderCon 2015 Friday

We only got about an hour of floor walking in for Friday but it proved very lucrative. It didn't seem too packed around the Anaheim Convention Center yet as most people were walking out as we were headed in. Lots of cosplayers outside by the fountains with Elvira, Xena, Rocket, Groot and Wheeljack from Transformers among them. Inside seems extra cavernous this year but having wider aisle ways isn't a bad thing, at all. Ran into the vendor I bought my Bishop from Aliens from at Long Beach Expo that Lance Henriksen signed. This time they had Neca's Robocop VS The Terminator figures for cheap so it was my first buy of the night. More walking around and we ventured into Warner Brothers' San Andreas Experience which was basically the trailer with 4D f/x, aka The Rock, Carla Gugino, Mr. Fantastic and that guy from Sideways surviving a huge earthquake complete with vibrating and moving chairs. I'm still not sold on the flick but it was a nice addition to the floor. Elsewhere I picked up some issues of awesome movie magazine Cinefantastique with Demolition Man, Captain America, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Robocop II in their extremely deeply researched and reported sights.

Moving onto more of the floor there were big set ups for Valiant and IDW like at last week's Emerald City Comicon along with Image which has several panels this show to highlight their creative owned genre divisions. Boutique Bait had some awesome Street Fighter shirts along with Bruce Lee and Voltron socks! They were right next to Nerdist who had quite the display set up for interviews and podcasts while La-La Records has a show exclusive Masters of the Universe soundtrack featuring 2 CD's of music from the beloved Filmation cartoon. I'm on the fence about picking it up but the bastards also had scores to The Flash from 1990, The Warriors and The Phantom on sale! Arrrgh, choices. I ended up with The Phantom and will contemplate the other titles over the weekend, don't wanna blow my wad on the first night, amirite? Ran into La-La representative and #MovieBro Mike Joffe whom I met through my #ActionBro David J. Moore at Conan the Destroyer as we chatted about all the awesome soundtracks La-La puts out.

It was time to eat but nobody told this guy a frigging Mighty Ducks AND Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Game were going on so getting over to Orange staple The Lazy Dog Cafe seemingly took forever. Luckily their Whiskey Ginger (Jameson & Ginger Beer) along with lots of mac n' cheese, edamame and a burger solved all our problems. Our Lyft driver back was a cool guy, a vegan chef inbetween gigs who loved sci-fi movies too boot. We talked Aliens, Blade Runner, DC versus Marvel, Masters of the Universe and how Dolph Lundgren was a perfect He-Man. Tomorrow will probably be crazy but I'm stoked to walk the rest of the floor as well as check out some panels on writing, pulp heroes, Warner Brothers' presentation and Capcom! See you at the show!

Gotta Drank(and Play)! RN74, Lava Lounge & Shorty's

Hello hello, Dammaged Goods coming at you live style from beautiful and green Seattle, Washington for this year's Emerald City Comicon! The event has sold out with attendance jumping a full 10,000 and expected to hit 80,000 attendees. We hopped a Virgin flight up yesterday afternoon and saw none other than voice of Duke and Prowl from G.I. Joe and Transformers as well as Sunbow Celebration guest Michael Bell in the terminal! Mr. Bell is working on a voice acting workshop and will be a guest at ECCC all weekend with a panel on Sunday. Our flight was filled with something like 60 Australian teenage middle schoolers who were traveling the northwest. I bought tix months ago and snagged Main Cabin Select which puts you right behind First Class. There's free booze and food but here's a tip, order as soon as you sit down because they ran out of Jack Daniels and Glenfiddich quick!

Landing in Seattle it was beautiful and pushing 70 degrees as we walked to the convention center to get my press pass and then around the Pike district for happy hour and supplies. I had scouted out RN74 on my Happy Hour hunt and as soon as we sat down we spotted some copper cups filled with Downtown Donkey's, their version of a Moscow Mule. Two of those please! But with Jameson. Alas, disappointment, it was literally a cup full of crushed ice and just really sour. Would have been better off going across the street to YardHouse because I know their mules are excellent. Food was good though, Deviled Eggs, Chinese Pigs in a Blanket, Sliders and the especially the Duck Fat Fries. Crisp, delicious with three dipping sauces, mmmmm. On Thursdays they also have oysters on the shuckin' shell but I've never had good experience with raw ones. Nice joint, good food but a little pricey for what we got.

Meeting up with some friends over in Belltown near the Space Needle we hit up tiki themed dive bar Lava Lounge. Apparently Ginger Beer is big in Seattle with many local brands. But they're like pop, not alcoholic like Crabbie's so no black out juice tonight...They had Street Fighter II: Championship or Turbo Edition in the back but I didn't get a chance to play. Right next door was Shorty's a Coney Island style joint with pinball machines as tables, who knows how old hot dogs on a 7-11 style roller thing and a room full of pinball machines along with a back room bar with awesome Captain chairs.

I tried my hand at X-Men because it had Jim Lee art but there were some old school ones like Centaur as well as Indiana Jones, Wizard of Oz and The Walking Dead machines. Cool spot. Again, Ginger Beer as a mixer versus a double booze hit. Then it was off to dinner at Buckley's, a sports bar with TV's at your table. A little much but people be loving that sportsball. A great kick off evening to what is sure to be a fun weekend. Pumped to see the exhibition floor and panel with The Flash John Wesley Shipp!

Ask Me a (Video) Question: Transformers and G.I. Joe Sunbow Celebration

Just a quick update for your Friday. Hopefully it's beautiful and sunny where you are as it's frigging blazing and 80 something out here in Los Angeles. The positive fallout from the Sunbow Celebration double feature of The Transformers & G.I. Joe: The Movies keeps on coming as video from the evening has surfaced. To get you primed for Sunbow, first watch this awesome video of the opening credits from both films. Turn it up loud!

I missed the pre-show panel with writers Flint Dille and Buzz Dixon, voice actors Bill Ratner (Flint), Neil Ross (Springer & Shipwreck) and Michael Bell (Prowl & Duke) and voice director Wally Burr as I was out in the lobby schmoozing and making sure things were running smoothly. Michael Floyd stepped in last minute to moderate:

After Transformers, it was time for our main panel with a whopping 9 guests: Don Jurwich (G.I. Joe director), Buzz Dixon, Flint Dille, Larry Houston (storyboard artist/director), Bill Ratner, Wally Burr, Hank Garrett (Dial Tone), Neil Ross and Michael Bell. These guys were great guests and so gracious with their time over the evening doing these panels and meeting attendees. The key to a panel this big is knowing your shit and doing your best to engage each guest and get a conversation going. I meant to ask about Starscream and Cobra Commander voice actor Chris Latta as I heard the stand up comedian and actor was totally nuts in the best way as well as ask how professional wrestler Sgt. Slaughter got involved, next time:

Many thanks to all who attended, our guests and YouTuber RealistikkVideos for posting.

Ask Me a Question: The Transformers & G.I. Joe

What a night. That's about the best way I can summarize the amazing evening that was the Sunbow Animation Celebration double feature of The Transformers: The Movie and G.I. Joe: The Movie at the Egyptian Theatre. Buzz on the night had been immense from the get go. Thanks to Hiss Tank, Nerd Reactor and Loot Crate, the message spread quickly and 100 tickets sold in less than a day. Going into the night we only had 100 tickets left, this would be my biggest audience yet for a Dammaged Goods Presents event. Setting up the lobby, Mr. Hank "Dial Tone" Garrett arrived early and he was great. He's lead such an incredible life from being a stand up comic opening for Tony Bennett to being a New York based actor appearing in Three Days of the Condor, Serpico and Death Wish while somehow also being a renowned martial artist and professional wrestler. Author and comic book artist Bill Forster joined us as did G.I. Joe collector and Duke expert Diana Davis. The co-author of Transformers: The Ark and G.I. Joe: Field Manual, Bill had several of his books available as well as some artwork while Diana had a collection of figures, prints, scripts and sketches. Then it was the team from Serenity Place Animal Rescue, personal friends of Mr. Michael "Duke" Bell and the man himself showed up with autographed photos and Voltron DVD's to raffle off. Michael has a great sense of humor and was in a film called Damaged Goods back in the day about a rock singer who gets an STD in Los Angeles!

Artist Livio Ramondelli brought his incredible prints and copies of some of the comic books he's worked on while Flint Dille set up for People to People, an organization that sends students around the world to build leadership skills and global awareness. Flint was amazing through the entire process. He was the first guest I asked and the first to accept. From there he recommended this person and that like G.I. Joe writer Buzz Dixon and storyboard artist/director Larry Houston. Just a really sharp guy with ideas for days. We're working on some follow up events now. Springer and Shipwreck himself Neil Ross arrived and donated a few signed photos to Serenity Place as well. Neil was instrumental in securing guests like Bill Ratner and Bell, so double thanks for attending and connecting the dots. Voice Director and legend in the field Wally Burr had been the one Maybe but he showed up and was ready to mingle. Sadly series writer Donald F. Glut couldn't make it as his home was being used as a film location. Deep-Six and the Predator Hal Rayle was struck by the Con-Fluenza from Long Beach and had to bow out as well. Next time! We had various reporters and writers on tap like That Hash Tag Show, Variety's Matthew Chernov and Stauros Entertainment.TV's Tyronne Tann documenting the evening and interviewing our guests.

We had a line into the courtyard to Hollywood Boulevard waiting when the doors opened at 6:30 PM with several attendees in costume. The lobby mini-con was a huge success with every table bustling. Animation expert, voice over actor and Cinematheque programmer Grant Moninger was originally scheduled to lead the pre-show panel but like me had fallen ill during the week. Luckily, #MovieBro and animation guru Michael Floyd was ready to party as I enlisted him to do the Damme thing. Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, Bill Ratner, Michael Bell, Neil Ross and Wally Burr all joined him for a casual conversation about writing, animation and working at Sunbow. Someone else will have to fill me in on what they discussed because I was in the lobby! We raffled off two autographed Voltron sets then as my usual, I had a VHS copy of Transformers signed by our guests as a prize. The question? Name all 5 Dinobots. Grimlock, Slag, Snarl, Swoop and Sludge! The Audience nearly turned on me when I wasn't sure which 4 were actually in the movie...

With Lion's rendition of The Transformers theme song blaring, the awesome audience erupted into applause as Grant and I took our guests to do some more interviews. I was also happy when "Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?!" got a round of applause. The print was absolutely beautiful and watching Hot Rod open the Matrix to become Rodimus Prime to the rock-synth soundtrack awesomeness of Stan Bush and Vince DiCola was just too perfect. Larry Houston and then Joe director Don Jurwich showed up and it was great chatting with them. I almost can't believe how many shows Larry has worked on from Joe to Exosquad to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to X-Men. He also spearheaded the one off Pryde of the X-Men, a bitching animated version of Marvel's premiere title. Don had been great the entire process as I called every week sounding like a telemarketer to give him an update. An alumni of Hanna-Barbera, Don oversaw the G.I. Joe series and movie. Now retired, he paints and was excited to have his grandson check out Joe on the big screen.

Between flicks I grabbed the mic for our main panel, first bringing back writers Flint Dille and Buzz Dixon who both came onto the movies out of nowhere. Buzz explained that they were on a 65 episode freight train that wasn't going to stop. Flint and producer Jay Bacall banged out a revised script in a week then later on holed up in a hotel for months drafting a new version. Basically, Dille and Dixon wanted to make the cinema screen adventures something big, wild and exciting. Buzz wanted to kill off some characters to show that war had consequences. Lead character Duke was chosen to be cycled out, a death scene was written and Hasbro liked the idea so much they decided to kill off Optimus Prime in Transformers. A young boy locked himself in his room for two weeks after seeing Prime die. Flint was still surprised at how out there the film was. Don Jurwich joined us next and told us how he had been working on the show, heard about the movie and said he wanted to direct it. One thing he recalled was how difficult it was to introduce so many new characters. Larry joined us and talked about the big, kick ass opening of G.I. Joe that was tasked to him by Jurwich. Influenced by anime, Houston threw everything he could into the opening and basked in the feature budget resources compared to the daily show and mini-series.

Wally Burr then Flint took us through some of their recently lost colleagues from the era like Leonard Nimoy, Gary Owens and Gordon Kent. Neil Ross talked about getting the role of new character Springer through audition and lucking out as he had already voiced him in some new episodes thus saving the role from a celebrity voice a la Judd Nelson, Robert Stack and Orson Welles. Ross talked fondly of Lionel Stander who played Kup and how during their recording sessions, Stander needed to look other actors in the eye so Ross would play off the old school actor to get through a scene. Hank Garrett explained how he did Italian gibberish for some producers who believed he was from the mother country. Honing his skills from listening to the radio, Garrett went on to do commercials before landing G.I. Joe. Bill Ratner was used to an hour or 90 minutes over at Hanna-Barbera but would put in double and triple that for tough director Burr. Ratner and Lady Jaye voice Mary MacDonald-Lewis learned from a fan at JoeCon that Flint and Jaye had an illegitimate daughter who shows up on Transformers. This lead to Buzz and Flint admitting they came real close to having fellow property My Little Pony show up in the Transformers and G.I. Joe universes. Don commented on trying hard to give the new villains of Cobra-La a believable atmosphere while Buzz publicly apologized for naming it Cobra-La after Hasbro became infatuated with it and not caring about the connection to Shangri-La. Michael Bell had no idea Duke was being killed off and figured his toy wasn't selling well anymore. New Joe addition Don Johnson was busy with hit series Miami Vice so Wally Burr traveled to the Florida set where Johnson recorded his dialog in his trailer. Afterwards the TV star was supposed to do a photo shoot but said he had a party to get to and bounced. Classic.

I asked Larry, Bill and Michael what it was like to come back to G.I. Joe for the recent episode of Community and Bill let us know the producers reached out to his agent asking if he was still alive! Larry's directive was to draw the show as if it had never gone off the air in the 80's. One of the greatest moments of the panel was Ross recalling some of Bell's outrageous comments. On Inhumanoids, a half dozen actors were playing flesh eating something or others and to make the voices, the actors sucked on their own arms to which Bell commented that it sounded just like Ernest Borgnine's wedding night. Several of our guests told stories about Orson Welles who didn't appreciate line readings and jokes turned into rumors that Wally starved him to death. I asked about the fabled Comic-Con 1987 screening where Don told us he thought the projectionist was drunk as the second reel was loaded first. Flint said he didn't even notice, it was the 80's...Bill may or may not have said that the Sunbow crew smoked crack before work...Buzz is working on an e-book and lost episode that can't come soon enough. With that it was time for intermission and then G.I. Joe: The Movie on the big screen for the first time in who knows how long if ever. An autographed VHS went to the the gent who knew the names of Sgt. Slaugther's Renegades; Mercer, Taurus and Red Dog.
  
The opening of G.I. Joe: The Movie takes place on and around the Statue of Liberty with a million characters fighting it out and a rocking rendition of the theme song that looked just oh so awesome on the big screen. It was a truly fantastic evening with a full house of passionate fans. Driving home I thought it really couldn't get any better than that. Our attendees had fun, our guests had a great time, the response has been tremendous and we're working on a follow up.

"Til all are one" and "Yo, Joe!". Thanks to everyone who attended, our guests in the lobby, on the panels, Michael, Grant, Christian, Tammi, Andrew, Travis, Jeremy, Oliver and the staff at The Egyptian.

Sherman Oaks Saturday: Earth 2 Comics & The One Up

Wow what a week! Started a kick ass new gig all while going into the final days leading up to the Sunbow Animation Celebration double feature of The Transformers and G.I. Joe: The Movies, fighting a cold and planning another big movie night. Saturday it was off to Sherman Oaks to check out a parking lot sale of comics with thousands of issues advertised for a buck a piece. Earth 2 Comics is located right on Ventura Blvd off the 405 a few minutes from The Galleria. The Galleria? John Conner alert! I think that was Glendale actually...Anyways, it was already a bustling scene
with people elbow to elbow skimming through books. Toys, calendars, figurines and more were also on sale but I was more there looking for issues. After whetting my appetite with some Cable (Body slide by one) from last week's Long Beach Comic Expo, I was hoping I'd run into some more 90's action and was not disappointed as I scooped up some of Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza's X-Force from 1991. Also grabbed were several issues of Nick Fury: Agent of Shield, some more 80's Captain America that I already have in boxes in Ohio, Sgt. Rock and a couple of random issues of West Coast Avengers with interesting covers. There seemed to be a lot of DC for sale and I hauled up a few issues of The Flash written by the TV writing duo of the 1990 show, Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo. If you bought 20, the price went down to .50 cents so it was money well spent. The staff there were all super cool and say they hold the sale a couple times a year so we'll be sure to come back.

Since we were already in The Oaks, we cruised down to The One Up for a midday cocktail and some more brawling action following up on The Punisher mayhem from a few weeks ago. It was barely noon so the place was empty but with Space Balls on the tube and a Jameson Mule aka Dublin Donkey in hand, it was time to check out what other oddities and classics the 400 game emulator had in store for us. I really hoping for Aliens VS Predator so I could be video game Arnold aka Dutch but with a metal arm and fight xenomorphs. Alas AVP was not included but 1991's forgotten yet awesome side scrolling beat'em up Knights of the Round from Capcom was. I remember playing the crap out of that game as Lancelot, Arthur and Perceval. We settled on Cadillacs and Dinosaurs for the sheer WTF value as it's a beat'em up but with a story involving cars and dinosaurs. A comic book series turned cartoon, the Capcom arcade game came out in 1993 where you play as the hyper buff dude Jack Tenrec or hot diplomat Hannah Dundee along with fast fighting Mustapha or heavy hitter Mess O'Bradovich.

Like Final Fight or The Punisher, you roll down the streets of some crazy city where dinosaurs have been hunted and modified, becoming violent tools of gang warlords. Using your fists, feet, uzi's, shotguns, knives and TNT, you fight your way through various parts of The City by the Sea and a nearby jungle. The game had a BLARING rock and roll soundtrack and was really, really loud. But fun to button mash and brawl. It was surprisingly violent with dead dinosaur carcases, being able to use swords to hack peeps and of course shoot them with a variety of firearms. One stage you're driving a Caddy and literally trying to mow down the baddies in your way. Road rage! It was a fun morning before we needed to head to Hollywood for the big show...

(Almost) Ask Me a Question: Transformers and G.I. Joe

Less than a week until the Sunbow Animation Celebration double feature of The Transformers and G.I. Joe: The Movies! Response has been great with online Joe powerhouse HissTank being very supportive and subsequent shares from the likes of Nerd Reactor and LootCrate. It all goes down Saturday, March 7th at the Egyptian Theatre at 7:30 PM. Doors will be open at 6:30 PM as we've got a lobby full of fun and a pre-show you won't want to miss. In addition to our already terrific line up of special guests, excited to announce even more Sunbow Alumni in addition to writers Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, Donald F. Glut, storyboard director Larry Houston and Joe director Don Jurwich:

Bill Ratner - Voice of Flint on G.I. Joe, also heard in video game series Mass Effect and is an author with an Amazon #1, Parenting for the Digital Age.

Michael Bell - G.I. Joe leader Duke as well as Prowl on Transformers. You've also heard him on The Smurfs, Voltron and Rugrats. Aside from his 300+ acting credits, Bell supports local charities like animal rescue.

Hank Garrett - Dial Tone from G.I. Joe. On screen you've seen him in Three Days of the Condor, Serpico, Death Wish and Max Headroom. Besides acting, Hank is also known in the worlds of bodybuilding, professional wrestling and martial arts. These days, Mr. Garrett speaks at prisons to help inspire troubled youths as he himself was going nowhere before Sammy Davis, Jr. set him straight.

But that's not all, not by a long shot! Arrive early to check out our mini-Sunbow Con in the lobby:

Diana Davis - G.I. Joe expert and collector, Diana will be showcasing some of her awesome personal collection including portfolios, press books, official design sketches and more.

Livio Ramondelli - IDW, Google and video game artist who will be selling and displaying Transformers prints. Pick one up to have our guests sign as a keepsake of this sure to be crazy event.

Bill Forster - Comic book artist and co-author of the Transformers AllSpark Alamanacs, Ark Books and G.I. Joe Field Manuals. Bill will have some of his books and research materials on display. Sadly, Forster's writing co-hort Mr. Jim Sorenson won't be able to make it.

We'll also be supporting the following charities and programs:

People to People Ambassador Program - School trips and adventures to introduce students to new cultures, create global awareness as well as develop leadership skills and prepare them for college. Sunbow writer and special guest Flint Dille will be selling some of his personal memorabilia to support People to People.

Serenity Place Rescue - A volunteer group that rescues and rehabilitates cats and kittens offering advice, assistance and education on responsible pet ownership. Voice actor Michael Bell will raffle off a personalized signed photo to help raise money for Serenity Place.

Wounded Warrior Project - With a mission To honor and empower Wounded Warriors, the Project raises awareness and provides service to injured veterans addressing mental, physical, financial and family. Actor Hank Garrett will be selling signed photos and autographing items with all proceeds going directly to the Wounded Warrior Project.

At 7:00 PM, a pre-show with writers Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, Donald F. Glut and voice actor Bill Ratner will accompany the mini-con and incoming attendees. They'll be talking about writing, animation, acting and the various other properties they've been a part of like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, comic books, video games and more.

7:30 PM it's time to Transform and roll out to the awesomely 80's synth and guitar soundtrack of Vince Di Cola and Stan Bush as the Autobots face the evil Decepticons and a new threat; the giant, planet eating Unicron!

Between films it's a Sunbow Celebration panel with writers Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, Donald F. Glut, voice actors Neil Ross, Michael Bell, Bill Ratner and Hank Garrett, G.I. Joe storyboard director Larry Houston and director Don Jurwich!

And then it's time for G.I. Joe: The Movie where America's elite take on Cobra and their ancestors from Cobra-La, a secret society hidden in the mountains looking to take over the world with mutant spores.

It's going to be a great night, we'll see you there. Yo, Joe!

Tickets and info here!

(Pre) Ask Me a Question: The Transformers & G.I. Joe The Movie

"Autobots! Transform and roll out!" To the Egyptian Theater on Saturday, March 7th at 7:30PM. Or, "Yo, Joe!" The Transformers and the G.I. Joe animated movies are playing at a Sunbow Celebration! And end my infomercial...

Dammaged Goods Presents is back, this time celebrating another glorious aspect of the 80's, cartoons! Try and tell me you didn't grow up on Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Transformers, My Little Pony, Jem, Duck Tales and the like. One of the main contributors to the era of animated toy commercials that became so much more is Sunbow Entertainment, an animation studio that ran from 1980 to 1998 founded by Griffin-Bacal Advertising out of New York. Working with toy giant Hasbro and comic book mainstay Marvel, Sunbow gave the world G.I. Joe, Transformers, Jem, Inhumanoids, Visionaries, My Little Pony and Bucky O'Hare among other series. While the main goal was to sell toys, Sunbow managed to create worlds and mythologies that have lived on 30 years later.

From these daily animated series, four films emerged: The Transformers, My Little Pony, Inhumanoids and G.I. Joe. The first two titles would be released in theaters to weak box office thus relegating the remaining titles to go straight to video and sliced up for broadcast. I grew up on Transformers and G.I. Joe though and their movies have a special place in my heart. In a weird twist I watched more Joe episodes and followed the brand through comic books, toys and whatnot more so than Transformers. But when it comes to movies, I know the tale of Robots in Disguise just about front to back. From the opening scene where a planet is devoured by the mysterious Unicron to the awesomely 80's heavy metal soundtrack, Transformers: The Movie has just always been a treasured part of my life that opened up my imagination as a kid while also making realize that life is beautiful but life is also sad when Optimus Prime died. Although it's lived on through midnight and anniversary screenings, I've never seen it on the big screen. And in all my years I've never heard of G.I. Joe playing on the big screen. So here I am rectifying the situation and putting on a Sunbow Celebration to honor those who gave us so much wonderful entertainment as kids. While the shows were attacked for being glorified toy commercials, the worlds, characters and messages of good VS evil helped shape a generation of kids.

Taking place once again at The Egyptian in Hollywood, site of both Dolph Night and An Evening With Carl Weathers, we're doing our best to make this more than just a double feature. So far guests include:

Donald F. Glut - Writer and actor who scripted episodes of Joe, Transformers, Shazam!, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, G.I. Joe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Go-Bots, Transformers, Duck Tales and Robocop, phew! Glut also wrote the hit novelization of The Empire Strikes Back among his 65 published books as well as comic books.

Flint Dille - Writer and director whose resume includes Garbage Pail Kids, Mister T, G.I. Joe, InHumanoids, Transformers and Visionaries. Dille was credited as Story Consultant on Transformers: The Movie hashing out the story and pounding out a new script. Also worked on video games Diablo III, Ghostbusters, Transformers and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.

Buzz Dixon - Writer on Thundaar the Barbarian, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Transformers, Jem, Visionaries, Bionic Six, Story Editor of G.I. Joe and Story Consultant on the movie.

Larry Houston - Storyboard Artist and Director on EVERY FRIGGING CARTOON YOU'VE EVER SEEN AND LOVED! Seriously, The Incredible Hulk, Spidey and His Amazing Friends, Defenders of the Earth, G.I. Joe, Jem, The Real Ghost Busters, Denver the Last Dinosaur, Pryde of the X-Men, C.O.P.S., James Bond Jr., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain Planet, X-Men...is that enough? He still has more.

Neil Ross - Voice of Shipwreck from Joe and Springer from the Transformers Movie, also worked on Voltron, Kung Fu Panda, Spider-Man, Garfield and Friends and many, many more.

Don Jurwich - Director, writer and producer. Veteran of Hanna-Barbera and Sunbow with Smurfs, SuperFriends, Jabberjaw, Hong Kong Phooey, The Flintstones and acted as Supervising Producer on the Joe series and directed the movie.

We'll have memorabilia on display and for sale in the lobby from personal collections, trivia and prizes! Tickets are only $11 or $7 for American Cinematheque members and are available here. Yo, Joe!

Ask Me a Question: Conan the Destroyer

I hadn't been to the New Beverly since the Van Damme Double then Triple Dip in May.  Shortly after, the longstanding repertory cinema house went through some management changes and a much needed face lift.  Since reopening, owner and now more hands on manager Quentin Tarantino has been programming some very unique double features from kung-fu classics to grindhouse flicks and tributes to actors like Steve McQueen and directors like this month's Richard Fleischer.  Now all shows are touted in 35 or 16 mm with nary a digital print in sight.  I figured on checking out the Fleischer directed Charles Bronson vehicle Mr. Majestyk at the end of the month but action #MovieBro and author David J. Moore wanted to check out Conan the Destroyer.  I wouldn't have gone to see that but hey, why not?

Walking up to the box office I was only too pleased to see Mr. Michael Torgan back behind the window after taking a much deserved break in the action from running the joint while the New Bev figured out their next phase.  The place looked great, spiffy and shined up with printed calendars everywhere for the taking, over sized framed posters on the walls, even a Japanese Destroyer one sheet in the lobby.  A cash only institution for as long as I've been coming, they now take credit cards!  The concession stand now sells hot dogs and White Castle burgers, can't beat that.  Anyways, if it weren't for Michael generously agreeing to screen Double Impact and Bloodsport, Dammaged Goods Presents would still be an unrealized pipe dream and I wouldn't have met so many great movie lovers along with all the luminaries and professionals who attended the Van Damme, Dolph, Carl Weathers and Die Hard nights.  The top half of the double bill was Fleischer's slave turned bare knuckle boxer turned partial Django Unchained inspiration Mandingo from 1975.  I've never seen the flick and honestly have no real desire to so we hit up Elite Cuisine next door for some dinner and catching up.  This is an establishment that serves you chips and salsa while offering Jewish comfort food, Italian dishes, American sammiches and Chinese food?!  That's Los Angeles baby, just go with it.

I was really interested to see what kind of folks turned out for Conan the Destroyer on a Wednesday night.  The Man Clu was holding it down in the front row as usual, one of the staff members was rocking a Conan tee shirt and there were maybe three women in the audience.  Also in the crowd was co-writer and prolific comic book scribe Gerry Conway! A talented jerk like Steven E. de Souza, Conway sold his first work as a teenager then went to both Marvel and DC Comics.  At only 19, Conway worked on The Amazing Spider-Man where he scripted the Death of Gwen Stacy storyline and many others over a several year run.  While at the House of Ideas, Conway co-created The Punisher and wrote for The Fantastic Four, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and more.  Moving to DC Comics, Conway co-created Firestorm and worked on Superman, Justice League of America and Detective Comics among others.  If that weren't enough, in the 80's Conway jumped into film, television and animation with credits on G.I. Joe, Transformers, Batman: The Animated Series, Diagnosis Murder and Law & Order.

Conway quickly introduced Conan the Destroyer, recalling how Conan the Barbarian producer Edward R. Pressman sold his share of the rights to mogul Dino De Laurentiis. Conway and comics writing partner Roy Thomas worked on the script for about a year pumping out 10 drafts.  During that time, it seemed like only the writers and Arnold were attached to the project.  Word came down that Richard Fleischer was hired to direct, an excellent choice in Conway's eyes as he loved the director's Norsemen saga, The Vikings, starring KIRK DOUGLAS, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh.  The writers met with Fleischer, thought he was a very nice man and immediately after were told they were fired!  Thus ending Conway's involvement with tonight's feature on which he receives a Story By credit and attended the premiere in 1984.

Conan the Destroyer is not a good movie.  It's a fun movie, it's crazy and intentionally and unintentionally hilarious.  Starting with credits over the a dusty landscape and Mako's wonderful narration of an age "between the time the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas", days of high adventure set to Basil Poledouris' iconic score.  We find Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) praying for his lost love Valeria while thief homeboy Malak (Tracey Walter) counts stolen booty before they're attacked by Queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas). Taramis wishes to recruit the barbarian thief on a mission to retrieve a treasured horn that will bring back dreaming god Dagoth.  For his service, Taramis promises to resurrect Valeria.  At the palace of Shadizar, Taramis and Captain of the Guard Bombaata (Wilt Chamberlain) explain their plot to use Conan to retrieve the horn, that only virgin niece Jehnna (Olivia d'Abo) can collect, then kill the barbarian and sacrifice the niece in order to appease Dagoth.

Feeling that a sword can't match up to sorcery, Conan stops off to pick up Wizard of the Mounds Akiro (Mako) before the motley crew runs into Zula (Grace Jones), a fierce warrior stranded in a village after an unsuccessful raid.  To get the horn, they have to find a jewel which is housed in an ice and crystal castle on a lake where wizard Toth-Amon (Pat Roach) resides.  From there it's off to a temple where Jehnna places the jewel and walks through fire to collect the horn.  Bombaata seemingly seals Conan and his crew in a tunnel and escapes with Jehnna and the horn.  Back at the palace, things don't go too smoothly as Jehnna's botched sacrifice turns Dagoth into a horrific monster that a rescuing Conan must hack the shit out of with a battle ax and his trusty broadsword.  The film looked great on the big screen, the print was in terrific shape as was Arnold, holy geez was he yoked in this!  I believe director John Milius told Arnold to tone down his workouts for the first Conan as a specimen built from hard living and physical labor wouldn't look like a polished bodybuilder while in the sequel Arnold is equal parts huge and shredded with his signature huge chest, big arms and a slim tapered waist.  Being shirtless for many a scene I wondered if he was severely dehydrated and underfed for the duration of filming.

Shot in Mexico, Destroyer takes advantage of the dusty desert as well as lush forest locations.  The sets were quite impressive as you had a huge marbled palace, a castle made from crystals and ice, a chamber full of mirrors, an underground temple, etc.  Being an early 80's flick there was a nice blend of miniatures, animation, forced perspective, matte paintings and a little obvious rear screen projection.  While the script by Stanley Mann is a pretty straightforward adventure/mission flick, Fleischer's directing is a little clunky here and could have used some extra editing.  Not surprising as this was towards the tail end of his long career.  Fight scenes are nice with bloody squib slashes, severed heads and impalement's galore but for all the sword, spear, mace and knife fighting, they could have used a little more choreography instead of just clanging weapons a couple times before being run through. Being a fantasy film you get magic, sorcery, wizards, crazy costumes and monsters.  During the mirror chamber, Arnold throws down with Toth-Amon in his reptilian/man-ape form and gets body slammed and windmilled around the room in a goofy fight scene.  The monstrous Dagoth was played by an uncredited Andre the Giant in a full, aquatic monster inspired suit, who slaps Arnold around before getting his horn ripped out and stabbed dead.

Of course with such an eclectic assortment of actors including a bodybuilder, a singer and an NBA star, performances and expressions are laughable and priceless at times.  Arnold playing drunk is great as is his punching of a horse and hammer fisting a camel early on.  Mako is terrific as the ragged wizard who can move things with his mind and start a fire out of nothing.  Tracey Walter plays the comedic sidekick/thief just fine in a role that would probably be designated to Rob Schneider if this was made in the 90's.  Future Bond girl and Dolph Lundgren girlfriend Grace Jones is strong and terrifying while Olivia D'Abo is cute as can be as the naive virgin always showing skin in aerated gowns.  Wilt Chamberlain is tall as shit and gives Bombaata some nice gravitas.  While Conan the Destroyer is by far no masterpiece, it still stands as a solid if unspectacular entry in the sword and sorcery, action-fantasy genre if only because there aren't enough comparable titles and is perfect for lazy day viewing.

Summer Cinema: Edge of Tomorrow

Is it just me or has this summer been a touch lackluster?  Captain America: The Winter Soldier kicked things off in April but the season has brought us The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla and then...I can't even remember.  I hadn't seen a new flick for a bit and Edge of Tomorrow was one that I had mixed feelings about but Tom Cruise usually isn't in bad or cheap flicks and it looked like it could be this year's Pacific Rim.  It wasn't a sequel or reboot but rather based on an obscure Manga from Japan by Hiroshi Sakurazaka I never read or have intention to.  I don't even know if it's even available in English.  Anyways, word of mouth was solid on the flick but it didn't set the domestic box office on fire in June but like Pacific Rim has been cleaning up overseas.  While it wasn't as fun an experience as Pac, Edge is definitely a big, well made, entertaining summer action sci-fi flick that should have done better in this climate of audiences allegedly tired of sequels and reboots yet shunning more original concepts then flocking to the latest Transformers flick.  Although Michael Bay and Marky Mark are the bomb.

Edge of Tomorrow is the story of media relations expert Bill Cage, a former ROTC member and ad agency guy until an alien war/invasion dried up all his business.  As Cage, Cruise is all smiles and smarmy charm in the opening minutes but is sent to the "supposed to be empty" front lines to help sell the invasion to the public.  In the future, troops wear suits of battle armor to enhance their strength and fire power.  Under trained and totally not prepared, Cage meets Bill Paxton's Sgt. Farrell and J Squad, a group of misfits assigned to protect the non soldier.  During the next day's attack, Cage kills an alien, dubbed mimics, but becomes caught in a time loop where he relives each day and must die to reset the clock.  Plastered all over the news and world is the face of Emily Blunt's Rita, a hero of a previous battle and dubbed The Angel of Verdun aka The Full Metal Bitch who carries around a giant sword to dispatch mimics.  Cage realizes Rita went through what he did but was thrown out of the time loop after not dying on a particular day.  Together they track down the origin of the alien menace and figure out a way to kill the the master which will wipe out the species.

Edge of Tomorrow is a big movie.  Big thrills, it's D-Day with aliens, drop ships, mech suits, creatures with big maws and swirling tendril limbs, excellent nice production value, lots of laughs and a dark sense of humor.  Given the time loop formula, Edge doesn't have an arc per se and gets episodic or vignette-ish with the learning to fight vignette, the getting to know Emily Blunt vignette and the how do we stop the aliens vignette so by the end I felt like the movie had stopped and started a little too much and I'd already gotten plenty of bang for my buck.  At just under 2 hours, the film feels a little long but not overlong.  Cruise looks great, he's aging but still handsome, charming and physical with great hair.  Bill "God" Paxton is terrific as Sgt. Farrell with his Kentucky accent, in your face but not obviously intimidating demeanor and reminds you a little bit of Apone from Aliens.  Blunt is her normal strong, stoic and attractive but not supposed to be bombshell self.  Go, The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith director Doug Liman does an excellent job of combining practical and artificial elements to give us a more or less fast paced, fresh and funny summer flick where we can forgive some of the loose ends and just enjoy the ride.

Animated Goods: Jem and The Holograms

And now, in typical Dammaged Goods non sequitur fashion, let's talk about 80's cartoon Jem and The Holograms.  Why?  Because I just went to BotCon and saw the voice of Jem herself, Samantha Newark on a panel then all 3 seasons are on Netflix.  You mind?  I was only 3 years old when the show first aired in 1985 so I honestly don't remember much except for pastel hair.  Produced by Sunbow Productions, the same studio that gave us 80's animated classics like G.I. Joe, The Transformers, My Little Pony and Visionaries, Jem was a powerhouse in the syndicated cartoon and toy doll market.

In the first episodes we meet Jerrica Benton, a young singer whose father dies and leaves half of his record company empire, Starlight Music, to her.  But an evil corporate guy in a leisure suit is determined to have the company to himself and plots to push Jerrica out.  I don't recall what kind of music Starlight is known for but Evil Leisure Suit Guy introduces us to The Misfits, "tough" chicks who ride motorcycles and sneer at everything led by Pizzazz.  Fighting a losing battle, Jerrica is visited by a hologram, Synergy, who was designed by her father to be the ultimate audio visual synthesizer and can project realistic holograms that change the appearance of her target.  Jerrica learns more about her father's private life as Synergy is based out of a secret lair where elaborate costumes and music equipment await Jem and her band mates, The Holograms.

Evil Leisure Suit Guy organizes a Battle of the Bands but only invites horrible acts so The Misfits will win and ride the hype to become the next big thing.  But Jem and her Holograms set up their own stage and rock out, wowing the crowd and winning the rigged competition.  This leads to some weird ass shit and musical cues as each episode contains at least 2 songs/music videos that play out like nightmares with the bands riding around on musical bars, playing on a star in outer space, being chased by sledge hammers, flying into a castle in the clouds and navigating booby traps.  You heard me.  Anyways, Evil Leisure Suit Guy bets Jem that The Misfits will be a bigger deal in 6 months and whoever wins will get the record company.  Then, movie producer Howard Sands happens to be there and offers a movie deal and mansion(?!) to the winner to up the stakes.  Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Jem's boyfriend Rio is always around to help out.  He seems cool and has beautifully styled long purple hair.  Wish I had purple hair.  Or a long green ponytail a la Doc Samson...

I don't know what today's cartoons entail but Jem is surprisingly open about death as her father's passing sets up the whole series.  We also used to eat dirt and didn't die so grow up, America.  Jem was a hit with 2.5 million viewers a week after school and selling 3 million dolls that came with cassettes which is the equivalent of being a Triple Platinum selling artist.  The show was canceled after Mattel used the show's advertising time to sell Barbie to viewers but has lived on like her Transformer, G.I. Joe and My Little Pony siblings.  A new low-budget movie is in the works from G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon M. Chu and if it's anything like Josie and The Pussycats, should be a good time.  Voice of Jem Samantha Newark was only 15 when she landed the part and has enjoyed a successful voiceover and recording artist career that started when she signed her first record deal at 7 years old.  Newark has contributed to multiple video game and television show soundtracks and has released 2 albums of original tunes.

Con-Man: BotCon

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Transformers, BotCon and Hasbro put on one heck of a show.  Starting on Friday with a group outing to the Transformers Experience at Universal Studios followed by a live performance by Stan Bush (!), the three day extravaganza was live streamed via Shout! Factory's booth from the lovely Pasadena Civic Auditorium and Conference Center.  Being a smaller show, there weren't tons of people walking around outside letting you know you were in the right place but a few strategically placed signs got us to where we needed to go.  Surprisingly, the show didn't offer programs.  At least I didn't see any or see anyone carrying one around.  Instead, there were blown up schedule of events around the area and staff members told you where to go for panels.

The exhibition hall boasted over 200 dealer tables in a decent sized room with oh so many toys from the various lines over the years.  Starting with the original metal figures all the way to the cheap, kiddy looking new series, there was about every kind of toy, model, figurine and statue a Transformers fan could want.  I was snooping around for something Hot Rod or Jazz related but at $60 bucks a pop for a loose figure, it just wasn't my day.  Many fans had armloads of boxed figures and many booths had spare parts for sale.  Hearing some die hard fans speak about variants, international versions and custom figures made me realize how much of a creative culture Transformers can be.  Not only do you have cartoons and comics but the toys are there for you to collect, play with and make your own versions of.  BotCon hosted a build your own Transformer contest which saw entrants designing their own characters or staging scenes with dioramas.  There were prints, buttons, postcards and posters galore from various Transformers artists as well as t-shirts, hoodies, hats and the like.  Besides Transformers, several booths were selling fellow Hasbro product G.I. Joe while I read a blurb about Bronies being present at the show as Hasbro also produces My Little Pony.  Suffice to say I did not see much My Little Pony merchandise for sale or a Brony.  While walking the floor I stumbled upon Stan Bush's booth and nearly seized up as the guy's music is literally the soundtrack of my life.  Dare and The Touch from Transformers: The Movie, Streets of Siam and Never Surrender from Kickboxer, Fight to Survive and On My Own from Bloodsport?  I thought I should just throw money at him to say thanks for making such honest, upbeat and rocking tunes that have kept me going for decades.

There was one room designated for panels in another wing of the center so we checked out a G1 Retrospective, G1 for Generation One, the original cartoon series from 1984.  To little fanfare or set up, our panel was trotted out:  Hal Rayle from Transformers, G.I. Joe, Bionic Six and The Visionaries.  Jem of And the Holograms fame herself, Samantha Newark.  From Robotech, Transformers and G.I. Joe, Michael McConnohie and lastly, totally awesome old guy Jack Angel from Joe, Transformers and Voltron.  There was no moderation, at all, and the panel started taking questions from the audience.  I must say, I've seen a lot of panels but this one was a keeper.  Without prodding each guest had plenty to say answering questions and telling stories about the good ol' days of voicing animation in the 80's.  Angel was the diamond today and told many great stories, one of them concerning his ranking in the world's most popular actors.  Along with Tom Cruise, Hanks and Samuel L. Jackson, Jack Angel has appeared in so many films that he was number 4 on the list at one point.  In an interview, Jackson stated Angel and fellow voice over actor Frank Welker weren't "real" actors but Angel says he'd meet Jackson anytime in a studio to see who could do some real acting.

Many of their shows' voice direction was done by former World War II tank commander Wally Burr who had a studio all of the actors would perform from in the same room.  That way they could feed off each others energy, mannerisms and camaraderie.  Writers and animators present would take note of actors' physicality and traits then use them to flesh out their characters.  These days, much of voice over work is done alone in a booth with a director or engineer outside which just doesn't deliver the same level of performance.  The panel told fun stories about Muppet Babies, Real Ghost Busters, Duck Tales, Transformers and G.I. Joe vet Frank Welker who could produce white noise and drive engineers crazy in a studio or imitate the sound of a door opening to make people look up.  The panel joked that they figured Burr could have done their job since everything was run through a synthesizer for Transformers.

The panel was hilarious, gracious and even inspiring as Angel told the crowd that life is a game so play it fast and if you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.  After being discharged from the Army, Angel never had a real job as he was a disk jockey for 18 years where he would have to work 3 hours without lunch before segueing into the voice over business.  Each panel member seemed very pleased and happy to be there as none of them expected to be talking about cartoons 30 years on and thanked the crowed for being so passionate and crazy.  They also provided an inside glimpse into the business of all of these syndicated cartoons as Sunbow and Marvel Productions canceled several shows and regrouped after fighting a losing battle with Barbie.  Jem and The Holograms was a number one rated show for several years but government regulations stipulate that a show cannot advertise for itself, thus risking a 30 minute commercial.  This opened the door for competitor Mattel to use the popularity of Jem to advertise it's Barbie line and come Christmas, the blonde doll flew off the shelves in comparison to the pink haired Jem. 

All in, BotCon was a fantastic day.  It was great to see so many dedicated fans show up for something not movie or celebrity related and the surrounding area was excellent for a show as several restaurants were right across the street.  Parking was a little frustrating as the door we came out of, we couldn't get back in and elevators didn't lead back to the structure, etc.  But now we know, and knowing is half the battle...oh wait, wrong show...I hope BotCon stays on the west coast next year but if it moves back east, maybe we'll go check out G.I. Joe con.  Now Transform and roll out!

BotCon Prep: Transformers - More Than Meets the Eye

Oh yeah, BotCon weekend!  Let's take it back to the beginning with 1984's 3-part pilot, The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.  Similar to G.I. Joe, Transformers hit the market with a three prong attack: toys, comics and cartoons. Toy maker Hasbro licensed rights to two Japanese lines of transforming toys, Diaclone and Microman, then enlisted American writers to create an overarching storyline with animation to be done by Japan's Toei.  Millions of years ago on the planet of Cybertron, a civil war rages between the peaceful Autobots and the destructively evil Decepticons.  Resources run low and the Autobots flee Cybertron in search of replenishment, followed by the Decepticons, they crash on earth and lie dormant in the side of a volcano for another couple million years.  An eruption wakes the ship which activates the machines as they take the form of earth friendly subjects like cars, trucks, jets, cassette players, dogs and eagles.

The Decepticons realize earth is ripe with resources and convert oil, hydroelectric electricity, crystals and rocket fuel into Energon.  Noble Optimus Prime leads the Autobots while the maniacal Megatron heads the Decepticons as they try to wipe each other out and collect enough energy to return to Cybertron and win the civil war.  Along for the ride are franchise staples like Prime's right hand robot Jazz, sparky scrapper Cliff Jumper and the optimistic yet undersized Bumble Bee.  Megatron is assisted by the likes of wannabe leader Starscream and tape player Soundwave.  It was interesting to see how many characters were in the first episodes.  One scene there only seems to be a half dozen, in the next there's a dozen new cars and jets hanging out like Wheel Jack, Hound, Side Swipe, Sun Streaker, Iron Hide, Ratchet, etc.  Each has a certain personality with Cliff Jumper in particular cracking me up with his hot head, ready to mix it up attitude.  When Cliff is sent to see what Megatron and his cronies are up to, homeboy decides to take a potshot with a frigging bazooka!  Then you have evil Starscream vocally challenging Megatron's leadership at every turn but never actually being able to take command.  The Autobots are soon assisted by human roughneck Sparkplug Witwicky and his son Spike, who thinks Prime would make a great president.

The animation is quite good with detailed backgrounds, fluid action and transformations throughout.  The unmistakable electronic clacking of the machines changing form is probably branded into many an 80's and 90's kid's head.  Actors playing the voices are also part of the nostalgia as Peter Cullen and Frank Welker do terrific jobs as Prime and Megatron with Cullen sounding a bit like a robot John Wayne to me.  Then you have The Shining and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest's Scatman Crothers as the cool as shit Jazz, Casey Kasem (Voice In Peace) as pint sized badass Cliff Jumper then G.I. Joe regulars Michael Bell and Jack Angel as multiple characters throughout.  Things are goofy and convenient with hands becoming axes, ball and chains, grappling hooks, extending paws, etc.  The Autobots are written as peaceful, non warrior types so Prime gets to drop life lessons like conquering fear and there being a thin line between being a hero and a memory as Iron Hide gets all amped up and goes after 20 Decepticons himself and gets that ass whupped.  After all these years Transformers still holds up as a mix of action, laughs and good VS evil robots in disguise shenanigans.

Time to Transform and roll out!

(Pre) Con-Man: BotCon

I know I've been busy lately but that's no excuse for me not knowing that a frigging Transformers convention is happening in my backyard this weekend!  That's right, BotCon will be celebrating 30 years of the Robots In Disguise this weekend in Pasadena.  Sponsored by toy giant Hasbro, BotCon is being held at the Convention Center and touts special guests, panels and seminars, an exhibit hall with over 200 tables of merchandise and swag, a film festival, local tours, autographs, contests and much more!  It was a bummer to hear the He-Man and She-Ra centric Power-Con was heading to NY this year but here's another fine toy/animation franchise show to take it's place.  Perusing the site, there will be panels and seminars covering collecting, voice actor spotlight, official updates from Hasbro and I'm sure a sneak peek at the new film hitting theaters next week.  The organizers have done a terrific job of engaging patrons coming from out of town and state as they've arranged group outings to Six Flags Magic Mountain, Universal Studios for the Transformers Experience as well as a tour highlighting local Los Angeles landmarks like The Chinese Theatre, Santa Monica Pier and everything inbetween.

Since I wasn't aware of the show, I missed out on special ticket packages that include Convention exclusive toys and swag, early entry and a whole lot more but no biggie, General Admission is available at the door for the low, low price of only $20 bucks!  Looking forward to seeing all the sweet toys, models, merchandise, tee shirts etc of all the greats like Optimus Prime, Jazz, Hot Rod and Wheelie.  I love these genre/brand specific conventions like BotCon, Power-Con and G.I. Joe Con.  BotCon got it's start in 1994 in Fort Wayne, Indiana and has since been held all over the country in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Rhode Island, Texas and Florida with international versions popping up in Japan and the United Kingdom!  Recent years have had actors and writers from the cartoon series and live action movies in attendance as well as 1985 soundtrack rock n' rollers Vince DiCola and Stan Bush on deck to play the hits.  So Dare and remember, You Got the Touch!  I want those guys to play my birthday party...

Getting excited now...