In Part One, Tim flew to Atlanta and thought he’d made a mistake in coming to this G.I. Joe show! But it turned out great. Read on for Part Two!
As with the Friday post, I’ll interrupt myself with photos of toys for sale from the weekend to break up the text a bit!
Saturday
Overheard at breakfast: “Yes, ma’am. Can I get two scrambled eggs with toast, and a Coke? Yes, ma’am, thank you.” As a kid, I was floored by a radio ad campaign in the Washington, D.C. area that pushed drinking Coke in the morning. Later, I learned this is real in the southern U.S., that folks do drink Coca-Cola in the a.m.
These lights in the hotel restaurant sure were pretty.
While eating, I spoke with Mike and Glynnis W. of Virginia. He’s a Boy Scout leader and had spoken in the panel the night before — from the audience — about Scouts and getting kids outside. I asked him a little about this. I’ve got a nephew who may not do Scouts, but could benefit from time away from screens and devices. Then I headed toward the con room. I didn’t mention this in Part One, but about five vendors were out in the hallway in front of the doors to the actual exhibit hall. One had a pile of loose figures, clearly labeled in zip baggies.
It was a pleasure going through these! How much time this dealer must have spent organizing! Here’s another view. Look at that symbol for “missing” — how clear it is!
As an organized person with tidy handwriting who sometimes lets personal items get disorganized and handwritten notes get sloppy, I appreciated these on several levels. The consistency, most of all! These all belonged to Dave “Tanker” Matteson:
While wandering back and forth in the hallway pre-show area, I made eye contact with Buddy Finethy, one of the show organizers, and who’d been on the previous night’s panel. He wanted to make sure I was having a good time, and he talked about what a culture there is around this convention for makers.
JoeLanta didn’t have much cosplay, but The Finest was present with a booth near the exhibit hall entrance. I asked Topside and these two Vipers if I could take a photo.
Here’s a close-up of a Viper uniform, later on. Lots of great design in this patch — the G.I. Joe stripes, a Cobra logo in perspective on a Georgia peach, it’s great.
I went inside and said a few good morning/hellos. Saw dealer Derryl DePriest holding a white figure box, making a sale or advising on something, this is nearly an exact quote: “These older ’60s hands tend to be tighter than the Adventure Team ones, so you want to be careful or get a replacement from Cotswold.”
Finethy brought over two folks to introduce to me, Jason and Leah Hines of Tennesee. We said hello. Jason listens to Talking Joe, so it was nice to meet a supporter of the podcast. Jason, I’m sorry I didn’t get to show you my book!
But this is a nice example of the friendly and network-y atmosphere at JoeLanta, that one of the organizers, on break from his own dealer table, wanted an attendee to meet some other attendees who might be fans.
I realized that beyond the main, larger exhibit hall, there was a rear hallway with two smaller rooms with additional dealers, and a sign pointing to the panel room.
Say, what are the Saturday panels? Oh.
I went to the first one, but I was confused. What topic would it cover? Looking at that sign above, it seemed that Tearle Ashby was the presenter, so I was looking for a subtitle, like “Making Edible 12-Inch Toys with Chocolate.” Perhaps everyone else knew, just from Ashby’s name, what his panel would cover. It turned out that he was a vendor, so if I’d made it over to his table by then, I would have had a better idea. But just from an organizational standpoint, I wanted more information from the con website/program/marker board. Perhaps the people who frequented JoeLanta all knew who Ashby was and what he did, so his name was enough.
Here’s the man himself:
Unfortunately the laptop wasn’t connecting to the projector, so we audience members scooched up to the front row, squinted at the slideshow in its smallest presentation, and mostly listened. It was utterly fascinating. I’m not a builder, a maker, or a 3D guy. I can draw things to look three-dimensional on paper, but otherwise, I’m a measure twice, cut six times person.
As background, what I gathered from chatting with Ashby later, was that in the early ’90s his pal got a hold of a set of original GI Joe molds and Ashby created forms from them. The original Hasbro GI Joe wetsuits from the ’60s are a pure rubber, vulcanized, which deteriorate over time. Ashby’s new recreations are a latex blend, so they last. With the vintage 12-inch Diver, the original costume was canvas with rubber lining. The intention was that kids really played with it, diving the figure into pools or ponds, but over time the lining dried up and now turns to dust. Ashby’s new take on this is a canvas suit with a PVC lining.
In his panel, Ashby explained about his small run custom costumes and accessories, and the things he’s learned in mixing ingredients, and how they set. Here are two shots from his dealer table, later on.
And these. Yes, even the box!
The second panel was called “Toy Collecting, Then & Now.” David EON and Lady Pop Hunter of the podcast/YouTube series Open By Chance hosted. I wasn’t familiar with them, but I don’t watch much new content on YouTube. (Not when I produce it!!!!!!!) I sat in for part to get a sense of it. The hosts explained that Open By Chance is not a podcast, but rather, a YouTube live-stream where they present unboxing videos, and in their own words, “we have no format, we just talk…. We’ll do discussions like ‘do you remember?’ Do you remember going to the mall? What happened to the malls? What happened to Christmas? What happened to music?” The topic of their panel was a bit vague on purpose, and I got the sense that was so that there could be an organic back and forth with the audience, as I’d seen in the two previous panels.
If it was going to be more of a presentation, a lecture, or these two folks would debate a topic, I may have stayed and taken notes, but since it was a more casual chat, like an episode of a podcast, after the first chunk, I stepped out. Also, importantly, I needed lunch. (After some poor meals on the go at my last toy con, I was trying to do better with eating.) EON and LPH did make the point, which I found interesting, that when they were kids playing with toys, adults were indeed collecting toys, but a different set: cap guns, marbles, trains, line-up toys, tin soldiers, and more. And EON, who described his background in manufacturing at Frito-Lay, explained the three aspects of what a good product is in manufacturing, whether that be consumer goods or edible ones: Availability, Quality, Price. That you can give a customer two, but you can’t give them all three. And you have to give them at least two, because if only give them one, you’re ripping them off.
EON and Lady Pop Hunter live-streamed their panel, hence the camera here at left:
Stepping away from the Hilton, it was great getting out into the warmth and sunlight. Even the best conventions have a subtle numbing effect, all that air conditioning, lack of windows, and artificial light. And while I don’t often eat at chains, on a trip like this, the easiest options were hotel or chain at the strip mall. The day before I had asked at the hotel front desk how to get there since walking out on the main road — no sidewalk — wouldn’t work. The nice hotel employee had explained the rear cut-through. See it to the left of the white SUV?
Down the mulch, then down the back driveway:
Past the rear of the mall:
Around to the front, past the chain bar and the chain sandwich shop:
This! This place that had offered a tasty lunch the day before would do so again now!
Also, while this chain had many locations, they were only in Georgia. I found the name, “Pita,” confusing, because some of the food was served on pita, like if McDonald’s were called “Bun.” While I ate, over the radio an audio-only version of that strange Downy detergent commercial with the Backstreet Boys played. That ad barely makes sense with visuals on TV/YouTube, so all I could do was marvel at the strangeness of the universe as I imagined a framed photo of a famous boy band 25 years after its heyday rigidly coming to life to give a housewife laundry encouragement. Anyway, lunch was delicious, and I headed back.
Here are some toys for sale!
I missed the third panel, called “3D Printing,” and made it back for the fourth one, called “Toys in the Media: Then and Now.” This one was hosted by Randyl Bishop, who writes, draws, and publishes his own comics as Timebound Entertainment. The laptop still wasn’t connecting to the projector, so Bishop had the four of us sit close. As with all the panels, this had the added effect of making such a gathering feel less like a lecture or presentation, and more a dialogue. Timebound Entertainment has published ten issues of a black and white comic series, and Bishop has looked into animation and toys for his IP. He also made a reference to only having ten slides in his PowerPoint, which I appreciate. (I would have ten times that.) He talked about transmedia launches, which is the new term for multimedia, like when something is a toy and a comic and a show. Bishop asked us who we were and what we did. I was feeling shy, that with my jobs and background I might not stop talking if I started, so I kept pretty quiet. And again, JoeLanta, with its 12-inch scale focus, was not my home turf, so I felt like a reporter there covering it for a newspaper.
One gent in the audience had worked on the Star Wars prequels, and referred to costumes and props, so I think was more in the practical realm than that of visual effects. Another hadn’t bought comics since Marvel’s G.I. Joe ended in 1994, and doesn’t read comics because they’re not fun anymore. You can see why I didn’t want to open up — I might have grabbed the guy and flown him to Somerville, Massachusetts to show him all the amazing books at my shop! And told him about the comics class I taught for a decade! Comics aren’t fun anymore?! I disagree!
Anyway, there’s Bishop in the middle:
With Bishop himself taking a few notes on audience responses, the panel had a bit of a feeling of a networking event, which struck me as odd, but that’s a good take for a folksy convention, and for a panel with a small turnout — by all means, get to know the nice people who’ve shown up. A perfect example: the other gent in attendance had taught himself how to make an action figure line over the previous nine years, but was hitting walls getting it manufactured. Bishop said (paraphrasing) “We should talk, you and I, because I want to develop a toy line for my comic series.” I optimistically imagine the two then shared a bunch of helpful information, and I appreciated the serendipity of it all. If you’re not buying comics/art/toys, this is why you go to cons! (Years ago, at the official JoeCon, I guested on part of a panel, and mentioned a chapter in my book, and smart-and-friendly Hawk Sanders approached me after and said “Did you interview so-and-so for your book? I know him, I can get you his email. I hadn’t, so he did, and I did.)
That panel ended before 4. I walked around and took photos, hey, here’s a toy for sale!!!! Here’s a dealer’s table, who had some Hot Wheels and comics! Here’s two adults looking through a bin of toys!
I also bought a toy from Talking Joe host Mark’s want list. Oh, if only I’d had this two months earlier, Mark! Everything on this want list was at JoeFest! (Mark’s in England, so his convention and vintage toy shop selection isn’t as big.) (And again, if you’re confused by similar names, JoeFest was in June and JoeLanta was in August and both were in Georgia.)
Looking for a mental reset, I left JoeLanta, headed to the hotel lobby, and checked out GooCon:
Oh, here’s the map of the hotel-and-con spaces, which smartly is on the back of your badge!
Entering the (other) con hall, I noted that it was smaller.
Below, mannequins, latex molds, costume pieces — but notably this was not a cosplay con, or at least I saw no one in cosplay, as this was for professionals and I supposed high-end amateurs making film and I-guess-haunted-houses.
And paint! I have a pal who studied puppetry, both building and performing, in college, and whereas his stuff and that studio where he worked more resembled a Jim Henson type, everything I glimpsed at GooCon was realistic.
Part of what was impressive about GooCon was that it had two panels or demos occurring at the same time. One was in a corner of the exhibit hall, sectioned off with black curtains:
And another in a dedicated panel room, with dozens of chairs, dimmed lights, and this person demoing in front of an audience of 20 or 30.
While GooCon took up physically less space, its panels (or at least the one I spied) had more people in the audience than did JoeLanta.
Back in the JoeLanta exhibit hall, I talked to Derryl DePriest for two hours at his table, and then the room closed at 6:10 and we sat at a table outside the con room in a hall and I showed him a chapter of my book (which I didn’t do at JoeCon ’18). And we talked for another two and a half hours. This was not an interview, and if you’ve ever conducted an interview you’ll know the different feeling it has when you ask someone if you can record and then you actually hit “record” and ask questions. This was casual, and while DePriest said plenty of interesting things that might make for a nice transcript, he was at work for much of this, interacting with shoppers. He was also there to see friends, so I wanted to be flexible, to step away for a minute if someone approached and he needed to pull out his price list or put on his thinking cap.
The long conversation with DePriest was great, and laid some track for follow-up questions or fact checks after the con. And he’s an author, both before his time at Hasbro, and more recently, so there’s another topic of conversation, how great and hard it is to publish a book.
Meanwhile, back in the panel room, the charity auction was starting. Here, a poster from what I think is the first JoeLanta was on the block.
All proceeds from the auction were to go to The Cody Lane Foundation, a non-profit organization with the goal of creating The Cody Lane Memorial Toy and Diorama Museum. And in looking around later, it goes a step deeper, that all proceeds from the full JoeLanta and Toylanta conventions go directly to The Cody Lane Foundation. And in fact, Toylanta and JoeLanta are created and run by The Cody Lane Foundation. Lane was 17 years old when he died in 2007, and I believe family members of his were both tabling at JoeLanta and also running the auction. Despite the sad tenor of this paragraph, the mood at the auction was not quite rowdy, but celebratory, 30 friends throwing a little money around, celebrating fandom and the show’s history. Here’s what else was being auctioned off:
Got dinner solo at the hotel restaurant. Oh, now I understand the weird Las Vegas imagery on the elevator doors — if the hotel is called the Castle on the Hill, and Excalibur is pictured on the middle elevator, and there’s this…
…knight’s armor in front of the restaurant, then the Hilton is going for a medieval theme. And noteworthy was that some renovation was happening off the GooCon hallway, the hotel’s actual restaurant was being renovated. Now I understand why the kitchen was so far away from where we ate (servers rolled in carts from way down a hallway) — we were in the lounge, not the actual-restaurant. Hey, let’s look at some toys for sale!
In walking back and forth from the con room to the elevators all day, I kept passing the registration area. And there I saw the two-figure Atomic Apeman packs, exclusives from ToyLanta 2023 several months earlier. I was impressed that this small show, JoeLanta, had an exclusive, even if shared with or left over from its larger sister show. And I was also tickled that such an exclusive straddled a line — they could fit in with the Mego Planet of the Apes line, but also (I think?) the 12-inch Joes. The costumes looked good, and the logo had a retro, pulpy feel.
But I was also thrown a bit. Where were the 3 3/4-inch exclusives? Of course there wasn’t a 3 3/4-inch focus here, but I was so used to the dozen or two small Joes that were available at the official Joe con five or ten years prior. I needed to recalibrate again, that this was mostly a convention for larger scale toys and not ’80s-kid-me.
I didn’t catch what this was, another exclusive? It tied in with that booklet on the left…
…as next to the open boxed set was a stack, for sale, of fumetti books by Angelo D’Annibale. I hadn’t met him, but Facebook had just recently been showing me his work, so I had a moment of recognition, “hey, it’s that guy from Facebook.”
By now it was a little past 9pm, and as I got to the panel room, the band was already playing. Well, it was loud rock, so I should enthusiastically clarify that two hallways away I heard the band and didn’t need to ask for directions. When I got to the panel-room-now-concert-room I saw only two people playing. What a tiny band! (But I like several two-person bands, so this could be cool.) When the song ended, the musicians reconfigured so that the woman playing drums got up from behind the drum kit and picked up her guitar and from then on was the lead singer; the man playing guitar and singing from then on only sang back-up but continued on guitar; and a different guy who’d been sitting near them got behind the drum kit.
And they were great. More on Radio Cult (that’s the band) in Part Three! They did a Black Sabbath song, and then… Korn…?, and “Seven Nation Army.” Then they stopped and explained that they don’t take themselves too seriously, and for their next song wanted to invite someone from the audience to come up and play guitar with them, someone who’d never played guitar. No volunteer immediately raised a hand, and the band explained that this was all in good fun, and this next song would definitely be easy, even for someone not musical. Ace Allgood, who with his long hair and alliterative name one might assume is already in a band (but he later told me he’s not), raised his hand and got a big applause. The band spent a minute explaining the simple count and what two hand positions Allgood needed, and then they all performed Nirvana’s “Molly’s Lips.”
I realized that this was quite loud, like ears-ringing-after loud (remember, you don’t get your hearing back). I didn’t want to run to the hotel room, but then realized that from the flight down the previous day my earplugs were in my pocket! Here’s Allgood, learning how much hand and finger strength guitar playing requires:
The band seemed to know a particular 12-year-old in the audience, and invited her up to sing. She was shy, but singer/guitarist Bambi Lynn had the positive and supportive demeanor of a teacher or sports coach. And when the song was over and the girl went back into the audience, her grown-ups were enthusiastic. The whole audience was in good spirits, both for Ace, and the kid, and the band, and each song.
The show wasn’t quite over, but I retired to my room. Also, I’ll note here that the panel room/live music room was over-air conditioned and I didn’t want to stay longer, but it had been a great day, and I had notes to type and sleep to catch up on.
—Jump back to Part One!
—To be concluded in Part Three! More photos of toys! More interesting people! More self-reflection!
A Real American Book! 