Howdy there, Scream Freaks! That annual belly buster known as Turkey Day is upon us ‘gain, and we’ve got plenty to be thankful fer!
First off, we just got back from one of our favorite cons still willin’ to allow us in the door — RETRO TOY CON! Presented by our amigos at Toy Federation, this playful plastic pickin’ weekend was one fer the history books we tell ya what. Three days of toy huntin’, pizza parties, lobby/room/and parkin’ lot toy swappin’, celebrity meet and greets, costume contests, panel discussions, and listenin’ to our big yap act as the emcee of the event, doin’ our best to keep folks entertained ‘tween announcements with jokes ’bout signin’ petitions fer a Popples panel and findin’ us a Polly Pocket fer our Mighty Max.
While we did manage to score some new shelf fillers from obscure Bad Eggz Bunch to bargain bin Goombas from the ’93 Mario Bros. movie (with the coats still attached! Whoa!!), the biggest highlights were the friends and memories we made. We screamed He-Man know-it-all Pixel Dan‘s name whenever he walked by (much to his annoyance, we’re sure), swapped YouTube war stories with toy fanatic Shartimus Prime, shared our favorite hot dog hang-outs with Eddie Deezen, got the skinny on Retro Toy Quest‘s new Toy Collector’s Wishbook, joked a little with WWE Hall of Famers the Steiner Brothers, and talked ’bout the current state of the film biz with Star Wars alum Chris Parsons.
The headliner of the week, however, was the reunion of the creative forces behind the ’92 X-Men cartoon from Fox Kids, and we can’t tell ya how wild it is to get to know the voices behind characters we have such fond memories of from childhood. George “Beast” Buza entertained us with tales from the set of The Brain (1988) with him playing a henchman eaten by a giant rubber monster of gray matter. Alyson “Jubilee” Court was kind ‘nough to say those famous lines of hers as Lydia on the Beetlejuice cartoon over the intercom system. Roscoe “Ms. Marvel” Handford gave us some good laughs over her photos with our Screaming Soup! props. We had a terrific sit down with Lenore “Rogue” Zann discussin’ her time playin’ Sizzle on the long forgotten Stunt Dawgs cartoon. Cal “The Wolverine” Dodd was a hoot and a half with his displeasure over some obnoxious boom box playin’ a butchered version of Wipe Out. And the ringleaders of this mutant circus, showrunners Eric and Julia Lewald with Mark Edens, were some of the kindest, most approachable folks anyone could ask to meet. The best time we had with ’em was talkin’ ’bout how many western flicks influenced the scripts fer X-Men, Exo-Squad, and Spiral Zone while tradin’ some of the dumbest jokes we could think of! If ya haven’t bought either of Eric and Julia’s books on the makin’ of the X-Men series, do yourself a favor and snatch these up NOW. Previously on X-Men has a ton of interviews with the cartoon’s cast and creators while featurin’ a ton of behind trivia per episode, and X-Men: The Art and Making of The Animated Series simply explodes with an unbelievable ‘mount of production art and notes not seen in most books based on toons from this era.
In addition to this overload of excitement, we also got to behold one mother of a 3D printin’ project an up and comin’ toy company blessed the con with — a LARGER than life reproduction of the original Masters of the Universe toy line by True Legacy Design. We’re talkin’ HUGE He-Man figures with all the same action gimmicks accompanied by unbelievably proportioned vehicles and playsets. Unreal, right? Currently workin’ on gettin’ the licensin’ rights from Mattel, True Legacy Design hopes to start sellin’ these bad mama jammas to the public in the near future and already started their own YouTube channel to get news buzzin’ on this incredible venture of theirs. Who knows? Maybe they can help us produce some Screaming Soup! figures!
Speakin’ of Screaming Soup! products, we finally got in the rest of the merch this week for the upcomin’ Screaming Soup! Fan Club Kit, and it’s shaped up to be one sweet package of tangible goodies. Full of various stickers, a mini-poster, buttons, and trading cards, this sucker’s sure to be at the top of every Scream Freaks’ wish list this holiday season and will be ready for sale shortly. Thanks ‘gain to the Scream Freaks on Patreon whose contributions made this treat possible. We’ll be contactin’ you for your mailin’ addresses to make sure you’re the first to receive this amazin’ package of soupy goodness!
And ‘fore we forget, the creators of The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes franchise just released the first handful of episodes fer their new Killer Tomatoes podcast that takes fans behind the scenes of the most hilarious cult flicks inspired by the produce aisle, and we’re a featured guest fer one of ’em! Listen to filmmakers Costa Dillon and Steve Peace yap with the series’ most recurrin’ actor John Astin aka Dr. Gangreen, Marc Price (star of Killer Tomatoes Eat France), and us fer makin’ the 3 hour long documentary on all things Killer Tomatoes! Listen to it all NOW on Spotify!
Other than that, please show your support for our show with donations through Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee, and Ko-fi, catch up on all past Screaming Soup! Seasons, check out this week’s Howl’n Hottie, read recent bite-size reviews for the newer horror films we’re checkin’ out in our blog R-Rated Reviews, and help us get the word out about the web’s #1 animated horror host show! Please use our social buttons in the upper right corner of the site and follow our tweets (are they still called that?), subscribe to our video channels, like our Facebook, watch and share all our vids, and keep that fan mail comin’. You can also warm up some Screaming Soup! leftovers with reruns currently playin’ on Beta Max TV, Sluggo’s The Vortexx, and Mr. Lobo‘s OSI 74 .
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Scream Freaks!
Screaming Soup! 