The False Ducks Blahg

   I wonder if anyone will get the play on word reference I’ve used for the title of this blahg.  Or will someone fault my grammar and inevitably say the phrase is I was or am on holiday and not I was or am on holidays.  Potato, potato, macaroni.  That won’t make sense either unless you pronounce the two ways of saying potato.  Don’t ask about the macaroni.  The title references an old 1932 film title, “What Price Hollywood?”  That film was similar to and led to the 1937 remake “A Star Is Born” which in itself resulted in remakes of “A Star Is Born” in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason, the 1976 version with Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and 2018 with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.  I haven’t seen the Streisand version but the restored 1954 version with Judy Garland is phenomenal.  Don’t settle for less, the restored version is best.  If you’re counting there was also a 1951 television version, “Robert Montgomery Presents: A Star Is Born.”  I haven’t seen that one either.  That’s enough digression for now. 

   Last week I was on holiday or holidays.  Take your pick.  I always take the same week in July that corresponds with the TFCON TORONTO.  To be truthful, the TFCON or Transformers Convention, is held every year in Mississauga at the Hilton Mississauga.  There are some events on the Friday evening but we don’t usually attend those.  Saturday and Sunday are the big days with a huge dealer room and panel sessions with guests.  Before I get into all of that, I have to back up the week before when I was anticipating my holiday. 

   My wife and I decided it was time to upgrade and trade in our 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe.  It had well over 300,000 kilometres and sometimes when it broke down, the cost of repairs was getting to be to much.  The garage we deal with in Demorestville, Village Auto, has sold us our last number of vehicles and they do repairs on site so when we saw a couple of Toyota Rav 4s in the lot, we decided to spring on one.  We finally took possession of a 2017 version last Tuesday. 

I drove the vehicle most of last week and didn’t notice any issues.  I was just happy that the air conditioning and key fob unlock were working.  My Santa Fe had lost function on those two features.  As I said, I didn’t notice any issues while driving it to and from work.  On the drive to Mississauga on Friday July 12th, with our destination being the Hilton Mississauga, we noticed loud and continuous clunking coming from the rear.  We stopped at a rest stop and looked down underneath but couldn’t find the issue.  We decided to continue on.  Later at the Hotel, after Jeanette, Abbie, Emily, and I had a lovely dinner, we looked down underneath where the jack and spare tire are kept.  We noticed the jack was loose and a luggage shield bar seemed to make an odd noise when we shook it.  We took these items out and put them in the back seat of the car.  That eliminated the continuous clunking noise.  With that noise eliminated however, we began to hear a scraping/grinding in the rear driver side wheel.  We suspected it to be a brake issue.  The short version of this is that we drove home safely on the Sunday and the car was looked at and repaired on the Tuesday.  Apparently a bolt in the caliper (brake related) was loose and causing the grinding and when we went over a bump the caliper would sometimes clunk.  All resolved however by the guys at Village Auto to our satisfaction. 

   Now back to the TFCON.  I tend to digress quite a bit.  Abbie and I did a count on how many times we’ve attended TFCON.  We both recalled that our first year was 2016 because the great voice talent Frank Welker was there but we didn’t get to see him.  We had just driven up for the day and we didn’t get to see Welker’s panel.  Luckily, in case you are interested, his panel from that year can be viewed on YouTube: 

Frank Welker has not been back since but if I had been able to ask him a question it would have been this:  “What Was It Like To Work With Don Knotts in ‘How To Frame a Figg’?  Check out the trailer below.  You can see Frank Welker in a few scenes but jump to the 1:31 mark and you can see him interact with Don Knotts. 

Frank Welker, if you’re reading this, I’m still waiting to ask my question.  I know what you’re thinking, who goes to a Transformer convention to ask Frank Welker, the voice of Megatron from the 1980s cartoon, about a movie he made with Don Knotts?  I would, if I had the chance. 

   Okay, and yet another moment of digression.  So Abbie and I have been attending the TFCON since 2016.  There was no convention in 2020 due to Covid 19 nor was there one in the summer of 2021.  TFCON 2021 was held December 10-12 that year.  We attended that one but skipped the July of 2022 because it was so close to the December one and less than a year apart.  My wife and I attended July 2023, last year, because Abbie was working in the United Kingdom.  So adding it all up, Abbie and I were both at the 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2024.  In addition, I went to the 2023 without Abbie but with my wife Jeanette in attendance.  That’s seven times for me and six for Abbie.  The last time we were together was at the TFCON 2021.  I wrote in a previous blahg, 2021: WHAT DID I ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR? a little about the convention and how I was selected for a table read after I auditioned for a character called “Tripredacus.”  Here’s the audio of my table read, courtesy of Abbie: 

Abbie did a script reading in 2019 and luckily someone has posted that to YouTube.  Abbie is the one in the middle with the black transformers shirt:

Goober, who will get mentioned later on, is at the far right.

   I mentioned about the vendor room and panel sessions but I’ve left out the evening events that we usually attend on the Saturday night of the convention.  The table read was fun and Abbie was chosen in 2019 for her table read.  There is also a game show with contestants from the audience.  The first few years it was a thing called “Faction Feud.”  This is based on the Family Feud game show.  You have to make up teams of 4 and then compete against another team.  One year I was on a team without Abbie and another year Abbie and I were together on a team.  I could not find a more recent video of a Faction Feud event but here’s a video from 2009.  This video is interesting in that the first person you see in the video is a guy I know from the convention as “Goober”:

I was never that good at the trivia part and usually guessed at everything, mostly wrong but with an occasional right answer or I leaned over to Abbie and asked her for an answer.  We never won the championship so my litle cheating didn’t amount to much.  In recent years, Faction Feud has been replaced with  “Wheel of TF Con.”  Here’s a video from 2023: 

I didn’t attend the evening events in 2023 because Abbie was in the United Kingdom so my wife and I only went up for the day.  Abbie and I both participated in 2021 at the December TFCON but at separate times.  Goober and I and one other person competed against each other and I handily beat out Goober.  That’s because he kept spinning and landing on “Bankrupt” several times which allowed me to finally fill in enough letters to guess the final puzzle.  Wheel of TFCon is so much easier, for me, than Faction Feud.  This year, Abbie and I stayed for the evening events but were not chosen to participate in the Wheel of TFCon.  The host did remark however about a few years ago when Goober hit all those Bankrupts.  Ah, of course, no one remembers the winner.  It was me.  I just told you that! 

   Well, now on to the Dealer Room.  I didn’t take any pictures but this video shows some clips someone took in the Dealer Room.  If you look in the background at the 4:25 mark you can see me come into frame followed by Abbie.  I’m wearing a black shirt with white.  Wish it was the other way round but at least it’s proof I was at TFCON 2024! 

I’m not the huge collector like Abbie but occasionally I will be aware of something I want to purchase.  This year, I was on the hunt for a Draculus: 

This figure came out in 2021 and coincided with the 90th anniversary of the Bela Lugosi ‘Dracula’ film.  I had seen the figure at my local ToysRUs for around $90 Canadian but I didn’t like the price as much as I liked the figure.  I kept watching the price come down and said to myself if it ever dropped below $50 I’d buy it.  Unfortunately ToysRUs sold it and didn’t get another one in.  I started looking online at ToysRUs for it again earlier this year but there was no online stock and the nearest store that had one was in Downsview up around Toronto.  Their price was $42 and I thought if I didn’t find one at TFCON 2024 then I’d drive to that Downsview ToysRUs and buy it.  I searched all day in the Dealer Room but didn’t see one.  There was one seller who said he had one at home and if he got home he’d bring it back in the next day.  The next morning, I was heading downstairs to the Dealer Room and the seller was getting off the elevator.  He recognized me and said he’d gone home and had the figure for me and it was in box.  We hadn’t discussed a price so I was a little leery.  I met up with him at his booth and he suggested $35.  It was still in box so I offered $40.  He and I were both happy.  I didn’t have to pay tax or drive out to Downsview where I would have had to pay $42 plus tax and maybe only to find they didn’t have in the store afterall.  Here’s a video from YouTube of someone showing of their Draculus: 

I should add that while I was searching the Dealer Room on Saturday for a Draculus, I discovered another Transformer Universal monster tie-in.  This one is Frankentron, a Frankenstein tie-in that was released in January of this year: 

I found it for $50 at one table and because there’s no tax or shipping, I thought it was a good deal.  Here’s a review of the figure from YouTube:

One final footnote, when researching Draculus and Frankentron I discovered there was a Transformers/Stranger Things crossover of the Surfer Boy Pizza van.  There was one seller of Stranger Things collectibles in the Dealer Room but he wasn’t aware there had been a Transformers/Stranger Things crossover.  Apparently it came out in November of 2023.  This might be what I’ll look for next year:   I’m not like Abbie or other Transformers collectors when it comes to my interest.  I like the more interesting crossover items.  I guess I’m nostalgic that way.  A few years ago there was a Ghostbusters crossover called Ectotron: 

Of course I had to buy that.  Then there was the Back To The Future crossover figure Gigawatt: 

You know it, I had to buy that one, too.  Before I move off my Dealer Room finds, I need to mention I also purchased a Micronauts Battle Cruiser.  Here’s what it would have looked like in the box (mine wasn’t in box): 

I was and still am a huge fan of the Marvel Comics adaptation of Micronauts based on the toy line.  I have a few items and I’ll think I’ll save that information for another blahg.  I did write a blahg back in 2016 about finally acquiring the Micronauts Rocket Tubes set.  You can check that out at IT’S NEVER TOO LATE.  Here’s what my Battle Cruiser purchase looks like currently on my shelf:

I’ll probably post better pictures of it once I write that Micronauts blahg.  Seriously, I’m going to write it one of these days. 

   Before I move off the TFCON part of my holidays, I should mention that in the middle of the Saturday TFCON festivities, my wife and I left Abbie at the convention so Jeanette and I could go into Toronto to see a musical.  Our daughter Emily had purchased us matinee tickets to Wicked, not knowing it was the same weekend as TFCON.  Jeanette and I drove twenty minutes to a Go Station and took a train into Toronto, walked up to the Princess of Wales Theatre, ate a sausage, me, and a hot dog, Jeanette, from a street vendor and then saw the musical.  Here’s a picture of Jeanette from inside the lobby:

I have read all of the books in the Wicked series by Gregory Maguire, “Wicked”, “Son Of A Witch”, “A Lion Among Men”, and “Out of Oz” and two of the new ones in a related Oz series, “The Brides of Maracoor” and “The Oracle of Maracoor.”  In researching this blahg, I discovered there is a third book in this new series, “The Witch of Maracoor.”  It came out last year so I’ll have to pick that one up.  The books have a lot going on in them and the musical “Wicked” changes up the story somewhat.  Even though I enjoyed the musical, I enjoyed the books more.  I highly recommend all of them.  Still, it was a great day to spend with my wife and we got back to the Hilton Mississauga in time for Abbie and I to participate in the evening events including “Wheel of TFCon” even if we weren’t chosen and the host didn’t remember I was the one who beat Goober a few years back.  Ah, fond memories. 

   Okay, one more thing on the TFCON, even though I’ve hinted a few times I’m moving on, but this is important.  TFCON always has great guests.  These include voice talents who worked on various shows and artists and writers who worked on the shows or contributed to the numerous comic book releases.  This year, it was announced that Terry McGovern would be at TFCON 2024.  Here’s what was posted on the TFCON website: 

TERRY MCGOVERN
TFcon is very pleased to welcome Terry McGovern the voices of Wildrider, Windcharger, and Onslaught in Generation 1 as a guest at TFcon Toronto 2024 for his first-ever Canadian appearance.
Terry will be taking part in a Q&A panel and autograph sessions with the attendees.

I wasn’t really all that enthused by it but Abbie attended the panel with Terry McGovern and discovered something interesting.  Terry McGovern is also famous for voicing Lanchpad McQuack in the 1990s Ducktales & Darkwing Duck animated series.  Whoa, stop the truck!  I’m a huge Darkwing Duck fan.  Abbie and I both enjoyed the series but I also have collected Darkwing Duck figures.  Here’s a photo of my shelf of collectibles from Darkwing Duck: 

Okay, Deadman from the DC Comics really doesn’t fit in but I had no place else to put him.  Not shown in the above photo is the Thunderquack jet with Gosalyn and Honker Muddlefoot.  Unfortunately you also can’t see the figure of Lanchpad in the sidecar to the Rat Catcher.  Here’s what his figure looks like up close: 

So, when Abbie said Terry McGovern was also the voice of Launchpad, and further proposed we split the cost of an autograph, I quickly agreed.  Here’s the signed photo we got from Terry McGovern 

Jim Cummings was the voice of Darkwing Duck in the 1990s series and I’d love to get his autograph on the same photo.  Unfortunately the voice actress Christine Cavanaugh who voiced Gosalyn passed away in 2014 so that’s one autograph I won’t be able to get.  I also have the Funko Pop issues of Darkwing Duck figures and there’s an upcoming blahg about that as well.  I promise to get to that one someday soon, as well. 

   And now for something completely different…different in that it’s not about TFCON 2024 but still keeping with my holiday break.  The day after we got home from TFCON, I woke up with hives.  I had them for two days.  Food?  Stress?  The excitement of getting Terry McGovern’s autograph?  Not being recognized as the person who beat Goober a few years ago in “Wheel of TFCon?”  Who knows.  Wednesday I was overly tired but my Mother had been in the hospital with C. difficile and she was released that day so I had to take her home.  I had two naps that day.  Later, we went for an 8pm showing of Kevin Costner’s film “Horizon.”  I liked it but it still needs to come together for me to understand it all and I’m hoping part two will do that.  Thursday we went thrift shopping in Brockville.  I didn’t find anything.  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were spent doing yard work.  Yesterday I went back to work.  That about sums it up.  TFCON weekend was the real highlight of my time off. 

   So what about the title?  Well, “What Price Hollywood” tells the tale of the cost of fame and how it can take its toll.  “What Price Holidays” is my tale of the cost of my holidays.  I’m not talking about the cost of the passes to TFCON or the hotel stay or food or going into Toronto to see Wicked or my purchases in the Dealer Room or the fee for Terry McGovern’s autograph.  It’s also about hives and being tired and my Mother being in the hospital.  Was the price too high for my holidays?  Not really.  I got a blahg out of it and an idea for two more.  “What Price Holidays?”  Who knows, just send me the bill.

Tags: Darkwing Duck, False Ducks, Launchpad, Scott Henderson, Terry McGovern, TFCON, Transformers

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