"Rowdy" Roddy Piper Signing - Monster Con Photos 8/16/14
Aug 16, 2014 19:45:02 GMT -5
marino13, punksnotdead, and 1 more like this
Post by Flair Forever on Aug 16, 2014 19:45:02 GMT -5
Wow! Just got back from Monster Con 2014 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey....
I must confess - I'm not a huge horror movie fanatic - but I do enjoy them. I'm not a hardcore fan, and I honestly don't know who many of the guests were at Monster Mania. I am a huge Walking Dead fan, though - so I was excited that I might get a glimpse of several of the stars! However, I was mainly going to meet "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.... and figured, if I had spare time, I'd meet Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Brodus Clay to have them personalize some photos I had of them from previous meets.
I had no idea how BIG this event was! My first clue was the parking.... I'm not joking when I say I had to park about 2 miles from the Crowne Plaza Hotel, where they have this thing!
The signings were supposed to begin at 10AM.... I've decided to not bother getting to these things too early anymore - the wrestlers are usually exactly on-time or late - but almost never early.... so I got there at about 10:40 & went straight to the Roddy Piper table..... there was a line of probably about 50 people - and Piper wasn't there yet!
He arrived at about 11:45 and began signing...... about an hour and forty-five minutes later than advertised. The crowd was getting a little impatient waiting for him to arrive.... once he got there, though - things went pretty quickly.
As the people in front of me were with Roddy, his "manager" guy was joking with me about my Hulk Hogan shirt.... he pointed at my shirt, and I said "I was hoping Roddy might beat me up!" The manager said "Don't be surprised if he does!"
I've heard several times that Piper is the nicest wrestler meet around - and I am happy to report that this is 100% true. Any hard feelings about the "lateness" were erased by his warm, welcoming demeanor - he had such a "customer service" and humble attitude. He shook my hand, looked me straight in the eye, got really close to me - and listened to me! I told him how much I enjoyed his antics with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan when he was co-hosting Primetime Wrestling..... particularly the "Santa Claus" segment. He laughed at my obscure reference - he said he got several complaints about that! He said some children were asking their parents why Roddy Piper was beating up Santa Claus.... we had a good laugh together....
*NOTE: I'd like to commend "Rowdy" Roddy Piper for actually dressing in his wrestling shirt for the event today! It's been really irritating me lately that so many wrestlers show up to events that they know they'll be photographed hundreds of times dressed like slobs who just rolled out of bed - Piper wore his "Hot Rod" shirt & he had his trademark black leather jacket on when he showed up!
I had him sign a cover I cut out and laminated from an old issue of WWF Magazine.... Piper seemed genuinely impressed to see this.
Of course, I also brought a JAKKS Classic Superstar for him to sign!
Sooo.... once Piper actually arrived & started signing, I was through the line in less than an hour.... but since he was well over an hour late, the entire affair took about 2 1/2 hours.... still well worth it for a great meet, great autographs, and a great photo!
Next up - time to find Hacksaw Jim Duggan..... Since the Piper line had strange pattern for waiting - I asked the attendant "where do I get in line for Hacksaw Jim Duggan?" The guy laughed - he said "there is no line." Sounds good to me....
I paid Hacksaw's "guy" and handed him my photo.... and then chatted with Hacksaw for a good ten minutes! He asked me all about my family, how they were doing, etc.... when I handed him my JAKKS figure - he asked me how many I had? I told him I wasn't quite sure - but my figure collection must be over 500 figures by now! He said "these things are like collector's items now!"
*Editor's Note: I cleverly photoshopped our last name out of this before posting.... can't be too cautious with the internet!
Hacksaw continued to talk to me.... he also commented on my Hulk Hogan shirt, he said he's friends with Hogan and the Hulk's a good guy - but even though Hulkster gets a very bad rap, it's not true. "It goes with the territory," he said.
I regretted doing this, but I ended the conversation and said "Well, I've gotta get going!" Hacksaw Jim Duggan couldn't have been nicer - always one of my favorite meets! We spent a good ten minutes just bs'ing about wrestling..... I rarely find anyone in my regular life who likes to discuss wrestling - today, I discussed it with Hacksaw! Great day.
I moved to the next table to approach Brodus Clay, who was busy texting - he barely looked up from his cell phone as he signed my family photo with him from a few weeks ago.... he wasn't a whole lot friendlier then, either. Oh well, I got what I came for!
At this point, my head was spinning from all these meets.... and then, I realized, I hadn't seen the Walking Dead people! So I casually walked back to the area where Piper was signing.... I think I had been so starstruck that I walked out without noticing the stars of my favorite show! While I wasn't willing to wait another three hours and get into these lines, I did snap a few quick photos as I passed by.....
Chandler Riggs, Carl from The Walking Dead.....
Where's Carl?
Steven Yeun, Glenn from The Walking Dead....
Alanna Masterson, Tara from The Walking Dead....
Eugene (Josh McDermitt) with Carl (Chandler Riggs)
Bob Stookey was also there - and I ran into Jeff Kober (Joe) in the hallway - I said "Claimed" to him, he laughed and said "how are you doing?"
It looked like The Walking Dead cast was having a really fun time interacting with the lively crowd! Everyone seemed to be having a great time!
Here's some of the other displays I saw, but didn't buy.....
Stopped at a few stores on the way home and also had some pickups!
Soooo..... overall, it was a GREAT experience. Everyone I met - from the staff, the fans, and the talent were kind, talkative, and lots of fun! Except for Brodus Clay, he was pretty quiet...
I spent a little less than a hundred bucks - and added a whole bunch of stuff to my collection, including two more signed JAKKS figures!
Thanks for looking! Depending on the talent - I'll definitely be attending Monster Mania again!
I must confess - I'm not a huge horror movie fanatic - but I do enjoy them. I'm not a hardcore fan, and I honestly don't know who many of the guests were at Monster Mania. I am a huge Walking Dead fan, though - so I was excited that I might get a glimpse of several of the stars! However, I was mainly going to meet "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.... and figured, if I had spare time, I'd meet Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Brodus Clay to have them personalize some photos I had of them from previous meets.
I had no idea how BIG this event was! My first clue was the parking.... I'm not joking when I say I had to park about 2 miles from the Crowne Plaza Hotel, where they have this thing!
The signings were supposed to begin at 10AM.... I've decided to not bother getting to these things too early anymore - the wrestlers are usually exactly on-time or late - but almost never early.... so I got there at about 10:40 & went straight to the Roddy Piper table..... there was a line of probably about 50 people - and Piper wasn't there yet!
He arrived at about 11:45 and began signing...... about an hour and forty-five minutes later than advertised. The crowd was getting a little impatient waiting for him to arrive.... once he got there, though - things went pretty quickly.
As the people in front of me were with Roddy, his "manager" guy was joking with me about my Hulk Hogan shirt.... he pointed at my shirt, and I said "I was hoping Roddy might beat me up!" The manager said "Don't be surprised if he does!"
I've heard several times that Piper is the nicest wrestler meet around - and I am happy to report that this is 100% true. Any hard feelings about the "lateness" were erased by his warm, welcoming demeanor - he had such a "customer service" and humble attitude. He shook my hand, looked me straight in the eye, got really close to me - and listened to me! I told him how much I enjoyed his antics with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan when he was co-hosting Primetime Wrestling..... particularly the "Santa Claus" segment. He laughed at my obscure reference - he said he got several complaints about that! He said some children were asking their parents why Roddy Piper was beating up Santa Claus.... we had a good laugh together....
*NOTE: I'd like to commend "Rowdy" Roddy Piper for actually dressing in his wrestling shirt for the event today! It's been really irritating me lately that so many wrestlers show up to events that they know they'll be photographed hundreds of times dressed like slobs who just rolled out of bed - Piper wore his "Hot Rod" shirt & he had his trademark black leather jacket on when he showed up!
I had him sign a cover I cut out and laminated from an old issue of WWF Magazine.... Piper seemed genuinely impressed to see this.
Of course, I also brought a JAKKS Classic Superstar for him to sign!
Sooo.... once Piper actually arrived & started signing, I was through the line in less than an hour.... but since he was well over an hour late, the entire affair took about 2 1/2 hours.... still well worth it for a great meet, great autographs, and a great photo!
Next up - time to find Hacksaw Jim Duggan..... Since the Piper line had strange pattern for waiting - I asked the attendant "where do I get in line for Hacksaw Jim Duggan?" The guy laughed - he said "there is no line." Sounds good to me....
I paid Hacksaw's "guy" and handed him my photo.... and then chatted with Hacksaw for a good ten minutes! He asked me all about my family, how they were doing, etc.... when I handed him my JAKKS figure - he asked me how many I had? I told him I wasn't quite sure - but my figure collection must be over 500 figures by now! He said "these things are like collector's items now!"
*Editor's Note: I cleverly photoshopped our last name out of this before posting.... can't be too cautious with the internet!
Hacksaw continued to talk to me.... he also commented on my Hulk Hogan shirt, he said he's friends with Hogan and the Hulk's a good guy - but even though Hulkster gets a very bad rap, it's not true. "It goes with the territory," he said.
I regretted doing this, but I ended the conversation and said "Well, I've gotta get going!" Hacksaw Jim Duggan couldn't have been nicer - always one of my favorite meets! We spent a good ten minutes just bs'ing about wrestling..... I rarely find anyone in my regular life who likes to discuss wrestling - today, I discussed it with Hacksaw! Great day.
I moved to the next table to approach Brodus Clay, who was busy texting - he barely looked up from his cell phone as he signed my family photo with him from a few weeks ago.... he wasn't a whole lot friendlier then, either. Oh well, I got what I came for!
At this point, my head was spinning from all these meets.... and then, I realized, I hadn't seen the Walking Dead people! So I casually walked back to the area where Piper was signing.... I think I had been so starstruck that I walked out without noticing the stars of my favorite show! While I wasn't willing to wait another three hours and get into these lines, I did snap a few quick photos as I passed by.....
Chandler Riggs, Carl from The Walking Dead.....
Where's Carl?
Steven Yeun, Glenn from The Walking Dead....
Alanna Masterson, Tara from The Walking Dead....
Eugene (Josh McDermitt) with Carl (Chandler Riggs)
Bob Stookey was also there - and I ran into Jeff Kober (Joe) in the hallway - I said "Claimed" to him, he laughed and said "how are you doing?"
It looked like The Walking Dead cast was having a really fun time interacting with the lively crowd! Everyone seemed to be having a great time!
Here's some of the other displays I saw, but didn't buy.....
Stopped at a few stores on the way home and also had some pickups!
Soooo..... overall, it was a GREAT experience. Everyone I met - from the staff, the fans, and the talent were kind, talkative, and lots of fun! Except for Brodus Clay, he was pretty quiet...
I spent a little less than a hundred bucks - and added a whole bunch of stuff to my collection, including two more signed JAKKS figures!
Thanks for looking! Depending on the talent - I'll definitely be attending Monster Mania again!
