FalconC45 162 Posted July 16, 2014 My time at GFEST XXI was awesome. It was more intense than last year and extremely exciting for me. I met few friends that I talk to on Facebook this year like last year. The trip was long about 6 hour drive from Dayton Ohio. I did a lot of panels this year than last year. Here’s a few of the panels I did. Ghidorah’s 15th Anniversary – King Ghidorah is one of my favorite bad guy monsters. I just love the design of him. Most of the time he got his ass kicked by Godzilla but some of his films, he almost defeated the king of the monsters. The panel was about the films he was in and the various designs of him. The only film he was a good guy was the ’01 film Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: All out Monster attack! (I may got the title wrong) Godzilla ’14: The Good, The Bad and ?: The so-called discussion of the new film. It was basically a bashing panel because they took most of the time discussing of the bad things. But few of GFANs defended it which made me glad I’m a fan. Us fans are basically a niche group – a double sword if you will. Some fans aren’t happy even if you make a perfect Godzilla film. It reminds me of another niche group I belong to: Flight simmers. Kaijucast: Sound of Monsters: Basically a podcast I listen to on the web. It was a live broadcast. I had a blast! The discussion was about the soundtracks of Akira Ifukbe and other film composers. Second half was about various monster roars and how they were made. I learned a lot on it. Kaiju Toys part 1 & 2: Discussion of figure collecting. The panel was about the different Japanese & American companies and the discussion how to take care of them because some of these figures are investments; especially vintage figures (I got 2 from the 80’s and a giant toy from ‘77). The panel went along to the future releases from various companies. I had a friend on the panel too. His name is Rich Eso. He has a figure review channel on Youtube called Fresh Vinyl Reviews. It is called that because most figures are made from soft vinyl. You’ll enjoy his videos. He is very entertaining and informative. The best parts of the convention are to meet various actors and actresses from various films and even SFX people and suit actors & suit designers. This year was focus on 1975’s film called Terror of MechaGodzilla. It is one of my favorite films in the Showa era. I met one of my crushes in this year’s GFEST. Tomoko Ai (Japanese say their last names first unless they are good friends or dating) was more beautiful than she looked in ’75. While I was in line for her autograph and picture my right hand was beginning to shake. I was very nervous too. When I met her all of my nervousness went away. It was her smile :) that made me at ease. My picture was unfortunately was burry but thanks to my mother she arranged another picture taking for me so I got to be close to Ai again :) :) :) <3 <3 <3. The only complaint about the autograph session was the cost. Last year you could get all of the autographs for ten bucks. Now you need to pay for each actor and actress! I couldn’t get Ai’s co actor Katsuhiko Sasaki’s autograph basically because I was saving my money for the Dealer’s room! Kind of made me a lil ticked off to be honest with you. The second best part besides the Dealer’s room (LOL) was the in house tv channel full of monster goodness. Every tv series from Iron Knight to Ultraman, every monster movies from The Green Slime to Japanese monster movies was playing. Hell I watched a giant monster movie from Demark with subtitles! The most unforgettable experience at this year’s GFEST was going to Akira Ifukube 100th Anniversary Orchestra Concert! 3 hours of classic Godzilla soundtrack goodness! At the Dealer’s room I spent $1,200 total! Enough said! On to the pics! Enjoy! Me and Tomoko Ai My stash. I bought one more next day. A Marmit Kiryu (MechaGodzilla '03 with weapon package) figure. The most expensive figure I bought was the Limited edition X-PLUS '62 Godzilla with lighted fins (the huge dark green one beside the Varan box, he fought King Kong in the 1962 movie) The bright orange one was unfortunately a bootleg, well the dealer was asking 75 for it but came down to 50 for me. The cup is a movie theater cup from Japan, you can't get it in the US. The smaller colored figures are theater exclusives from Japan. They are free when you go to the opening day at a theater to see a Godzilla movie or a Gamera movie. I almost have the complete set of Godzilla vs. Megaguirus figures by the way. The Gamera theater exclusive was the only one I found there. Its from Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. The box on the Varan box is a set of 6 inch Bandai Godzilla '75 and Titanourus (misspell) from the '75 movie Terror of MechaGodzilla which Tomoko Ai starred in. She signed the box for me at the autograph session. The silver figure is Kiryu '03. I got the limited edition Black version of him at home. The 3 headed figure is Mecha King Ghidorah from the 90's remake of Godzilla vs King Ghidorah. I'll post more pics tonight. I'm hungry Falcon 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Hans Topp 115 Posted July 16, 2014 Hey Falcon im happy you are enjoying of the G-Fest, i hope you post more photos..... and eat something friend.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FalconC45 162 Posted July 16, 2014 Continuing the pics... Enjoy! Me and Hayashiya Shinpei. Director of REIGO VS YAMATO and DEEP SEA MONSTER RAIGA. He also directed the Independent film Gamera 4: Truth. None of the films are released on dvd in the USA. Hopefully he'll try to get them here for fans like myself who saw sniplets of his films on Youtube. Huge fan of him. It was a honor to meet him. A panel room with a awesome figure collection. I was really tempted to grab the gigantic figure. It's very rare figure from Bandai. I saw one in the dealer room for 1,000 bucks. Lets say I wheeled away from that table quickly before I was in debt LOL. Second section of the collection. IMHO the '98 figure (the grey figure) shouldn't be on the table. It nearly destroyed the franchise in '98, fans call him GINO - Godzilla In Name Only. Thankfully the new '14 movie is sparking new interest in the king of the monsters. The huge '14 figure at the end is from Jakks Pacific. You can find him at K-Mart and Toys R Us. I'm eating fried Squid. I generally don't eat sea food like shrimp and lobster. I like various fish and fried squid. Its a tradition for my mother & I to go a nice restaurant to have a awesome dinner every time we go to vacation out of state. The squid was an appetizer. My main course was wild boar & pasta dish. It was incredible! For dessert I had creame brulee. Its my favorite dessert. My mother makes a killer Godiva chocolate creame brulee. I got home Sunday around 5 pm. I was still high from the convention but I was tired in a good way. When we arrived in Ohio, we saw a huge rainbow. A good omen I say :). Falcon 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+streakeagle 871 Posted August 20, 2014 I still need to show these pics to my son. He likes Godzilla a lot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FalconC45 162 Posted August 20, 2014 I still need to show these pics to my son. He likes Godzilla a lot. There is a magazine called G-Fan he might like. Usually comic shops has it. The lead editor JD Lees created GFEST. I met him last year. Falcon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nesher 628 Posted August 20, 2014 glad to see you're having fun, keep it up! Hen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FalconC45 162 Posted August 21, 2014 Right now I have 42 figures. 2 are on hold I'm selling to a friend of mine. Falcon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+pcpilot 181 Posted August 22, 2014 Now thats a SERIOUS Godzilla collection! Looks like you had a blast pal. Ahhhh, creame brulee...dang, ya got me salivating...lol. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
