Video Postcard from G-18 Dealer's Room

This GMK Godzilla was on display at the Chibi Goji Toys Booth. I don't know if anyone purchased it, but it received a great reaction from everyone who saw it in action.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: The Dealer's Room

The Dealer's Room continues to be a great draw for us. Walking into it still overwhelms the senses; it's a monster kid's lucid dream. What is really neat is that we've become familiar faces to many of the dealers, and many of them have gone out of their way to be kind to us. Sue spent her volunteer hours this year being the Dealer's Room gatekeeper, and was able to see quite a few people get their "first ever" looks at the place.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Model Room II

Another great selection from the model room: Gorgo with the diving bell. I'll never forget watching "Gorgo" under the stars with my Cuyahoga Kaiju Club friends.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Coloring Contest

This was Andy's entry in the Minya's Place coloring contest. Rodan was a popular pick among young artists. It was fun to encourage the kids to give it a try.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Mad About Monsters

On Saturday, I had the privilege of sitting on a panel called "Humor in Godzilla Films" with a number of super G-fans, including Martin Arlt, who edits and publishes Mad Scientist magazine. I was able to mention my favorite humorous scene ("I'll take a picture, and then we'll run" from GMK), so I considered it a success. It was lots of fun; all the different perspectives expressed were fascinating. Pictured here are Pam and Martin Arlt with Andy and me.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Model Room

Later Saturday morning, models were on display. One of my favorites was this Hedorah figure.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Minya's Place

Saturday morning is always a happy time at G-FEST; lots of fun has been had and there's lots more on the way. This year I volunteered in Minya's Place on Saturday morning. Minya's Place is an arts-and-crafts Sollgel Island paradise, with all the designs by kaiju artist Ron Lipecky. Here's Andy with just a couple creations available to young crafters. Part of my job was to encourage youngsters to enter the coloring contest, some examples of which will be appear here soon.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: What a Day!

Can't resist one more shot from Friday's foray to the Field Museum. All the guests of G-FEST 18 are here, from top to bottom: Shinji Higuchi (striking an artistic pose); Horoshi Sagae; Noriko Higuchi; Hiroyuki Watanabe; the M.O. Matzkes; with Robert Scott Field safe at home!

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Allow Me to Introduce...

Friday evening is traditionally the time when the special guests are introduced at G-FEST. Here you see G-FAN's J.D. Lees (far left) making opening remarks, as (left to right) Robert Scott Field, Shinji Higuchi, and Hiroyuki Watanabe look on. At this point, we were still sort of stunned that we had spent part of our day with the guests of the Fest!

Postcards from G-FEST 18: CKC in the Place to Be

Tom and Don were on hand in the Dealer's Room, offering new CKC and Android M-11 T-shirts (and other kaiju goodies) to Fest-goers. It is really cool to go to G-FEST knowing that you'll see people you consider your friends there.

Hiroyuki Watanabe on the Drums

Mr. Watanabe and Mr. Matzke had a little hands-on fun at the Field Museum.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Backseat Buddy

This photo, taken with Hiroyuki Watanabe's cell phone, is a fun reminder of the whirlwind Friday we spent with the guests of G-FEST 18. Andy brought out the "Dad" in Mr. Watanabe; one of my penultimate memories of this experience will be the two of them doing Donald Duck voices on the way back to the Crowne Plaza. I'll always be grateful to G-FAN and G-FEST for making this special day possible.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Fest Guests at the Field Museum

Talk about making a memory; here's the entire group that enjoyed the Field Museum on Friday. Left to right: Robert Scott Field; Carl, our other driver and Chicago street expert; Hiroyuki Watanabe; master sculptor Hiroshi Sagae; Andy, Mark, and Sue Matzke; Shinji and Noriko Huguchi.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Explore & Roar

With about two hours to get around the Field Museum, we had no time to lose. However, Scott and Hiroyuki Watanabe were not low on energy. Sue the T. Rex featured in a number of photo opportunities, with this one being most memorable. The look on Andy's face here says it all.

Postcards from G-FEST 18: Field Fun III

As usual, Andy became fast friends with everybody he met at G-FEST, including the Guest(s) of Honor, Shinji and Noriko Higuchi. Here they are in the main hall of the Field Museum. All of our guests went out of their way to make him feel special, and, to be candid, we are still amazed that this really happened to us!