Rudy Panucci On Pop Culture

Month: September 2014 (Page 1 of 5)

The PopCult Toybox: ShockaCon presents the History of Monster Toys

motomon2As a wise Eskimo once said, “That’s the one I’m did.” Yes, this is the panel at ShockaCon on which I appeared with Tim Arnott of Third Floor Antiques, and longtime toy collectors (and Ghostbusters, WV Division members), Jeremy Hatfield and Lee Harrah. In our forty-five minutes or so, we tried to cover the history of monster toys from the 1950s, when Baby Boomers fell in love with the classic monster movies on television, to today, where Monster High is a billion-dollar brand name all by itself.

We take you from Famous Monsters of Filmland to Creepy Crawlers, AHI Mego-style Monsters, Kenner’s Alien and to today’s McFarlane and Sideshow Toys along the way.

It’s a pretty huge topic to tackle in one panel, but I think we did a good, if sketchy, job of it. Of course, when we were wrapping up and talking about our favorite monster toys, I blanked and couldn’t remember the name of the Motorized Monster Maker, by Topper, which is why there’s a picture of it accompanying this post.

Be sure to stick with PopCult all week, as we bring you tons more panels, events and cool stuff in video form from ShockaCon.

A Dramatic Reading At ShockaCon (with strong language, so don’t blast it real loud at work)

The Dramatic Reading

The Dramatic Reading

Iconic actor Vernon Wells (Road Warrior, Commando, Weird Science), aided by legendary director, John Carl Buechler, presents a dramatic reading of some of his finest film moments. Recorded at ShockaCon, West Virginia’s premiere horror and science fiction convention, 9-26-2014.

This brief dramatic reading is a real treat of thespiary high-flying, as some of the most dramatic moments of the films of Vernon Wells are brought to life. Or it might just be two good friends screwing around on stage amusing themselves and the audience with jokes, goofball antics and a very healthy sense of humor. Oh, and there’s more than a few “bad” words, so don’t watch it if you’re easily offended.

Keep coming back to PopCult all week for tons more ShockaCon videos.

Professor Sinister at ShockaCon

ShockaCon video week (or more) continues with our video of the complete performance of Professor Sinister and His Savage Sideshow, recorded last Saturday night at ShockaCon. You can expect at least one ShockaCon video every day for the rest of the week here in PopCult…more if we can manage it.

savage sideshow

Monday Morning Art: Transition Week

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Okay, we are coming out of a week where PopCult went into overdrive to promote ShockaCon, and we still have a ton of videos to bring you from the very successful horror/sci fi convention, but we’re heading into the Doo Wop Rod Run this coming weekend.

That means that we’re going to produce a new video for the Rod Run, and this week’s PopCult Bookshelf has an automotive theme. So since we’re mixing horror and cool cars all week long, today’s art is a digital painting based on a photo of a lovely Tri-Five Chevy that we spotted in its natural habitat in Poca a year or two ago. Click to enlarge. Below you can drive down memory lane with a look at last year’s Doo Wop Rod Run. You might just see the subject of today’s painting.

Sunday Evening Video: The Walking Dead Speak!

Jeremy at ShockaCon (swiped from Facebook)

Moses with Fred Williamson (swiped from Facebook)

We’re running a bit late this week, but we have the first of many videos from the just-concluded ShockaCon horror and science fiction convention.

This video is of Friday’s panel featuring The Walking Dead‘s Moses J. Mosley, one of Michonne’s pets, and Jeremy Ambler, the noted walker from season two. They answer audience questions and

Jeremy at ShockaCon (swiped from Facebook)

Jeremy at ShockaCon (swiped from Facebook)

talk at length about how they came to be cast on The Walking Dead, going through Zombie School and what it was like on the set and going through the elaborate makeup process.

Over the next several days you can expect many more videos from ShockaCon, including a cool musical montage wrap-up. That will take the place of The RFC MINI SHOW, which will return next week.

ShockaCon Weekend

10450122_592448467536873_6446738036239071896_oThe PopCulteer
September 26, 2014

Our main focus this weekend is ShockaCon, West Virginia’s premiere horror and science fiction convention. However, there are a few other things happening. School Girl Zombies from Hell High is still running, and you can see a preview and get more information HERE.

There are also a few other cool events around town. We will get to those at the end of this post. First up, we’re going to bring you the coming attraction cards for many of the guests you can see in person at ShockaCon. Keep in mind that you can scroll down a bit and check out the previous PopCult posts from earlier in the week for even more news on who will be at ShockaCon this week. We are also bringing you schedules for each day of the weekend.

After the jump you will see the all-star roster of ShockaCon attractions. Before that, I will showcase my wife of exactly one-month today, Melanie Larch, who will lead a panel on Zombie Preparation Saturday morning.

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