The PopCulteer
September 1, 2023

Your humble blogger has been a bit wiped out and buried under other work since returning from his epic road trip three weeks ago, and I’m just now getting around to editing more photos from that cool trip to JoeLanta in Atlanta and PowerCon/MEGO Meet in Columbus.

The trip was exhilerating, but exhausting, and I feel like I didn’t really get to enjoy the full experience of either toy convention.  I will likely never try to do anything like this again.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the hell out of the trip, but I hope the convention organizers NEVER EVER AGAIN schedule their shows at the same time…maybe not even in the same month.

I basically sprinted through JoeLanta and my photos are blurry because of it. I will still probably squeeze one more photo essay out of JoeLanta next week. Likewise, I was dead on my feet by the time we made it to PowerCon, and many of the exhibitors had either left early or sold out of the stuff I wanted to buy long before we got there. I will also have some bonus photos from PowerCon next week, too. I apologize in advance for the image quality.

However, today I’m giving you ten photos from each show, which you can see below this video, which I posted last Sunday when nobody was reading the blog. Here’s the trip video, and then our photo essay…

JoeLanta

David Lane, one of the head muckety-mucks at JoeLanta, and a heck of a nice guy.

JoeLanta’s Dave Matteson and Buddy Finethy being media superstars

Marten Jallad, once a head muckety-muck at JoeLanta, now merely a vendor with an incredible booth full of stuff…and a really cool shirt

Tearle Ashby, the man behind the custom wetsuits, and the creator of what is probably the coolest thing I got on the trip (photo essay coming soon)

A random shot of cool toys for sale

Another random shot of cool toys, this one taken while they were setting up for the show

“Got it, got it, need it, got it…”

Ace Allgood’s booth, very early in the process of being set up on Friday

Vintage GI Joe collectors may need a drool cup

One drawback to running around with a camera is that you don’t notice things that you would’ve bought until you see them while editing the photos. You got away this time, ZEM XXI, but I will track you down!

PowerCon/MEGO Meet

As I mentioned, I was already exhausted by the time I got to PowerCon. When I finally found my way to the MEGO Meet section of the show, I was so happy to see all my old friends that I barely took any photos of them. Here’s one table of MEGO goodness.

Here’s a display case filled with vintage MEGO

Because I was so tired, I was able to resist the urge to start collecting any new toys, like these cool designer items from Last Resort Toys

These guys are getting harder and harder to resist collecting. I fear Fresh Monkey Fiction is hellbent on bankrupting me

I meant to go back and get some of these guys at that price, but we were so worn out that I forgot about it until I saw this photo

Valaverse is another toy company just waiting to ambush your wallet

By Sunday, not many booths had lines, but there was still a line at McFarlane Toys. Possibly because they were giving stuff away to folks who’d particpate in a card trick.

Just a random shot of the show (which was huge, by the way)

If you are a fan of MOTU (He-Man), which I am not, it seemed like a third of the vendors were catering to you. Not my cup of tea, but a pure delight for those who indulge in Eternia

Finally, we have a photo of the NECA booth. We know these guys from our trips to Toy Fair, but this picture made the cut because it wasn’t until editing that I noticed the little plush alien photobombing them. Well done!

And that is this week’s PopCulteer. We have fresh content in this blog every day, and several regular features. We also have our own internet radio station, The AIR. You’ll find it in at the top of the right column.  Later today we’ll tell you about our special Labor Day Weekend programming.