Gimme Dat
The PopCulteer
June 13, 2025
Okay, so by all rights, I should’ve posted these pictures well over a week ago. I mean, they were taken two weeks ago tomorrow, but the hustle and bustle of being a PopCulteer on the go meant that something had to give, and in this case it was timeliness.
Two weeks ago Saturday we were in Louisville for WonderFest USA. It’s a great show, filled with amazing guests, well-stocked vendors and tons of exquisite model kits built by hobbyists from around the world. This was our fifth time going, and it may well have been the most fun.
But we had to leave in a hurry because the next day we had to hop the Amtrak to Chicago for yet another wonderful experience, this time with nearly a week of perfect weather, grand theatre, quirky gastronomic adventures and just plain fun.
And you’ll be reading about that next week (and likely beyond). The return trip left us exhausted, and a mere four days after our return, we are hitting the road once again, this time to attend the Marx Toy Show in Wheeling that I told you about Wednesday.
So today you get a pretty gigantic photo essay from WonderFest, and at some point very soon, I will tell you all about our other travels. We should have a blog that’s jam-packed with content over the next few weeks as I play catch-up before we start heading out for more toy show adventures in July.
Below, with some sparse captions, you will see the people, the cool toys and the amazing models we saw at WonderFest. So let’s dive in because I need to finish getting packed for Wheeling…
The People
Dennis Prince, Greg Nicotero and Joe Alves, jawing about JAWS.
The Masked Director, Sam Irvin
Master Model Maker, Nick Tate, of Space: 1999 fame
The man, the myth, THE Rocko Jerome! Go look for his new Kickstarter campaign for GHOST Agents
Steve Stovall, the instigator of both The Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo AND the Astro Command and Adventure Command figures (cough, cough, Super Joe).
Author, con organizer and man of honor, Anthonyy Taylor. His new books on Aurora Model Kits are an invaluable resource, and his book on Gold Key cover artist, George S. Wilson is shipping now.
The Lost In Space Panel
Mr. Nicotero signing autographs
Cool Toys And Stuff
Some of these toy photos are not going to have caption. I’m still too busy gawking at them
…but I have to acknowledge the Shogun Godzilly.
Godzilly was lurking behind the Svengoolie mask.
still gawking, even though Ricky finally sold the Dr. Evil Lab Set
One last gawk at the toy and model vendors
The Model Contest
I still can’t figure out how all the models are in focus while the title cards are all blurred.
The paint jobs on these are just mind-blowing
A cool model of the guy who plays Godzilly
You’ll see more photos of thismassive Kaiju battle later
Warrior wimmens in different scales
A very cool Iron Giant diorama
Jellyfishing, Jellyfishing
These models sponsored by The Cheesecake Factory
Fancy Dine-e-o-saurs
Betty as The Rocketeer
More incredible paint work
“Your blind date is here!”
“Why you knuckleheads…”
We leave you with this stern line-up, as our photo limit is busted for the day.
With that, this PopCulteer is in the can. Check back every day for fresh content and all of our regular features (except for last week, when we were slacking off in Chicago). There will be more photos from WonderFest as well as photos from Chicago, and a specially requested food review in the coming weeks.
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