Archive
Meet Voice Actor Neil Ross at Retro Con 2024!
We’re kicking off our guest list with a voice acting great… Please welcome the esteemed Neil Ross to Retro Con 2024!
A fifty plus year veteran of voiceovers and radio, Neil has so many classic characters under his belt, it’s tough to pick a foremost role! He played unruly swabbie Shipwreck on the hit 80’s cartoon series GI Joe: A Real American Hero, one of the most popular Joes on the show. He also voiced other featured characters on the program such as Dusty, Buzzer, and Monkeywrench, as well as incredulous reporter Hector Ramirez, who is notable for being a crossover character in GI Joe, Transformers, Jem, and Inhumanoids!
Neil was also a big part in the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon, with his largest role being the rugged Autobot Springer in season 3 of the show. He also voiced surly Dinobot Slag, Hook and Bonecrusher of Constructicons/Devastator fame, Crosshairs, Pointblank, and Sixshot!
“And I’ll form… the head!” Switching over to Voltron, Neil played two of the main characters on the popular ‘Lion Force’ version of the show- Commander Keith and Pidge! He reprised the role of Keith for Voltron: The Third Dimension, and also voiced Voltron himself in a nostalgia-fueled “Happy Honda Days” series of commercials back in 2018.
Neil had another popular role in the 1990’s where he played the demented Green Goblin on the 1994 Spider-Man TV series, reaching a whole new generation of fans! You may also have heard Neil as Clyde in the 1982 Pac-Man cartoon, Leoric on Visionaries, Ace McCloud on Centurions, Herc Armstrong on Inhumanoids, FLUFFI on Bionic Six, Dr. Doom on Fantastic Four, the Clamp building announcer in Gremlins 2, and he voiced the title character in Rambo: The Force of Freedom! Yes, we had to include the image of Rambo riding on the back of a great white shark in Neil’s promo pic…
It’s been a full eleven years since Neil has been at Retro Con, and we’re looking forward to showing him how much we’ve grown since then. And we’re hoping you’ll come out to meet him too!
Neil has written his own autobiography entitled Vocal Recall: A Life in Radio and Voiceovers, chronicling his upbringing in the UK, time in the military, and his long career in the voiceover realm. You can buy it directly on his website, with net proceeds donated to Broadcasters Foundation of America & The Actors Fund!
Retro Con 2023 Weird Toy Contest!
NEW CONTEST ALERT!!
The Retro Con household has an unhealthy obsession with offbeat/quirky toys, and now we want to see YOUR weirdness! Come witness the strange, the bizarre, the unexpected… at the Retro Con 2023 Weird Toy Contest!
The contest will be held in the Panel room on Saturday at the show. No sign-ups are required, you can simply show for line-up with your toy just before contest start time (full show schedule very coming soon). Your toy can be officially licensed, unlicensed, vintage, new, or even bootleg. We’re also allowing “toy adjacent” items to be entered, which are those tie-in items associated with a toy line or brand, such as lunchboxes, gumball machines, electronic toothbrushes, model kits, pharmacy rack toys, and of course… He-Man slippers like the ones shown in our picture!
If your toy involves a gimmick you’d like to demonstrate, you’re welcome to do so. Custom toys however will *not* be allowed as they’re too easy to purposely design “askew”. We also request that your toy be suitable for a family-oriented crowd. We reserve the right to decline any toy we feel is inappropriate for the contest. So leave your Shape-shifter Punisher at home!
Top prize for the contest is a brand new in box Super Shogun Optimus Prime by Super7! Shogun Optimus stands at a commanding 24″ inches tall, has rolling wheels on his feet, and a launching fist just like the old Shogun Warriors! 2nd Prize is the currently sold-out GI Joe Classified Serpentor figure, and 3rd Prize is the Comic Con (or “Cosmic Con”) exclusive ALF figure by NECA!
A big thanks to our friend Mike from The Breaux Show for hosting the contest!
Meet David Kaye at Retro Con 2019!
“Yeeeesss!”
We welcome David Kaye to our guest list for Retro Con 2019!
An award-winning actor with nearly 30 years of experience in movies and television, David is best known for voicing devious Predacon leader ‘Megatron’ on the fan-acclaimed Transformers series Beast Wars! He played the tyrannical T-Rex (and later dragon) through three seasons of the popular show, as well as its follow-up series Beast Machines, and would go on to voice a different Megatron through the mid-2000s Unicron Trilogy.
He had the chance to play the hero as well! He voiced Autobot leader Optimus Prime in the late 2000’s Transformers Animated series. The show was extremely popular with fans at the time of release and is still held in high regard today. He also voiced Grimlock, Lugnut and Cliffjumper on the show.
David is also the voice of brainy robot Clank in the long-going Ratchet & Clank video game series! And for anime fans, he is the english dub actor of Sesshomaru from the early 2000’s anime InuYasha, as well as family patriarch Soun Tendo on the classic anime Ranma 1/2!
Other notable roles of David’s include General Hawk on DiC’s GI Joe, Professor X on X-Men Evolution, Draconis on Exosquad, Recoome on Dragon Ball Z, the Narrator on Kingdom Hearts III, and is the current announcer on ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’! He can be seen in live-action media as well, such as Battlestar Galactica (2004), Happy Gilmore, Sliders and X-Files!
Follow David Online!
Main Website: https://www.davidkaye.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dkayevo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidkayevo/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/david_kaye_voiceover/
Meet B.J. Ward at Retro Con 2018!
Although we are very saddened by the unfortunate cancellation of Melendy Britt, we have another very talented individual stepping up to take her place at the show: Actress B.J. Ward!
B.J. is an actress and singer known for several very popular characters in the retro realm. Two of her stand-out roles include fiery Counter Intelligence agent “Scarlett” on Marvel/Sunbow’s GI Joe cartoon series, and the noble Princess Allura on the original Voltron!
You may also have heard B.J. as Wonder Woman in the The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians series from 1985, Small Foot on Challenge of the GoBots, the plotting Witch Haggar on Voltron, Sincia on Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs, Betty Rubble in various Flintstones productions from the 80’s to the early 2000’s, several characters on the original My Little Pony cartoon, and she also voiced brainy Velma Dinkley in several Scooby Doo animated movies from the late 90’s and early 2000’s!
B.J. does NOT attend many conventions these days, so don’t miss this rare chance to meet her!!
A big thank you to B.J. for agreeing to attend Retro Con on such short notice, and also a special thanks to the fine folks over at Celebworx for their exceptional work in making this appearance possible!
Check out B.J.’s huge body of work on imdb!
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0911389/
Meet Sgt. Slaughter at Retro Con 2018!
We welcome back to Retro Con a true living legend: The one and only Sgt. Slaughter!
A wrestler for over 40 years, Sgt. Slaughter became a household name when he joined the WWF in the early 1980s with his signature “Cobra Clutch” move. Inspired by the Sarge’s drill instructor persona and wild popularity, Hasbro decided to incorporate the Sarge into their GI Joe: A Real American Hero toy line, comic, and animated series in 1985! Voicing himself, his cartoon debut was in the Season 2 Arise Serpentor Arise mini series, where we learn the Sarge is one of the GI Joe team’s greatest warriors and trainers. The character is easily a fan-favorite and is still regularly talked about by Joe fans to this day.
Sgt. Slaughter will be at the show all weekend for autograph and photo ops. We’ll have his prices up on the website very soon. Come to Retro Con and meet one of the true icons of pop culture!!
Garry Chalk to Attend Retro Con 2018! Sponsored by CNS Art!
“Well, that’s just Prime…”
Thanks to our good friend Candice Santora, we proudly welcome actor Garry Chalk to Retro Con 2018!
Garry is best known for voicing the noble leader of the Maximals, Optimus Primal, in the popular 90’s iteration of Transformers: Beast Wars! Garry voiced the character in all three seasons of the show, as well as both seasons of the follow-up series Beast Machines.
Garry is known for numerous other animated roles as well! Man-At-Arms in the 2002 Masters of the Universe series, Guts Man on the 90’s Mega Man cartoon, Pathfinder and Metal Head in the DiC GI Joe series, Grounder on 1993’s Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Optimus Prime in the 2000’s era Transformers Armada Trilogy, Slash on Reboot, and King Hippo on the Saturday morning classic Captain N: The Game Master!
Garry has also been an on-screen actor for over 30 years! You can find him in such shows and movies as Arrow, Stargate SG-1, Watchmen, Supernatural, Freddy vs Jason, Godzilla (2014), The X-Files, Psych, The Fly II, Power Rangers (2017), and many more. You can check out Garry’s wide filmography HERE!
We’d like to give a very special thanks to Candice Santora, who has very kindly offered to sponsor Garry’s trip to Retro Con!! She is the official artist for Garry and you can check out her art page HERE!
We’d also like to thank Sherry Fowler for her assistance!
Please join Garry Chalk’s official fan group on facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/chalk.fans/
Meet Gregg Berger at Retro Con 2018!
We welcome Gregg Berger as our latest guest for Retro Con 2018!
Gregg is best known for voicing the mighty leader of the Dinobots: Grimlock! He voiced the fan-favorite character in all of the G1 Transformers series, Transformers: The Movie (1986), several Transformers video games, and recently revisited the character in Machinima’s new Transformers: Power of the Primes web series!
Gregg can also be heard as Skyfire and Long Haul in G1 Transformers, Spirit and Firefly on GI Joe, Cornfed Pig on Duckman, The Gromble on Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Mr. Little on The Littles, Agent K on Men in Black: The Series, and he has been the voice of lovable pooch Odie for over 35 years!
Gregg is known for on-camera work as well! You may have seen him in Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (he’s even on the poster!), as well as Spaced Invaders (“They blew up our new off-ramp!”).
Gregg will be at the show both days for autographs and photo ops. Prices will be posted as we get closer to showtime.
Rob Paulsen at Retro Con 2017!
We welcome voice actor Rob Paulsen to Retro Con 2017!
Rob has been in the voice acting industry for nearly 35 years (and still going strong), and truly bridges the gap between generations. Not only is Rob the voice of sarcastic wisecracker Raphael on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series (1987 to 1996), he is also the voice of tech-genius Donatello on the current incarnation of TMNT on Nickelodeon (2012 to 2017)!!
Rob is also the voice of such wildly popular characters as Yakko Warner on Animaniacs, and Pinky from Pinky and the Brain! Other notable voices of Rob include Tripwire and Snow Job on GI Joe, Slingshot and Air Raid on G1 Transformers, and he played the lead roles on Mighty Max, Saber Rider, and The Mask!
Please check out Rob’s full voiceography over at Voice Chasers!
Follow Rob Paulsen at the following places:
Main Website: http://robpaulsenlive.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robpaulsenlive/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/yakkopinky
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rob_paulsen/
Arthur Burghardt to attend Retro Con 2017!
We are pleased to announce our first guest for Retro Con 2017: Arthur Burghardt!
Arthur’s most prolific role is that of shrewd arms dealer Destro in the original Marvel/Sunbow GI Joe series!
As owner of M.A.R.S. Industries, he was the primary weapons-provider for all of Cobra. Though considered part of the Cobra command hierarchy (along with his romantic love interest The Baroness), Destro and Cobra Commander were often at odds with each other, suggesting their alliance was more a matter of convenience than solidarity.
Destro’s intriguing mix of coldness, honor, and calm demeanor, not to mention the cool metal mask he wears to honor his ancestors, has made him a fan-favorite for over 30 years!
Another hugely popular voice of Arthur’s was that of the original Transformers combiner giant: DEVASTATOR!!
As the amalgamated form of the six Constructicons (Scrapper, Hook, Long Haul, Scavenger, Bonecrusher, and Mixmaster), Devastator didn’t always have much to say, but Arthur’s booming voice always made for a commanding appearance nonetheless! Devastator is arguably the most popular combiner in all of Transformers. Arthur played the character in the original Marvel/Sunbow G1 cartoon series, as well as the 1986 theatrical movie.
Arthur also gave voice to two other notable GI Joe characters: jetpack-wearing Sergeant Stalker, and cold weather operative Iceberg!
And he played one of the main players on Challenge of the GoBots: the courageous Guardian Turbo!
“Time to go!!”
Arthur will be at Retro Con all weekend for autograph and photo ops. We will post up a price list as the show draws closer. Come meet the voice of some of the most iconic characters of the 80’s!!
Voice Actor Pat Fraley to Attend Retro Con 2016!
In a rare convention appearance, we are thrilled to announce that Pat Fraley will be coming to Retro Con 2016!
A voice actor and voice-over teacher for more than 35 years, Pat is best known to retro fans for giving voice and personality to the quirky warlord Krang in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tv series! Pat played the renegade from Dimension X in more than 125 episodes between 1987 to 1996, and he voiced the character more recently in an episode of Nickelodeon’s modern TMNT cartoon entitled “Trans-Dimensional Turtles” where the current Turtle team gets transported to another dimension and meets the 80’s iterations of themselves!
Ultimately banished from Dimension X for his treachery, Krang reluctantly teamed up with the Shredder and his foot soldier army to renew his penchant for conquest on planet Earth. Together they would attempt to take over the world, and in the process restore power to Krang’s mobile command base the Technodrome for an eventual return to Dimension X. Unfortunately for them, their plans were foiled time and again by the Turtles and friends. Krang was easily one of the most amusing characters on the show and is a fan-favorite with his warbling voice, bizarre exosuit, and excitable personality.
Pat also voiced several other prominent characters on TMNT, including mad scientist Baxter Stockman, the Turtles’ vigilante ally Casey Jones, the palm-tree obsessed Slash, and Channel 6’s hard-nosed news editor Burne Thompson!
Aside from TMNT, Pat also voiced notable characters on Marvel/Sunbow’s popular GI Joe cartoon series: Ace, Wild Weasel, and Airtight!
And other prominent roles you’ve heard Pat in include BraveStarr, Denver the Last Dinosaur, Max Ray in Centurions, and Jake Kong Jr. on Filmation’s Ghostbusters!
Pat will be at the show all weekend for autograph and photo ops. Prices will be determined and listed as we get closer to show time. So come out to Retro Con this September to meet the voice of some of the greatest characters from your youth!!
A big thanks to CelebWorx for their immense help in getting Mr. Fraley to the show!
Buy 2024 Tickets Below!
Vendor Table Info Below!
Sponsors!
Retro Con would like to thank all those that helped to sponsor this show!
_ _ _
_ _ _
Cool 98.5 WXPM FM
_ _ _
The Retro Network
_ _ _
Rediscover The 80s
_ _ _
Friends of Retro Con!
_ _ _
The Breaux Show
_ _ _
Fandom Spotlite
_ _ _
Toy Spotlite
_ _ _
retrocons.com 