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Meet the voice of Jem, Samantha Newark, at Retro Con 2018!
“Showtime, Synergy!”
We’re excited to announce our first guest for Retro Con 2018: Voice actor and singer Samantha Newark! Samha is best known for giving voice to one of the most iconic characters of the 80’s: Jem!
Through secret technology developed by her late father, young adult Jerrica Benton uses special earrings to communicate with supercomputer Synergy, allowing her to assume the holographic identity of mysterious rockstar… Jem!
As lead singer of The Holograms, the band created eclectic rock music, with much of the sale proceeds going to Starlight House, a home for orphaned and homeless girls.
Samantha voiced the character through all 65 episodes of the Sunbow cartoon series, with performer Britta Phillips providing vocals for the song portions of the show. The show was hugely popular in the mid to late 80’s, and has a devoted fanbase to this day. And recent re-airings of the series on cable have brought new fans into the fold!
Samantha also took part in one of the most significant episodes of the G1 Transformers cartoon. She voiced Autobot “Ariel” in Wardawn, a flashback episode that revealed the origin of legendary Autobot Leader Optimus Prime! Ariel herself would later be rebuilt into the powerful leader of the female Autobots: Elita-One!
Another noteworthy project of Samantha’s was performing lead vocals for the song “In Your Eyes” from the classic 1986 anime film Project A-ko! The song was included in both the original japanese and international versions of the movie.
And for an added treat, Samantha has kindly agreed to be a guest judge this year at Retro Con’s annual Truly Outrageous Karaoke Contest, making this year’s contest Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous!!
Follow Samantha on-line!
Main Website: https://www.samanthanewark.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samanthanewarkofficial/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthanewarkofficial/
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 Show Tickets Below!
Vendor Table Info Below!
Sponsors!
Retro Con would like to thank all those that helped to sponsor this show!
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Cool 98.5 WXPM FM
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The Retro Network
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Rediscover The 80s
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Friends of Retro Con!
Megapodtastic
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The Breaux Show
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Uncanny!
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Garrison Carida
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Fandom Spotlite
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Toy Spotlite
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