My First Mad Monster Party

The bucket list took a big hit this past weekend.  I was finally able to meet some of the actors who starred in my favorite movie of all time, Aliens.  I had gotten an autograph TTM from Jenette Goldstein (the actress who played Vasquez) a while back, but thi time, I had the opportunity to meet her.

She signed this custom card for my son, Chris, and remembered that I had sent one to her TTM.  She also is helping me get the other one I had made for the Drake character signed.  She still is in contact with Mark Rolston and took one of the cards I had and is going to try to get him to sign it.

Jenette also commented on my shirt, and we spoke briefly about the loss of Bill Paxton.  She was so friendly and down-to-earth, which made me less nervouse than I was at the outset.  She spoke with me like we had been friends forever, and that really meant a lot to me.  This was such a huge moment for me.

We, then, went to the next table and met Aliens and Terminator actor, Lance Henriksen.  He, too, was super friendly, and spoke with us for a bit.

I had purchased a few cards from the Alien Anthology set to have Henriksen sign.  I settled on this card once I saw his fee ($60).

Luckily, Henriksen was really nice to Chris and told him that there was no way he was going to charge Chris $60 for an autograph, so he let him have this 8x10 and signed it for him.  He also inscribed it "Not bad for a human", which was really awesome.

Then, we met Aliens, and Terminator actor, Michael Biehn.  I got a card signed by him, and clarified the pronunciation of his last name (bean).  He was friendly, but didn't say a whole lot.  When I went back to have him sign a photo that I picked up, I made him laugh.  I told him that my dad was a huge Tombstone fan, and that my dad took us to see it 5 times in theaters.  I said "So, I think I bought your dinner a few times."  This caused him to look up and laugh.  We, then, talked about racing, since I told him how proud I was about my dad being inducted into the Hall of Fame the day prior.  He thought it was really cool.  Biehn was a really cool guy.

After meeting Michael Biehn, I met up with my friend, Nathan, and walked around the show for a bit.  I had planned on meeting WWE legend, Mick Foley, but we couldn't find him.  I was about to leave the event, content to save the rest of my money, but we were able to find him.

I had bought some of his cards as well for Chris and I.  I'm a huge Cactus Jack fan, so I had to make sure the card I had was of Cactus.  He, like Henriksen, told Chris that he didn't want to charge him to sign a card, so he let Chris pick out a photo.

I don't know if I could be any prouder of my son for picking this photo of Foley from his Japanese Death Match.  Yeah, it's gory, but it is a legendary shot, and Chris picked it out.  It turned out great with the gold Sharpie.

I had an amazing time at the Mad Monster Party, and plan to attend if they come back to Charlotte.  The lines were short for all of the actors (and wrestler) that I wanted to meet.  The prices for autos are set by the artists, and they were in line with what I spent at the Walker Stalker last year.

I can't put into words how excited I was to meet these guys, especially Goldstein.  The photos Chris and I got signed are already framed and ready to be put on our walls.

TTM Success - Jeanette Goldstein

Sometimes, when I send out TTM requests, I manipulate them by putting certain kinds of stamps on the return envelopes, so I have a bit of an idea of what could be inside when it comes back.  Today, it worked wonders, as I was able to call my wife into the room when I saw one of the three envelopes that was in the mail.  Actually, the envelope was a surprise, as I had only seen two when I pulled the mail out of the mailbox.  This one was stuck behind another, and I missed it initially.  When I saw the banana split stamp and the post mark from Los Angeles, I had a pretty good idea what was in store for me.  I called Mal into the room and showed her the envelope.  When I opened it, I said a certain four-letter word followed by "YES".  I had a TTM autograph of the actress who played my favorite character in my favorite movie.

Jeanette Goldstein played Private J. Vasquez in the movie Aliens.  I have been a fan of the movie since we got it on Fox Home Video way back a long time ago (probably 1986 or 1987).  Mom was in some movie club, and I remember a bunch of Fox movies coming in all at once.  Or so it seemed.  Anyway, I always enjoyed the Vasquez character, especially her exchange with Bill Paxton's Hudson "Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?" "No, have you?"  She has a bunch of great scenes in the movie.  When Paxton passed away earlier this year (#RIPBillPaxton), I thought I should really push to get Goldstein's autograph.  I used the website fanmail.biz for her address, and sent the request via her talent agency.

The card itself was something else I had to get done especially for this TTM request.  I had met a comic book artist a few years ago at Comic Book day at the local comic shop.  His name is Chris McJunkin, and I friended him on Facebook soon after meeting at the shop.  Turns out, he and I have a couple mutual friends, which is nice, but I contacted him to see if he had done any art of Vasquez and if I could purchase a couple that were baseball card sized.  He had not done anything with Vasquez on it, so I had to commission him as an artist to create the card for me.  I had no problem doing so, as I am a firm believer in artists getting paid for their work.  He ended up hooking me up with extras (I commissioned him on a second work along with this one that is not yet able to be discussed... stay tuned), and I sent a copy of the card to Goldstein for her to keep as well (and she did).

I can't describe how excited I am to finally have this from Jeanette Goldstein.  Upper Deck did an Aliens Anthology set last year, but Vasquez was left out, and there were no autos of Goldstein.  Paxton and Sigourney Weaver <3 are="" autograph="" in="" p="" set="" the="" though.="">
I mailed to Goldstein via her talent agency on April 11 and got the card back today, for a 69-day TAT.

You can see Goldstein in action in Aliens, of course, and also in Titanic, Terminator 2 - Judgment Day and Near Dark.