These are the voyages…

I grew up watching TV westerns, thanks to my grandfather. When most people can't remember anything beyond their recent past, I can clearly recall being held as a baby, learning to walk in a walker… and TV westerns. The sounds of Cheyenne, The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, Maverick and many others helped to form my first years in life. In 1966, I was hooked on Lost In Space (and later on, Star Trek) which were basically “westerns in space” or “wagon trains to the stars“.

Below is a highly treasured photo that I received from James Arness after helping his wife with a website issue they were having years ago. He was kind of enough to send me a photo but passed away soon after. Very nice people.

When I was 7 years old I fell in love with Lost In Space

Back then it was exciting, fun and nothing that parents would have to worry about their kids watching. As an adult I have to admit that I have a tough time watching most of the episodes. Tacky looking rubber aliens and papier-mâché sets now appear severely cheap and dated. Though the black and white first season was a bit more of serious adventure, once the show moved to color it became a bit of a parody of itself with space hippies and talking carrots. Yikes!

Thankfully I soon discovered Star Trek which taught me a lot. As a kid, I didn't understand much of what they were talking about so a dictionary was my constant companion. I learned a lot from Star Trek. Though their episode with the “space hippies” was nearly as cringe worthy as the Lost In Space episode. Then came Dark Shadows, with it's cheesy sets, soap opera overacting and actors constantly flubbing their lines. Another show I  have a tough time watching these days, though the House of Dark Shadows movie is still kind of fun.

Plus, we had great shows like Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Mission Impossible and shows that most young guys would never admit to watching like the Partridge Family, Brady Bunch, etc. Who can ever forget such classics as Beverly Hillbillies or the Andy Griffith Show?

Remember Saturday Mornings?

Saturdays in the 1960's and 70's had the best cartoons ever.  Back in those days you would see kids playing outdoors everywhere and all the time except for Saturday mornings! What a great era to grow up in, as far as family TV was concerned.

Meeting childhood heroes…

Life sure does take some interesting turns and it's amazing what happens when you're not even looking for it. Sometimes, I feel like Forrest Gump just showing up in the right places at the right time. Life really is like a box of chocolates.

Jonathan Harris of Lost in Space

Never did I imagine that one day, that one my most beloved friends would turn out to be Jonathan Harris, the actor who was famous for the role as the fussy, nefarious Dr. Smith on Lost In Space. It all started with a friendship based on Vermont maple syrup, Christmas wreathes and keeping in touch with him and his wife Gertrude by phone and mail. Every time Jonathan was scheduled for an appearance in the northeast, he expected us to meet with him. One time, I couldn't make it and he was very disappointed so I made sure that didn't happen again.

The next time we met in Boston was at the Lost In Space 1990 Reunion event. We personally got us into the convention center before it opened to the public and introduced us to the whole cast of Lost In Space (and yes, the robot too!). At the end of the day we met him for drinks at his favorite hotel in Boston. We took a photo together but unfortunately it was lost a few years later.

More on Jonathan later. He really deserves an article all of his own!

How I got involved in the world of Lost In Space, Star Trek, etc.

Back in the early 1990's, I was trying to start a small business as a sideline to my job at UPS. I needed a tax write-off and my accountant suggested starting a small business. It started with advertising some old toys and collectibles in magazines. I had saved all these old toys but being an adult (or trying to be anyway) with little time on my hands, I decided to sell them all off. I found out that many of those old toys were worth money…a lot of money.

In the 1970's, I worked at a local movie theater and snagged some press kit materials and a brochure from the very first Star Wars movie. Although those items sold for a few hundred dollars back in the 1990's, I believe they would be worth thousands now. I also found that some current toys, (particularly Star Trek related) were bringing in big bucks. It was a new market similar to the baseball card fad that also peaked and eventually fizzled out.

I was doing so well selling via ads in magazines that I decided to try selling at toy shows and conventions

My first venture was a Star Trek convention at the Sheraton in South Burlington, VT., back in the early 1990's.  I had met James Doohan (Scotty) previously, in 1980, at a St Johnsbury Academy (of all places) lecture. I was thrilled to see and ask him questions and we had a fun little exchange about Shatner's toupee. Then he pulled my hair and asked jokingly “what about that mop on your head?”

After the lecture, he was alone, smoking a cigarette outside the building. I asked him if we was concerned about lung cancer. His reply was, “…cigarettes won't kill me, but lack of work will!” After that day, I never thought I'd run into him again. But that wasn't the case as I ran into him numerous times at conventions and shows, throughout New England.

On one occasion, I had a room adjacent to him at a hotel in Burlington, MA. He was having a frustrating time with the ice machine in the corridor. I offered to help and noticed that he was a bit inebriated. We joked around a bit and I asked him if he remembered his lecture “in St J”. His response was “where the f*** is St J?” When I mentioned the hair pulling incident he said, “Oh yeah, you were asking about Shatner's hair! He's getting hair plugs now y' know”.

This was an opportunity to meet other Star Trek cast members, one of which became a regular customer. Walter Koenig (Ensign Chekov) used to collect Big Little Books which I watched for on his behalf. Through the many conventions I attended as a vendor, Walter was usually attending as well, and would buy the books that he didn't have in his collection. He also told me that he started out doing summer stock theater in Dorset, VT., many years ago.

Fans created the shows and conventions, but corporate media stepped in and milked them dry, as they still do even today

Needless to say, I met a lot of people at the conventions and toy shows. Some were a bit strange to put it mildly, while others were just regular fans and really nice folks. I made friends with some of the vendors who would usually frequent the shows and conventions. One of them has become a life long friend. Unfortunately, we don't get together as much as we used to, once we all stopped attending the shows. His name is John Collado and he is one of the best graphic artists I've ever met. As a matter of fact, he was so good, that licensed artists by Paramount were jealous. They found a legal loophole to stop John from selling his works of art at conventions. Once Paramount smelled money, they started pushing out most small vendors in favor of big companies like KB Toys, etc. Welcome to corporate America.

Did we get to meet celebrities? Oh yeah, we sure did!

As show vendors, we had backstage access to most all of the celebrity guests, for autographs and general chatting. At first, it was a surreal, amazing experience but after awhile the “starry gloss” wore off. I got to the point where I didn't even bother to go and meet some of the celebrities, unless it was someone I was really interested in meeting.

At a Portland, Maine show, I had a couple tables next to Mark Goddard (Major West of Lost in Space) who was selling some videos and signing autographs. He was really nice to talk to and took a couple photos with my ex-wife. This was prior to the new Lost in Space movie, so he wasn't a “guest”, merely a vendor like the rest of us. During that time Star Trek the Next Generation was the big draw, so Lost in Space wasn't on the radar. He mentioned to us that he was happily teaching at a school in Lowell, MA after a brief stint in soap operas.

I don't remember very much about many of the guests. I wasn't keen on ST the Next Generation so I didn't usually attend their Q&A sessions. Though I did take my time to check out “Counselor Troi”, as the actress was kind of hot back then. One time, she almost got mobbed after her “talk” and stood on a table, to get away from the fans closing in. She was quite obviously scared to death shouting, “where is security?” She was right though. Someone messed up!

Most of the Star Trek original cast were very gracious, especially the late Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) who was fantastic. She attended and watched over my display tables for awhile I took a break to get coffee. I wish all were as cordial as Grace was.

One person that really impressed me was Majel Barrett. She was Nurse Chapel on the original Star Trek, the computer voice on the Next Gen and a character on that show as well. She as also married to the man who created Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry. Majel had a  couple tables at the Portland, Maine show as well, selling Star Trek items from the company her husband created, Lincoln Enterprises. I got into a conversation with her about Maine, Vermont and just about anything other than Star Trek. She was having a great time and after quite some time, I had to excuse myself and go back to my own tables. I will never forget that though. She was just so happy to talk to someone about anything other than Star Trek.

Bottom line is that (in most cases) if you want celebrities to remember you, talk about something other than their acting roles. They are real people not the characters they portray and appreciate being treated as such. Most of them anyway.

Turning the lights off on “Captain Kirk”

William Shatner. He was appearing at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Although I love Star Trek, I wasn't in a particular rush to meet him. Everyone else was though, so the exhibit hall was nearly empty during his Q&A session. I decided to leave my tables for a few minutes just to hear what he had to say.

First, he was much shorter than I envisioned which was a little surprising. So much for the days of kicking tall, Klingon butts! I was leaning against the wall about 50 feet from the stage. The lights started going down and the ballroom started getting dark. Mr. Shatner started to panic like a little girl, begging someone to find out what was going on. He was so upset that he cried out, “What's wrong with this place? Did they forget to pay the electric bill???”

Nope, not the venues fault…mine. I managed to turn the lights off on William Shatner and he didn't look happy.

Someone nudged me and said “I think you're leaning on the light slider”, which I was. With Shatner (and 5000 others watching) I turned the lights back on. I looked at Mr. Shatner (who was standing there with a frightened look as if he were about to be kidnapped) and apologized, “Sorry, I guess I'd better get back to my tables” and that was it.

Everything went on without a hitch. Later on, a friend of mine asked Shatner to autograph some photos for him. Oddly enough, the unflappable “Captain Kirk” seemed a little inebriated. Maybe he needed a couple drinks after the lights incident? So that's my story. What Romulans, Klingons and cancellation by Paramount apparently couldn't scare the man. But, I turned the lights of and frightened Captain Kirk so much that he needed a drink! Then again, when I was 8 years old, I made a minister swear. Oh well. My bad!

On another occasion, at a Star Trek convention in Marlboro, MA, I had a hotel room next to Jimmy Doohan (Scotty). I had ran into “Jimmy” several times, at various shows, ever since he pulled my hair in St Johnsbury, VT (when I asked him about Shatner's toupee). That became kind of an ongoing joke between him and I, when we'd meet at a show. Always the toupee thing!

At the Marlboro, Massachusetts show, he was a little tipsy and having a hard time filling his ice bucket in the hall, so I tried to help. “Hey,” he said “aren't you the guy who's always asking me about Shatner's hair?” (Yeah, that was me). “You know he's got hair plugs now,” he almost dropped the ice bucket and lowered his voice just a tad and said, “…and he's still an asshole!“

Once he had control of the ice bucket, I asked if he was ok. I was concerned because he looked really tired and tipsy. “Yeah,” he said, “I'm fine. But you try answering all those damn stupid questions, they ask me all the time, and you'd drink too!” He winked and off he went to his room. Unfortunately, that was the last time I ever saw him. I didn't attend and sell at many more conventions after that. James “Jimmy” Doohan passed away from Alzheimer's a few years later. He was a great guy and loved to kid around. One of my favorites for sure!

Two people that I wish I had met were Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and DeForest Kelley (Dr McCoy). Unfortunately, they never seemed to be on the guest list at any of the shows I worked at.

The end of a long, exciting and fun era

The last show I  attended as a vendor (or even a visitor), was in Boston, MA. It was billed as a big event with Brent Spiner (Data of STTNG) being the big draw. Traditionally, vendors could go backstage and get all the autographs they wanted, free of charge. However, in this case Mr. Spiner was charging for ALL autographs. This included the people who paid for tickets to attend the conventions, (even though they were typically allowed one free autograph, included in the price of admission). Mr. “Data” Spiner changed the rules that weekend. Many vendors weren't happy about that change and neither were the fans, who considered it a “rip-off”. Unfortunately, it set a precedent that others were soon to follow, particularly William Shatner (surprise!).

Vendors took a major financial hit during that show as well. One long term, well known vendor from Connecticut took such a big financial loss that the disastrous weekend almost ruined his company. Another young couple had invested $2,000 in toy purchases. They only made a $10 sale all weekend, and looked pretty upset. Fortunately, all of my inventory was bought and paid for. I think I made a whopping $150 for the entire weekend with a loss of over $1000 for tables, hotel and travel expenses. Quite a difference from the days when even a small vendor, like myself, could make between $2000 to $5000 in a weekend.

Between the big companies coming in and buying up the majority of tables, and celebrities getting greedy, it just wasn't fun anymore. Then it became financially impossible to compete with the “big guys” and toy companies, so what started with, and was created by the fans ended up hijacked by big money. These days, most smaller conventions are gone and have been replaced by big money making ComicCons.

Never say never?

I hadn't been to a convention since the 1990's. As a matter of fact, there was a ComicCon in Montreal around 2020 and I decided to check it out for fun. Met some really nice people and had a long talk with Mitch Pileggi from the X-Files. Also became friends with a couple other famous stars and still chat with them on social media every now and then. So, after many years away from what first started out as a great, side business that eventually wore out it's welcome, it was nice to simply share stories with some really cool people!

There are a lot more other stories and plenty that I have forgotten but as I look back, I've probably forgot many of them.

Saving the best for last…

I will wrap up the second and final part of this story with an article devoted entirely to the late and great Jonathan Harris. Although he created a lot of TV roles and voice overs, he was best known for his role as Dr. Zachary Smith on Lost in Space. We became good friends and I've got some great things to share that you simply won't believe!

Live long and prosper!

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