Hello everyone reading this article, I am finally back with new written content for here on Hero-Club. Now, last weekend was very eventful, as I attended Power Morphicon in Pasadena, California. The convention spanned from Friday, August 26 to Sunday, August 28, but there was also ‘Zero Day’ pre-registration on Thursday. Also, with the site being granted press access at the event, I served as one of Hero-Club’s representatives. As a result, I had to juggle doing press coverage, and trying to have as much fun as possible.
Going into Power Morphicon, I got to mention being into Power Rangers is about having fun like any fandom should. Also, being able to meet with online friends from across the country, that one rarely gets to see is incredible. In addition, Power Morphicon is a great place to squash beefs, and misunderstandings that come from misinterpreted texts. Especially, when I thought that had really angered some of my friends and peers in the past few months. So, being able to talk with friends and fans face-to-face, really allows us to come together and enjoy the franchise.
Now, Day Zero is normally not eventful, and usually it is just pre-registration where guests collect their badges. However, I did get to enter the dealers’ room briefly, and got to watch people set up their booths. Then as for Day One, oh boy, that on the other hand was a very work-related day for me. So, before I went Wheelz and the other Hero-Club heads, sent me a list of guests to interview. Then plan was either do interviews with the guests on location, or get them scheduled for a later date. However, we were hoping most guests would prefer the latter, so they can freely discuss things. Especially, since the convention was loaded this year with attendees, and very loud even for our recording equipment. Thankfully, most of the guests were very understanding and agreed to trying to schedule interviews with us later. Also, I managed to speed through most of the guests on the list that day, with some minor exceptions.
Another thing I did during Day One was meet with the Super Sentai guests, Toshihide Wakamatsu and Ryota Ozawa. In addition, I got a picture with Chojin Sentai Jetman’s Toshihide Wakamatsu since his character Gai Yuki was a badass. Furthermore, I along with Hero-Club’s other representative, Favine tried our best to interview them. However, we were told conflicting explanations, like having to pre-schedule with their agency and interviews were not in their contacts. So, from my impression, the Super Sentai guests’ agencies are super strict, but yet, another outlet got to interview them. As a result, I know Hero-Club is investigating the situation further since similar issues occurred at Power Morphicon 2018.
Then as for Day Two, I managed to nearly complete the list of guests to try scheduling interviews with. Unfortunately, only two actors on the list never seemed to be at their own booths for the convention. However, I did attend the Power Rangers Dino Fury/ Cosmic Fury panel, and I did record the panel. Also, I personally went to meet Jason David Frank, since I have always want to meet all the originals. Now, I do know that JDF is not liked these days within the community, and he is very polarizing topic. So, when I got to meet him, JDF was overly nice and appreciative towards me as well as others in attendance. Yet, with the impending divorce case, fans could easily see and understand that JDF was going through stuff. Thankfully, no one that I know of was outright rude to him, or brought up those personal details either. Anyway, I did meet JDF, did some networking, got a photo with him, and then left.
Finally, Day 3 was when thing began to wind down, and not many exciting things happened. Whereas, the main attraction for the final day of Power Morphicon is always the Super Sentai panel. So, I was not going to miss it, since it was another chance to see “Gokai Red” and “Black Condor.” Now, I managed to record most of the panel, but filled up storage having also recorded the Dino Fury panel. Thankfully, between my friend and associate EZ Rider, as well as myself, we were able to obtain the full thing. Also, since we collaborated on the panel, fans can go see the full video over on EZ Rider’s channel.
Afterwards, I spent most of the day doing last minute shopping, and I bought several things in the dealers’ room. Sadly, I missed out on attending Favine’s interview with Renegade Game Studios’ Jonathan Ying for Heroes of the Grid. However, I was able to meet Jonathan Ying before he left the convention to talk about the game. I really wanted to ask Jonathan about the possibility of a Drakkon Sentry set for the missing Sentries in his army. Thankfully, I got my answer and to summarize the response, it would be hard to produce currently. Yet, that would end my adventure at Power Morphicon 2022, and then packed up to return home.
To conclude, I believe that saying this was the best Power Morphicon ever is an understatement. Especially, when I compare PMC 2022 to the past events I was able to attend. I think everything went off without a hitch for most attendees, and it was all good fun. Whereas, looking back as a member of press, I did not have too much trouble networking with guests. However, I would suggest future events have some type of interview space to help lessen the background noise. Particularly, when traveling from outside the state of California, as it is hard bringing better recording equipment. Also, another major suggestion is for the convention to allow or negotiate for more outlets to interview the Japanese guests. Nevertheless, Power Morphicon 2022 was fantastic this year, and I cannot wait to attend the next one. Hopefully, when that happens in 2024, I will get to cover the convention again for Hero-Club too!
