By BlueZero
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It's no secret I am a old time fan of the Power Ranger series if you know me, so I had to check out the Power Morphicon 2010. I used to watch the series after school during elementary school and suffered first hand from the first Power Ranger Movie. At the Anime Expo, there was a booth advertising the official Power Ranger Convention in Pasadena. Needless to say, I checked it out and was impressed with the fan dedication to the series with authentic costumes. BVGB was there and we survived to pass on these pictures and videos of glory of both cosplayers and the epic actor panels:
Power Ranger fans are some of the most hardcore people you could meet. I only watched up to a little past the Turbo series and stopped. These people knew individual episodes and could receive specific lines from the show. For example, Power Rangers SPD is a little past my time but everyone loves it. I barely could recognize the actors since there weren't many there from the original series.
The original Jason said hi to me but I didn't know who he was. There was always a long line to see Tommy but everytime I passed by, I never saw the actor at the booth. I guess it was a frozen line awaiting his return. I ended up mostly browsing the merchandise and reading manuscripts from the Turbo series.
Power Ranger Cosplay
The Megazord costume ended up winning the costume content. I first saw it outside the convention center crossing the street. Since the costume doesn't bend at the knees, the guy had to teeter back and forth to cross. I laughed at cars waiting for him to cross; you gotta respect the Megazord. I wasn't at the judging but there is a video on YouTube where the guy receives a limited edition power coin as his reward.
Here's some Power Rangers cosplay including the villains:
Script Writer Panel
The panels definitely made the convention worth attending. The showroom floor was too small and I didn't have the guts to interface with movie stars since I didn't want to appear like every other fan's "You touched my childhood" story.
The three guys in the first pic worked on the original Power Ranger's scripts up to the heyday (I assume after Power Rangers in Space). The balding guy in the 2nd pic (who looks like Sully from Uncharted) is a person who played the Monster of the Day and did voice acting. The guy in black is my hero since he wrote the episodes for the Green Ranger arch as well as introduced Lord Zed.
The woman I believe did makeup and also does the voice of the original Alpha. If I am mistaken, it's because I'm writing this post almost two weeks after the convention. The guy in the bottom right picture was involved with the prop.They were very energetic and the
Villain Actor/Voice Actor Panel
It was unsurprising to see the Villain panel line extend up the stairs and almost out the door. Luckily there were still seats available. We recorded a little footage of the cast performing introducing themselves and performing their signature lines:
The 4 images are panning from left to right. On the left we have King Minos, the super villian from SPD, Monsters of the Day, Rita, Rita's henchmen, Lord Zed's voice and the guy who wore the suit.
Here's your treat, I bet you weren't expecting this character's voice to come out of this man!
He is Neil Kaplan and he is the voice actor for Tychus Findley in Starcraft 2. I enjoyed hearing this in person so much!
Power Ranger SPD Prop Master Greg Aronowitz
Near the end of the day on Saturday, we decided to visit one more panel before leaving. Greg Aronowitz had to delay his slideshow presentation due to technical issues with the projector. 20 minutes later, we were seated with tons of room to spare. Greg is very informal and presented some of his proud objects, animal faces and set pieces. I was unfamiliar with all his work and SPD so it was slightly difficult for me to remain focused while I was fatigue from the long day. Greg Aronowitz created all the props for Power Rangers SPD and I could tell he was passionate about his work. He created most of the set pieces on his own time using his own money when his budget wasn't enough.
After the slideshow, he said he was going to build a prop in front of us. I was not expecting to get a live demonstration of how to build a cosplay sword when I walked into the session. About halfway through building the sword, he invited us up to the stage area. Greg told us his secret power is he is immune to the bonding power of the super glue. I'm guessing his fingers were altered or changed by the constant presence of the clue chemicals.
Ta-da, the nearly finished sword. He said he would post the finished sword on his blog and document the entire process. I couldn't find the specific page but here is Greg Aronowitz's blog
Overall I felt the Power Morphicon was worth the trip. I learned that Power Rangers SPD has its own crazed following and I got the sense most of the convention goers liked that series. Most likely I won't be returning since I feel like I saw everything there was to offer and there is definetely no way I could see people visiting the convention for the weekend plus the members exclusive Friday. For me as an older fan of the original series, the convention barely hit the nostalgia level since people are more focused on the recent series. The Power Morphicon was still fun and I'm glad I attended.
Let me know in the comments if you attended or are thinking of attending! Enjoy the full gallery.
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