I ask fwooshmembers questions.
They answer them.
This week Slade.
"Baby fresh out of the bath!"
Why did you start customizing?
Well, I’ll make a short story long: I was really big into legends when they first came out, and I started buying them up like crazy, then stopped for awhile until series 9. I used to hunt everyday, and once I had wiped the areas surrounding me clean of all the peg warmers I turned to eBay to get some of the cooler stuff I couldn’t find elsewhere. I stumbled across customs and when I saw how much they went for I was aghast, so I decided to try and A) Make a character I hadn’t seen at the time, Moon Knight, and B) make a little extra scratch, so I made a Moon Knight and sold it for $172.50. Then I did a few more and then stopped when my kid was born in march of 2006 due to lack of time, but recently started making some of the cosmic characters I fear I will never see made. I am still working on my first sculpting job making Jack of Hearts, which btw is a huge undertaking. And I don’t know that I would call myself a painter, I am still a novice.
Did you have prior artistic experience?
I dropped out of design school, so maybe a little. I dropped out because it was a pain in the butt to work until 1 am every morning and then be at class at 8 am and still have to have the massive projects done.
Discogod did a really good Jack of Hearts. How do you choose? Are you doing this for money?
I loved Disco’s JOH, and I used the Archangel head for mine like he did for his, great idea! I choose cosmic characters I fear I will never see. Nova is one I have lined up to do because I’m betting if they do one, it will be the Annihilation one.
You collect only marvel legends?
Well no, and honestly I have been a MOC completist up until now. With Hasbro I plan to just get the ones I want which will be anything I can convince myself is a cosmic character, because those characters are the ones I like the most. My primary interest is SOTA’s Street Fighter line, also I collect clone troopers, and a few Lord of the Rings items, THE F^&*^%G BALROG!!!!
You own a Balrog? Was it difficult to obtain? Does it burst into flames every 12 hours?
Yep, the Balrog is massive; I got a crappy little tax refund so I just decided to treat myself to it, bought it off eBay 2 days later…huge box at the door wOOt!!!
Did you get all of HML1 and make Annihilus?
You bet your sweet ass I did, Annihilus is cosmic baby!
What is the preference for cosmic characters? I like them too.
They’re all so much cooler and more powerful than average heroes. Plus, as a kid, reading those comics gave me a really thrilling feeling and I have fond memories of those times.
I’m gonna stockpile gasoline now that I’m out of the marvel legends game.
I am pretty much out. If I buy any more it will only be the, you guessed it, cosmic characters
Boy or a girl?
I’m a boy…duh. Actually I have a little girl who at the time this is published will be 1 year old, her name is Evie, and she’s quite possibly the prettiest kid ever (anyone who has seen her will attest to it).
Will you steer your baby clear from certain things like fantasy and science fiction?
So long as it’s suitable for whatever age she is, I won’t steer her away from anything, except rap music.
Those first 3 years raising a kid it’s like being chained down. It is also when I started customizing.
Yes! Chained down! It’s exactly how I feel at times, if I want to go buy a pack of smokes, it’s this huge production! But it’s worth it, I’m sure I will look back on these dark times with fondness.
You will remember her childhood with fondness or you will remember the difficulty of raising a child?
I am at home with my kid during the day, and the live in GF is with her at night, except on my days off my GF works all day so I have the baby all day, which is fun, but also trying. I stick to my guns as difficult as it seems now, when she’s in college smoking pot I am sure to miss these days.
How is Evie doing?
She’s taking a nap right now.
How many more kids are you gonna have?
Zero!
What’s your favorite smell?
Baby fresh out of the bath!
How many generations are you Irish?
My grandfather was Irish and he was the greatest man I ever knew and I embrace that part of my heritage as a way to constantly remember him as tacky as that may sound, but I also have a bit of English mixed in there, so not full Irish.
You’re originally from Jersey? Have you made a complete adjustment?
I lived in PA and Jersey back and forth for awhile until I was 5, my grandma lives in jersey, I love it there in Cape May/Wildwood where she lives, but I don’t get up there much, sadly.
How did you choose NC?
I didn’t. Dad worked in a lot of rehab homes for young people, and the last one he worked at was in NC, so I kinda landed here.
Do you know your local streets?
Yep!, well kinda. I live in the middle of two cities, (High Point, NC home of American Idol Fantasia Barrino FTL!!!) and then Greensboro, which is slightly better, but I prefer to stay out of High Point.
Could I walk through Highpoint, NC?
It’s not a small town by any means but if you mean walk through safely, then maybe not.
You know anyone else who collects Marvel Legends?
Only the guys I have met from the fwoosh, R_O_B_O, vorskyr, Jason_in_NC, Heli88, AF, j*ryu, and possible others, I’m far too important to remember.
You know these guys? Like physically met them?
Yes I have met them all, up close in smell-o-vision, R_O_B_O and I tend to drink a good deal, vorskyr drinks, but only mudslides, apparently they’re easier on his girl parts, and j*ryu is one of the coolest cats you will ever meet, AF usually eats cookies when he hangs out (true story), the rest are pretty boring actually, oh yeah and I have met long_road and Darth Board.
This NC fwoosherings has me freaked out a little. Did you know each other first and then got on the fwoosh or did you fwoosh and then meet up?
I actually met AF and ROBO on the same day, AF and I did a trade, then I stumbled onto ROBO while hunting toys, we all met up later and ROBO and I grabbed beer, and I felt creeped out hanging with someone from the internet, well an older man anyway.
Could you comment on the last fwooshering meet up?
Tons of fun, we found HML2, I found some star wars figs I wanted, got plastered, and spent some time with some really cool guys and AF.
Do you actively recruit people from fwoosh to the meetups?
Our fwoosherings are open to anyone; if we have a new person we are always curious to meet them.
Is it a bit awkward?
At first, a bit, but we all have common interests so if all else fails we can fall back on toy talk.
From fwoosh is there anyone you want to meet?
Oh yeah, a couple of the NYC guys, Simun and b0bb33z3r specifically, and a few others, especially deadpool1701 (Slade n Wade!!!)
You ever gonna try and make a big fwooshering? Maybe during SDCC? There will already be a lot of folk there, just get a big push, and set up times and places.
I dunno, I may try and go to SDCC sometime, but its not that important to me. I would do it mostly for exclusives and to meet fwooshers, but I don’t really know any of the Cali fwooshers. Maybe if we NCers banded together and made a road trip out of it, that would be cool, and by road trip I mean fly.
You chat a lot what is difference that makes you return to the chat room?
It’s mostly the same people in there every night, and it’s all the people I have grown fond of here.
How is chat preferable to the fwoosh forums?
Chat is cool because it’s so fast, and I wish the forum were more like that sometimes
What time do you get up in the morning?
Get up at 8ish but the kid and I take a nap shortly thereafter.
How long have you had your current job?
Too long! About 4 years or so
I worked in commercial kitchens but because it is non life threatening the stress is enjoyable. You work in a kitchen right? It’s all timing.
I am a restaurant manager at an international chain called Pizzeria Uno, and I see exactly what you mean about the stress. That is the advice that I give my employees when they are having a rough shift is, "Its just food!!" But yeah its a job that would be a lot easier without the customers, just because customers are always butt holes.
You fwoosh at work? How?
We have the internet there, and once it dies off in the evenings I just fwoosh, plus I have tons of paperwork every night, so I just keep it open.
Please explain SOTA and Street Fighter to me as if I were a child. Damning blows or Round 2, I just don’t know what is what?
SOTA=State of the art, their flagship line is the Street Fighter line and it’s really just a great line. There have been, I think, 21 characters produced so far but with all the variants there’s a total of 97 figures!!! All of which I have and it was not easy to do. They should be producing more this year.
Do you think I will do a good job interviewing the fwooshfolk? How would you do it if you followed up on your own advice? (It was Slade’s idea to interview fwooshmembers.) How am I doing so far?
You’ll do just fine, maybe run a spell check or something.
Your posts are one half funny and one half cruel. What if you leaned one way and made them more?
Damn that’s it? Funny and cruel? Hmmmm, well I guess if I had to pick one I would go with funny. Don’t get me wrong, I am kind of a butthole, but I like to be have fun. The cruelty just comes from having a finely tuned BS detector.
When you are funny you are very funny.
Is it a blessing or a curse?
It’s a blessing I suppose I do have an off switch, and I am pretty good at reading people, so if the need arises I adapt my behavior.
Do you have a serious side that is deadly serious? Do you have high highs and low lows?
No, never deadly serious. I don’t see the point really in being 100% serious, not that I’m gonna be goofing off and spitting spitballs at a funeral or anything, but if I have to get serious or angry it goes away quickly.
I think you should be onstage or writing, because you are funny and smart. What’s the problem, why are you not doing this?
I’m lazy, very lazy, oddly enough because I have a good work ethic; I guess I just have a tendency to be complacent.
I think people expect you to be funny most of the time. I know I did or do, now say something funny.
I don’t know if I’m funny or not. I do know that most times I just say the first thing that pops into my head and it’s usually something goofy.
What is your favorite drink?
Hmmm, currently enjoy Crystal Light lemonade, those on-the-go packets are awesome!!! Alcohol wise I would say Miller Lite or Tanqueray and tonic
Is there something you do annually? Like a trip or something?
Work on my birthday… not really, to be honest I do want to make a tradition of taking my daughter to the heroes con every year. We’ve already done it once when she was 3 months old, and as difficult as that sounds it was really fun, I went with fwoosher j*ryu, and he and his wife were really great with the kid.
Do you follow politics?
No, I’m a leader.
How many fistfights have you gotten into?
3 tops, I’m a lover not a fighter.
If you were forced to choose a limb to lose and had live out the rest of your life without it, which one would it be?
Left leg.
What do you spend your free time doing?
Needlepoint, long walks on the beach, playing with my dog.
When do you plan on dying? They have a timer, you wear it, and it counts down your life expectancy.
Well I am currently having my mid-life crisis so I guess that means I will die at 48, and if I got that timer that would be depressing. Do you suppose it gives you more time if you eat a healthy snack or do a sit up?
What does your girlfriend think of your collection?
She likes a few of my pieces, but otherwise she’s kinda confused by it, I think she especially loves the F*&^%N BALROG!!
Thanks Slade!
