At one point, I saw two people wearing Svengoolie shirts and thought it would make a fun shot for this blog. I didn’t realize until later that it was MeTV social media specialist Briana Janczy and her mom, Margie. When it comes to not wearing my glasses out in public, I’m a regular Jan Brady (yet another nod to Gen X pop culture).

Joining Mike and Nanette in today’s line was superfan Warner Todd Huston. I’ve mentioned him in past Svengoolie appearance posts, but it’s unclear if there will be another. Apparently, the Svengoolie Facebook page administrator and Reddit man has become Ill-annoyed and is leaving my state for Tennessee.

Instead of Booth 41, Svengoolie and Squad occupied the two spots next to it, 39 and 40. Once again, the crew was behind the curtain preparing their equipment and merchandise, but with a few changes to their lineup. Instead of the merchandise guys who sold Svengoolie shirts, hats, and trading cards yesterday, Maddie Kern from props would handle today’s sales. The Squad was also behind the curtain, preparing with Sven. This was the first time I’d formally meet Sarah Palmer (Gwengoolie) and Scott (Imp). I’d already met Bill Leff (Nostalgiaferatoo) at the TV station a while back (when I got to play the hand at the door, covered HERE). I had a lot of fun interacting with them, and you could tell they were excited to be there with a genuine desire not to disappoint the fans.

As is tradition, executive producer Jim Roche hyped up the crowd. Unlike Friday’s Svengoolie signings, Saturday’s with the Squad had stricter stipulations. Autographs were still free, but they would only sign a promo card (the same used at the San Diego Comic Con last year) and no personal items. The only exception to this rule would be at the second signing (scheduled for 5 pm), where they’d also autograph anyone’s group Photo Op pictures taken between sessions.

The plan was that I should ask each visitor whether they wanted to take their own selfies or have me follow them and take photos with each cast member (using their own phones/cameras). Not surprisingly, most people chose Option #2, which immediately created a dilemma: there was no way to follow a single fan down the entire line without a few having no assistance at all. Briana ended up having to help out, which likely interfered with her social media tasks, but there wasn’t much of a choice.

The order of signing was Svengoolie, Gwengoolie, Imp, and Nostalgiaferatoo. All of them took time with the fans and asked all kinds of questions about where everyone was from and how long they’d watched Svengoolie. Gwengoolie was extremely popular, as I assumed she would be. Not just with tongue-tied male fans, but even women seemed very responsive to her; a rare gift shared by the great Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, as well.

One fan even presented her with a Uranium dish. On her personal YouTube Channel (Pinup Palmer), Sarah often goes to antique stores in search of Uranium glass. This was Depression-era dishware that contained actual Uranium, which gives it a green glow, especially under a blacklight. The US Government ended this practice during World War II, when it needed all available Uranium for weapons, but it’s always fun to come across them when I’m out thrifting or antiquing.

Fans would inevitably spend extra time with Gwen, leaving the Imp with a little free time here and there. He didn’t care as he was having the time of his life, so we had a thing going where every time he’d get one of those unplanned Gwen-breaks, I would take a picture of him striking a different humorous pose.

One nice nod to a past C2E2 came about when a group of cosplayers dressed as Batman villains came to see Sven. Back in C2E2 2018, I photographed them being interviewed with Sven and later took a group shot. They asked if they could re-live the experience. They also wanted to start a new tradition by getting a shot with Gwengoolie.

We were all ready to pass out after this first session, but the day had just begun. Svengoolie took off for the Green Room for a quick break before their Photo Op, while I stayed back watching over the merch money and eating a lunch I’d packed. While I was eating, I spotted Charlie Cox a.k.a. Daredevil (whom I’d met at a past C2E2 with my kids and discussed HERE) as well as “Luke Cage,” Mike Colter.

Everybody met up shortly after the Photo Op.

A golf cart whisked the cast members off to their panel while the rest of us hoofed it.

By the time I got up to the room, it was packed with fans. Nanette was in the front row along with Chris Connolly from the Mr. C Dives in YouTube Channel. I knew Chris was going to be in attendance along with his pal, Chi-Star G, but was concerned when I didn’t see him at the signing. In any event, it was nice seeing him again (but apparently not enough to remember to snap a picture with him so you’ll just have to take my word for it).

It was so crowded I wondered if I’d find a seat until I heard someone call my name. It was my friend, Kelly Bredlau. Kelly and I used to volunteer together at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo. I knew Kelly was at the event because she approached me while I was assisting Sven, but I was touched that she saved me a seat, especially when it couldn’t have been easy with this huge turnout.

The panel was once again conducted by John Siuntress from The Word Ballon podcast, though he admitted he was not used to conducting group interviews. Regardless, he did a great job, though for some odd reason he ended the discussion fifteen minutes before it was scheduled to.

There was a nice moment when an audience member complimented the crew on having such great social media posts. They could not have known that the women responsible (Jennifer Vlas and Briana Janczy) were sitting nearby. It must have been a particularly proud moment for Briana’s mother, Margie, to hear how well her daughter was doing, and I wished I could have photographed her reaction.

With the extra time, I stopped over at booth 883, occupied by the folks from Harebrained Design. Nanette Keir had purchased a cool Godzilla shirt featuring the King of Monsters and a Chicago-style hot dog. The night before, my son, Luke (huge Godzilla fan), surprised me by picking me up dinner and having it ready for me when I got home. He knew I’d be wiped, and it was a very thoughtful thing for him to do. Needless to say, I thought I’d show my appreciation by getting him this shirt, which he loved.

The only other items I purchased at C2E2 were on Sunday, where I found a booth selling magnets depicting the Kenner STAR WARS action figures I grew up with. They were selling eight magnets for $20, so I snatched up the six bounty hunters (Dengar, IG-88, Boba Fett, Bossk, 4-LOM, and Zuckuss) from my favorite of those films, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), along with the red and blue Snaggletooth (if you know, you know).

I met back up with the crew in the Green Room and was having a nice chat with the sound specialist, Martin Stebbing (he worked in the music industry back in his native UK, and we discussed our mutual admiration for David Bowie) when actor Martin Sheen walked in. Looking at the cast members, he approached us and, sounding every bit like his famous character President Jed Bartlett from The West Wing, asked, “What is this, some kind of horror show?” We all laughed and, after explaining who we were, shook his hand. I told him he was my favorite President and, as a huge fan of that TV series, this was one of the highlights of C2E2 for me. It was also hilarious watching him have a conversation with Nostalgiaferatoo in full makeup while he told Mr. Sheen his alter ego, Bill Leff, had acted with his son, Charlie Sheen, in Major League (1989) and Major League II (1994). I should note that Svengoolie and Jim Roche were unfortunately absent from this experience.

Originally, the Chicago Metra train schedule had me leaving before the last signing, but during lunch, I noticed they’d added more stops, so I could stay. We were all tired and, though I could have gotten away with leaving earlier, I decided to see it through to the bitter end. Those of us without the benefit of a golf cart trudged back to the signing area as if heading for a final battle.

About halfway through, I decided I’d had enough following fans down the entire cast’s line and just stayed with Svengoolie. This was for two reasons: first, I was tired of dodging fans and crew members; second, I could help keep the line moving. When he gets tired, Svengoolie can be kind of cranky when the line stalls, and at this juncture, he and I were on the same page. By the time it was over, I felt like I’d run a marathon.

When it was all over, Sven and Squad posed for photos. After which, Svengoolie told me to stay put because they wanted to get a full cast-and-crew photo. “Did you want me to take the picture?” I asked. “No, we want you to be in the picture,” he replied, which was very kind of them and yet another highlight of an amazing weekend.

Sven and Jim gave me a hug, and we said our ‘goodbyes.” Jim brought up my visiting the station for a full Svengoolie and Squad taping, and I hope it happens. The weekend I initially had some trepidation about turned out to be a fantastic experience.

~ Dave

SVENGOOLIE WILL RETURN IN AVENGERS DOOMSDAY!*

(*and by that, I mean the 2026 Flashback Weekend, so stay tuned!)