Blayne's TV Cameo as the Green Lantern (seriously)

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Hey everyone,

I saw a Green Lantern DCUC-style Kyle Rayner figure done here at F.R and it reminded me of the new times I've dressed up AS Kyle the Green Lantern for conventions/Halloween... and for the time I was on TV.

Check it out the intro for the episode of "Collectors Showdown" here:

Some back story: My friend Mike Weber (the guy dressed as Spider-Man wearing a suit jacket) brought myself and another friend to a small convention in Toronto one summer - but insisted we all dress up and walk around. No cosplay/masquerade silliness, just regular silliness - walking around in children costumes.

I decided to sew my own Green Lantern costume (I didn't like the children's costume idea), as I was really into the whole GL 'Rebirth' storyline at the time. The suit turned out really well, and I put small shoulder pads in the top to subtly beef me up, and reflective tape on my boots/up my pant leg to emulate the comic character's look.

Apparently, the producers for an HDTV Bell ExpressView series "Collectors Showdown" were walking around at that convention asking retailers if they saw any really hardcore fans they could interview to be contestants on their show. Every single one of them pointed them in the direction of my friend Mike Weber.

A few weeks later, I got to watch the taping for this episode in the midst of the Paradise Comics Convention in Toronto, Ontario. While they did various takes, I got to speak with George Perez:

... and to hang out with Arthur Suydnam: I'd not realized all the DarkHorse ALIENS covers I'd loved growing up were painted by "Marvel Zombies" cover artist himself. Really cool guy.

Anyhow - Mike won the best of three competitions (trivia, drawing, etc.) against a DC-fanatic guy (who was also a really nice fellow). Before they revealed his prize ($1000 to be spent in 10 min @ the convention), Mike pulled me on screen and introduced me as his best friend from university. Then I spent the next 10 min running around on camera at the convention, trying to find Hulk 180 / 181 (Wolverines 1st appearance) at a decent price.

The DC guy (Don) got a runner-up prize that was actually the best prize for him: a personal sketch of Superman, signed by George Perez - the guy's idol. He then got to hang out with Perez for a while. You could tell Don was on cloud nine for the rest of the day. ^_^

My friend Mike Weber still has all the comics he bought that day, and at the most recent convention (Fan Expo 2009, where I had a table for my custom figures) - he got the comics signed by the guys who created Wolverine - Len Wein and John Romita Sr.

I have the full episode that I'll post to YouTube sometime in the next while if anyone's interested.

Odd addendum to the story: two years later, I got a call from my old boss who now works at an electronics store selling TVs. Apparently that HDTV series is on loop in his store, including my episode. He'd point out to his customers interested in HD television sets that he use to work with "the guy in the green costume" as an icebreaker.

Cheers,
-Blayne