 Crystal Ball I was in the elevator with him and I wanted to take the time to thank him I didn't get to thank him the year prior for the show. He looks at me and he goes, oh I remember you Long pause. Which is the proper response you all know. Yeah, I'll never forget that as long as I live But suffice to say I've gotten to meet everybody. I really truly care about everyone you and not G.I. Joe is a team no matter what field it is It's not an individual. I can't thank you all enough for everything putting up with me and whatever I hope everybody had fun. I hope everybody continues to have fun. I can't help but thank the designers enough for everything And thank you So next on my list How about Mr. Bezigian? Come on up here. You take a different chair but come on up here. Yesterday I said that Larry Hama gave G.I. Joe its soul Today I want to say Brian Savage has given it its heart. I want to thank Brian for giving me an opportunity to keep in touch with G.I. Joe And I also want to thank all of you Everyone coming up to me, you know the last few days thanking me for everything. I've done with G.I. Joe I want to thank all the fans because without you this all wouldn't have happened and Once again, I just want to say thanks to Brian, to Becky, to the entire staff of Fun publications. You guys have been great Good luck. And as everyone else has said this is just going to morph into something different next year So I'm looking forward to seeing all of you downrange some day. Thank you It's a whole weekend taking pictures with everybody. I want a picture of all of you And you can't run the convention without volunteers. So you need some volunteers. So Martin Where are you? Come on down This is our miracle child right here Or as he was known in the rafting circles the victim How you doing? I'm sure some of you know me. My name is Martin and I've been here coming here for 17 years. My first Prevention was 2002 3 3 quarter. So it's been a pleasure and I hope this doesn't stop It's gonna start somewhere else. So I appreciate all of everybody here and the team of the girls and you know everybody here. So Thanks Hey, you're up Really nice, so I'm gonna say some really bad stuff. Yeah You're just like the internet aren't you know not like like everyone said You know I came for the toys and I stayed for the experiences You know life like long friends like Barry and Todd and a bunch of everyone's but you know Brian He built a company that not not only did he do like this the way I'm gonna deal with he always says like How do we make it better and he gave us all the opportunity to make The conventions and the clubs better by you know us participate writing articles and doing photo stories and everything So, you know he made it a true collector experience So I can't thank him enough for really building a club that was our club and and building this hobby into something that we Wanted to be so thank you guys very much Like man, I have more brothers from a different mother than I ever knew what you like this and you like that And you like this and you like that because me to me to me too And I'll tell you that that's some of the people that I've met and all this along the way so Then now I'm gonna say Barry for a little bit down the road here But you know you always need good reenactors at the show don't you so does where are you? I know she's not the only one but She's done such a great job in corralling people and convincing him that they should dress up in silly costumes and be silly I came a joke on I was really quiet really nervous and It took a couple of years for me to feel comfortable and I remember meeting goggles and He was like don't worry about anything just just be yourself and then I met Gary and Debbie and my and Martin and I I get emotional so It's been a really really wonderful ride I love you guys too But it isn't the end and we got two extra years yeah We were gonna get those two years, so Thank you, and thank you. You're all again, and you guys so you guys helped the finest be able to succeed and give back to the community and help vets and do charity work and Be more than it was when before I even got here, so but this you guys are family and it's breaks my heart But it's better sweet, so thank you for Gary got so because you always need a good podcaster along the way Not that we don't have one or two in the room but they were one of the first ones and Volunteers and bringing their family forever Need to ask me my voice is already gone. This is pretty typical But they asked me to to kind of come up and get some some brief thoughts Of course, I'm gonna try to write some stuff down. So To me, I've seen it all with Joe con Circle of life early my first show My wife was six months pregnant This show my daughter is going to high school That next school year. That's how long we've been doing this Then we talked about bringing people together and forming families you too right here Chris and Kate I Teased them is that I take five percent of getting them together, but now I'm in front of you and I got the mic of mine I'm taking a hundred percent But again if it wasn't for Joe calling these two aren't ever connecting and Now we got a great new start over here and then sadly the circle life has to stop but it stopped way too early for this guy and Gary, you know despite Sharing a hobby and a name Was a big change of my life I used to be a big guy. You know most of you that I'm still pretty big, but I'm not nearly as big as I was I lost a hundred and ten pounds because I am Seen some folks that I've already connected with already come up here and talk Martin over there was a very first guy I met in San Francisco But I got some names that I want to mention because I love you guys truly and I mean that Don and Anthony Kevin Bond George Reno James Kavanaugh man James Kavanaugh makes life worth living Joe Colton, I love you as a sister because I can't say anything else Mike here is very Justin Bell making things special. He's not here, but Terry is ours He's been a couple decent a big part of the community You know Kirk making America great. Thanks, man But also you can meet people like Ron and Larry and Darryl and John Chew and Bill Ratner and Michael Bell mirror make up Where else am I going to do that? Where else here? Joe Con so to Brian Becky Lanny Dave was let's also give some love to Pete even though he's not here Jeremiah Bill Harry Angie Karen all the guys Thank you. Thank you guys. You've been a big part of my life for the last 16 years You watch this all we watched you guys. I don't know what you're gonna do next. I know you're gonna play a plane But I I wish you guys all sincerely a hundred percent the best of whatever you do. I hope it comes to you All right, Mr. K come on down now You know a lot of you heard the story about how about Barry and I met how he got involved in the club He got involved because he wrote me a complaint letter And I picked up the phone and called him and said would you like to be part of the problem or part of the solution? He says I would love to help and there you go We've been friends ever after so it hadn't been for these shows There's a lot of my most excellent close friends. I would have never met so Barry I am the poster child to be careful what you wish for because I broke why was my first convention in 1994 I met Brian and realized there was a club and That convention for me was a shopping trip. I didn't know about a community to me It was just I'm going to buy toys and I found out there was a club I met Brian there and I joined the club and I liked the club But I very pretentious back then thought the club should be better. So I wrote Brian a letter and He called me on the phone. We talked for an hour and said well Why don't you help me make it better and I said alright? I don't know what to do and he said write something so I started writing and I wasn't a writer But I started writing for the club and Before I knew what I was interviewing the people that created G.I. Joe and that was like I would never have dream I would have had an opportunity to do that and I got to do that because of my You know my letter that I wrote to Brian and then the next thing I knew I was actually helping him design toys Which again never thought I would do like I got to do things through my Affiliation with this convention and with this hobby You know, I never would have done and that's all because of Brian and Becky and it's amazing people Yeah, Barry told me once he goes, you know and you've heard me say this couple times There's cities I would have never gone to if they went through the convention Is that a compliment or a complaint? That is true for probably everybody in this room We there are places that we've gotten to go and things we've gotten to see and experiences We've had because of what you put together and I know it's been said I don't want to keep repeating what everybody keeps saying But you know it started out as a toy thing and a collecting thing and it's become about family and My best friends to this day are the people that I've met through this hobby I have friends that I've known since high school and I don't really even connect with them anymore But it's all these guys and Dave and Todd and Daryl and I honestly I feel like you become my brother over the years You're like my older brother. It's just unbelievable. What we've got that old You're older than me But I've watched your kids grow up. You see Mike I mean it's amazing the people that we've met the things we've gotten to do and I know everybody said it It's not the end. This isn't going to end the toy hobby is going to be there The relationships are going to be there and it's up to us to keep those things going and it will morph into something else like this has I mean this started out as a very different hobby these conventions started out different and they've turned into something amazing But that is really and Dave said but it's it's a testament to you guys and what you've done because there were toy shows And they were G.I. Joe conventions before you started, but it really has grown into something It never would have if you guys hadn't taken it over so Thank you Okay, well, you know you hear me say it's my fault all the time, but you really want to know who's fault it is Come on down Kurt growing because it's first ball for asking me to ever start doing these conventions Jerk took your line I started with a room 1989 and Kirk sent Vinnie DeLave and I to a convention in California It was the first convention we went to and it's the first time we started to understand what the convention can do for a product Because of the heart and the passion you people have We used to call you knobs. It's a familiar. No, it's a military term for people and you know the privates This is your general There's your general same sphere is not on the beam Those are the guys who drove it, but it's you like cards Kirk said it was the heart of GI Joe and at 94 Vinnie and I got to see what a convention was like We also didn't realize it could be better. We moved it to a second group and it did get better. It grew was getting stronger When I went it was a transfer to Cincinnati They kind of left me alone with this all of a sudden was Karen layman. I our boss was Joe Scriven And he approached me approached Karen and said hey, I can do this for you we said yeah, right and But the show that we went to is kind of a we weren't very pleased before that I said, how'd you like to have a GI Joe club? It doesn't cost you anything So Brian nobody we called Brian up and said you really want to do this And amazingly he said yes because again he had to deal with us He had to do later. It was Darrell. I mean no matter what you're still doing with the corporation That's who I ever made The two of us on the phone There's no such thing as a short conversation Five six seven hours later. We're done. Yeah, no, you will. Yes. I won't But it was the best thing I did Unfortunately and Brian was great every year you invited me Every year I had to say no because we want vacation with my kids or I was in China But when Brian offered me the chance this time kids are gone You know, I got a chance to come here. It was not anything that was gonna keep me away I would have paid for the trip myself to see you guys one more time as a group as a family with your father Told you I'm not that old You've been busy, I should And I appreciate it. Thank you very much. You are the heart of GI Joe Keep it going keep it strong and Darrell that doesn't go anywhere. It's your fault All right, mr. Layton I asked Dave and he said But we all know Dave loves us. I don't know if I can do this you can do it