Hello everyone
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2024 7:37 am
Stumbled upon this site while searching for info on Animecon '91 and I am glad I did! I hate to say it, but I do not recognize todays fandom; it is so different. Things evolve I suppose.
Like a lot here, I enjoyed Anime before I even knew what it was. Running home to watch Battle of the Planets and Speed Racer after grade school. Then Star Blazers and then it was Robotech - I was forever hooked at that point.
I begged my mom to take me to Japantown in San Jose to rent videos at Japanvideo. They had VHS tapes full of Anime recorded straight off of Japanese TV for rental. I then discovered conventions. Countless Creation conventions (Star Trek, "Japanime (lol), Sci-fi in general, etc...) I started volunteering to get in at a discount or for free in some cases.
Then came Animecon. I volunteered for 1991 and I think 1992 - I cannot recall. I then joined the staff of Anime America and with the help of my friend Warner, came up with the full color badges that no one had ever done before. I am pretty sure we pioneered it but I cannot say for certain and it would have happened eventually I suppose.
In the middle of all of this, we started No-Name Anime in San Jose. We held monthly meetings at the Santa Teresa Public Library in San Jose as well as the Main library when it were next to the convention center while ST branch was renovated.
I am also an original founder of Fanimcon. It is amazing to see what our blood, sweat and tears has become. I ended up leaving in 2000 to focus on my new family but those early grass roots years are an experience I will cherish forever.
Life went on, I learned Japanese in College and then proptly forgot most of it over the course of 30 years. I recently, over the last 2 years, have been re-learning and its mostly coming back to me. I visited Toyko and Nagoya last September for a life changing trip. I went primarily to finally "go" and to shop for inventory for my side gig of retro import console games. I did take a couple days to site see and I cannot wait to go back. My trip really put some perspective in my life and I have made some pretty significant changes for the better since. Feel free to AMA.
Cheers,
Tom
Like a lot here, I enjoyed Anime before I even knew what it was. Running home to watch Battle of the Planets and Speed Racer after grade school. Then Star Blazers and then it was Robotech - I was forever hooked at that point.
I begged my mom to take me to Japantown in San Jose to rent videos at Japanvideo. They had VHS tapes full of Anime recorded straight off of Japanese TV for rental. I then discovered conventions. Countless Creation conventions (Star Trek, "Japanime (lol), Sci-fi in general, etc...) I started volunteering to get in at a discount or for free in some cases.
Then came Animecon. I volunteered for 1991 and I think 1992 - I cannot recall. I then joined the staff of Anime America and with the help of my friend Warner, came up with the full color badges that no one had ever done before. I am pretty sure we pioneered it but I cannot say for certain and it would have happened eventually I suppose.
In the middle of all of this, we started No-Name Anime in San Jose. We held monthly meetings at the Santa Teresa Public Library in San Jose as well as the Main library when it were next to the convention center while ST branch was renovated.
I am also an original founder of Fanimcon. It is amazing to see what our blood, sweat and tears has become. I ended up leaving in 2000 to focus on my new family but those early grass roots years are an experience I will cherish forever.
Life went on, I learned Japanese in College and then proptly forgot most of it over the course of 30 years. I recently, over the last 2 years, have been re-learning and its mostly coming back to me. I visited Toyko and Nagoya last September for a life changing trip. I went primarily to finally "go" and to shop for inventory for my side gig of retro import console games. I did take a couple days to site see and I cannot wait to go back. My trip really put some perspective in my life and I have made some pretty significant changes for the better since. Feel free to AMA.
Cheers,
Tom
