Power Rangers have left a 20 year legacy on fans of all ages and Power Morphicon in Pasadena helped celebrate this achievement right smack dab in the heart of old-town Pasadena. The convention or expo (as it was still kinda small) contained about 20 vendors mostly selling Power Rangers toys and goodies along with other giant robot-themed stuff, an autograph area with the majority of former cast present, panel discussions, an artist alley, a concert and more!
Those in attendance were treated to a panel featuring David Yost – who played Billy Cranston aka ‘the original Blue Ranger‘ of the show. Why is this so important? Apparently David has not been one to make public appearances – especially at Power Rangers themed events. This panel was filled to capacity with a couple thousand adoring fans all eager to hear what David had been up to and his past experiences on the show. In addition to questions about Power Rangers specific episodes and occurrences – many questions (or comments) revolved around The Trevor Project – a fund/charity David was representing during his panel. The Trevor Project is an organization helping in crisis intervention & suicide prevention in the LGBT community.
Fans reflected on their respect for Yost both as a ‘nerd’ on the Power Rangers show and his willingness to be an openly gay actor early in the entertainment system. Yost was soft-spoken during his panel and genuinely seemed to want to speak with all of the fans of the Power Rangers show – he even gave memorabilia to fans who asked ‘great questions’ – mostly in the form of original scripts, photos and call-sheets. Some of the original Power Rangers cast members at the event crashed David’s panel and shouted ‘we love you David’ and also joined him on stage for a brief embrace.
Our friends at Shout! Factory had a booth and were selling copies of the complete series on DVD and Namco Bandai was showcasing figures and exclusives for the upcoming series Power Rangers Super Samurai. We put together a montage of screen clips for the upcoming Kinect game so be sure to check that out! (Photos with Robert Welkner and Andre Meadows aka ‘Black Nerd Comedy’ during the event)