 Press Release What is the Saturday Morning Special? It’s the brainchild of a couple of immature guys; Brian LeTendre and Matt (Matman) Herring who are the creators and hosts of the all ages Secret Identity Podcast.Secret Identity has been providing ‘solid gold ear candy’ for comic book fans, gamers, and other members of geek culture for over 7 years. In that time Brian and Matman have interviewed hundreds of creators from the worlds of comic books, gaming, movies, television and music. Included in that list are comic book creator Todd McFarlane (Spawn), actors George Lazenby (James Bond) & Dean Haglund (X –Files), musician John Wetton (Asia / King Crimson), author Alana Jolie Abbott (Into The Reach), game developer Glenn Gamble (Walking Dead: Survival Instinct) and some of the biggest current comic book creators like Dan Slott (Spider-Man), Joe Kelly (Ben 10), Jeff Lemire (Animal Man) and Scott Snyder (Batman). Even wrestling legend Rowdy Roddy Piper got into the act by putting Matman and Brian in headlocks at the same time.
So what is the Saturday Morning Special? In reverence to the days of our youth where Saturday was all about cereal, cartoons and pajamas til noon, it’s a show that celebrates all these things in a fun way.
Joining the duo in this little adventure is Keith Gleason and John Cimino from Reckless Sidekick Productions! If the names seem a little familiar it’s because John and Keith are the stars of the ‘Swass Cast’ and were the driving force behind the electrified web series ‘Hero Envy’!
What we hope to do with ‘Saturday Morning Special’ is provide viewers with a visual compendium to the Secret Identity Podcast; a show that has the same charm, positive energy and all ages fun that we provide each week.Members of the Secret identity Facebook Page will get a sneak preview of our debut episode! Everyone else will be able to see it on Saturday, May 25th. Enjoy The Show!!!
To find out more and listen to episodes of Secret Identity just go to www.secretidentitypodcast.com
Secret Identity can be heard on the radio Saturday's at 10 AM in Albany, New York on 1410 WENU CBS Sports
Matman can be reached at matmancomics@yahoo.com or (413) 433 - 9746
Brian can be reached at brian.letendre@gmail.com
The Secret Identity Posdcast is sponsored by Archie Comics, 80'sTees.com, Discount Comic Book Services, Boston Comic Con, New York Comic Con, ComicConn, Most Excellent Comics and Collectibles (Enfield, CT), Archaia Press and the Albany Comic Con
For information about Reckless Sidekick Productions go to www.heroenvy.com
 Press Release!Toys on the Hudson offers Holiday Shopping Alternative
New Jersey’s Family Toy Show Held Thanksgiving Weekend
Toys on the Hudson is pleased to announce the tri-state area’s first family-focused toy fair. Developed as a shopping alternative to Black Friday, Toys on the Hudson offers families and collectors an opportunity to discover unique gifts, meet celebrities and enjoy photo opportunities in more than 18,000 square feet of floor space.
Featured will be over 100 tables of vintage and current hard-to-find toys, comics and collectibles covering unique gift ideas for lovers of movie memorabilia, DVDs, Disney, anime, small antiques, action figures, tin, sports & non-sports, Barbie, original art and classic monster collectibles.
“We’re excited to offer a fun, alternative family activity during the busy post-Thanksgiving weekend,” said Phil DeMario, co-promoter of Toys on the Hudson. “This is a great event for both families and seasoned collectors who are looking for a different shopping experience and unique gift after they’ve fought the mall crowds.”
Many celebrities will be on hand including Steve Savino from the Toy Hunter TV series with visits by Jordan Hembrough, The “Pizza Boss” TV Pizza Tossing sensation Michael Testa, The Brady Bunch’s Geri Reischl, A Christmas Story’s Ian Patrella and many more movie and TV celebrities. Toys on the Hudson will also offer great photo opportunities for families and fans with the Batmobile, the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and Star Wars costumed characters.
“Toys on the Hudson is the perfect place to shop for the comic collector on your holiday list, as the entire Grand Ballroom is transformed into a Comic Collectors dream with over 50 tables of vintage and collectible comics, artists, authors and related merchandise,” said Mike Spino, co-promoter of Toys on the Hudson.
There will be a mix of vintage and new toys at show. “We’re excited to bring our newest Captain Action toys and collectibles to Toys on the Hudson for this exciting weekend,” said retropreneur Ed Catto, co-founder of Captain Action Enterprises.
“Toys on the Hudson might be a great way to sell your own treasures, too. Attendees can bring a toy or collectible and have it appraised by one of the many on site appraisers,” added Phil DeMario.
For the “serious-must-have-first” collector, the show opens Black Friday Evening with a Preview Night for anyone who wants a chance to shop while the dealers put the finishing touches to their booths.
The 3 day event starts on Black Friday, November 23, 2012 at 5:00 pm and continues all weekend. The event is held at the Westin Newport Hotel, on the banks of the Hudson River, adjacent to Newport Mall, 495 Washington Blvd Jersey City, N.J. The hotel is accessible from PATH, NYC and all NJ public transit. Parking is adjacent to hotel and is validated by select local restaurants. More detailed information can be found on Toys on the Hudson facebook page or at www.toysonthehudson.com.
In addition to finding John and Keith over of the Hero Envy website, you can now find them on Podomatic as well! Head over to swasscast.podomatic.com to download individual episodes and subscribe the the Swass-Cast!
 by MatmanMost comic book fans have their 'con-eyes' on next months pilgrimage to New York City for New York Comic Con. But up the road a bit in November is a show that is shaping up to be just as awesome...and that is the Rhode Island Comic Con!
For Brian and I we see this show as a place to see a few old friends, catch up with some folks we haven't seen in a while and meet a whole host of new creators and celebrities that we don't know yet.
Featured heavily is the cast from the original 'Battlestar Galactica' and by cast we don't mean the guy who played Viper Pilot # 4 in 'The Hand Of God' episode! We are talking Richard Hatch, Dirk Benedict, He rbert Jefferson, Jr., Terry Carter, Noah Hathaway, Anne Lockhart, Jack Stauffer and Sarah Rush!
And that folks isn't 1/3 of the celebrity guests that also include Secret identity guest Gil Girard and Reb Brown who was TV's Captain America.
Go to www.ricomiccon.com for more information and we hope to see you there.
Press ReleaseOfficials at New York Comic Con (NYCC) have announced that Marvel Comics will provide the original poster art for the 2012 edition of the annual pop culture extravaganza. Marvel, the renowned comic books and media entertainment company, has revealed the art which will feature The Avengers in an iconic New York setting. The specially created poster will figure prominently in NYCC’s advertising and promotion and will be featured at the convention as well as in comic book shops around the tri-state area and on MTA and LIRR railroads. Steve McNiven, the well-known and accomplished Marvel Comics artist, is credited for drawing the poster art which showcases Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America in the newly-designed costumes they will be sporting as part of the exciting new Marvel NOW! initiative launching in stores in October. McNiven will also be a Spotlight Guest at NYCC this year.
New York Comic Con, which will take place October 11 – 14, 2012 at NYC’s Javits Center, is one of New York’s largest annual events, last year attracting over 100,000 attendees. The pop culture convention draws a wide cross section of fans eager to meet and greet the creators, actors, writers, musicians and artists. As noted, the original poster art will be widely used to promote the show as well as to create a distinct identity for the 2012 edition of New York Comic Con.
Once again, Marvel Entertainment will have a 3000 square foot booth on the show floor at NYCC where attendees will have ample room and opportunity to mingle with creators and staff including Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment and Axel Alonso, Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief. Other Marvel Spotlight Guests who will be on hand to greet fans will be Kieron Gillen, Jonathan Hickman, Rick Remender, Esad Ribic, Dan Slott and Steve McNiven.
Tickets for New York Comic Con in 2012 are currently available for purchase at www.NewYorkComicCon.com. Other information about the show, as well as news about ReedPOP, which organizes a range of pop culture events, is available at facebook.com/NewYorkComicCon and twitter.com/NY_Comic_Con. Organizers note that many more guests will be announced over the next few weeks and fans should keep their eyes on NYCC’s website and blog for additional comics, entertainment and anime announcements.
 by Brian LeTendreWhat an absolute blast.
That’s how I would sum up ComicCONN 2012 in one sentence. Our friends Mitch Hallock and Erik Yacko put on an amazing show this year, filled with great creators, reasonably-priced vendors and fun for the whole family. The show was packed, with a line forming around the building for a good part of the morning.
On a personal level, this was one of the best shows I’ve ever attended, because I got to hang out with friends all day long. Joe Caramagna, Dennis Budd, Chris Giarrusso, Darrell Taylor, Keith Gleason, Amy Kutka, John Cimino, Jason May--it was a veritable murderer’s row of Secret Identity pals. I spent the day catching up with them, watching them interact with con goers and just hanging out and having fun together.
We also saw Peter David, Billy Tucci, Joe Kelly, Mike Lilly and a slew of other creators who were swarmed by fans all day seeking autographs and sketches. Matman held a trivia contest sponsored by 80stees.com and gave away dozens of t-shirts.
I also picked up over 100 comics, many from the 25-cent bins, and I got some doozies. Marvel Team-Up, Marvel, Two-In-One, The Thing,Cloak & Dagger, Ghost Rider and Dr. Fate were the highlight of my purchases. Chris Giarrusso also gave me a bunch of Savage Dragon comics from his personal collection that I cannot wait to dig into!
From the conversations with my buddy Steve (Spidey on the boards) on the way to the show, to hanging with friends all day, to sifting through all of the comics I brought home, I had a fantastic time at ComicCONN 2012, and I can’t wait to head back next year.
Check out some of the pics I took at the show today, and stay tuned to Si for our recap in an upcoming episode.
 Even if you're not into college basketball, you can still get in on March Madness! Sideshow Collectibles is hosting their own tournament and pitting heroes and villains of all genres against one another to see who's the last one standing.
Who would win in a fight between Indiana Jones and Wolverine? How about Yoda and The Hulk? Or Boba Fett and the Red Skull? You get to decide!
The competition is currently into round two, and you can head over to the offcial site and cast your votes now. You can also sign up to win figures from Sideshow--this round features Star Wars Infantry Battle Droids.
So go make your choices known, or you'll have to live with the fact that someone else decided Batman was more powerful than Obi-Wan Kenobi.
From our friends John and Keith:
The Swass-Cast is back with a spectacular year end Christmas Special or should we say "Kiss-Mas" Special? This time we are again joined by the greatest comic book podcast on the inter webs, our friend Matman Herring from the world famous “Secret Identity - Podcast” and also John's daughter Bryn Cimino.
In this stellar episode we pick out and discuss our top 3 Best Christmas Presents from our childhood. Some of the choices are drop dead hilarious and others just plain controversial but one thing is for sure, you’ll have a great time with this episode. Plus just because it means so much to Matman and his Christmas memories, The Reckless Sidekick crew dresses up in the Kiss make-up, Rally Ho! or Should I say Let's Rock and Roll all Night and Party Everyday!!
Merry Christmas everybody!!!
The Swass-Cast Crew and Secret Identity
Press ReleaseFor the first time at New York Comic Con, Hasbro will attend the convention at the Javits Convention Center in New York City from October 13-16 to present many of its iconic brands and meet with fans. Hasbro will have a significant booth presence featuring current and upcoming products from its TRANSFORMERS, G.I. JOE, JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS and KRE-O brands and BEYBLADE, MARVEL and STAR WARS lines. Additionally, Hasbro will host panels for several of its properties and action figure lines as well as offer for sale several HasbroToyShop.com special edition products made for New York Comic Con convention goers.
In addition to its booth exhibition during the main convention, Hasbro will be the title sponsor of New York Comic Con’s “NYCC Kids!” taking place on Sunday, October 16. Within NYCC Kids!, Hasbro will host the National BEYBLADE Championship where semi-finalists from around the country will battle in head-to-head competition to be crowned the BEYBLADE U.S. Champion. The BEYBLADE National Championship winner will be awarded travel to the BEYBLADE World Championship, in Toronto, Canada in March 2012. A worldwide phenomenon, BEYBLADE is a battling tops game with a focus on strategy and high-performance competition. Kids collect, customize and compete head-to-head to be the last BEYBLADE top spinning. Fans can visit www.BeybladeBattles.com for additional information, official rules and kids 8-13 can register for regional qualifier events.
“Hasbro is looking forward to an exciting and substantial presence for its first ever participation in New York Comic Con,” said Jeff Jackson, vice president of U.S. marketing for Hasbro. “As this show continues to grow we’re thrilled to be attending this year to offer our fans the opportunity to engage with Hasbro’s brands in unique ways at both the convention and NYCC Kids! events.”
Hasbro’s NYCC Kids! presence will also offer families the opportunity to experience its new KRE-O TRANSFORMERS line of construction toys and new NERF VORTEX line of disc blasters. More details about Hasbro’s booth, panels, special edition New York Comic-Con figures and other special events at the convention will be released in the coming weeks. Hasbro will be located at booth #302. For more information about New York Comic Con and NYCC Kids!, fans and families can visit www.NewYorkComicCon.com.
 by Brian LeTendre
I think I may have started down a slippery slope, my friends. After having been out of toy collecting for more than 20 years, I may be back at it. All because of Soundwave.
As I’ve talked about on the podcast before, GI Joe and Transformers were the toys of my youth. And when it came to Transformers, I was a Decepticon guy all the way. Sure, Optimus Prime was cool, but I preferred jets to cars and trucks. Thundercracker, Starscream and Skywarp were all awesome.
And then there was Soundwave. Easily my favorite Transformer of all-time, what made Soundwave even cooler was the fact that in addition to being a boombox, he had a series of minions that transformed into cassettes and could be stored within him. Lazerbeak, Rumble and Ravage were the ones I had, although there were nine in all. Of all the toys of my youth, my Soundwave figure is probably the one I missed the most.
So it’s perhaps appropriate that the first Transformer I have bought in years was the new Cybertronian Soundwave figure. On the diappointing side, this fuigure is not the iconic boombox one, but a vehicle-based one from Soundwave’s days on Cybertron (pre-boombox, if you will). The positive is that when in robot form, he looks much more like the Soundwave I grew up with than the new design from the Transformers movies.
The quality of the figure is decent, but far from the ones I grew up with, which were partly metal. Transforming Soundwave from robot to vehicle mode and back was not as intuitive as I would have liked, and I actually had to refer to the directions a couple of times. After the first transformation, it was easy enough to remember, but I could imagine a child having a pretty difficult time with it.
All in all, I definitely feel like the figure was a worthwhile purchase, and I’ll probably just keep him in his robot mode as he stands on my bookshelf. I had enough fun with this one that I went out and bought two more, and I think I’ve started down a slippery slope back to toy collecting now. Just don’t let me near any GI Joe figures, or I may need an intervention.
Below is a gallery of the figure in the packaging, and in various states of Transformation.
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