Thursday, April 09, 2009

Did you ever meet one of your heroes?

The Crotchety Old Lady and I went into the City a couple years ago because we owned stock in a company that was being taken over. All stockholders were invited, and we thought it would be fun. We weren't major shareholders, as we had one (1) share of Marvel Entertainment valued at about 15 bucks.

It sounded fun, anyway.

The day started out pretty well as we were given a huge goody bag loaded with baseball cards and comic books. A few of the Marvel characters were present, which made it fun for Mrs.

And as we got past Wolverine (told you Mrs was happy) sitting there signing autographs was
Photobucket

John Starks
I'm not a basketball fan, but I got an autograph anyway, figuring I could pass it along to some kid, eventually.

Once inside, we sat through some boring meeting. Heard a lot of yelling, as some investors lost a boatload of money. Then, I grabbed the Old Lady and pointed out someone in the crowd of unhappy people. It was
Photobucket

Holy crap!!! She nearly dragged me over because she wanted to molest him and tear his shirt off say hello.
That was pretty cool, but then I saw him
Photobucket
and I turned into a babbling 7 year old again.
Yup, holy crap, just a few feet away from me was one of my heroes from childhood. The creator of Spiderman and the Hulk.
It was Stan, "The Man" Lee, in the flesh. I was shaking as I had him sign a few things for me. I returned to the Old Lady still goofy with excitement. It was all I could talk about for days.

And for a few hours, I was a kid again.

Did you ever meet one of your childhood heroes? Was he (or she) as cool as Stan Lee?

And Happy Passover to my Jewish friends


http://www.humorbloggers.com/

20 comments:

Shawn said...

When I was 15, I saw Hulk Hogan in my local mall. He had a couple of guys with him, and I watched as they basically deflected another kid looking for an impromptu meet and greet, so I decided to leave him alone. Still, it was pretty cool for a major Hulkamaniac like me.

Adullamite said...

Stan 'the man' Lee.
Great comics!

BK said...

It must have been a wonderful feeling and perhaps using 'wonderful' to describe is an understatement. I have never had a chance to meet any childhood heroes.

ReformingGeek said...

I really thought Batman's Robin was hot. Hum....I wonder if he really was Batman's Robin...

Anyway, he made a public appearance (in costume) and I waited in line for an autograph. It was incredibly lame. He just signed pictures of himself and handed it to you. He didn't even smile. I realize now how incredibly awful it must have been for him.

Anonymous said...

By the way, on that day Twisted Sister's Dee Snyder was NOT wearing a shirt, just a black leather vest with black leather pants, black motorcycle boots and lots of white gold bling...was that his 12-year old son with him? Ouch.

Unknown said...

I am sorry, but Dee Snyder would not get close to me with that set of fangs! I have no heroes. I think I am waaaay too cynical.

Da Old Man said...

@ Shawn: Extremely cool.

@ Adullamite: Absolutely

@ BK: It is an understatement. I was speechless.

@ Reforming: It probably was bad for him. How many years after the show was this?

@ Anonymous Mrs. Crotchety: Figured you'd remember details.

Da Old Man said...

@ Etta: Even when you were a kid?

Donnie said...

Cool! What great luck and fun that must have been. I met Bob Denver once. It's when he was Maynard G. Krebbs on Dobie Gillis. Right before Gilligan. He wasn't my hero though. Just another goofball...

Mike said...

Odly, I never did have any heroes growing up.

Damned this sociopathy!

A New Yorker said...

Way cool for you Joe! I've gotten a bit faklempt meeting stars I liked. Par for the course I guess.

Nooter said...

i eagerly await the day when i can meet my favorite superhero in person: underdog

Unknown said...

As a kid, I met a very well-done Spiderman and a really poor-man's Wonder Woman. Spiderman was a great memory. WW, was a bit of a disappointment.

More recently, I met Dave Matthews on a plane. He was in my aisle, and talked quite a bit to my coworker and I. Very down-to-earth.

Stan Lee-- now, I know a few guys who would LOVE to have met him!!

Da Old Man said...

@ Don: Gilligan, I mean Bob Denver was appearing at some show I was attending. I didn't stay to meet him. He was not nearly in the class of Stan Lee.

@ Mike: Oh man, that sucks.

@ Lauren: I did almost lose it when I met Bobby Thompson, who is one of baseball's most legendary players.

@ Nooter: I don't want to make you jealous, but I met and even scratched Rin Tin Tin.

@ Jenn: Way cool.

Michelle said...

Nope no childhood heros did I meet!!!

BUT, perhaps someday I will???

HAPPY PASSOVER TO YOU - OLD MAN!!! Just because!!!

Jen said...

I don't recall meeting a childhood hero, don't know if I had any actually but I did get to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's house in Walnut Grove. Ex#2 and I were staying at a b&b (back before he was an ex, he might have been a bf even) being that he was a fan too, one of the reasons I fell for him (and the Harley...go figure) we stopped in to tour the museum. It was like being a kid again and one of the highlights of the summer.

Da Old Man said...

@ Michelle: Happy Passover to you, too.

@ Jen: That sounds pretty interesting. Kind of reliving a happy part of childhood.

Waltsense.com said...

John Starks is famous for two things. One of the famous dunks in playoffs history over the Bulls with Jordan watching and of course - for dating Madonna.

Janna said...

Hee! How exciting for you!
You must've been giddy with joy.

Me? Nah. All my heroes are dead.
It's sad, really.

On the plus (?) side, I did get to meet Carrot Top once.
Not sure what category that falls into.

Lin said...

I met Tim Gunn (Project Runway) last year and he was so very gracious. Met author Jon Katz too. Both were people I admire, so it was exciting. You're probably thinking "Who???!!", so just humor me and act all excited and stuff, okay?

I am very jealous of Jen's trip to Laura Ingalls Wilder's house--I sooo would love to make that trip. Seriously. (I'm such a loser)

Did Stan Lee live up to your expectations or were you let down when you met him?