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| Show banner designed by Andrew Kern |
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| Show poster designed by Marco Mazzoni |
There was a stage set up with live music and about a dozen different vendors set up outside the concession building, and a demo set up for Retroware's Toxic Crusaders game, which is set to be released on Switch, Playstation, Xbox, and Steam in the very near future.
There was also a very cool photo op on the stage outside of the concession building that I helped set up on the last day of VHS Fest with JT, Steve, Wes, Donovan, and Alex. The astroturf was a hell of a lot heavier than I thought it was going to be. If Alex wasn't there, I think the rest of us would still be trying to roll that damn thing out!
This is what the photo op stage looked like when it was finished. The woman standing to the right of The Toxic Avenger (JT) is Pat Swinney Kaufman. She is the executive director of the New York State Governor's Office for Motion Picture and Television Development and the deputy commissioner of Empire State Development (and Lloyd's wife). She was lovingly referred to by everyone on the lot as "The Commish". To the right of her is lot crew manager Dave Wert, who is a hell of a nice man and who busts his ass making sure things on the lot run smoothly, and next to him is director and Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman.
I meant to get a photo on the stage, but time got away from me. Lloyd, Pat, and JT stayed until well past midnight to meet fans, sign autographs, and even participate in full skits that were videotaped by some of the Troma fans in attendance. I still ended up taking a nice photo with Lloyd Kaufman, and it's a memory that I'll never forget.
I was hanging out by the concession building during intermission talking with Mark and Nancy when JT came over to me and asked if I had room in my car. I figured that he probably wanted help with moving some props or something like that, but instead he asked if I could drive Lloyd and Pat Kaufman back to their hotel. I've lived in the area for most of my life and I'm familiar with the hotel that they were staying at, and... I got to hang out with the dude who created and directed The Toxic Avenger!
I was a little nervous at first so I kept pointing out restaurants as we passed them to let them know a few places in the area that had good food. I hope they had a chance to stop at The Beacon. It's one of the last vintage diners in the area, and they make some pretty darn good eats!
Lloyd and Pat were both incredibly kind. I was debating in my mind throughout the drive of whether or not I should ask if I could take a picture or if that would be annoying to a guy who had a very long day and needed to get some shut eye to get ready for another long day on Saturday. When we got to his hotel, I sort of said "to hell with it" and asked him if it would be alright, and he could not have possibly been more gracious.
He also gave me this awesome first issue of the new Toxic Avenger comic (with a trading card) as a present for bringing them back to the hotel, which was incredibly nice of him. I'm proud to add this to my comic collection, and I'll always remember that it was given to me by the man who created Toxie.
I didn't get a photo of the title cards, but I did get to watch most of Surf Nazis Must Die from the front gate, and Rabid Grannies from my car after I got back from dropping Lloyd and Pat off at their hotel. I had seen both of them before. I saw Surf Nazis for the first time when I rented it on VHS from Hollywood Video when I was a teenager, and Rabid Grannies was one of the first movies that I ever saw at the Mahoning when it was screened at VHS Fest 5 in 2021. I missed Rise Of The Super Tromettes, which was the second movie of the night, so I'll have to circle back and catch it at home.
I would have gone back tonight for the second night of Troma Thon 2025, but I have tickets for a marathon of Dario Argento films at The Gap, which I'll write about later. I'll definitely make it back to Troma Thon 2026 though. Maybe I'll get that photo printed and ask Lloyd if he wouldn't mind signing it.
