Ever seen one of those 80’s tour videos?  Usually accompanied by a ballad from the hair band of the day; life on the road, truck stops, loading in gear, setting up in big venues, sound checks, load out, backstage exhaustion, back in the van…the wear and tear of the road as you setup to play from city to city.  Journey “Faithfully”, Motley Crue “Home Sweet Home”, you know, the “tour video”!  As a kid I’m thinking, “That doesn’t look so bad.  You mean you play in front of tens of thousands of people, you ride around on a cool bus, and you hang out in truck stops?  Sweet!”  Little did I know they were making millions of dollars doing it too, a sort of “pirate” summer camp for millionaire rock n roll delinquents.  When I had my bands the best we could do was rent a van, beg for taco money, get free beer, and wait around until we played clubs in strange cities in front of no more than a dozen or so folks.  “Hey, this doesn't look that Journey video, what gives?”  It was still fun, the time of my life, packed with amazing memories.  Even got stuck in the salt flats in Utah.  Had an 18 wheeler pull us out, just to pull off the axle, with the chain snapping, a 30’ metal chain whipping around in the air at mach speed.  Could have been a situation right out of a “Final Destination” movie.  “Whap!”  Head be gone.  We still drove the Van, gear and all, with the flimsy wheel rotations like a Tom and Jerry cartoon all the way back to Southern California.  We did stupid things in our 20’s.  Not much has improved.

Setting up at conventions is sort of like the tour video – grips, electricians, union guys, tractor trailers, big road cases, sets go up, the sets are dressed, merch booths are stocked, the crew assumes their positions, the curtain goes up, SHOWTIME, then the show comes down, the nights are late, the trucks move out in the wee hours of the morning, the coffee spots are welcome sanctuaries at 6a, all to start the whole thing over again.  As much as we love to do these shows, it’s a herculean effort.  Marveled at the fact folks can go show to show, some guys we know do 200 shows in a year!  We do 4 professional shows, and ultimately two fan shows, it’s still 6 shows a year, sometimes 8!  We know we have to be more fan facing, we’re really fan’s Brand, not an industry facing Brand.  Fans know us, far more than the sea of ubiquitous toy insiders, and generic Co’s.  We’re proud that we’re a fan’s Brand…nothing matters more at the end of the day than having communion with the folks who are tuned into the message.  We’ll figure out how to get to NYCC, Emerald City, Wondercon, Dragon Con, all the places you guys are at!  It’s hard with the Journey road crew!  I think we have to get back in the van to make it possible.  Always looking for surrogates to tow that rope, if you know someone who wants to be the TLS representative in your town’s Comic Con we’re open ears.

LA Comic Con – we rolled out the Journey road crew on this baby.  We built a small city, cracked open the neon signs, the powered coated shelves, the white carpet, the kiosks…the TLS version of an Apple store.  It's going to be a shopping experience, we’re here to put on a show so we’re puttin’ on tha dang thing!  150%, no hold’s bard.  All who roll by booth 717 will know “Hey!  It’s TLS!”  Crank up your Walkman, start air piano’ing, get those Asics wrestling shoes tied on tight, the big hair, the leather gear, and come forage in our Home Sweet Home!  Be a part of our tour highlights starting tomorrow and ending on Sunday, when the road show packs up and gets on the highway, stopping for that nourishing, and comforting 6a burnt coffee, eggs scrambled to a dry desert’s crisp, and bacon cooked until it resembles bark.

Each day we’ll be releasing 66 Translucent Black Night Kings, 66 Translucent Blue Night King and Viserion 2 packs (TLS 10 Year anniversary Edition), 6 First Look Ghostbuster PDQs, a small assortment of Regular Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Aggretsuko GE PDQs, 6 First look My Hero Academia GE PDQs, A new Alien tee, more tees (Tees, all $12.00), TLS Lanyards ($2.00 or free with purchases over $20.00), TLS stickers, Totes, and all sorts of other goodies, like Hot Wheels!  For the Translucent Blue Night King folks who can't make LACC, we’ll make 50 available on our website starting Monday at Noon PDT. 

Come party with us LA style, bring your shades, your smiles, your favorite ballads, and have a great time at the TLS Show, located at the Los Angeles Convention Center, starting tomorrow at Noon, Ending Sunday!  For details and show times please check this link - https://www.comicconla.com/

See you at Booth 717!