A Very Special Gift (Part III)

I thought it only appropriate to post the last of the three gifts I received as a result of Charticon on the cusp of the one-year anniversary of the official start to the show (August 9th). This gift is perhaps the most meaningful, not only because it was so unexpected, but because it came from the entire staff of the show, whom all became my good friends after the show was over.





This gift more or less speaks for itself, but as you can see it is a repainted Beast Wars Transmetal Optimus Primal mounted on a plaque with an inscription. Somehow, and I'm not entirely sure how it started or who started it, everyone on the team started calling me Boss Monkey since I was primarily running everything. It is a name that stuck, so imagine my surprise when during a get-together a few months ago I was presented with this figure!

We had already created a few "statue" like figures for the show that were mounted on wooden bases as prizes for different contests, but those figures were glued together and spray-painted gold to give them an "award" quality. However my friends knew that I wouldn't stand for that, so they made sure Optimus here was still completely transformable. And of course it was the first thing I did upon receiving this awesome gift.

He looks so much prettier!

All of the grey on the figure was completely repainted in a gold finish and the figure was customized with magnets in order to keep him on the base (which is also magnetized). The difference is really striking when put up against a normal Optimus Primal.

I love gooooooold.

I really cannot express how much this means to me. Never did I expect an honor of this magnitude when I started working on the show almost two years ago. But it was definitely one of the best experiences of my life, and not only did I have a wonderful time doing it, I gained priceless friendships in the process. For that, I am truly grateful.

To everyone on the team:

My wife "Wonder Woman" (first and foremost of course)
"Ninja Dave"
"Flywheels"
"Overlord"
"Gatchaman"
"Topher"
"Mbob Saget"
"Alastair"
"Paeragon"
& "Dragon"

I cannot thank you enough. None of it would have been possible without each of you and your unique contributions.

See also:

A Very Special Gift
A Very Special Gift (Part II)