Shaking hands with Buck

Shaking hands with Buck


Headed over to the Toronto Comic Con yesterday with my son, purpose was to take in the chaos, do some shopping and of course, meet Buck Rogers himself, Gil Gerard.
Well, I failed on the shopping aspect but once I got through the several hundred washed up wrestlers ( the WWE needs a job retraining program) I found Gerard sitting there, looking amazing for a man in his 60s. I’m always timid about the celebrity thing, I’ve had a few rough eperiences and let’s just say I’m not the biggest fan of a certain sith lord anymore.
Those reservations were cast aside when Gerard offered his hand and said “Hi I’m Gil”. I loved Buck Rogers as a kid, so it was geeky cool to get him to sign my Mego action figure, I was more awkward than normal. I already owned the figure, so the signature is the only thing I got (my son however is another story) but it’s still my favourite haul in a long time.

Tags: ,

About The Author

Mantooth
AKA Brian Heiler author of "Rack Toys: Cheap, Crazed Playthings" and co-editor of "Toy-Ventures Magazine". Co-Host of the "Pod Stallions" podcast. Host of the Brick Mantooth Youtube channel, painter, designer, writer, mental health advocate, toy collector, Mego, and Mego Knock-Off enthusiast. I have large feet, ADHD and I live in Canada. Talk toys, not others.

8 Comments

  • Evilmonster on March 28, 2010

    whooo-hoooo, very cool!
    he is a cool guy…

  • JFStan on March 28, 2010

    If you haven't seen it, try to catch "Action Hero Makeover", it's a 2007 tv special about Gil undergoing a gastric bypass and getting back into shape.

  • Arkonbey on March 29, 2010

    awesome.

  • John III on March 29, 2010

    Way to go Brian, that is cool. Ironic you just did that and I just started watching my DVD's of Buck Rogers this very weekend. I haven't seen the show since I was a kid, so I looked forward to reliving some of my youth so to speak. Wow…talk about heavy cheese factor. The disco theme and bad acting are really something. The show definately likes to show how little clothes they can put on the princess, so it wasn't all bad. I do remember how I thought the rainbow armbands were really cool when I was little. Now..uh..not so much.

  • Retro Hound on March 29, 2010

    Oh man! That sounds great. Good to hear Gil is doing well.

  • chunky B on March 29, 2010

    That is a great story Brian, Ole' Lucky Buck brings back some memories, that was a cool show for the time.

  • rob! on April 1, 2010

    Bidi-bidi-bidiThat's awesome, Brian!

  • ERH on August 27, 2011

    This is the facebook fan page for Gil Gerard. You can tell him Earl sent you. http://www.facebook.com/GilGerardFans

Leave a Reply