Backstage Pass: July 2019

July we had a great month here in Zobie. We traveled to Tennessee, which in my opinion is such a beautiful state. If I didn't love Texas so much I would live outside of Nashville.

I landed in Nashville, drove to Knoxville, and had to be back in Nashville Sunday morning for a signing with Nikolaj, but more on that a bit later. So I got my rental car and leaving the Nashville airport is a little tricky, not sure why it has to be like your stuck in a video game trying to avoid the bad guy from catching you, but that's how I feel when I try leaving this airport. Anyways I punch in the directions to Knoxville and I didn't realize  it was 172 miles away. I immediately question why I was flying into Nashville! Anyways the drive was scenic and that's the part of Tennessee that I love.

Darryl, the resident old man from the team, met up with me as we used the VA PO box to have all of the Funko POP donations for POPS for Patients based out of Tennessee. I originally found the group on my Facebook feed and thought that it would be a great group to partner up with for Zobie Cares. Zobie Cares is a division of Zobie that focuses on raising money for causes that are dear to the team. Darryl reached out to the PFP, and we found out they were actually based out of Knoxville, which left us about 2 weeks to get something lined up and announced on the Zobie Collectors Community. (Go join the group now if you're not part of it yet) The community response blew us away! We were able to get 250 Funko POPs donated from the community and we topped it off with another 100 Funko POP toys. This trip really hit close to me as I was able to see what type of impact as a team we can make to those who are going through a rough patch. I feel like July was a really rough month for me as I was battling a long sickness that took multiple trips to the doctors to figure out what exactly I was experiencing. Being sick, with day to day operations that I do for the business, having a family, and making sure that project deadlines are due is really tough, I wont lie to you. I never want to miss a deadline or have a delay, so it was a lot of support from the people around me as well as pushing through a rough patch mentally for myself in July. These types of experiences though is what makes me realize what the power of coming together as a team, as a family can really do for the Zobie family.

It wouldn't be a Zobie trip without a stop at the donut shop. Shout out to Rodney for meeting up for Dinner while in Tennessee. Chocolate glazed DONUTS!

Sunday I was able to meet up with Nikolaj, Coster-Waldau aka Ser Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones. He was amazing to work with. We spoke about my cyber security background as well as tips on how he can protect his data. He was a really cool down to earth guy (anyone who follows my social media knows I was late to the GOT party). When I did join, I watched 7 seasons in 1 month to catch up to the last season of the show. He was one of my favorites due to him being such a great actor and chemistry with Gwnedoline Christie. He also is really great in Shot Caller as 'Money'. Great great film!

As I was in Tennessee, Frank was over at CSA helping us obtain some great pieces of sports memorabilia. Here is Kyler Murray signing items for us.

Shout out to JSA for showing us love on their social media!

Here is the very talented and amazing human Kara Edwards. She is the voice of Doughbie (our mascot). She just completed building her own studio, and here she is posing with the August Doughbie Autograph 8x10s that are inserted into our Zobie Box...a tribute to the 90s. If you don't follow Kara on Instagram, you should!

Speaking of the Zobie Box, here is a behind the scenes of Destinee, Zoey and Angelina helping us build boxes. This release was the biggest release we had and it sold out in 5 days. I think people loved the prop and autograph the best. I won't spoil it here for international members who are awaiting their boxes still.

We also completed a signing with Daman Mills the new voice of Frieza. He is extremely talented and he was a blast to work with. I love that Dallas is such a hot spot for Voice-Over talent, as it allows us to do more signings with talented folks like Daman routinely.

In late July we also announced the addition to 3 Pre-Orders for ACE Midwest Comic Con in October. I am really excited for these 3 pre-orders as well. Get your autograph pre-orders here!

Side note Wilson loves Tom!

Speaking of being excited I am pumped for the FIRST EVER ZOBIE ART EXCLUSIVE POSTER! Okay sorry about the ALL CAPS! This beautiful 18x24 poster was created by local artist Benjamin Larance. Order yours here! These are limited to 50 posters only!

Finally here is a video of Huck Milner who is the voice of Dash in Incredibles 2. He was the featured celebrity in our first ever Zobie Animation Mystery Box in July!

(Side Note: Like our YouTube Channel)

Finally, I want to finish this blog post with 2 things. #1. I am really sorry for being late on this blog. August has been extremely busy for us. #2. Thank you guys for the support and sending me random emails or messages telling me about how Zobie has helped you with tough situations in your life. Your messages boost me through tough times as well. I love you.

Jayare

Stay Strong