August 24 – August 30 (2026)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

A TWO-FER this week! I had Muppet performer Dave Goelz sign these rare stills from my personal collection, which I acquired through a magazine that was going out of business many years ago. But before I had him sign them, I scanned them for posterity.

Well, it’s a bit of a no-brainer, that the song that was most on my mind this past week was Dionne Warwick’s classic “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?”

Monday the 24th – POST OFFICE! PRIVATE SIGNING! PATY’S! AND PALADIN! – Over the weekend I did a private signing for a company of about 20 “Bleach”-related items. I let them dry very well, then packaged them up and mailed them off at the post office. Then I went to my box to pick up some packages, and treated myself to lunch at Paty’s on the patio. It was a very warm day, so I was all by myself out there. But dining like that on a warm summery day is one of my favorite things to do. I went to CVS to get some supplies for my upcoming road trip, got a few grocery items at the store, and then went home to do some work. I typed out Wally’s Week, rested a bit, recorded the auditions for the day, and then went outside to take my nightly WOG (walk/jog). When I finished I got an ice cold iced tea and enjoyed that and a nice cigar in my anti-gravity chair as I sat under a gorgeous summer night sky. When I came back inside I made a salad and watched a few episodes of “Have Gun – Will Travel” from the season 2 DVD set.

Tuesday the 25th – DOUBLE SAD DAY! – On my Day Planner I had the word “dolly” written down on this day. My intent was to go to the hardware store and buy a small dolly that I could use this coming weekend to haul an especially bulky item into the San Jose Convention Center to have it signed. As I prepared to make my way over to the hardware store I got a text from my pal Sara Raftery that Dolly Parton had passed away. Very sad. Dolly was really something. I thought it odd that the word “dolly” had been written on my Day Planner on that particular day. As if it wasn’t bad enough that I was feeling sad about Dolly’s passing, I drove by the location of the Studiopolis Annex, a studio where we had recorded many episodes of “Sonic Boom,” “Bleach,” “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” and many other cartoons and video games. The studio (as well as every other building in a 3 block stretch) had been razed to the ground. Our beloved Studiopolis Annex was now just rubble. I had heard that the landlord who owned that property had canceled all of the leases on that property in order to make way for a large residential complex. But still it hurt to see the building that held so many great personal memories for me nothing but debris. Oh well…progress I guess. I got to the hardware store and found a perfect dolly, picked up some paint and a few extra items, and then headed back home. It was a very hot day out, so I stayed inside most of the day. I recorded some auditions that had come in, slept for a little bit, and later I did my WOG. I spent some time after in the anti-grav chair under a beautiful almost-full moon. Gorgeous! I did some work around the house, and then drew out some plans to make the neck and ears for my new Muppet replica…Guy Smiley!

Wednesday the 26th – DAVE! DEREK! AND DISNEY! – For over a decade I’ve known an appearance manager named Derek Maki. He’s a great guy, and he recently told me that he would be representing most of the Muppet performers for signings. I was especially elated when he said he convinced Dave Goelz to hit the circuit! Dave is the only original main cast Muppet performer (from my era, anyway) who’s still performing. In fact, his characters Gonzo, Zoot, Bunsen Honeydew, etc. have never been handed off to another performer – unlike most of the other Muppet characters. I’ve been wanting to meet Mr. Goelz for about 50 years, so meeting him at the upcoming Galaxy Con in San Jose would be a real treat! Derek has a lot of fun stuff in the works with the Muppet gang and he wants to include me in the fun. We met at Paty’s to chat about possible upcoming events. It’s VERY exciting! After lunch I picked up a package at my box, and went home to do some work and make some phone calls. I designed and traced the patterns for Guy Smiley’s ears onto some ½” foam rubber and cut them out, and glued them together. Then I got on the computer and rehearsed for a Disney call-back audition that I was scheduled for on Thursday. Later I took my WOG, but it was much too humid out to enjoy some relaxing time in the anti-gravity chair, so I came back inside the house and hit the hay.

Thursday the 27th – A NEW ADDITION TO THE FAMILY! – At high noon I was at Outloud Audio in Burbank for a directed call-back audition for an upcoming Disney project. It was for an existing character that I needed to voice match, and while I came fairly close to the original voice, Disney Character Voices thought it would be good to have me come in for a directed callback audition. I was more than happy to play, especially considering that the session was going to be directed by my old pal Ben Hoppe – whom I’ve known for almost 20 years! After we spent about 15 minutes kibitzing and catching up, we hit the studio and started working. Because this particular character’s voice is treated with a specific effect in post-production, he was getting me to do very specific things that would play well into the final effect. We spent about an hour working on it, and I honestly believe it paid off very well. So…fingers crossed. But in this business…you never know. When I finished I was starving, so I hit the local Taco Bell to pick up some lunch at the drive thru. Just as a random chance I said to the voice on the speaker box, “Are Enchiritos gone for good?” The voice simply replied, “How many would you like?” WOW! I found a Taco Bell that still offered Enchiritos. I got six and hurried home to enjoy what I thought was a long lost treat. While I only ate 2 for lunch, the other 4 came in very handy over the next several hours. (They heat up pretty well in the microwave!) I did some packing for my weekend road trip to San Jose, and later a guy named Patrick came over to tour Planet Wallywood, see my Muppet collection, and show me a Fozzie Bear replica that he had bought many years ago. He was in the market to sell Fozzie and I was interested. I wanted him to come over so I could see if his Fozzie matched the scale of my other replicas. While this Fozzie was a bit smaller than the real one, he was a beautiful piece! Unfortunately his right hand wasn’t made to be operational, and had been stuffed and mounted to his side. While that was a bit disappointing (it certainly wasn’t Patrick’s fault) I bought the replica and added him to the collection. As I had to be up early the next morning to start our road trip to San Jose, I finished packing and turned in.

Friday the 28th – “DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE?” – At 8am I excitedly awoke, cleaned up, and hit the road by 9am. I headed over to Ventura County to meet up with my pal Mark Fullerton, who would be driving us up the 101 freeway to San Jose for the Galaxy Con experience. I hadn’t been on a road trip in a while, and I hadn’t been to a convention as a fan in a long time, so this would be a double treat! And since we decided not to fly there, we could pack the car with lots of stuff to have signed! I got to Mark’s by 9:45, we moved stuff from my car to his, and we hit the road round 10:30. The countryside was absolutely gorgeous. In addition to a nice drive by the seaside, we also hit farm country, some hills and mountain areas, some desert-looking landscapes, and lots of very tall trees. Extremely picturesque! Halfway between L.A. and San Jose is a town called San Luis Obispo. Don, an old Army buddy of my dad’s lives there, so we arranged to take him to lunch and shoot a surprise video for my dad. Oddly enough Don also lost his wife right around the time my mom passed away. We met at the Copper Café at the Madonna Inn, and it was a blast. If you’ve never heard of the Madonna Inn, you should look it up. It’s fantastical! Much like my pal Mark, Don was a former law enforcement officer. So I thought it was funny that I should be dining with two former “coppers” at the Copper Café. We had a great lunch, we shot the video, Mark sent it to my dad (who was TOTALLY surprised by it) and we headed up the road further. Shortly after 5 we got into San Jose and checked into the Hyatt Place, which is just a few short steps from the convention center. Once we got settled in our rooms we walked down the main drag in search of dinner. We happened across a wonderful-looking place called Original Joe’s…a family-style Italian place. It’s been in business for 70 years, so it HAD to be good. And it didn’t disappoint. Luckily, because we were in so early, we were seated right away. We strolled through downtown San Jose and it’s truly a gorgeous town. We stopped into the convention center in an attempt to redeem our QR codes and get our Saturday badges early, but no luck. So we headed back to the hotel, got into our rooms and got settled. I prepped my stuff to have signed by Dave Goelz the next day. VERY exciting!

Saturday the 29th – MEETING MY “GOELZ!” – At 8 Mark and I met in the lobby and enjoyed the wonderful breakfast that the Hyatt Place is traditionally known for. We walked over to the convention center and got in line to get our badges about 15 minutes before 9. At 9 sharp the doors opened and we went to registration to get our credentials. Then we went upstairs and waited in another line for the doors to the convention to open at 10. But everything opened promptly, and it was wonderful. I hadn’t been to a convention in a very long time where I had the time to lounge around and shop. Normally I’m in a hurry to get to my table, and sometimes I don’t ever get time to shop around with the vendors. We found Dave Goelz’ table and made contact with my pal Derek’s assistant Anna, who would be sitting with Dave for the weekend. Derek was with another client at a convention in Florida. But Derek made Anna fully aware that I’d be coming to the table with LOTS of stuff for Dave to sign. While we shopped around I found a metal Renji sword (called a “zanpakuto” in the “Bleach” series) and I’ve always wanted one of these. I’ve signed several of them in the past, but I wanted to get one for myself. Luckily, since we weren’t flying, I could pick one up now! I could NEVER get one of these babies on the plane! This thing was SHARP! Mark and I also enjoyed chatting with animation legend Willie Ito, who had a table there. Willie has worked for virtually every animation studio in existence at one time or another. I saw that he had worked on The Jetsons, so I was hoping to have him sketch a drawing of George Jetson and Astro, since I had provided both of their voices for an episode of “Harvey Birdman” back in the 90s. In anticipation of the convention, Mr. Ito had pre-drawn a lot of different hand-drawn sketches and had them in a binder. THERE WAS A PENCIL DRAWING OF GEORGE & ASTRO! SOLD! I had him sign it for me and Mark picked up a Hong Kong Phooey sketch too. It’s not often you get to meet a legend like Mr. Ito! Then we decided it was time to grab the Gonzo stuff and head to Dave Goelz’s table. On the way back to the hotel I was stopped by a few guys in Ghostbusters costumes who asked, “Are you Wally Wingert?” I said I was, and one simply replied, “Cool!” I felt honored! We got to the hotel and grabbed the stuff. I had stuff in a rolling suitcase, and I had the Gonzo puppeteering stool that I had bought at the Henson auction last November in a box on a dolly that I pulled along. Thank God for the dolly, because carrying this box over to the convention center would have been a drag! As we stood there in Dave’s line people were wondering what was in the box. Even Dave looked out and said, “Did you shrink me down and put me in a box?” I told him the thing I had in the box would be worth the wait. When I say I’ve been waiting 50 years to meet Dave Goelz I’m not exaggerating. I quickly became a Gonzo the Great fan when I started watching “The Muppet Show” back in 1976. I had even built a few Gonzo replicas when I was a kid living in South Dakota, as I was fascinated by his sculpted foam rubber beak. When my turn at the table came, I introduced myself and reminded him that we had spoken via Zoom a few years ago as part of a fundraising auction for The Center For Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. He said my name sounded familiar and I also reminded him that I’m friends with Matt Vogel and Eric Jacobsen, two of the current main Muppet performers. I pulled the puppeteering stool out and told him that I purchased it at the Henson auction last year, and that it was the stool he used in a scene with Gonzo for the TV series “Muppets Tonight.” I explained how the auction house had broken it before it was delivered to me, and the mirror (which supplied the optical illusion that the stool had four legs) had shattered…and one of the legs had come off. When they restored it I requested that the mirror be replaced with a Plexiglas mirror so no breakages would occur in the future. (SIDEBAR: A puppeteering stool like this uses an old magician’s trick with a cleverly placed mirror which reflects the surrounding area. The stool has only 3 legs and a seat. The mirror not only reflects the middle leg, creating the optical illusion that the stool has a fourth leg, but it also disguises the puppeteer’s presence – as he’s hiding behind the mirror as he operates the character. It’s extremely clever. Dave was very deliberate in how he signed it, so he signed his real name on one of the front legs, but signed the seat with Gonzo’s elaborate signature. Then I presented a Gonzo photo replica puppet that was sold by Master Replicas many years ago. But I had my puppet builder pal, the amazing Steve Troop, do some modifications on it to make it look more like the real Gonzo. Dave signed the breast panel of the maroon tuxedo as Gonzo, but hid his own signature under the pocket flap. FUNNY! I also had some original behind-the-scenes photos of Dave working on “Fraggle Rock” that I had him sign, in addition to a wood plaque, a “Muppet Movie” original one-sheet movie poster, and the “Muppet Movie” soundtrack album cover. I explained to Dave that in my house/museum, I will have the puppeteering stool on display with the Gonzo puppet sitting atop it. He said, “Let’s see how it’ll look.” He came out from behind the table and the people in the line went crazy! Cameras started snapping shots as Dave and I posed in front of the stool and the Gonzo replica. It was MAGICAL! And I really appreciate the care and concern he showed to ensure that everything was done with great intent and thought. When I turned around to leave I saw that his line had grown considerably since I had taken my place in it. Apparently people were attracted by the impromptu show that was occurring. Good! (I heard later that Dave stayed until the very end of the show and had a great time chatting with everyone! Fantastic!) Mark and I took everything back to my room (carefully) and then headed out to get lunch. When we went back to the convention for one last run-through I picked up a really nice Stormtrooper helmet from one of the vendors. I had always wanted one, and this was the one for me! It will need a few paint touch-ups, but other than that it’s amazing! Again…I’m REALLY glad I wasn’t flying! I stopped by Colleen O’Shaughnessey’s table to say hi. She and I have been in many cartoons together, most notable she was Wasp to my Ant-Man in “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” Mark and I tried to get back to Original Joe’s for dinner, but on a Saturday night the wait time was about an hour. We put our name in for a reservation, but to kill time, we walked around to look at the downtown area some more. We happened across a place called “Jackie’s Place.” The menu had a delicious array of barbecue items and other southern favorites. SOLD! Mark went back to have our names removed from the Original Joe’s reservation list, and luckily enough, we got the LAST TWO servings of barbecue beef brisket they had for the day! Whew! It was meant to be. It was amazing sitting outside enjoying barbecue beef, mac and cheese, potato salad, banana pudding and grape Kool-Aid! And while the weather was certainly a lot cooler than L.A.’s, it was still very pleasant. We walked back to the hotel and saw all kinds of activity and nice doggies. I really love this city! LOTS going on! I got back to my room and packed everything up for an early departure the next morning. What a great day!

Sunday the 30th – MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! – Once again it was up at 8am, breakfast at 9, and hitting the road back to L.A. at 10. Don asked if we would meet him for lunch on our way back through San Luis Obispo, and we happily agreed. But on Sunday the restaurant at the Madonna Inn was a madhouse. So we met at a local Denny’s. It was good to see him again and I really hope my dad and him stay in touch on a regular basis. On the way back to L.A. we encountered considerable traffic, but we still made it back to Mark’s around 5. I loaded all the goods into my car and headed home. I was home and safe by 6. What a great weekend! But an old childhood friend of mine was in town visiting and we had dinner plans for Monday. And after dinner he’d be coming by Planet Wallywood for a tour. So I couldn’t rest much, as I had lots to do to get the house ready. I made a display base for my new Fozzie replica, and set up the signed Gonzo stool display with the newly signed Gonzo figure. I got a little bit of rest and then got back outside for a WOG. The weather had cooled down considerably since we left L.A. last Friday, and it was kinda nice. I spent some time in the anti-grav chair feeling very thankful for a perfect weekend, and then I went inside to do some more work. I made a salad and watched an episode of “The Outer Limits” before bed.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

YES! I was elated to find a Taco Bell that was still selling Enchiritos!

My new Fozzie Bear replica looks right at home among all the madness of Planet Wallywood!

The hand-drawn pencil sketch from animation legend Willie Ito that I acquired at Galaxy Con San Jose!

I signed this gentleman’s arm in Hartford recently when I was there for the convention, and he sent me this picture after it had been tattooed in. Thanks Will! I’m honored!