Rand Unwrapped (8 page)

Now you fans will hate me for this, but I want to tell the truth. At that point in my life I only had a vague idea of who Rick Hunter was? Remember I went into the studio and just did my
bits and walla
. Rick Hunter to me was just another one of the many animated characters that were moving about on the screen. Most of the time, I was focused on the characters I was voicing. At other times, there were no tracks recorded for the other characters in the scene, so I would lay down my tracks without hearing them. But I had the feeling that I was going to learn who Rick Hunter was very quickly. After I met with Stuart I was taken into this larger office and had the opportunity to have a brief meeting with Frank Agrama the President and owner of Harmony Gold. I was led down what seemed to me a very long hallway, which ended with a set of oversized double doors. When they opened the large doors to his office I felt like Dorothy the first time she met the Wizard in Emerald City. I mean there was no fire and brim stone but this office was the Reflex Point of Harmony Gold and the driving force behind
Robotech
. There could be no television series without Frank Agrama. He was really nice and when we shook hands and told me that I would be playing the character of Rick Hunter in New York, I felt at that moment that everything was going to be all right. Over the next few days, I had several meetings with Bonnie (actually Carl Macek's sister in law and Svea Macek's sister) the costume designer for the show. She took lots of measurement and before I knew it, I was fit into the uniform that was worn by Rick Hunter in the series. I asked if a helmet and a cyclone went with the costume. It was really a joke, but no one laughed. I also asked, and was granted the ability to see some of Rick Hunter's episodes so that I could get an idea of what he sounded like and how the character moved. Tony Oliver nailed the character and really captured the relationship with Minmei. I never really knew why Tony Oliver (maybe he was not available) couldn't do the New York trip but after watching a few episodes, I realized that our voices had a similar quality. Of course, no matter how hard I tried, I still had a bit of a New York accent and attitude. But I tried as best as I could to capture the spirit that Tony had instilled in the character. As I understood it, my job was to greet the fans in New York City as Rick Hunter. This
seemed easy enough at the time. But Harmony Gold had one more surprise for me.

I had the opportunity to meet for the first time the talented Rebecca Forstadt aka Reba West who of course played Lynn Minmei. Rebecca was also asked by Harmony Gold to do the New York City trip and attend the toy convention dressed as Minmei. She, unlike me, knew what she was doing and really helped me get through the trip. Rebecca is a very talented performer who really captured the spirit of Minmei. Playing off her made it so much easier to get into the Rick Hunter character.

I don't remember much about our flight to JFK, but when we finally landed it was cold and cloudy which it often is in New York City. I do remember having fears about being put up in some small
Motel Six
type of flea trap on the edge of nowhere or even worse 8
^th
Avenue. I had no reason to believe this but it was just my nature to think that way. My fears were allayed when we arrived at a very large and very “grand” Grand Hyatt Hotel. We entered through the street level but the actual lobby for the hotel is on the seventh floor. I thought that a lobby on the seventh floor was strange. But what the hell, it was in no way less than any other large hotel lobby with a large atrium and elevators made of glass. I thought to myself that this was a cool hotel and that I would like hanging out here. But, the funny part about it was that I never spent much time actually staying in the hotel. As soon as I got there I was right back out the door sucking up New York City nightlife and seeing some old friends. There was a married couple that lived in Manhattan named Gina and Paris. They were actually old friends of my wife. Paris was a tall handsome working New York actor and Gina was a flight attendant on one of the big international airlines. Paris did lots of New York theatre and commercials and was very interested in learning about
Robotech.
They met me in the hotel lobby. We hung out for a while talking about
Robotech
and then they took me out to dinner in a restaurant not far away from the hotel. All I can remember about the place was that it was a small store front unassuming little place that served Cuban Chinese cuisine. I had never had Cuban Chinese cuisine ever before and actually ever since. The place was dimly lit and I kept thinking to myself that I'd better order carefully or that I would get sick. But the food was outstanding. I ordered some sort of combination Cuban Chinese dish called
Platano Maduro Kung Pau
, which was fried bananas, fried rice, and Kung Pau chicken. As I think about it now, that was quite a bit of starch. But I wasn't thinking of starch on that night. I was thinking about eating something not too spicy so that I would not be sick as Rick Hunter the following day. After we at, we walked around a while and then we went to one of my favorite places,
Café Un, Deux, Trois
for dessert and coffee. Of course I had to have a soufflé and an espresso. You got to love New York City because there's so much to do and so much always available any time of day.
Café Un Deux Trois
is still there today on 44
^th
Street and is a great place to eat if you are in that part of town. Paris and Gina walked me back to the hotel lobby and were off. I invited them to the
Robotech
event the next day, but they couldn't make it. We said our goodbyes and as I watched them walk through the lobby and down the elevator, I thought they were a perfect couple and wonder where they are today. You're probably wondering why I spent this time writing about my Cuban Chinese dinner with Paris and Gina and what does it have to do with
Robotech
. Paris and Gina wanted to know about the show, it's characters and story and I (at that point in time) really had not a clue about the show, it's characters or the people who watched it. Little did I know all of that was about to dramatically change?

The next morning we were up early and hit the ground running. Both Rebecca and I put
on our costumes and were escorted to a
Matchbox / Robotech
booth. The event, which is kind of vague in my memory, featured many kinds of toy manufacturers. I say vague because since that time, I have attended many so
Robotech
, Sci Fi and Animae events that I want to be careful not to mix them up. I do remember lots of people dressed in all sorts of wild and wonderful costumes that ranged from animae, Star Trek and Star Wars. I couldn't believe the detail that many of the fans achieved in creating a realist look for their costumes. One guy, kept trying to shoot me with a Star Trek hand phaser weapon. I kept dodging him because I was afraid that the weapon he was pointing at me as actually a Taser. I didn't want to be knocked unconscious on my first day of the event. What was special about this New York City event for me was that it was my first and I was learning as I went along. One of our first functions was to be at or near the
Robotech
booth at all times and be available for photographs and autographs with fans. One question I had to answer for myself was what would I sign when I was asked for an autograph? Should I sign my real name or should I sign Tony Oliver's name or should I just sign Rick Hunter? I decided to sign Rick Hunter. That seemed like a safe choice but it also had its own set of problems.

What happened during that first day was an amazing experience for me. For the very first time I had the opportunity to meet the people who watched the show and learn about
Robotech
from them. There would be fans that asked for a picture together and that was pretty easy. I got into trouble when fans asked me questions about specific episodes that Rick Hunter was part of. At first I thought I could just give general responses, but I learned quickly that you could not get away with a generic answer with a
Robotech
fan. They knew the stories and characters inside out. Another small bump in the road for me personally, that the fans quickly recognized that I was not the voice of Rick Hunter. Some of them also elaborated more fully, “You're not the voice of Rick Hunter at all you're the voice of Lieutenant Dennis Brown or Bobby and you said this line in this particular episode.” So, my signing autographs, as Rick Hunter didn't work for many people. They just asked me to sign my own name, which I gladly did but I knew in my heart that they were disappointed. I thought to myself, “No one and I mean no one should ever try to fool with
Robotech
fans because it's a battle they will never win.”
Robotech
fans knew these characters too well for anyone to try to impersonate them. I decided the best course of action was to just come clean and tell them the truth. Once, I did that, all the doors opened up for me. The fans were great and along with the help of Rebecca, I got through the day without causing any major catastrophes. I actually had a great time.

I had the opportunity on the first day to meet some very cool and interesting people dressed in all sorts of costumes. I loved the costumes, but the real gift for me was learning who these people were and how far they travelled to attend the event. I was amazed that there were literally people at the event from all over the world. They were musicians, actors, scientists, teachers, students, dog lovers, cat lovers etc. You name it they were there. I remember seeing this one very cute girl dressed as
Sailor Moon
who smiled at and said something like, “Hey, Rick Hunter… you're cute!” Against orders, I abandoned my post and tried to follow her but I lost her in the crowd. When I finally got back to the
Robotech
booth, I was reminded that I should
never
leave my post. After all, I was Rick Hunter and should be by Minmei's side not chasing Sailor Moon. I guess it was bad for business. But you got to admit, there's something very nice about Sailor Moon!

I also got to meet lots of the younger fans that loved the show. There was this one little
boy who was about eye level with the table at the booth who kept staring at this huge model of what I think was the SDF #1. It stood on a stand on the table next to what looked like a smaller version of the same toy. This little boy just stood there for about a half an hour just staring at the larger toy like he was in a trance. I could see in eyes that he was no longer in the room but somewhere up in space flying one of those babies and taking down a Zentradi battleship or fighter. He just didn't move. Finally, I broke in and said something really dumb like, “pretty nice toy, huh?” He looked at me briefly and said, “Who the hell are you? You're not Rick Hunter!” then turned back to eye balling the toy. I replied, “Yeah, kid, you got me on that one… I'm not Rick Hunter” and reached down and pulled the smaller toy off the table and gave it to him. “Here kid, you can fly this baby home.” But he didn't take it. He kept his eyes fixed directly upon the larger more expensive version of the toy and said in a heavy New York accent; “My Motha says I can't have that big one cause we're poor and we ain't got any money for toys.” I replied, “What about your father, can't he buy it for you?” He looked up at me and this killed me, “I don't have any father.” When he said that I couldn't take it. I pulled the large toy off the table and handed it to him. He took it that time, smiled and looked at it in amazement and said, “Get outta here!” and I said, “Yeah, get outta here…
now…
before we get caught.” He smiled at me ear to ear, “Thanks Rick! Or what ever your name is…” and then vanished into the crowd. I never got to ask him his name. He's probably in his late twenties or thirties by now. I hope he's still into
Robotech
where ever he his. One thing I discovered was that I was falling in love with the
Robotech
fans and that they were the most important thing about the show. I think there could not be a
Robotech
without them. I remember telling Carl Macek about giving the kid the toy and he laughed out loud “Don't let Matchbox find out, they will take it out of your pay check.” I never said a word, but I think if Rick Hunter was there that day and met that little kid, he would have done the same thing. Rand would definitely have done it because it was the right thing to do.

Robotech
was never the same for me after the New York City trip. I didn't know much about the series from the perspective of what I was doing but I saw for the first time the spirit of what
Robotech
truly was through its fans. As we approached the third season called
The New Generation
, I figured I would continue play smaller
bit
parts and
walla
as I had done before. But I was very wrong.
Robotech
had yet another new adventure awaiting me.