Latest / Alana Unleashed / The Architect of the GCRN: Deconstructing Legacy and Audio Engineering

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The Architect of the GCRN: Deconstructing Legacy and Audio Engineering · Alana Unleashed

0:15
Hello, I'm Alana Ace, and today we're breaking
0:19
down a legacy. We're going from the Wild West
0:22
days of RSS feeds to the high stakes landscape
0:25
of 2026. We are deconstructing the career. of
0:30
a man who hasn't just watched the industry grow,
0:33
he kind of helped build the foundation. Welcome
0:36
to a landmark edition of Alana Unleashed. Today,
0:41
I'm sitting down with the architect and co -founder
0:45
of the Geekcast Radio Network, the host of Alter
0:49
Geek and All Things Transformers, and a man who
0:52
has produced and edited more digital audio than
0:55
I've had hot meals. Please welcome... the legendary
0:59
Steve Megatron. Welcome, Steve. You've been on
1:03
my guest list since, well, day one. How does
1:07
it feel to be on this side of the mic? Well,
1:10
to be honest, not that abnormal. I typically
1:13
record a lot of podcasts, so I'm usually on the
1:18
other side of the microphone with whomever I'm
1:20
recording with at any given time. But to be interviewed,
1:24
it's very rare. Thank you for having me in this.
1:29
This is really awesome. Thank you. So, Steve,
1:32
you started Geekcast Radio back when you practically
1:36
had to be a coder just to get an episode out.
1:39
What was the most MacGyver thing you had to do
1:41
back then just to get a show live? Oh, I remember
1:46
those days. Oh, man. I. I used to have to hand
1:55
code the RSS feeds. I used to have to automate,
1:59
well, not automate, manually do everything, including
2:02
edit episodes, edit podcasts. I had to teach
2:05
my co -host and co -founder of the network how
2:09
to edit. I had to basically build connections
2:15
out there and learn how to do. everything because
2:19
i didn't have any money and honestly i still
2:21
don't have all that much um but i'm trying to
2:25
i'm trying to amplify and build the network up
2:27
more than it already is at this point uh which
2:30
is which has been a uh a struggle and a challenge
2:33
but uh i think this might be our year but yeah
2:37
so the most macgyver thing i would have to say
2:40
is just busting my butt honestly just grinding
2:47
Working multiple jobs, getting home, staying
2:49
up an extra four hours, recording four episodes
2:52
a night, and then somehow having time to edit
2:54
and then put them online and then update the
2:57
code on the website. So yeah, it was definitely
2:59
a chore. Oh man, I remember those days. It was
3:04
all duct tape and hope, right? Oh, totally. 100%.
3:08
You've hosted and edited a literal mountain of
3:12
content. After all these years, how do you keep
3:15
your ears fresh? Do you still hear ums and ahs
3:20
and everyday conversation? That's where it gets
3:25
to be fun. I still have that verbal crutch. I
3:29
still mess up. I still say on and go. So it's
3:35
like I'm almost like quasi burping on the microphone.
3:38
And so, yeah, it's it's quite entertaining, but
3:43
it's annoying if you're editing that out constantly.
3:46
I did end up creating a filter in Adobe so that
3:49
I can take out my breathing and some of the clicking.
3:54
There have been times where I've played video
3:57
games while I'm recording a podcast. And so I'm
4:01
about 50 % in both. And it's more so because
4:05
my mind has to have something to do. That makes
4:07
sense. So there were points in time where I had
4:12
random clicking and all of that. As you can hear,
4:17
I'm doing the uh and the um. And so the verbal
4:23
crutches, as it were. So, yes, I still hear it
4:26
after all these days and years and everything
4:29
else. The only thing I can't fathom is hearing
4:33
people breathe. And that's because I learned
4:38
that in college when I was a wee lad. No, I'm
4:42
just joking. No, we were editing and doing a
4:46
short film, and my professor was like, we don't
4:49
need to hear them breathe. I mean, it didn't
4:51
sound like that, but it's regardless. You get
4:53
where I'm going with this. Oh, okay. What was
4:59
the philosophy behind building a network instead
5:02
of just one show? Was it about community or just
5:07
having a brain that never stops wanting to talk
5:10
about everything? honestly with the network starting
5:15
it was by accident i i was recording all things
5:21
transformers at the time and i'd met tfg1 mike
5:25
on twitter and we were just kind of we kind of
5:31
clicked and then we met pecan court michael and
5:34
and the the birdman don and a bunch of other
5:38
were all on Twitter. It was fairly new at the
5:41
time. I mean, I joined in August of 2008, which
5:44
is also around the time I started the podcast.
5:46
And I used to listen to This Week in Geek and
5:49
I used to be on TFWire. And so I'd always wanted
5:53
to do not just a Transformers podcast, but a
5:56
movie podcast. And so when I got to do that,
6:01
I was like, you know, it would be nice. to do
6:07
a movie podcast or do a general geek podcast
6:10
or do you know a bunch of other things and mike
6:13
wanted to do tfg1 and doing a review show and
6:17
i i still was doing all things transformers and
6:20
various iterations and cancellations and revivals
6:23
and so we we kind of paired up with other people
6:26
that were creators and you know decided that
6:31
It was time like it was we wanted to cover other
6:34
things other than Transformers, even though that's
6:36
kind of the bread and butter of the network.
6:40
We we decided that, you know, it would be fun
6:44
to cover other topics. And so we started Geek
6:47
Cast Radio. We started Movie Week in Review.
6:49
And then we started, you know, Altered Geek and
6:51
the Beast Unleashed podcast and Legends of the
6:54
Dark Knight and so on and so forth. There's only
6:57
one show that you'll never find in the network
6:59
again. And some of our listeners have the files
7:03
and were so gracious as to give them back to
7:06
me because I had deleted them years ago. There
7:10
was a show called Headshot, which is where I
7:15
went on a tirade and it was not pretty. So that
7:20
one I had intentionally scrubbed because I was
7:23
a loudmouthed, young, early 20s kid. shoot his
7:27
mouth off about things he didn't really know
7:29
about because you know I'm almost pushing 40
7:31
here and we're at this this vantage point where
7:36
I'm like looking back and I'm like I am so more
7:38
evolved despite the fact that I still have verbal
7:41
crutches I uh -huh so much more docile than I
7:44
used to be hmm now I will say that the other
7:48
part of the network aspect is we wanted to talk
7:52
to voice actors we wanted to talk to creators
7:54
we wanted to talk to producers writers musicians
7:58
i mean we've talked to stan bush multiple times
8:01
and david k and uh just a majority of these these
8:05
actors i mean we i mean we got to talk to larry
8:08
detilio uh jason david frank and kevin conroy
8:15
all actors who are sadly not with us anymore
8:18
and you know if i had to kind of break it down
8:23
and say you know what are some special interviews
8:26
that we think were a masterpiece like I would
8:29
say some of those definitely I've loved the ones
8:33
with David Kaye and the ones with Rob Paulson
8:34
I've loved like a lot of other podcasts that
8:38
I've been on and to be honest I think it's just
8:44
I think it's just kind of a luck of the draw
8:48
of who you pick and like how you promote it and
8:51
if they promote it back and I mean If, you know,
8:56
I can think they're a masterpiece all day long
8:58
just because I'm super excited to get into it.
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And then, you know, they may not, it may be DOA
9:04
as soon as it's posted. So, I mean, it's hard
9:07
to tell. It really is. But I think it greatly
9:10
breaks down to if it was somebody that resonates
9:15
in other people's nostalgia and childhood. Right,
9:19
right. Exactly. Sometimes the best stuff is the
9:24
sleeper hit. Yep. How did you handle the early
9:31
trolls? Back then, the community was probably
9:34
so small that the feedback felt way more personal
9:38
than it does now. Personal, you say? Oh, you
9:42
have no idea. I can remember a multitude of different
9:47
scenarios. Mike and I used to get on the show,
9:50
and at the beginning of whatever it was, episode
9:52
it was we would start trolling them back like
9:55
just calling them out saying they're you know
9:58
name calling just whatever it was petty but to
10:03
some degree they were right i mean we were very
10:06
green we were very loud mouth we were very opinionated
10:12
and spiteful and just hating on stuff sometimes
10:17
overly so like just overly nitpicking Some of
10:20
it was warranted, but, I mean, we've gone back
10:23
and looked at, you know, movies and TV shows
10:25
and stuff that we covered, you know, way back
10:28
when, and our tune has changed since those days.
10:33
So, I mean, it just shows that, you know, you're
10:36
open to growth as time goes on. And the other
10:39
aspect of it is the fact that we... We used to
10:43
use only selectively Netflix. I mean, it was
10:46
Netflix and Hulu, and then there might have been
10:48
another one hanging around, but I can't remember
10:50
for the life of me at this time. We used to use
10:54
Netflix exclusively as our streaming source,
10:56
or we have a disc or some kind of a DVD or a
10:58
Blu -ray or something. And it was entertaining
11:03
because we had one troll in particular that was
11:07
hating on us something bad because we didn't
11:10
support Hulu. We didn't trust it. We didn't source
11:15
it. And it was like, dude, like we just sourced
11:17
what we had. Like we weren't singling out Hulu.
11:21
It just happened to be the one we didn't pay
11:23
for. So we didn't have it. And so it was just
11:28
an entertaining back and forth. I mean, there
11:30
were scenarios where we've had we've had death
11:34
threats over things we've said. We've had people
11:36
not like something we've said on the podcast.
11:39
you know, break it down and be like, Oh, you're,
11:42
you're this, you know, and then start slapping
11:45
political labels on us or start slapping other
11:47
stuff. And it's like, dude, we're just making
11:50
commentary about stuff. It's like, we're not
11:52
always the most well informed, but we're very
11:55
raw and authentic. So it's kind of, it's kind
11:59
of entertaining when it happens. Uh, I remember
12:03
having to very thoughtfully draft out emails
12:06
to deescalate the situation. I mean, now people,
12:09
You know, they swat people or, you know, whatever
12:12
it's called. I think that's what it's called.
12:14
I'm old. I don't know. But people people have
12:19
gotten so petty with like all of the stuff online.
12:21
Like, I feel like I have to be very, very, very
12:26
careful in what I say anymore on anything. And
12:30
so it doesn't allow me to do the controversy
12:32
is fun thing. Oh, you're going there. That's
12:38
fair. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely hitting there
12:41
and I worry for my own safety and things. I mean,
12:45
yeah, it's just times have changed. It's gotten
12:48
a little more difficult to be a content creator
12:53
without having the haters just come out full
12:55
force. I mean, back then it was a lot safer than
12:58
now. Talk to me about technical disasters. Was
13:02
there ever a great server crash that almost made
13:05
you delete the entire network in a fit of range?
13:08
Now, I wouldn't say there's been one of those.
13:11
I mean, there have been technical disasters where
13:13
things have had or happened in different scenarios.
13:17
Like there was an episode of the TFG1 podcast
13:19
where the only good audio was of Birdman. And
13:24
he was, I think it was Beverly Hills Cop 3 or
13:26
something. And everybody else was super squirrely
13:30
or like slow motion. Like it was something with
13:32
audacity, the way that it had. broken it down
13:35
or imported it i mean we've figured out some
13:37
of those issues over the years too uh but it
13:39
was it that one it like totally tanked it i mean
13:42
we've had ones where the telephones have damaged
13:44
some of the technical issues and we've been able
13:47
to fix it later i mean i'm sure i can run them
13:48
through ai now and clean them up i just can't
13:51
afford it because our content library is huge
13:54
uh and then there's there's of course uh we've
13:58
had website issues constantly over the years
14:01
because i mean I'm, I'm kind of that last line
14:06
of defense for the website. Like I build it,
14:08
I maintain it. I, you know, all of it. So if
14:11
something goes down, it's like Steve. And, and
14:14
then I have to, I have to deal with it. Uh, even
14:17
if it's an unfortunate time where I don't necessarily
14:20
want to deal with it. Uh, so there's, there's
14:23
plenty of times where I'm like, eh, screw it.
14:24
I don't need the website. I'll just create like
14:26
a, just a landing page for all of the RSS feeds
14:28
and just be good with it. I love the site. And
14:32
so I love being able to play and tinker and learn
14:36
new things. And so kind of that avenue for me.
14:40
And so I won't ever give it up. I mean, I might
14:44
at some point just because of age or, you know,
14:47
whatever. But as far as like technical disasters,
14:51
I mean, we've been littered with them constantly
14:53
over the years. There's an episode of that we
14:55
interviewed Rob Paulson, for instance, it's only
14:57
like two minutes long. And it was supposed to
14:59
be like an hour long episode and none of us have
15:01
the original file. So there's, there's just so
15:04
many, like I completely wiped out my back catalog
15:07
at one point because I was like, Oh, they're
15:10
all on the RSS feed. And then it was like, Oh,
15:12
I still don't technically have all of the back
15:14
catalog because they're on the RSS feed. So at
15:17
some point I'm going to have to like rip and
15:19
download everything because I don't have copies
15:22
of everything. Especially when we started adding
15:24
contributors, I didn't have. Because we used
15:27
to host them on the server. And then when we
15:29
switched to like BlogTalkRadio and then switched
15:31
to Spreaker and then switched to RSS .com, the
15:35
URLs for all the MP3s have changed like four
15:38
times. And then a lot of the feeds are still
15:40
broken in places like TuneIn. And they refer
15:43
back to the actual older file. And so... It creates
15:49
this conundrum of like, oh, we don't have that
15:51
episode anymore because they don't update their
15:54
stuff. And it's like, pay attention to the updated
15:56
RSS feed. Like I've done all my part. Yeah. So,
15:59
I mean, there's constantly something going on
16:01
that I have to deal with. It's like putting out
16:04
a fire or Picard going damage report, you know,
16:08
or damage report every time. Exactly. So in audio
16:14
dramas, you're the director and the Foley artist.
16:17
When you're scripting, how do you decide between
16:19
telling the audience what's happening versus
16:22
letting a sound effect through the work? So I've
16:27
been the director on certain shows and then I've
16:30
also been the producer or I've been the writer
16:32
in some cases. It really depends. Like most of
16:36
the time it's it's we don't have a Foley artist.
16:39
Most time we just find like clip art or sound
16:41
effects or things like that, unless it's something
16:43
we can replicate. Like, for instance, there was
16:44
an episode. where somebody had written that I
16:51
had to play a Scottish character and I knew that
16:53
I could do a Scotty, but it wasn't like authentic
16:55
Scottish. And so I watched a buttload of Scottish
16:58
television and movies so that I could try and
17:01
get the accent down to pull it off. And then
17:03
I had to rewrite the script and so I could say
17:05
it properly. So, I mean, there's been one of
17:07
those situations where I've had to do that, but
17:10
it's not really Foley. I have played a talking
17:14
bird. that got vacuumed up in an episode of one
17:18
of the audio dramas somebody wrote it you know
17:20
they're being careless kid being careless vacuums
17:23
up the bird and then it goes like and then the
17:28
director's like because he looked at it and he's
17:31
going i i don't even know how to do this and
17:34
i'm like wait wait wait i got something for you
17:36
and i've done this backwards like breathing screech
17:39
thing for years so it's just fun It's not fun
17:42
when they tell you, though, to do it really,
17:47
really loud or long. And he's like, that's good.
17:53
Longer. And so I'm going, you know, and then
18:01
the birds like gone, you know, in the vacuum
18:03
and you hear the like as the birds, you know,
18:08
disappears. And so it's kind of just funny. But
18:11
I mean, those kinds of things, it's just, yeah.
18:14
I mean, in a lot of cases we had a narrator and
18:17
they would tell the audience certain things that
18:19
were happening. And then there were certain things
18:20
you kind of had to pay attention to what was
18:22
going on in the background. So yeah, it was,
18:25
it was just, it was unique and a lot of fun.
18:27
And I recently did a, you know, a play this last
18:31
year where they synchronized the whole thing
18:33
to vocals. like they acted it out they physically
18:38
acted i was one of the actors but i also was
18:40
the one that did the editing for the post -production
18:42
and uh the the vocal effects for certain like
18:47
if you're doing like angels or demons and you've
18:49
got like ethereal sounds and you know these over
18:51
grandiose sound effects added to them like those
18:55
are things that you would add to kind of like
18:57
oh they're important because of this or they're
19:00
evil because of this Like you'll hear it. It
19:03
kind of helps morph it because it's theater of
19:06
the mind, really. It's like painting with sound.
19:12
Pretty much. As an educator, you see podcasting
19:16
101 changes every semester. In 2026, we have
19:20
AI that cleans audio perfectly. And do you think
19:24
we're losing the soul of the edit by letting
19:26
the machines do it? yes and no i mean if you
19:30
can afford it and it's easier to throw it through
19:33
a filter and clean it up you know without having
19:35
to do the manual labor go for it i still like
19:39
to chop it up because i like to see it um not
19:43
saying that if i had the money and the they weren't
19:46
based on a credit system and it was just a monthly
19:48
charge that just did it for you okay uh like
19:51
if it was like 20 bucks a month and i could just
19:54
upload a file and it it filters out and cleans
19:57
everything up for me and i don't have to sit
19:59
there and have a filter or a uh an effect track
20:02
on on adobe uh great but in most cases like most
20:10
of us indie podcasters can't afford that uh i
20:14
think it's still a an art that you should harness
20:18
like you should learn how to edit like you should
20:21
not rely on ai because what if the ai bubble
20:24
bursts or what if they all get so astronomically
20:29
high in cost because you know it it just will
20:35
at some point what do you do then like where
20:38
do you go like how do you how do you navigate
20:41
that it's going to basically put us back to the
20:44
stone age of computers in the sense that you're
20:47
going to end up having to know a skill. So I
20:50
don't know if AI is going to completely remove
20:53
that. It's certainly making it more convenient
20:56
and more accessible to people. But if you're
20:59
one of the indie podcasters, you don't always
21:01
have the money to afford these things. So I think
21:03
that learning the skill will give you a deeper
21:06
appreciation for when you're like, okay, I have
21:08
enough money. I'm going to not deal with this
21:10
now. it's i mean it's like the other automations
21:14
with the podcast and with rss feeds it's like
21:17
at some point like things will progress and it
21:20
will get cheaper and become just kind of common
21:22
but i mean you can't even right now for crying
21:25
out loud the the memory and graphics prices are
21:28
going through the roof so i mean you might not
21:29
even be able to edit it because you don't have
21:31
the memory available to do it so it's yeah it's
21:37
just changing constantly What's the hardest lesson
21:41
you've had to teach a student about the reality
21:43
of being a creator? Is it the consistency or
21:46
just finding their actual voice? That's a good
21:51
one. So honestly, the hardest lesson that I've
21:56
had to teach as far as like students and things
21:58
like I have, I'm not a educator by trade. I mean,
22:01
I, I kind of do that and I enjoy it. I go around
22:05
and I talk to boys and girls clubs or, you know,
22:08
schools or. things like that uh but the reality
22:13
of being a creator is you're going to fail and
22:16
you're going to fail often and then you're you're
22:18
going to hit this this roadblock you're going
22:20
to be like oh i'm burnt out oh i'm you know it's
22:23
it's kind of keeping going though like take a
22:25
break when you need to re re you know regroup
22:28
learn something new listen to other formats listen
22:33
to other shows relisten to your own stuff critique
22:37
it like i've gone back and re -listened to all
22:39
the top 100s because i want to not be the same
22:43
fool that i've been in the past ones and not
22:46
be ignorant when we do this next top 100 and
22:48
so it's been it's been a necessary evil of just
22:55
kind of making sure that you're on top of it
23:01
like you don't have to be perfect you don't have
23:04
to have the perfect gear you don't have to i
23:06
mean just Have a goal and just go for it. The
23:11
hardest lesson is probably just telling people
23:14
just to go for it, because there's so many gatekeepers
23:17
in the community that it's difficult to get started
23:20
and or stay going once you've started. Like I've
23:25
been doing this since 2006. I'm honestly not
23:28
going anywhere, so. I don't see me stopping,
23:32
so it's. I think it's just consistency and just
23:37
once you have that consistency and you kind of
23:40
iron it out and you work at it a while, you'll
23:43
find your voice. It's it's there. You'll find
23:47
it. The authenticity will come out and you'll
23:49
be ready to go. I like what you're doing. You
23:52
know, that's a huge point. Everyone wants the
23:55
result. Nobody wants the process. True. If you
24:00
had to build a masterclass today, what would
24:03
be chapter one? Is it the script, the mic technique,
24:07
or the sound library? Honestly, out of all of
24:12
those choices, it would be the mic technique.
24:14
It's literally just figuring out what you need
24:17
for your room. I have a geek room here. Granted,
24:22
it's a terrible mess right now. But it's in an
24:26
old bedroom in my house. We have a closet with
24:30
coats in it. I open the closet so that it's not
24:32
bouncing off the wood doors and so that the sound
24:35
is diffused by the coats. And then I have sound
24:38
panels all around my room. I have stuff up on
24:41
the walls. I have crap everywhere. So literally
24:43
there's stuff diffusing the sound all over the
24:45
place. And then I have, you know, I have my microphone
24:48
hanging in front of me. It's making sure that
24:51
you're not too close to the microphone to eat
24:53
it, but you're also not too far away to where
24:56
it's not picking you up at all or being clear.
24:58
Also not hitting the table or clicking, you know,
25:02
all of these little nuances that kind of go into
25:05
it, not breathing into it, not clicking, you
25:09
know, stuff like that. The really annoying things,
25:11
it's just learning how to talk in front of a
25:14
microphone, making sure you're well hydrated,
25:16
making sure that you're just, you know what you're
25:19
going to talk about. How do you teach someone
25:22
to have a radio voice? Without sounding like
25:26
a fake 1940s announcer. Honestly, it's just talking
25:31
like you're talking to your friends. Like, don't
25:33
go out of your way to amplify the voice. Don't,
25:36
you know, don't go into all of that. It's literally
25:41
just talking as if your friend is in the room.
25:45
Even if it's a solo show. Like, talk like you're
25:48
having a conversation with friends standing around
25:50
you. Like you're presenting something. Like,
25:53
don't. Don't go, well, today we're discussing
25:56
Transformers. You know, it gets kind of lame,
26:02
I guess. Like, you lose the authenticity, you
26:05
lose the love of it, the care. Like, you can't
26:07
feel the emotion in the voice. So, I mean, it's
26:10
definitely a lost art. So, what's the weirdest
26:14
sound you've ever had to record for a Foley effect?
26:17
Give me something gross, weird, or unexpected.
26:23
The weirdest sound aside from the getting vacuumed
26:26
up backwards, you know, the, the backwards thing
26:29
with the throat going, uh, that's yeah. Super
26:35
loud. And I'm sure I just butchered everyone's
26:37
ears. Uh, I don't, I don't really have, I don't
26:43
really have like a voice as far as that. I mean,
26:47
I've done outside of Foley. I mean, I've done,
26:53
unexpected things using beast wars megatron's
26:56
voice and you know barney is you know and and
27:00
the beast unleashed which i won't repeat any
27:03
of it but yeah i uh there was there was a topic
27:10
about barney and you know transformers and uh
27:16
i think we're ending the podcast or no we were
27:18
doing an episode and uh mike called it like the
27:22
purple Barney loving dinosaur and I goes, I love
27:25
you. And Megatron goes, shut up. I'm not done.
27:29
Like as if he was railing. No way. Seriously?
27:35
Yep. And yeah, it was just it was weird, but
27:40
it was funny. And we both all laughed like Pecan
27:43
Corps, Michael, TFU and Mike. And yeah, that's
27:45
just wild to think about. So Alter Geek is about
27:50
how culture changes us. How has your own geekiness
27:53
evolved since you started podcasting in 2006?
27:58
Are you still excited by the same tropes? To
28:01
be honest, not really. I mean, I used to be into
28:05
a lot of different stuff that I'm not into now.
28:07
I mean, comics and just different series. Like
28:11
some of them I don't care to ever watch again.
28:14
I and that's why I say like get altered, get
28:17
geeky with the altered geeks and the altered
28:19
geek is basically it's altering your geekdom.
28:22
My geekdom has changed so much over the years.
28:24
I can't even recognize it. I mean, I like some
28:26
of the same shows back to the future. Transformers,
28:28
Beast Wars, Power Rangers, Star Trek, Dragon
28:32
Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super. So I X -Men, you know,
28:37
Marvel, DC, Batman, like I've got a plethora
28:40
of things here. in my cabinet that I use. And
28:43
then I've got 3d printed stuff. Like I, I enjoy
28:46
customizing. I enjoy, I'm printing a Megatron
28:48
helmet right now that I have to finish printing
28:50
and then assembly. And then I got to glue it
28:53
all together and yeah, and paint it. And so it's
28:56
going to be a chore, but I, that's where, that's
29:02
where like, I, I kind of enjoy certain shows
29:04
and some of them I've just learned don't. Do
29:07
any commentary because I have nothing good to
29:08
say about it. So I'll either just watch it passively
29:11
or just find things that I do want to review.
29:14
And sometimes it's more difficult than others.
29:18
OK, I want to talk about your 3D printing and
29:21
toy customization. So the tech is insane this
29:24
year, but you've been doing this for a minute.
29:27
How does printing a custom part for a figure
29:30
feel compared to the retail experience? So what
29:34
I like to do as far as the 3D printing and toy
29:37
customizations, I mean, I just got a Power Rangers
29:40
more for Christmas for my son. And he got me
29:44
the Playmates toys one. It was like 15 bucks.
29:49
The colors are way off. But I looked at it. I'm
29:52
like, OK, this is at least doable if I want to
29:56
customize it. So I bought a can of like gold
29:58
spray paint. I taped it off. I repainted parts
30:00
of it. And then now it looks like a master morpher
30:04
that Tommy Oliver used. And then I respray painted
30:07
all of the coins because they were this weird
30:08
brownish bronze color that was not even metallic.
30:11
So I sprayed those first just to test and they
30:14
came out gold. And I was in awe of how well it
30:18
turned out. But I've also printed Star Trek ships.
30:21
I've printed the captain's chairs. I've printed
30:23
Starfleet badges. I've printed the stasis pod
30:26
that I wanted as a kid that Hasbro never produced.
30:31
uh i've printed add -ons for like g2 megatron
30:34
i've printed parts for uh my quote -unquote g2
30:39
optimus prime i've printed shelf like step lifters
30:45
for characters so that i can have them staggered
30:48
on my shelf so i can see all of them uh i've
30:51
print custom printed uh beast machines megatron
30:54
i've custom printed the idw megatron uh it's
31:00
And honestly, it's been fun to just kind of see
31:07
what I can do with it. Like now I'm printing
31:09
a Megatron helmet. And quite honestly, I'm excited.
31:13
I cannot wait to get this thing together. And
31:17
yeah, I think it's going to be super cool. Wow.
31:21
It really is a game changer for collectors. Oh,
31:24
totally. Total autonomy. When you're customizing
31:28
a toy, what's the... Megatron touch. What's the
31:31
one thing you always change to make it feel like,
31:34
well, yours? Well, to be perfectly honest, I
31:38
have this thing for if they are show accurate.
31:43
So I literally won't buy something unless it's
31:46
three quarters of the way there. Like if it's
31:48
just a paint deco, I'll fix it. I've bought various
31:53
Star Trek ships I've bought various like the
31:56
Power Rangers I haven't touched those the the
31:58
Batman figures the Marvel figures like they've
32:00
all been great where I have the issue is like
32:06
even the Dragon Ball Z stuff's fine the things
32:09
I have the issue with honestly is the Transformers
32:11
I cannot stand cannot stand having my Transformers
32:17
not show accurate uh especially when they substitute
32:22
colors that make no sense or they don't do anything
32:24
with it. Like I've bought, they used to be called
32:29
repo labels, but it's toy hacks now. They have
32:33
stickers now that you can get for a lot of the
32:35
Transformers to fix a lot of the missing details
32:39
that Hasbro was too lazy or cheap to put on.
32:42
And it's like, okay, Hasbro also made, just for
32:46
frame of reference here, the Marvel figures that
32:48
I have. They made the Power Rangers figures,
32:50
the Lightning Collection stuff, which I have
32:53
a boatload of. And then they've made all of these
32:56
Transformers. And what's funny is the knockoffs
32:59
actually do a better job of providing all of
33:05
the decos and all of the paint. Like I have Transmetal
33:08
knockoff masterpiece, like Optimal Optimus, Transmetal
33:13
Optimus, Rat Trap, Megatron. And they look like
33:17
they jumped out of the show. And then if I look
33:19
at, you know, and Hasbro does do masterpiece
33:24
figures and they look nice, but the smaller figures,
33:27
like there's a lot of paint stuff. Like I've
33:29
repainted my Pterosaur because it was like weird
33:31
colors. I've repainted Inferno. I've repainted
33:34
Transmetal 2 Megatron, Waspinator. War for Cybertron
33:41
Optimus Prime, I repainted as G2 because I was
33:45
getting the Studio Series 86 Prime. Uh, I've
33:48
repainted my air razor. I've repainted my rat
33:50
trap. I repainted a dino bots. I repainted another
33:53
dino bot and turned them into Grimlock. Uh, I've
33:56
repainted, uh, parts of Rhinox. Uh, so I mean,
34:00
there's, there's just been so many that I repaint
34:03
them because it just bothers me. Like it's a
34:05
aesthetic thing, even though I'm never going
34:07
to transform these things or most of them, I'm
34:10
never going to transform again. They're just
34:12
like a shelf piece. Uh, it still just drives
34:14
me nuts. So. Yeah, I change things to make them
34:18
look as show accurate as possible. But I also
34:21
like the high gloss thing. So I will spray them
34:23
with like a high gloss finish at the end. Wow.
34:28
Transformers, Batman, D .I. Joe, Star Trek. Which
34:32
franchise has stayed the most true to its roots
34:35
throughout all the reboots? Honestly, most of
34:39
them don't really stick very well. We'll say...
34:43
I will say that Batman's pretty close in a lot
34:45
of scenarios. G .I. Joe, they take some liberties
34:48
with. Transformers, they go all over the place
34:50
with it, although they seem to stem out of a
34:52
lot of G1 aesthetics. Ninja Turtles, they butchered
34:57
it in the recent one. I can't really say that
35:02
they really stay true. Even Star Trek, there's
35:04
a revolt going on with Starfleet Academy right
35:07
now. I don't love it. It's not the best show
35:09
ever. I mean, I could watch it. I don't love
35:12
all the gratuitous like CW high school crap,
35:15
but at the end of the day, like it'll either,
35:19
it'll either rise to the occasion or it'll flop.
35:22
And generally Star Trek seasons flop at, you
35:25
know, they flop hard on the first season and
35:27
then they get better. But I don't know, like
35:29
there's a lot of, a lot of controversy with this
35:32
one. And so I honestly was, I would love them
35:35
to go to Star Trek legacy, but I. I know they've
35:40
been trying to do the Starfleet Academy thing
35:42
since Abrams took over the franchise for the
35:45
films in 2009. And I honestly wish we could have
35:49
gone back to pre Abrams stuff because Kurtzman
35:52
has been terrible. So I don't know. I'm I've
35:56
loved some things that have come out in recent
35:57
years. Strange New World, Picard Season 3, Lower
36:00
Decks, Prodigy. But I don't like Discovery and
36:06
I don't. much care for this. Section 31 was garbage,
36:09
so I think it really depends. In an all -digital
36:14
world, are you still a collector? Do you need
36:18
to hold the comic, or have you embraced the cloud?
36:22
Quite honestly, I can do both. I prefer print,
36:29
to be perfectly honest with you. I prefer print.
36:32
I can't afford it. So I know digital and print
36:36
costs the same thing. We get review copies of
36:38
stuff. So I tend to read those and review them
36:43
with Mike at some given point in the future.
36:45
Like there's a ton of Star Trek ones I want to
36:47
go over with Mike. And I know he's trying to
36:49
give me some Transformers to kind of go over.
36:52
And I'm not opposed to recording and editing
36:55
and or not editing, but discussing those. But
36:58
honestly, like I like paper, even though it puts
37:02
me to sleep anymore. unless it's a comic. And
37:04
even then, like, I just, I can't afford them.
37:07
But yeah, I prefer print. I will do digital if
37:12
that's a better option, because at least I can
37:14
access that on my phone and it doesn't take up
37:16
space. I'm with you there. I still love the smell
37:19
of the ink and the feel of the paper on my fingertips.
37:23
So what is the holy grail of collectibles for
37:26
you? The one thing that represents your entire
37:30
journey? Holy grail of collectibles. I mean,
37:34
I've got a lot of them. I never had a Megazord
37:36
growing up. I never had a Morpher growing up.
37:39
I never had various smaller versions of the Starships.
37:45
I've never had the amount of Beast Wars or Transformers
37:48
or the characters that I have today. Some of
37:52
them I had. Never had Dragon Ball Z figures.
37:54
I mean, the stuff that comes out nowadays is
37:56
so show accurate. I love it. even if it's off
38:00
like i love it like i have studio series 86 megatron
38:04
and optimus prime there's some things i don't
38:06
like about them and the paint deco but not enough
38:08
to actually repaint them which says a lot because
38:11
i just i don't want to i don't want to damage
38:13
what they are like i really love what they look
38:17
like and so i'm i'm looking at that and one of
38:19
my grails was transmetal megatron and i had one
38:24
from hasbro and it had gold plastic syndrome
38:26
which i can get into that a different time that
38:28
essentially the plastic would dry rot and that
38:31
it would shatter when you go to transform it.
38:34
So you'd end up with a head and some arms and
38:36
like the legs, but the torso was gone. I've had
38:42
four of those over the years and they've all
38:43
broke. So I've had that, but I have the TransArt
38:48
Transmetal Megatron. My grail is a Beast Machines
38:53
Megatron in the cloak that transforms. into the
38:57
dragon. And I don't see them ever doing this.
39:02
But that's my grail item that if they ever made
39:05
it, I would get it. They're already making a
39:07
Star Trek Generations vested in the Nexus Captain
39:11
Kirk, which I made of multiple figures with Playmates
39:15
toys. And they're finally coming out with that
39:17
this year too. So time will tell. If you could
39:22
redo one classic 1980s cartoon with a 2026 budget
39:27
and your audio experience, which one are you
39:31
picking? Well, if I could pick one classic 80s
39:35
cartoon with modern budget, it would be Generation
39:38
One, because I would honestly bring back as many
39:41
of the voice actors as possible, have them revoice
39:43
it and be a little more, you know, a little bit
39:46
more adult with it. But at the same time, like.
39:49
I don't know, like, I would have done that. Plus,
39:53
I would love to play some of the parts. Like,
39:55
I could, you know, do Scourge. Yes, mighty Galvatron.
40:02
You know, among some of the other ones. So, yeah,
40:05
that's kind of what I would pick. I think at
40:07
this point in time, I don't know what else I
40:10
would do. What was the one toy you wanted as
40:13
a kid but never got? Did you buy it as an adult
40:16
to heal that inner child? Well, funny you say
40:20
that. I pretty much have everything I wanted.
40:22
I have various starships. I have the Enterprises.
40:25
I have various Star Trek characters. I have the
40:29
Power Rangers. I have the Megazord I wanted.
40:30
I have the Morpher. I have Zeomorphers again
40:33
because I 3D printed them. I have the Back to
40:35
the Future DeLorean. I have Dragon Ball Z. I
40:38
have the Tobey Maguire Spider -Man. I have the
40:42
Hugh Jackman Wolverine. I mean, I'm sitting good
40:47
right now. Like, I got everything I wanted, and
40:50
they're pretty much show accurate. I mean, I've
40:52
3D printed a stasis pod, something I built out
40:54
of Legos as a kid. So I can't complain. Like,
40:59
I got most of everything I've ever wanted. Oh,
41:03
the ultimate victory. Take that, eight -year
41:06
-old me. Oh, yeah. Yeah. What is the one piece
41:09
of 2026 tech that makes you say, I wish I had
41:13
this 20 years ago? honestly the only one i can
41:16
think of is the 3d printer but even then i don't
41:20
know because 20 years ago i mean you would have
41:26
had to find the resources to print in the first
41:29
place and i'm not a 3d modeler so i don't i honestly
41:34
don't know what i would do with it i guess so
41:42
I don't know, like, that's probably the only
41:44
one. I mean, some of the AI stuff that's out
41:47
right now is pretty nice. I mean, the suno .com,
41:51
like, doing my own songs and stuff and just kind
41:53
of playing around and making theme songs for
41:55
the shows. Honestly, if I could go back 20 years
41:57
ago and have custom music and not get into the
42:03
copyright garbage with putting the recording
42:08
industry songs that are in some of the movie
42:11
we can review, episodes into them and saving
42:15
myself trouble then that would be ideal is the
42:20
golden inch of podcasting behind this or are
42:23
we just entering a new phase tell me where's
42:26
the medium going honestly i think the golden
42:29
age has kind of already happened it's changing
42:34
so quickly and it's gotten so commercial over
42:36
the last several years that it doesn't even look
42:39
recognizable anymore plus they're encouraging
42:41
everyone to do video shows which is just more
42:44
crap that gets put out which is why like a lot
42:47
of the ai slop is being you know positioned around
42:50
they're they're kind of saying you know at this
42:54
point in time like there's not it's going to
42:57
be very difficult to get noticed and things like
42:59
that it's become another youtube and another
43:02
Another vehicle for advertising. And so it's
43:05
kind of lost its way. So it'll be interesting
43:06
to see where they go with it. Interesting. Tell
43:11
me more about that. Honestly, I think with I
43:15
think with AI, I think we're going to get a lot
43:16
more people jumping into it. I don't know how
43:20
many of them will stick, but I think people still
43:22
think that like, oh, I can get rich off of podcasting.
43:25
Well, it's not quite there yet. I mean. And it's,
43:28
it's another one of those, it's not a get rich
43:30
quick scheme. Like it's very much a, you know,
43:33
a slow burn. I mean, I've been doing this 20
43:35
years. I don't make buku bucks. I just, I mean,
43:38
I've gotten free stuff sent to me for review.
43:39
A lot of that's dried up over the years because
43:41
there's so many people in the space that it makes
43:44
it difficult for anyone to get involved or get
43:47
the stuff. Like, unless you're big into it, like
43:51
you're not going to get noticed. And like a lot,
43:53
like I said, a lot of the stuff's dried up for
43:54
us even. Like I don't get as much review copy
43:57
stuff anymore. And video is where it's at. Like
44:00
if you aren't using video and the podcast, like
44:03
both of them can be in tandem. But the audio
44:06
side is definitely not getting as much love as
44:08
the video side. So I would think about that in
44:11
the future. Steve, you've done over 4000 episodes.
44:15
That is a staggering amount of time on air. How
44:18
do you stay inspired? What's the secret to that
44:21
kind of longevity? how do i stay inspired and
44:27
the secret to longevity um i don't know like
44:31
i i am inspired by just getting to educate people
44:34
have the conversation get to discuss things that
44:36
i enjoy with friends and and people online like
44:39
uh i i mean i talk about it with people at work
44:44
i talk about with you know wherever i I love
44:47
being the knowledge base. I I've done it all
44:50
the way back. And as far as like elementary school
44:52
and middle school and high school and college
44:54
and just everything I've done, you know, work
44:57
wise, I, I soak it up. So like I, I stay inspired
45:02
by just kind of seeing where I can go with it.
45:04
Where can I improve? Like it's never, it's never
45:07
just staying still. It that's the, I guess that's
45:10
kind of the secret to it. Like keep growing,
45:14
keep learning, find out what you don't know.
45:17
And then when you don't know what you don't know,
45:19
learn it and then find something else you don't
45:21
know. That's the journey I'm currently going
45:23
through. I mean, as I'm, you know, trademarking
45:26
the network name and things like that. So, I
45:29
mean, it's it's just a lot of change, a lot of
45:33
just paying attention to where things are going.
45:36
OK, that makes sense. If you could broadcast
45:40
one message to every aspiring alter geek who
45:43
is afraid to start, what would it be? Honestly,
45:47
just start. You don't need anything expensive.
45:50
You have the device with you. You have a phone.
45:52
I have literally recorded podcasts in my voice
45:55
memo and then edited later. You can get, you
45:57
know, like Gold Wave and download that and edit
45:59
a podcast. You can, you have a podcast resource.
46:02
You can do it there. You can live stream on YouTube.
46:05
I mean, the things that have changed, I guess
46:08
that would be the tech I would also go back to
46:10
is like having a smartphone. Because you'd have
46:13
the world at your fingertips. You can do literally
46:16
everything from your phone. So, I mean, that's
46:20
where I would start. Like, if you don't have
46:23
any of the gear, don't worry about it. You have
46:25
a phone. At some point in the future, you know,
46:30
you may want to get an actual microphone. USB
46:32
microphones are fine. I have a Blue Yeti sitting
46:34
in front of me. I've had it for, I don't know,
46:37
like 15 years. And it still works fine. So I
46:40
wouldn't trade it in just because it's old. How
46:44
do you balance the creator's side of your brain
46:46
with the business side? Do they ever get along?
46:51
Honestly, no. The creator's side of me is constantly
46:56
going 24 -7. I'm always thinking about what I
46:58
can do, what I can play with, what I can learn.
47:00
I mean, I'm upgrading my computer so that I can
47:03
do some of this stuff that I'm imagining in my
47:06
brain and trying to... keep costs low and, you
47:11
know, invest in the network without necessarily
47:13
spending a buttload of money. And then the business
47:17
side of me is like, well, you got to do this
47:19
because of compliance reasons. You got to do
47:21
this because of legal reasons. You got to do
47:24
this because of, you know, if you want to do
47:27
the, you know, follow this structure to get to
47:29
this point, you need to do this. Otherwise you're
47:31
just doing what you're doing and nothing's going
47:33
to change or get better. So, I mean, it's, it's.
47:36
Definitely a yin and yang situation here. Ah,
47:40
the eternal struggle. I felt that too. What's
47:44
the most underrated podcasting gear under $100
47:47
that everyone should own? Honestly, a microphone.
47:51
That's literally all I would worry about. Maybe
47:55
some headphones, like some $9 headphones, and
47:58
then, you know, a Yeti or something. You can
47:59
get both for under $100. That's pretty much what
48:02
I would do. Or, you know... Yeah, that's probably
48:07
the most cost -effective way of going about it.
48:09
I mean, you can get DJI, you know, those fuzzy
48:13
mics that you can clip to your shirt magnetically
48:16
that people like to hold up to their mouth like
48:19
it's a teacup. That drives me nuts. It's bad
48:22
etiquette. It's not proper. It's not good mic
48:26
technique because when you get an actual microphone,
48:28
it's not going to sound like that. Now, for a
48:31
convention, if you want to have it that way,
48:33
great. because it does filter out noise. But
48:36
yeah, as far as that, that's what I would do.
48:41
If you were starting a brand new network today
48:43
from scratch, what would the first three shows
48:46
be about? Probably wouldn't do things much different.
48:51
Transformers, geek, culture, movies. Because
48:55
I'm still doing both those shows and I'm reviving
48:58
Movie Weekend Review, which was in a... But in
49:02
the original concept, I designed for it before
49:04
it went to like review show. So that's that's
49:08
kind of where I would go with it. Who is the
49:11
one that got away? The person you always wanted
49:14
to interview for GCRN, but never could. There's
49:19
quite a few of them. I would say Scott McNeil
49:22
from Beast Wars because he played Silverbolt,
49:24
Dinobot, Rattrap and Waspinator. And I mean,
49:28
I've met him at a convention. He's an awesome
49:30
dude. I would say him, Frank Welker, Peter Cullen,
49:34
Mark Hamill, because he played the Joker. So,
49:37
I mean, those would be the ones I would want
49:40
to interview. Yeah, that would have been legendary.
49:45
Maybe in the multiverse? Never know. All right,
49:49
Steve. Rapid fire. G1 Transformers or Beast Wars?
49:53
Beast Wars. Best advice for someone buying their
49:56
first real podcast mic? Get a USB. Best Batman,
50:01
Conroy or Keaton? Trick question. Keaton for
50:05
live action, Conroy for animated. Audio drama
50:08
or live stream? Audio drama. Who's your absolute
50:12
favorite musician or band to have on in the background
50:15
while you work? Weird Al. Digital or audio books
50:20
or physical books? I'm going to go audio book
50:24
because I don't read much. If you could only
50:26
listen to one podcast forever, what is it? Altered
50:30
Geek? Well, that's been the breakdown for today.
50:35
Steve, this has been an absolute masterclass.
50:38
Thank you. Thank you so much for everything you've
50:41
done for the Geekcast Radio Network and the Altered
50:44
Geek family. To everyone listening, Steve Negatron
50:47
is a titan. Go explore the archives. I'm Alana
50:52
Ace, and thanks for hanging out in the interwebs
50:54
with me. Find me on X and Instagram and Blue
50:58
Sky at Alana Ace Geek. Leave your feedback. What
51:02
was your favorite deep cut today? Drop a comment
51:05
or DM me. I'll be reading the best suggestions
51:09
and listeners' geek stories on air soon. Till
51:13
next time. See you at the next save point.