The Right Man
to Fight Predators

The 80s really had some of the wildest monster movies. Do you remember Predator from 1987? It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a soldier of fortune hired by the US government to rescue a group of politicians trapped in Guatemala, only to discover that a monstrous creature is hunting every last one of them.

Storylines back then were wild! But you know what? They worked. I ended up enjoying the movie more than I thought when I first saw it. I'd known about Schwarzenegger when I was younger, but this was the first movie of his I actually enjoyed. I'm even a big fan, to be honest.

I'm a fan to the point that I got Arnold Schwarzenegger himself to sign my Predator movie poster. It was at the Hollywood premiere of The Expendables 2 in 2012, where he had a bigger role than in the first film and showed up alongside other equally iconic action stars. I initially went to get Sylvester Stallone's autograph on a Rocky movie poster, but since Schwarzenegger was there too, I figured I'd get his.

My interaction with him ended up being the more memorable of the two. Both were nice, despite how legendary they were at that point, but Schwarzenegger felt more personable. I'm sure it helped that he'd spent years as the governor of California, so he still had those showman skills down pat.

This isn't to say Stallone wasn't gracious, too. The two were famous rivals in the 80s, so seeing them side by side was a treat, and the contrast in their styles was fun to watch.

Anyway, the important thing was that he signed my Predator movie poster. I never would've thought that, out of all the movie memorabilia I wanted signed, it would be the first one to have an autograph. I always thought I'd meet Mark Hamill first and get him to sign my tabletop R2-D2 figurine.

I wasn't too mad about it, though. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a movie icon, and Predator was one of his most memorable movies. That poster is one of my favorite things in my whole collection, and it isn't going anywhere.

Seeing how fairly easy it was to get his autograph, I was inspired to get more from the cast. However, most of them have either retired from show business or aren't as public as Schwarzenegger. After years of trying, I only got two other autographs on this poster.

The first was the late Peter Cullen, who I met at the Hollywood premiere of Bumblebee in December 2018. Cullen was a prolific voice actor and voiced the Predator monster himself. He's also famous as the voice of Optimus Prime, which is exactly why he was on that carpet.

My son, who was 5 years old at the time, really wanted to go when he heard I went to movie premieres frequently. Knowing that Cullen would also be there, I used the chance to finally get him to sign the same poster. It was great seeing him in person that night, and now that he's gone, I'm especially glad my son got to see him, too.

Years later, Jesse Ventura and Carl Weathers reunited at the Mad Monster Party fan convention in Atlanta. I went to get their autographs, but unfortunately I only got Ventura's. It really bummed me out because Weathers sadly passed away a few months later. I still regret not getting him to sign the poster that day.