Universal Monster Army

Hey, anyone hear from Freddy Poe? Hasn't been active since February, 2017. Hope all is well with him.

JP

Sadly Freddie Poe is not doing very well these days. All those years of boxing have left him with post concussion syndrome and his memory is failing.

:(

He wants me to warn any parents here on UMA to be very wary when it comes to any activity that can result in head blows to their children.

Quote from: Hepcat on December 05, 2018, 04:52:15 PM
Sadly Freddie Poe is not doing very well these days. All those years of boxing have left him with post concussion syndrome and his memory is failing.

:(

He wants me to warn any parents here on UMA to be very wary when it comes to any activity that can result in head blows to their children.

Thanks Hep. Didn't know he boxed. I had a bad feeling because it's been so long since his last post.

JP

He says he has many of the symptoms including vision loss, trouble sleeping and depression associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is a brain condition associated with repeated blows to the head. Very sad indeed.

It's interesting. When Freddie first started posting here, I wasn't just impressed with his enthusiasm for collecting monster memorabilia and the breadth of his monster collection. I also quickly learned that he was remarkably literate and logically incisive as well. The latter I discovered during some initial disagreement we had about something or other that didn't amount to a hill of beans. Within a few months though we became very good posting buddies.

:(

Here are a couple of great photos of Freddie from his younger days:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/29d0488b-4d1b-484e-8138-f0a20460ffe8_zpsp7zev201.jpg)

(http://i46.tinypic.com/152kyvp.jpg)

Very good looking fellow indeed!

8)

I lit an online prayer candle for Fred/Freddie this morning.  He has many people pulling for him on this forum, he and his wit are missed.

My dad did some sparring in the 1940's.  The story that I was told is that he did well on his first 5 bouts but got beaten in his 6th and quit sparing after that .. I guess that he is one of the lucky ones.

Freddie .. If you are reading this .. we will pass the word.  Medical science can move very slowly or by leaps and bounds.  I hope that things go better than you expect and that you will rebound to a satisfactory level very soon. Hang in there.

P.S. ~ Great photos!

Here's a great interview with Freddie:

How to Collect a Monster - Dr. Vollin (https://www.zomboscloset.com/zombos_closet_of_horror_b/2013/02/dr-vollin-md-speaks.html)

EXCERPT:

QuoteFor over 10 years Dr. Vollin, MD (aka Freddie Poe) has been sharing his monsterkid passion with fellow enthusiasts through his column, How to Collect a Monster, in Movie Collector's World magazine. All good things, as the saying goes, and MCW is one for posterity. But the good doctor still makes house calls and Zombos invited him over for a chat.

How did you come to write your long-running column, How to Collect a Monster, in MCW?


I was an English/Theater major back in my college days. I did lots of stage acting and wrote my own plays, some of which were produced here in Worcester, Massachussetts. I also wrote poetry, for which I won contests, and got to read my poems at the Worcester Public Library.

8)

Here's the ring record and picture of Freddie's father, Johnny Potenti:

Johnny Potenti - BoxRec (http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/29586)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Fred_zpsdxhjjisz.jpg)

:)

Quote from: Freddie PoeMy mother was a movie fanatic. She let me watch Frankenstein on Shock! Theater in 1959, on a Saturday afternoon, and that did it. When it became an obsession for an impressionable five year old like me, my mother called the family doctor (they made house calls back then), who was her cousin, Dr. Arthur Haddad. Well, I found out he was married to Laura Zacherle, John Zacherle's sister!

Hah! So Freddie's once removed cousin-in-law was Laura Zacherle (let's call her his aunt)! Can you imagine how cool it would be to have such an aunt?



Says eight year old Freddie "Mommy, mommy, can I go see Horror of Dracula? Auntie Laura says it's her favourite movie!"

;D

WOW! I wonder if Gasport (also missing in action) and Freddie Poe know/knew each other?

We shared some posts too. A super cool guy imo.I even invited him to stay for a night or two if he was ever in the NJ area. Never happened though. Hope there's a cure or remedy for this condition really soon, so he can still benefit from it. Sending prayers to Freddy.

JP

Freddie has now unpacked his monster model collection. Here's a picture of the cabinet in which he currently has them displayed:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Fred%201_zpscdedeofw.jpg)

cl:)

Incredible collection

Freddie has asked me to post this greeting on his behalf to all his friends on the UMA!

Quote from: Freddie PoeHave a very bright warm and color filled holiday!

8)

A bright and happy Christmas to you and your loved ones Freddie.  I hope to see you posting soon.  All the best for a wonderful Christmas and happy, healthy, prosperous 2019.

Quote from: Hepcat on December 24, 2018, 12:46:48 PM
Freddie has asked me to post this greeting on his behalf to all his friends on the UMA!


8)

Beautiful Luminators.

Freddie's digs these days:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%201_zpskatriznh.jpg)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%202_zpsy0gyjevq.jpg)

8)

Here's a picture of Fred and Zacherley from a Chiller con:

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Fred%20and%20Zach_zpsqlv9pjj4.jpg)

:)

Quote from: Hepcat on January 14, 2019, 09:55:55 AM
Here's a picture of Fred and Zacherley from a Chiller con:

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Fred%20and%20Zach_zpsqlv9pjj4.jpg)

:)

Great photo and subject matter .. great subjects too.

Please let Freddie know that we all miss him and wish him the very best in all things.   :D

Will do!

:)

Incidentally the photo was snapped by our own Gasport! Among his accumulated treasures Freddie also has the tux Zacherley wore in the photo above:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Zachs%20Tux_zps42vql3ep.jpg)

The tux was one of the ones Zach wore on his TV show.

8)

So Freddie in his younger days had hockey scholarships as a goaltender at Cornell University and Northeastern University, and then garnered an invitation to the Toronto Maple Leafs' training camp in 1973 where Bruce Gamble was the goal-tending coach.

His roommate at camp gifted him with NHL legend Aubrey "Dit" Clapper's helmet which must have been one of the very first ever worn in the NHL!

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Dit%20Clapper_zpsbafkxdlb.jpg)

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Dit%20Clapper%202_zpsttzeawax.jpg)

The helmet is among Freddie's very few non-monster related collectibles but is very cool indeed! Dit Clapper played for the Boston Bruins from 1927 to 1947. He was the first NHL player to play in the league for twenty seasons and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame upon his retirement in 1947. Dit's #5 has of course also been retired by the Bruins.

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Dit%20Clapper%203_zpsqo1getdc.jpg)

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Dit%20Clapper%204_zpsmfnjulrm.jpeg)

8)

Freddie's partner Jayme has become quite the amateur make-up artist. Here she is as Sister Mary Hagnes having won the 2010 Chiller Con best costume award:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Chiller%202010_zpsxambd2xo.jpg)

And here's she's made up Freddie as the Mummy to win at Chiller in 2012:

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Chiller%202012_zpsk9kvcnst.png)

And she repeated the trick once again with Freddie as the Hunchback to win at Chiller in 2014:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Chiller%202014_zpsmzoxvfcs.png)

Freddie says that no masks were involved. The end look was achieved with make-up only, and he developed a new found appreciation for what actors endure for their roles.

cl:)

Quote from: Hepcat on January 09, 2019, 11:39:59 AM
Freddie's digs these days:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%201_zpskatriznh.jpg)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%202_zpsy0gyjevq.jpg)

8)

Where is this?
JP

In Massachusetts between Worcester and Springfield. I was surprised to see the mountains visible on the horizon myself but that's because like most people I typically only think of Boston and Cape Cod when I hear the word Massachusetts.

:-\

Here's the fabulous wild cool toy gun collection that Freddie's partner Jayme has amassed over the last few years:

(http://imageshack.us/a/img802/2930/photo27zw.jpg)

:)

Here's Freddie from around the turn of the century with great sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury at the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Ray%20Bradbury_zpsiy16qzn0.png)

And here's a good shot of the fabled theatre from the outside:

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Egyptian_Theatre_Hollywood_1.jpg)

8)

Here's a picture of Freddie with a Henry Alvarez sculpt of Frankenstein's monster had the monster been derived or built from Robert De Niro:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%20sculpt_zpscqqdgyln.jpg)

The figure was just visiting that day as it actually belongs to Freddy's collecting buddy Mark Mac.

8)

Here's Freddie Poe (on our right) and his buddy Jimmy M. with a scarecrow they'd built back in 1961:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%20%20friend_zpslkicdirm.jpg)

The photo at the time made the front page of Worcester's Telegram & Gazette newspaper!

8)

Freddie with his favourite magazine in 1969:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Fred%2069_zpsqnabd5z8.jpg)

8)

The latest edition of TheShardCard which is distributed to hipster and artsy spots in Worcester County contains some of Freddie's writings:

(https://oi1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%201_zpsj5mxy7hx.jpg)

(https://oi1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%204_zpsnmxh8fri.jpg)

(https://oi1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%203_zpstzrs669q.jpg)

(https://oi1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%202_zpst4twveyq.jpg)

:)

Quote from: Hepcat on January 28, 2019, 10:28:46 AM
In Massachusetts between Worcester and Springfield. I was surprised to see the mountains visible on the horizon myself but that's because like most people I typically only think of Boston and Cape Cod when I hear the word Massachusetts.

:-\

At least he isn't in Maine. Between clowns which tell you how everybody floats where there from, and cats being brought back from the dead, I don't know how anybody can live there.

Quote from: Hepcat on January 16, 2019, 10:53:08 AMSo Freddie in his younger days had hockey scholarships as a goaltender at Cornell University and Northeastern University, and then garnered an invitation to the Toronto Maple Leafs' training camp in 1973 where Bruce Gamble was the goal-tending coach.

The only other things Fred still has from that Maple Leaf training camp are his goalie glove and blocker:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Fred%202_zpsvimfjuxm.jpg)

:)

Here's Freddie vending his wares at the Brimfield Antique and Collectibles show in 1983 or 1984:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%20collection_zpsed99isyr.jpg)

:)

Here's a picture of Front Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts circa 1963:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%20Worcester_zps3ftu9nyv.png)

Freddie tells me that his father's restaurant was located just past the Mayflower Hotel sign on the left hand side of the picture. The J&A Cigar Store stocked boxes and boxes of all the bubble gum trading cards issued in the 1960's. From end to end in the downtown area the street was packed with five and dime stores, toy stores, magic shops, hobby shops, newsstands, used book stores, confectioneries and movie theaters galore. In other words the street had everything that a monster loving young fellow could possibly want!

;)

Freddie tells me that pictures like these ones taken in the 2000-05 period prompted Terry to choose him to be the first officer of the UMA Yahoo group way back when:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%207_zpsaqeqn8ir.jpg)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%201_zpsbzpliltc.jpg)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%208_zpsbaaidxg7.jpg)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%205_zpsaux4pxya.jpg)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%204_zpsu2dnq8la.jpg)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%203_zpsfi3ge4ul.jpg)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%202_zpskripgidc.png)

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Fred%206_zpsxo3ri3ay.jpg)

cl:)

Quote from: Hepcat on June 17, 2019, 02:32:08 PMHere's Freddie vending his wares at the Brimfield Antique and Collectibles show in 1983 or 1984:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%20collection_zpsed99isyr.jpg)

The Brimfield shows are absolutely massive. Here's a pic giving a good indication of the size:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Brimfield_zps2hdrq342.jpg)

The next one is on September 3-8.

:)

Thank you, Hep for posting all these wonderful pics/news of our friend, Freddie...Next to Zacherle, he's one of the few people i miss most from our weekends hanging out together at Chiller in NJ for all those wonderful years. Simply one of the best people i ever met and i love him dearly. Sorry to hear he's having cognitive issues...he'd often share his stories of his and his dad's boxing days. I remember passing by him telling Zach one in the hotel restaurant that had him doubling over in laughter. I think it was the one where Freddie expressed doubt about boxing because he was concerned about what being knocked out might feel like, so his old man walked over and popped him one on the chin and said : "There...THAT'S what it feels like"!

Sorry i haven't been lurking around here much...still caring for my now 96 yr old mom w/dementia in my home which can be very distracting. I've kind put my outside interests on the back burner for the time being, but do check in from time to time where it's great to see familiar people. I know this was one of the few places on the internet where i might run into Freddie, as he tended to keep a low profile otherwise. Again, i'm so sorry to hear of his health issues but he always maintained a positive outlook on life, thru all kinds of adversity. One of the most sincerely likeable and together people on the planet and i wish him all the best.     

You might also want to check out the thread on Freddie's collection:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=22047.225 (http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=22047.225)

And the "Show off Your Weekly Finds" thread:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=205.6570 (http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=205.6570)

I've posted quite a few pictures of other items from Freddie's collection in those threads since December.

8)

Great stuff, Hep...thanks for the links. I remember that Chiller show from 2015 well. Last show i attended after 25 years, twice a year! After Zach stopped going, i did too...Every time i'd pass Freddie in a dealer's room or hallway, he'd have another new treasure he just acquired...He honed in on these items like a guided missile! As with so many of our cherished memories, we didn't realize how much fun we were having...

Freddie's dog Boo Boo just turned fifteen yesterday!

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Boo%20Boo_zps4shqsisf.jpg)

Both had some turkey bacon for breakfast to celebrate the event.

8)

Wishing Booboo a very very happy birthday and many more .. Hugs to Booboo and his wonderful family.

Sadly Booboo passed away on March 5th. Kevin Clement, the founder of the "Chiller Theatre Convention" of New Jersey posted this tribute to Booboo on his Facebook page:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/15/Booboo.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)

:(

As a further blow the semi-feral cat living in the outback by Fred's property was killed by the highway near Fred's driveway. Fred laid it to rest in a plot in the woods where he has been taking the bodies of other such animals killed by cars.

And Freddie really does live in a "neck of the woods" outside of Brimfield, Massachusetts:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Fred%20Estate%203(1).jpg)

Freddie is now constructing a nice memorial to all the pets he's had since 1974. He's getting a 40" St. Francis bird feeder/bath for the memorial together with a black schnauzer statue for Boo Boo. Fifteen names of dogs and cats will be on the stones:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Fred%20Estate%201(1).jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Fred%20Estate%202(1).jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)

The dog tags of his various deceased canines will be on the railing.

:)

Wow, that is a really cool idea and a great way to pay homage to our furry friends.  I've always wondered what would become of my pet's ashes and collars when I die.  I think my wife will want them buried with her.  My only fear is that they'll be discarded in a disrespectful way.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Quote from: Hepcat on April 22, 2020, 01:24:05 PMFreddie is now constructing a nice memorial to all the pets he's had since 1974. He's getting a 40" St. Francis bird feeder/bath for the memorial together with a black schnauzer statue for Boo Boo. Fifteen names of dogs and cats will be on the stones:

The dog tags of his various deceased canines will be on the railing.

The statue of Boo Boo is now in place completing the memorial Freddie constructed for his deceased pets:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Boo_Boo_Memorial.jpg)

:)

Quote from: Hepcat on January 16, 2019, 10:53:08 AMSo Freddie in his younger days had hockey scholarships as a goaltender at Cornell University and Northeastern University, and then garnered an invitation to the Toronto Maple Leafs' training camp in 1973 where Bruce Gamble was the goal-tending coach.

Here's a picture of Freddie making a kick save:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Freddie_s_picture_dCPaHzMqg8cFnzozrhRN7d.jpg)

Freddie still has the mask he wore during his tryout with the Maple Leafs:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Freddie_s_mask_pyJsT6YHA5dMoo2cnotvoS.jpg?width=320&height=320&fit=bounds)

It was a very good commercially made replica of the mask worn by the legendary Jacques Plante.

8)

(https://www.photobucket.com/u/Balticprince/a/4c561d53-41e5-4059-be17-40e9c0409c3b/p/7a2c4d78-6b6e-4b85-8893-fee9c3070dca)

Freddie was very pleased to see his name right up there with those of Frank Frazetta Jr., Kirk Hammett from Metallica and director John Carpenter in the latest Chiller convention program:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Chiller.jpg)

I told him that was right and proper since he's gone up against more monsters (in the ring) than any of those other fellows.

;)

Quote from: Hepcat on July 16, 2019, 02:49:58 PMHere's a picture of Front Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts circa 1963:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Freddie%20Worcester_zps3ftu9nyv.png)

Freddie tells me that his father's restaurant was located just past the Mayflower Hotel sign on the left hand side of the picture. The J&A Cigar Store stocked boxes and boxes of all the bubble gum trading cards issued in the 1960's. From end to end in the downtown area the street was packed with five and dime stores, toy stores, magic shops, hobby shops, newsstands, used book stores, confectioneries and movie theaters galore. In other words the street had everything that a monster loving young fellow could possibly want!

There are distinct parallels between the Worcester in which Freddie grew up in the 1950's and 1960's and the London, Ontario of my formative years. Here's a picture of the main Richmond Street and Dundas Street intersection of London from the early fifties. I bought many of my comics in the United Cigar Store which was on the southeast corner of that intersection.

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/1452181_415827255210244_1377567151_n_zps907c95a9.jpg)

Here's a great view of the north side of Dundas Street shot from just slightly to the east of that corner:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Zellers.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)

Here's a good early fifties picture of the Kresge store on the north side of Dundas Street just west of Richmond Street:

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/Kresge_zps52be753c.jpg)

That was the store where I first saw a Marx Great Garloo in 1961 and discovered the Aurora monster model kits a year or so later. Just beyond it the Metropolitan(Met) store can be seen. The Met's lunch counter did such a thriving business that they had a satellite take-out counter at the front of the store where office workers could quickly grab a hamburger, hot dog, French fries, coffee, donut, etc. to go. Across the street to the left in the picture was a Woolworth store. The Zeller's store was directly to the right of the camera man.

My mother used to take me in tow and haunt them all. I lived for hitting her up for a bowl of ice cream at one of the lunch counters after she was fully shopped out. I remember the ice cream being served in a stainless steel bowl with a cardboard insert. 

And here's a picture from the fifties of Cowan Hardware on Dundas basically across the street from the Metropolitan store. I used to visit Cowan's to admire toys and model kits.

(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cf/4e/19/cf4e197ccf6a2e1ea7f11cbca71c0815.jpg)

Cowan's was also where I raced my Monogram Ferrari slot cars after a slot car track was installed upstairs in 1965(?). Good times! Just out of the picture was the Ontario Conservatory of Music where I lugged my accordion on the bus for my weekly lessons. Not entirely good times.

Look at the riot of neon in this picture looking west along Dundas Street circa 1962!

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/DundasStreet_zps965b9c3c.jpg)

:)