Bob Welbaum: Technology and the Collector
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First there was Velcro. Then came Post-It notes. To this list of �Whatever did we do before we had these?� inventions, I�d like to add a third: the cell phone.

Now I�m at the point in my life where learning new technologies do not come easily. But this is one gadget I�ve come to realize is indispensable � helped along by some friends who quickly grew tired of me constantly borrowing their phones in theme parks. And as a Disney fanatic, I�ve learned a cell phone has some really unique uses.

I�m sure we�ve all done the taunting �Guess where I am ?� call to someone back home as we�re boarding a �Matterhorn� bobsled, a �Pirates of the Caribbean� boat, or more diabolically, just as we�re starting through �It�s a Small World.� That kind of call comes with the territory.

Personally, I�ve found cell phones very useful when shopping for souvenirs. I always pick up gifts for my neighbor�s kids, and I have discovered through hard experience that their tastes change rapidly, especially when they�re small. It seems like I�m always one iteration behind the latest fad, and have been disappointed several times when my gift selections have been met with indifference rather than the rapt enthusiasm I�d envisioned. Now when I see something I think they�ll like, I can turn on my phone, call and ask them: �I�ve just found _______ in the ______ Shop. If I get it for you, will you promise to play with it/wear it/eat it when I get home?�

I felt I really discovered my phone�s potential at last year�s NFFC Convention, held on July 11-15 at the Crowne Plaza Resort Hotel in Garden Grove, CA. During Sunday�s Show And Sale, the renowned miniatures artist Robert Olszewski was offering some Winnie the Pooh figurines� and on sale no less! My aforementioned neighbor�s daughter has become an avid Winnie the Pooh collector -- and she is old enough that her tastes weren�t going to change by her November birthday. So I bought her one. Then I couldn�t resist calling her (she�s easy to reach; as a teenager, her phone is always on) to say �I just found your birthday present!� And that�s all I told her. She had to wait until November to see my surprise, although it turned out to be a long wait for me, too.

But the real coup was during the club�s �Part of Their World� dinner. This was a special event the day after the convention where the club takes over a restaurant � in this case Ariel�s Grotto in Disney�s California Adventure -- and invites Disney celebrities to join us. Each celebrity draws a table, then has dinner with the club members who happen to be seated there.

As we began, I quickly realized that one of the invited celebrities was June Foray. June is a legendary Hollywood voice artist; her Disney contributions include voicing Grandmother Fa in Mulan, Magica de Spell on Ducktales, and Grammi Gummi on Disney�s Adventures of the Gummi Bears. But her best-know role was as Rocket J. Squirrel on Jay Ward�s The Bullwinkle Show� plus Natasha and Nell for this classic�s other segments.

I had always been a fan of Rocky and Bullwinkle. June had appeared in a panel discussion at an earlier NFFC Convention, and I had sneaked out to the parking lot afterward just to shake her hand.

But then I remembered my younger brother Greg was an even bigger fan, and I immediately thought of another use for my cell phone.

We were running late to begin with; we�d had to wait for the regular restaurant patrons to clear out before we could start. And (of course) June didn�t draw our table. But just after 9 pm local time, the event was opened up and we could visit anyone in the room.

Fortunately, the seat next to her was open, so I sat down, introduced myself, then asked �My brother is a big Rocky and Bullwinkle fan. If I get him on the phone, will you talk to him?� She graciously agreed and I began pushing buttons.

Now picture a room full of Disney personalities and fanatics happily chatting away, and you�ll realize the sound level was about three decibels below that of your typical boiler factory. I have a really cheap phone (but that�s another story) and could barely hear it ring. First I retreated to the only quiet place I could find � the men�s room � until I realized I couldn�t get a signal there. I finally had to tough it out standing in the doorway with a finger in the opposite ear.

My brother and his family happened to be visiting Mom in Florida about a hundred miles north of Tampa, so the time there was just past midnight. The fact that it took awhile for someone to pick up was not a good omen.

Mom finally answered, and as I walked back to June�s table the conversation went something like this:

�Is Greg awake?�

�No, he just went to bed.�

�Well, get him up!�

Mom has never fathomed this collecting mania (please see my July 6, 2005 column), so she naturally assumed something terrible had happened, and I didn�t have time to explain. My brother was understandably confused when he came to the phone and I said � in my most casual voice � �I�m at the club�s collectors� dinner and June Foray is here. Would you like to speak to her?� That put him in the bewildering position of being suddenly awoken from a sound sleep to be told one of his childhood heroes wanted to speak to him with Mom yelling �Is everything okay?� in the background.

After two rounds of a groggy �I don�t know what to say,� I simply handed the phone to June. �Here�s my brother.�

Unfortunately, she couldn�t hear any better than I could, so she just started talking as Natasha. When she handed the phone back thirty seconds later, she had everyone within earshot in stitches.

�Could you hear that.�

�Yes, I could. Thank you very much.�

�Great! You can go back to sleep. Goodbye.�

My next fear was the following morning Greg would simply assume he�d dreamed the whole thing. So I further imposed upon June for a picture just so I�d have incontrovertible proof. She graciously agreed to this, too. I just hope this event was as much fun for her as it was for us.

Of course, my octogenarian mother, who is not good with new technology either, still doesn�t understand what the fuss was all about. But that�s okay; I�ll explain it to her as soon as she masters Velcro.