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Optimus owner meets Executive Producer of Transformers Prime

May 30, 2019

The Fiduccia family, owners of Optimus Is Here, have enjoyed meeting thousands of people over the years with their replica truck.  They have also enjoyed the pleasure of meeting a few celebrities along the way. 


Specific to the Transformers cinematic universe, these include Tony Todd (the voice of "The Fallen" in ROTF), Titus Welliver (who played bad-guy "James Savoy" in AOE), and even the great Peter Cullen (a man who needs no introduction). 


But this time, Joe Fiduccia had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing someone who worked behind the scenes. Enter Jeff Kline - the Executive Producer for Transformers Prime, Transformers Rescue Bots, and Transformers Robots in Disguise.
Kline runs Darby Pop Publishing, a comic book imprint designed to create new genre comics. In 2018 he was invited to attend an Expo in Maine as a special guest and vendor. It just so happened that the Fiduccia family also had a trip planned to the same expo, setting up an exhibit with their replica of Optimus.

As if you couldn't already tell, Joe Fiduccia is an avid fan of Transformers. But more specifically, he absolutely LOVES the Transformers Prime series. It premiered on the Hub Network between 2010 and 2013, long before they even considered the idea of building a Prime. At the time, the Fiduccia's fell in love with the show, and consider it one of the best animated series to ever come out of the Transformers franchise.

"We enjoyed it so much that we even built a full-scale Megatron cosplay that I could wear for Halloween one year", Joe explains. "When it was finished, my son Ryan dressed up as Optimus Prime. We then visited a local mall for trick-or-treating."
Fast forward to the Great Falls Comic Expo in 2018, Joe would find himself meeting the Executive Producer of that same series he watched with Ryan every Friday evening. 

Joe tells us: "when Ben [organizer of the Expo] told me about Jeff Kline, I couldn't contain my excitement. I remained calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside I was giddy like a school-aged kid. Mainly because it presented an opportunity for my son that he otherwise wouldn't of had if we didn't build Optimus."

Both Joe and Kline opened a dialog at the Expo. They shared their favorite memories of Transformers Prime with one another, and Kline was quite impressed with Joe's build. Joe's family (son Ryan and wife Ania) both got the chance to meet Jeff as well. 

Kline was even gracious enough to do an interview with Joe, which can be seen below from the Optimus Is Here YouTube channel.
Both Kline and the Fiduccia family reunited in 2019 at the same Expo. A few months later, they came together again on a more personal level, enjoying the afternoon exploring the sites of Kline's hometown in Maine. 

"Building Optimus Prime nearly destroyed our family. And to this day we are still struggling because of it", says Joe. "But it's moments like these that give me a chance to experience the positive side of our journey. And it allows me to show my son that no matter how hard things seem, amazing opportunities such as this one could be waiting for him just around the corner." 

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