STV: "Goggle Guy" Meets the Fans

Six months after we first met him as our very first vlog, "rookie" Trekland resident Anthony Vitale—the ubiquitous "Goggle Guy" welder of the ST film teaser trailer— is all grown up and surviving his first real meeting with fans: the annual and infamous Las Vegas Creation convention.

As we get back to our backlog of interviews, we are reminded that it's not often you can catch a Trek vet's first outing like this...low-key or otherwise...

Switching to Visual: Meet "Goggle Guy"

He walked in to audition for the role of a bridge officer, happened to mention he knew how to weld, and voila—JJ Abrams snapped him up to become The Welder. Or even "Goggle Guy," as a legion of overnight fans dubbed Anthony Vitale after his face filled the big screen amid a frame of arcing sparks when the new ST film trailer first hit screens in January '08.

No matter what else he does, Anthony will always own a piece of lore as the first new Star Trek face—no matter how brief—to go before audiences in the JJ Jeneration. After I sat down with him for an interview upcoming in Titan's Star Trek magazine, he played guinea pig for me and obliged a brief "shout out" vlog to say hi to the curious and help launch this site ...