Craig Zablo's StalloneZone

SZoner, Kevin Libal is a HUGE Sly fan. Kevin has been collecting Sly merchandise since he was 7. These are a few pictures of his collection. Thanks to Kevin for sharing! – Craig

PS – I noticed Kevin has one of the great Schomberg Rocky statues! We will be running an interview with Mr. Schomberg in a few weeks. You still have time to get in questions if you post them HERE.

SZoner, Bill Pruitt has created another painting that fans are going to love! Here’s what he has to say:

Hi Craig,
I wanted to submit this new oil painting from Rocky V. I re-did an old painting and made it much better by combining the 2 photos below. Look for the hidden name “SLY” in it somewhere.

Bill
p.s. also prints are available of it and others on ebay.

******Check out my web site with brand new works****** http://www.billpruitt.com

SZoner, Hein, sent in the two pics and this:

Hello Craig,

I am a Sylvester Stallone fan from the Netherlands and a few weeks ago I was on holiday in Portugal. In a shopping mall in Guia there was a cinema and I checked for the Rocky Balboa movie. To my surprise I saw this big Rocky Balboa promotion board with Mike Tyson and Stallone. They made a hole in the board in which you could stand for yourself, really cool.

Look in the pictures which I have attached.

Keep up the good work for the website, it’s great!

Bye,
Hein
*****
It’s interesting that Mike Tyson made the ad and Antonio Tarver’s face was cut out. Thanks to Hein for sharing! – Craig

SZoner, Bill Pruitt, e-mailed to make sure fans know that Sly appears in the current issue of a magazine called Makeup Artist. There’s an article about the makeup artist of “Rocky Balboa” with pics. Thanks to Bill for sharing! – Craig

SZoner, Joy aka Jacy checked in with the shot of Sly above which was taken at the Philadelphoa Spectrum on September 9, 2006. The photo below is a shot of Joy and fellow Stallone fan, Judy. – Craig

SZoner, Matt Arnold sent in a drawing that he did. It’s his first piece on the SZ and we hope to see more in the future! – Craig

The picture above was taken on February 18, 2007 when Sly was in Australia taking a break from promoting “Rocky Balboa.” The pictures come from Justjared.com and there are more there! – Craig

This weekend I received the above card in the mail as thanks for working on the blog. You can imagine that it made my day! – Craig

Sly arrived in Sydney at about 11pm the night before the Australian premiere of “Rocky Balboa.” The 1200 tickets to the premiere showing had sold out in a record 27 minutes earlier this month. Things seemed to be off to a fantasic start. Unfortunately Australian Customs officers detained Sly and his entourage after routine x-rays of their luggage revealed several unnamed prohibited items. Unconfirmed reports initially indicated that the items were banned body building drugs.

Sly and his group were held up for about two hours before being allowed to leave. “Customs can confirm Mr Stallone arrived at Sydney airport on Friday evening. Richard Janeczko, national manager of investigations for Australian Customs, was quoted as saying: “His party was subject to normal customs and quarantine processes. During an X-ray of the group’s baggage, several prohibited items were located. The items are being held by customs… Mr Stallone’s party was fully co-operative with customs and was allowed to leave the airport after a short delay. Customs investigations are continuing and accordingly we can’t say any more at this time.”

When Sly exited the airport after his long flight from LA [made longer by the hold up], loyal fans and media were still waiting. Many, if not most stars, would have made a beeline for their limos, but Sly stopped to sign autographs for fans.

At the premiere of “Rocky Balboa” Sly was asked about the incident at the airport. He was quoted as saying, “That was a misunderstanding. Customs is doing a great job.” When asked what was in his luggage, he joked with one reporter by saying “My wife” and told another reporter it was a “giant cheetah.”

Sly was allowed to leave the country, but not before his jet was searched. Despite rumours that the items in question were steroids, Sly was quoted as saying that they are not, and the incident was caused due to a clerical error.

Although many people will jump to conclusions, I believe that it’s important to remember that at this point it’s not clear what the banned items were or who’s baggage they were found in. Australia prohibits the unlicensed importation of not only steroids but a wide range of “performance-enhancing substances”. Perhaps Sly just had some Instone products! – Craig