ToyCon 2009 Megapost: Day 1

Nothing stirs so much fanboy glee like making a chick in a European maid costume hold your lightsaber while making it look like she's beating you up. Score one for self-esteem brother! But I digress...it's the 8th Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention, also known as TOYCON 2009, where self-esteem isn't altogether needed, only a big wad of your last paycheck, a camera, and hopefully a whole canteen of clean drinking water, as I will learn soon enough.

For those not in the know, the aforementioned and affectionately called ToyCon is THE convention for the complete geek package. Toys, statues, anime, and stuff you didn't realize you need...it's all there. And even if there are like tons of toy conventions scattered throughout the year, you're nobody unless you've been to this one.

I was still nobody when I got to the venue at the ungodly hour of 10AM. What waited outside was, I honestly kid you not, the biggest waiting line I've ever seen in my life. It looked like it fucking looped Megamall twice! Thank goodness HERO TV was a major sponsor!


Inside was even crazier, as the venue was packed with all sorts of people with money to burn, and for good reason. This was toy nirvana, people. You wouldn't realize how much your salary means to you unless you find yourself spending it on all the latest and coolest toys and the rarest finds. 2Rats helped burn through your pockets with toy bargains out the wazoo.


Maxicollector didn't make things any easier either.


And beside it was the curiously called Alodia's Edge, where people were physically struggling to get in. I wonder what could be inside?


Oh, it's Alodia again.


Anyway, the stuff I was looking for (a Revoltech Fraulein Yoko Movie Ver. and a Mikuru Cheerleader Figma) wasn't there. You could hear my wallet's sigh of relief a mile away!


There were also toy exhibits like those hipster Snitch vinyl toys, Stikfas, Transformers toys (both movie and cartoon versions) and an exhibit to the late great Alfredo Alcala, one of the first few Filipinos who broke into the American comics scene drawing some legendary comic book runs from both DC and Marvel! If there's anything to be proud of for being a Filipino, it's this one.


Believe it or not, I cosplayed as Itsuki Koizumi from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya on Day 1!


But unfortunately, my first was also my worst, as I seem to be so bad at cosplaying that nobody recognized who I was cosplaying as. I'm not fucking Light Yagami, people! My pants aren't even the right color for the guy!

It got so bad that I had to pull a hapless Haruhi cosplayer to demonstrate who I was. And unfortunately I could not convince her to stay beside me to identify me at her expense.


Speaking of cosplayers, there were fewer of them today than I'm used to. Maybe because ToyCon is more of a toy collector's thing than an a cosplay convention, but what few we got were awesome.













































































Standing in the HERO TV Booth for four freaking hours takes a lot out of you. Good thing some of my good friends from the Hero TV Forums were there to ease the suffering a little. Or did they?


And I just found out that one of the legendary Joker cosplayers right now is actually my college schoolmate! When you've done the Joker this good, where else can you fucking go? Where else can anyone go?


All in all it was a fun day. Saw lots of people, ogled at lots of toys, and met lots of friends from high school to college...it was like a freaking reunion! Who knew toys can bring together people from the most disparate walks of life?

Up next, drama, dioramas and total devastation! Stay tuned for Day 2!