It's a Pinoy geek's summer home, the place where everyone knows your name, except that place doesn't sell beer but oodles and oodles of toys, clothes, comics and other geek paraphernalia. I'm talking about the recently concluded Toycon 2010, the biggest gathering of geeks, collectors and enthusiasts all under one roof!
This year, my wallet isn't mad at me for a change, although my poor feet have probably sent in divorce papers for what I put them through this weekend. But I digress...if you weren't there, you missed out on a lot!
I got to the mall at split-second, mall opening hours. By the time I got to the Megatrade Hall, there was literally a huge-ass like that circled the entire 5th floor and snaked down the stairwell to the lower floors. Madness. But at least I got to experience the ribbon cutting ceremony for Toycon 2010 compete with special appearances of Batman, Joker, security escorts entirely composed of Stormtroopers, and celebrities Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal!
This year, my wallet isn't mad at me for a change, although my poor feet have probably sent in divorce papers for what I put them through this weekend. But I digress...if you weren't there, you missed out on a lot!
I got to the mall at split-second, mall opening hours. By the time I got to the Megatrade Hall, there was literally a huge-ass like that circled the entire 5th floor and snaked down the stairwell to the lower floors. Madness. But at least I got to experience the ribbon cutting ceremony for Toycon 2010 compete with special appearances of Batman, Joker, security escorts entirely composed of Stormtroopers, and celebrities Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal!
Bottom pic courtesy of the Philippine Outpost 501st Legion of Stormtroopers.I dunno why those last two people were there, but it doesn't hurt to see Kris Bernal's insanely cute smile before you lose electrolytes going into the con.
Anyway, it was easy to walk around the con if you're an early bird, so I got firsthand looks at the stuff for sale. There were bins upon bins of loose Marvel Legends, DC Universe Classics, DC Infinite Heroes, GI Joes and other toylines for staggeringly low prices. And for the mint-on-carders, some mint toys had prices slashed to almost 50% off. Haggle any lower and you'll feel astoundingly guilty!
Anyway, it was easy to walk around the con if you're an early bird, so I got firsthand looks at the stuff for sale. There were bins upon bins of loose Marvel Legends, DC Universe Classics, DC Infinite Heroes, GI Joes and other toylines for staggeringly low prices. And for the mint-on-carders, some mint toys had prices slashed to almost 50% off. Haggle any lower and you'll feel astoundingly guilty!
It seems that the buzzword this year is t-shirts, because no less than four booths were selling custom-made shirts in the con, which is already a pretty big number. Of course, the good people of Geekerie were there, as well as some newbies from PrintMe, Electromagnetic Tentacle and T-Tees, who graciously provided me with my custom-made, sexy new shirt.
Of course, the usual suspects were there to hawk toys. 2Rats, Wasabi Toys, GreatToysOnline, and MaxiCollector dominated some of the space in the convention floor. Though I'm curious as to whether MaxiCollector ever breaks even in these sorts of cons. I don't think I've seen a single sale from that place ever.
And speak of the devil, there she is! Alodia, with her sis Ashley, are the newest spokesmodels for the newly reimaged Animax Asia, who are major sponsors of the event. Alabaster skin. It's the in thing.
By 3pm, my feet were literally besides themselves in pain. I've been walking around for five hours without sitting, taking pics, talking to fellow geeks, and looking at young girls who decided to show some skin for the con-going public. The cosplayers weren't so pervasive this year, which is a good thing IMO. We get to see some quality product like these:
The only thing I could probably take offense on this day is that the organizers decided to put booths guaranteed to have high traffic right beside the entrance and exits. Now, I don't know about laying out a convention, but it was fucking hard (emphasis on the swear) to try to get out of the con to get some air when you have MaxiCollector showing off Alodia to sweating, heaving guys who will do anything to take pics of their princess, and the Axe booth, which was quite a hit with the aforementioned sweaty guy crowd due to the promise of having their pics taken with hot models dressed as dirty nurses and lady cops as long as they were spritzed liberally with Axe's newest scent. I avoided the place like the plague. I panic when my body notices I'm not breathing air anymore but scent molecules.
By the end of the day, I lost 3 lbs., paralized from the ankles down, and came home with an S.H. Figuarts Masked Rider Kabuto, The Matrix Trilogy CDs, and The Infinity Gauntlet TPB I got for cheap. Also, my friend Luis won original Superman Returns and The Dark Knight movie posters in the auction! That's some mighty fine bidding if you ask me!
Anyway, there goes Day One of Toycon 2010. It was awesome, it was tiring...but something is amiss. What could it be? Join me for Day 2 coming in just a bit!
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