9th Philippine Toy Convention

The 9th Philippine Toy Convention was held last June 19-20, 2010 at Megamall Megatrade Halls 2 and 3.

I was only able to go during the first day and what can I say, the place was really packed with people of all sorts: collectors, enthusiasts, cosplayers, paparazzi and those of the curious kind.

I went with the boyfriend, my cousin and uncle and I was on the edge most of the time. I pretty much was annoyed by the countless onlookers who crowded the toy stalls because 1) they prevented me from getting a good look at the toys on sale and 2) they WEREN'T BUYING ANYTHING. I noticed that a lot of them just kept pointing at the toys, named them one by one (probably showing off to their friends how much they "knew" about the cartoon/show/character) then moved on to the next booth to do the same. THEY NEVER BUY ANYTHING AT ALL.

Anyway, there were the usual booths that sell mostly Western figures and some Anime figures as well. It is interesting to note that there are still some booths that sell bootleg figures =_= As disgraceful as it sounds, I don't think they'll be gone anytime soon since a lot of people still buy stuff from them. Probably because 1) they can't tell the difference between authentic and fake, 2) the price of bootleg figures is enticing and 3) they can't afford the authentic ones.

Some of the booths were of the usual stores that we visit whenever we go to Greenhills, while some were rented by collectors themselves who find that there's a bigger opportunity to sell their unwanted toys in a convention such as this - as proven by one seller I talked to who was selling his some of his toys because he's experiencing the space dilemma. You can really get those HTF figures (in mint condition too!) if you're patient enough to go through all the stuff that they're selling. (I even found my Barbie holy grail - the Chinese Empress one - but unfortunately, the price tag was way out of my allotted budget for that doll.)

There also was the Exhibit Area that housed collections from different toy groups. OtaKai was lucky enough to get invited to display our anime figures there. We were the only group that focused on anime figures, so a lot of the anime fans who were present took loads of pictures of our display. (My Haruhi Gekisou was part of the display!) Other displays consisted of girls' dolls very intricately dressed in all sorts of costumes, 1/6 army dolls, Marvel figures, DC figures, custom figures, Gundam, Transformers, Lego, 1:1 statues and dioramas. The display area is always a sight to behold!

We only got to take a good look at the whole event later that night - around 8-ish. At that time, the crowd was noticeably thinning and dispersing, hence, we had the freedom to look at the goods displayed and sold without the fear of being pushed or stepped on. I already told myself when we first left the convention at around 5:30PM that I won't be buying anything more but as true in any convention that I've been to (especially ToyCons) that there's always something new to find at each visit. So yes, I bought a bit more toys, an artbook and a manga during our 2nd visit.

Well, enough of my ranting. Here are some pictures of ToyCon Day 1, credits for the pictures go to the boyfriend.

WARNING: Don't expect cosplay pictures.

After a long hiatus

It's been this long? Wow. This blog sure needs some updates haha.

Anyway, what's new?

I've a new job that pays fairly better than the previous one so it only means one thing: more spending money for toys! Of course, the extra cash isn't only serving the hobby, it also keeps my "kids" alive -- 6 dogs aren't an easy load on the budget. Especially if almost all the dogs (save for one) are big: an American Bulldog, 4 half-American Bulldog, half-Siberian Husky puppies (they're barely six months so I don't think they can still be classified as "puppies" but nonetheless, they're my "puppies" haha) and a Pomeranian. But I digress.

Aside from that big leap in my career, I'm also quitting the anime line of figures. Among my pre-orders, I only have Kotobukiya's Makise Kurisu as my sole "anime" figure. To clarify, I consider "anime figures" as those that aren't samurai-themed, so no more non-katana-wielding figures for me.

Why the decision? I'm quitting the line to make room for another line. I finally gave in to collecting Star Wars figures. I was highly hesitant before since 1) most of the Star Wars figures are small, 2) most of them are jointed and 3) THERE'S A LOT OF VARIANTS AND THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY. So I decided to concentrate my Star Wars collection to two things: 1) Han Solo and 2) Star Wars Mighty Muggs.

In a span of about 3 months, my Star Wars collection grew from 6 (Mighty Muggs) toys to almost 50 -- most of these are Han Solo, of course. The boyfriend has started to collect the Gentle Giant Animated Maquettes which are extremely cute so that would also constitute to my (or our) growing Star Wars collection.

I'm also looking at collecting some 1/6 scaled dolls. You know, Hot Toys, DiD, Sideshow... Well, I want the samurai/medieval china/japan ones, not the army/navy/superhero ones. I've started with Han Solo but I'll probably go around to getting them one-by-one if the budget still permits.

On a related note, my Sangokuden/Sengoku Gundam kits are growing in number. I'm only missing a few more to be up-to-date with the releases. Almost 50 kits if my memory serves me right.

This has been a pretty lengthy post -- all words and no pictures. When I update, expect that there will be few to none "anime" posts and more "samurai", "gundam", "1/6 dolls" and of course, "Star Wars" posts here.

Yeah, well.. Cheers!