One of the most important experiences in my geek pop culture life has returned with a vengeance. After almost a two year hiatus due to COVID, ToyCon, one of the Philippines premier pop culture conventions, has returned in a live face-to-face venue last July 8-10 at the Mega Trade Hall in Mandaluyong. I’ve already attended a local comic book convention earlier this year. However, ToyCon has always been done in a much grander scale, and its return heralds pre-pandemic geek convention normalcy.
Of course, one of the biggest reasons I join conventions is to meet people of the tribe. Imagine YEARS of not interacting with like-minded people. Sharing your passions with them is a breath of fresh air to a weary geek soul. In my case, I got to catch up with artists that I know, and commissioned some great art from them. For one, I wanted to have this beautiful sketch of Nightwing and Starfire colored, and I had a chance to do so at ToyCon with one of our premier Filipino colorists, Omi Remalante. Thanks, bro. Hope to see you in the basketball courts soon.
I didn’t stop there with my art fix. I also passed by the Kumu Artillery booth where I asked two artist friends of mine to sketch me their renditions of some of my favorite anime ladies. Nowadays, who isn’t familiar with Yor Forger from ‘Spy Family’, and Marin Kitagawa from ‘My Dress-Up Darling’? For more seasoned anime fans, who isn’t familiar with Jamie Robinson from ‘Voltes V’, and Milia/Miriya from ‘Macross/Robotech’? Comics and Anime fixes done.
Another experience I missed at pop culture conventions was the presence, and interacting with cosplayers. So, I had my fill of pictures of, and with several cosplayers who congregated at the convention. One such encounter was with the 501st Legion of Star Wars. If you got to visit ToyCon last weekend, I hope you gave these guys a visit. They also take donations for charity which is a good way of giving back to The Force.
Here’s me with one Poison Ivy cosplayer who was hanging around the Toy Museum. Fortunately, I was able to visit the venue early to get this photo. When I visited the museum just a few hours later, it was jam-packed with people. And, Toycon was littered with a variety of cosplayers who you could see were just as excited to showcase their costumes in, and outside of the venue.
There was also a stage area at Toycon for a set program for each of the three days. In my case, I only visited on the second day, July 9. I picked that day specifically because the Voltes V: Legacy cast was there with the director. They talked about updates about the Filipino adaptation; and showed new images of sets, and costumes first revealed at ToyCon. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to record nor take photos of the revealed images. However, it was revealed that Voltes V: Legacy is slated to be shown next year, 2023. As an anime, and HUGE Voltes V fan, I’m excited to watch this new iteration of one of the most beloved anime series in the Philippines.
As such, it wasn’t a surprise that there was a Voltes V display at the Toy Museum. Voltes V is one of the toys celebrated by ToyCon as can be seen from its promotional banner. So, once you are done watching the live interview with the Voltes V: Legacy cast, you can go to the toy museum to take a look at the many iterations of this iconic super robot.
If Voltes V isn’t your cup of tea, there are other toy displays in the museum. You can feast your eyes on some of Philippine comic characters in toys. Darna, Captain Barbell, and Lastikman were well-represented at ToyCon.
Or, maybe Lego displays are more your thing? There was a lot of that as well at the museum. There was this Star Wars Lego display with Yoda, Grogu, and R2D2 that I absolutely loved. It also helps that the helmet figures that were displayed with them added more to the Star Wars mystique.
If larger toys are what you prefer, there were a lot of those around the event grounds as well. They range from one-sixth scale to life-sized toys. The Trese display caught my eye with its accuracy to the comics, and the animated series. I’m looking forward to new installments of both the comics, and the animation in the future. Fortunately, I already have myself an action figure of Alex in my collection already, and I didn’t have to hunt for one here at ToyCon.
These life-sized toys of Rei, and Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion are not just life-sized, they are also life-like. This is outstanding work from the designers of these figure. All they need is some animatronics, and you probably wouldn’t notice the difference between them and real people. Who would’ve thought that there were toys that are almost this human-like already?
Naturally,this being ToyCon, I was tempted to get myself some toys. For the most part, I wasn’t able to find anything to add to my extensive collection. Until, from the corner of my eye, I spied two figures that I had been wanting to get since they came out. I passed on them the last time. This time, I got them, and they were sold at a discounted price. Welcome to my shelf Inigo Montoya, and Dread Pirate Roberts. Patience was indeed very virtuous for me in this case.
So, how would I rate my experience in ToyCon on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest? I’d give it an 8.5. There were logistical concerns that could have been done better which involve the venue, and lines. It’s as if the organizers didn’t predict enough the number of people that would flock the event. I mean, come on. We’re talking about one of the biggest pop culture events in the Philippines. It should not be surprising that people attend Toycon en masse.
In spite of a few shortcomings, ToyCon was an event worth attending. Being one of the first, and one of the largest pop culture conventions in the Philippines, ToyCon gave what was experienced during pre-pandemic times. If you want any other indication that convention season is back to full throttle in the Philippines, then ToyCon just adds more much desired fuel to the engine. I’m looking forward to more geek conventions. See around the cons, fellow geeks.
Obskura And Then Some 