what you need to know about the singapore toy & comic convention 2008: part two - press release

A Thursday afternoon Press Conference / Media Briefing was held 17th April just @ The Butter Factory for the inaugural SINGAPORE TOY & COMIC CON [tagged] whereby representatives from PI Events (Ms Yiting Foo), Singapore Tourism Board (Ms Catherine McNabb), Media Development Authority of Singapore (Mr Eric Tan) and Regional Broadcast Partner: Animax (Mr Gregory Ho) addressed and fielded questions from a sedate media-floor. After-which folks got to have their pics taken with "The Joker", "Darth Vader", "Jack Sparrow", "Spiderman", "Cloud Strife" and a "Clone Trooper" (awesome blaster rifle, dude!), while alcohol floweth free within the confines of club walls adorned from floor to ceiling with doodly designed characters which peppers and (sometimes even) drives this blog = pretty sweet for a Thursday afternoon :)

And all of this heralds an update of the STCC-website as well (since my last post), inclusive of event / program details, key exhibitors, event-partners (including TOYSREVIL as an "Official Online Media - Singapore" - and please do excuse my attempts at being "respectable" with the sudden deluge of Caps in my sentences LOL) as well as some details on toy-goodies, which I have kindly summarized for YOU, my dear readers, unto bullet-point-form for your gentle online-digestion (aren't we but humbled slaves to short-attention-spans?) CLICK THRU to read, or go direct to the source @ www.sgtoyandcomiccon.com, or click here to download PDF-press release :)

NAME-DROPPING:
Key-Exhibitors include Hasbro (who are bringing their Star Wars: The Clone Wars line), Medicom Toys, CWC Tokyo / Blythe and Tokidoki. Designer Vinyl celebs include Pete Fowler, Simone Legno of Tokidoki and Devilrobots will be in attendance. Convention exclusives and redeemable freebies include Bearbricks, Kidrobot’s Zipper Pulls, Chuangyi comics, Mini TO-FU & Mini TOUMA vinyl figures and more (stay tuned to this blog, yo) ... while one may argue that this is nowhere near the sheer amount of "big-names" of overseas conventions like New York ComicCon or San Diego ComicCon, or even Taipei Toy Festival, it is literally a start, and I'm all for it and will support it as far as I possibly can - not just because I'm an "official online media", but also because we all need to start somewhere, before we get to somewhere, IMHO :)

Singapore Toys & Comics Convention: 28 – 29 June 2008 at the Suntec International Exhibition & Convention Centre (Hall 603) Admission for 2008 is FREE. (27th June is Preview Night)

KEY EXHIBITORS [www]

HASBRO:
- Sneak-peek @ STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS before its global launch on July 26, 2008 - including toys.
- Collector’s Corner: featuring a collection of toys spanning 30 years, as far back as 1977.
- The largest diorama display of Storm Troopers in the Empress Arrival Scene.
- a chance to win the entire Star Wars Clone Wars toys that are exhibited in a Q&A contest.

TRE: i hope that Hasbro will exhibit or preview other properties too tho :p

LEGO [www]:
- “Build-A-Brick” Competition in conjunction with upper primary school students - including an exclusive LEGO-area for finalists to build and showcase their pieces based on “Icons of Singapore” theme for public judging at the Convention over 2 days.

NINTENDO/MAXSOFT:
- Maxsoft will showcase its latest games for the Nintendo DS and Wii.
- Unveiling of “Wii Fit” gaming peripherals and software for the Singapore market.

CHUANG YI PUBLISHING:
- showcase of Singapore’s largest Manga publisher.

MEDICOM TOY:
- exhibition of the latest line of toy products including KUBRICK, BE@RBRICK, RAH (REAL ACTION HEROES), VCD (Vinyl Collectible Dolls) and FABRICK.

CWC:
- traveling exhibition "Blythe Stylish Creations" will be on display.
- Neo & Petite Blythe dolls on-show (with some styled + customized)
- special CWC-exclusives & rare limited edition dolls available at the Blythe booth.

TOKIDOKI:
- exhibiting latest range of shirts, jewellery, designer toys and skate decks. (waitin' on THESE sweetness LOL)


CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS

THE WALK OF FAME [www]:
meet + greet + autograph signing sessions with:

- Pete Fowler (UK)
- Tokidoki (Italy)
- DEVILROBOTS (Japan)
- Gary Erskine (UK) - comicbook illustrator
- Joseph Wong Chak (artist of “Old Master Q” or “Lao Fu Zi")

NETWORKING & PREVIEW NIGHT (27 JUNE 2008)
- for members of the Media, VIPs, and invited guests (networking & preview opportunities - im so there it's not farnie LOL)
- check out AdAsia and CATALOG magazines (June issues) for exclusive Preview Night Tickets available to members of the public. (don't go be looking at your local news-stands, yeh?)

COMPETITIONS [www]
- LEGO “Build-A-Brick” Competition for local upper school primary students [www]
- Mikoishi Animation Competition for animation / design students and open to animation enthusiasts [www]
- Singapore Polytechnic Toy Design Competition” for secondary school students [www]
- Singapore Toy & Comic Convention Photography Competition (snap pics of the con to win prizes)
- CosCon: Cosplay competition (organized by Movie Mania) with 2 main themes: (1) MOVIE and (2) ANIME [www]

OTHER SHOW ACTIVITIES [www]
- Artists’ Graffiti Wall (happening Preview Night June 27 = doodle on a 16ft (W) x 8ft (H) panel)
- Artists’ Autograph Sessions (git yer Con-exclusives ready folks and prepare to join the queue!)
- Stunt Shows organized by Movie Mania
- Props-making Workshop organized by Movie Mania (Cosplay-enthusiasts take note)

EXCLUSIVE FREE REDEMPTIONS UNDER THE “PASSPORT PROGRAM” [www] (AKA Freebie Toys!)
get your convention-"passport" stamped to redeem exclusives including:
- Convention “Bearbrick” figure from MEDICOM TOY [previewed]
- designer toy items from US toy giant Kidrobot
- goodies from local comic publisher Chuang Yi
- limited edition mini vinyl figurines from Devilrobots [Play To-Fu] & TOUMA [Little Trickers] by Play Imaginative.

KEY PARTNERS [www]

REGIONAL BROADCAST PARTNER:
- Animax

OFFICIAL PARTNERS:
- MSN and Windows Live / Agility Fairs & Events / Mikoishi / Movie Mania / The Butter Factory

(note: The Butter Factory will also be hosting Convention-related activities such as an interactive mural for doodling, display of customised toys, a special interactive animation for their video wall, meet & greet with selected artists, and displaying the works of finalists from the Convention’s photography contest at the Club)

OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNERS (Print / Singapore):
- AdAsia / Designer / CATALOG

OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNERS (Malaysia):
- StarTalk / Gempak / Starz / Comic King

OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNER (Japan):
- Quanto

OFFICIAL ONLINE PARTNER (Japan):
- SHIFT

OFFICIAL ONLINE MEDIA (Singapore):
- TOYSREVIL (*cough*) / startdrawing.org

OFFICIAL ONLINE MEDIA (USA):
- Plastic & Plush (way to go, Brian!)


PRESS RELEASE (Blurb):

First-Ever “Singapore Toy & Comic Convention” Blasts Into Town!

SINGAPORE – 17 April 2008 – Take heart, all pop-culture enthusiaists! PI Events, a local event planner and organiser, will be part of the cause towards Singapore’s MICE 1 initiative to provide quality business events locally with the first-ever “Singapore Toy & Comic Convention”, supported by the Singapore Tourism Board and Media Development Authority.

Scheduled over 2 days from 28 – 29 June 2008 at the Suntec International Exhibition & Convention Centre (Hall 603), the inaugural event will see a celebration of toys, comics, animation, gaming, design, licensing and Cosplay. Admission is free in 2008 and the event is open to the public for both days.

Boasting up-to-date advancements and cutting-edge products in the various industries, the international flavour of the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention will make the event a major vehicle for setting the tone and shaping trends in pop-culture in this part of the world for years to come.

“The inspiration for the Convention came not only from the growing interest and trends in pop-culture, but also the fact that this will be the first-of-its-kind convention in this region. There is an increasing convergence towards multiplatform businesses, and our vision is to provide a platform for such opportunities as well as acquaint the Singaporean and Southeast Asian audiences with these trends,” said Denise Tan, Director of PI Events.




[Event Photos via PI Events]