Commentary+Observation: No-Show Toys @ STGCC 2011

What was absolutely lacking at Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention [www / Tagged] this year, was the absence of Munnys or Dunnys (but for the sole custom-Mini Munny at ZiQi's booth) which was a very surprising and alarming situation for me. And while I understand the lack of Kidrobot's presence at the Con (they've never actually represented themselves at the Con whatsoever), the lack of their products may well signal the lack of importance in the local toy arena, or perhaps less succinctly, the lack of importance of STGCC, to them or anyone's bottom-line, for that matter.


[Note: These images are of the TOYSREVIL-booth circa 2009]

I remember when I helmed a booth in 2009 - what outsold everything I had, were blank Mini Munnys (a consignment deal with a local toyshop), and realizing I spent an extra-ordinarily huge amount of time explaining to folks what "customizing toys" meant, and that Munnys were the platform to do it in (without being paid by KR, and to the determent of selling off my own YOKAs and goods) of course bolstered by the fact I had PHU!'s and ANTZ customs on display. And I wasn't the only booth making them available that year as well. This year, I have no booth to speak of, but I did not see others put up their figures for sale either. Did I miss seeing any?


Another no-show were BE@RBRICKS. In the past year, we would always have an opportunity to preview BE@RBRICKS, KUBRICKS and products from Medicom Toys - courtesy of Action City (who are the sole distributors here), but this year the focus was purely on Hot Toys (no doubt AC has their hands full with the HT-display LOL), and that was all there was to show. Would have been extremely swell to see products on show for Medicom 15th, but I reckon I might be 'toy-greedy' in that regard.

Of course one might exclaim "You Can Find Them at CSC!" (aka the infamous Sunday Market at "China Square Central") - but that is not the point. The lack of presence at a dedicated convention simply serves to not have the opportunity to educate anyone new about the hobby and product existence, and one wonders why anime-themed products dominate the scene here.

This two platform figures were singled out and mentioned here because they have become a 'litmus test' in terms or presence at an event - providing a mass market featuring niche artists' designs on their form, threading the fine line between "niche" and "mass", IMHO.