STGCC 2011 Day Two: A Personal Experience

At the end of Day Two (and the final day) of the annual Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention 2011 [www / TAGGED], I was left with a severely sore and quivering feet and bags filled with toys, as helped carried by Dad, Mum and Sis (as ever my supportive family and posse lol). And tucking into dinner at 8+pm, I realized I missed the Convention, even tho I had only just stepped four floors downstairs for a meal. Watching folks and newfound friends wheeling their display goods pass our table (ours was chosen right next to the lift lol), it felt like such a saddened scenario to bid farewell.

Next year, I have decided to get a booth at STGCC in Artist Alley, and I will not blog about the event, but enjoy it as both an exhibitor and geek instead.


STGCC this year for me was about re-meeting old friends. Catching up with decades'-old acquaintances (and perhaps even quick updates on my current Stroke-condition hahaha), as the last time some of them saw me was at last year's STGCC when I was pushed around in a wheelchair, and now wobbling around at a speed unlike everyone else moving around on the convention-floor, there is an improvement, and I am grateful for that ability, as well as a chance to catch up with old faces. Funnily enough, there were a whole lot of faces from last year I did not actually managed to meet this year though.

Managed to meet new folks too - and of course I dragged their ears out with my incessant yakking - thank you all for not responding negatively *muacks* lol) and in all, tis the spirit of meeting folks, that made the event "work" for me.


Walking around the event hall on Sunday, casually snapping what interested me (select feature posts forthcoming), I discovered more booths and brands than I had expected (a floor plan is just a 2-dimensional reference compared to seeing them larger than life lol), from my stress of covering it the day before.

This realization is indeed a treat and delight, and I really enjoyed going thru from booths to booths (altho the crowd was hell on my traveling, but hey, I survived it!). And I find myself enjoying the Con moreso than I have for the past few years. That was well was a surprising self-revelation. In that, I relished what I had experienced, although I dare not say everyone had felt the same. Different strokes? Embrace it -I have :)


And while much kudos were given to Hot Toy's booth display yesterday , today I would like to commend the Star Wars themed booth from 501st Legion - featuring a toy diorama of epic OCDness! And that they were not particularly "selling" anything. The photo-ops with the cosplayed-Storm Troopers was a decent touch to an otherwise comicbook-themed event. Hopefully in time there will be sponsors or the ability to erect an enlarged backdrop diorama for more epic photos. I'll be epically agawk if they had like a severed At-At head as a 3D-backdrop! LOL


Activity wise, the "games" aspect of STGCC certainly held their own with infusion of crowds who stayed indoors for card games, Nintendo and a Tamiya remote controlled toycar tournament. And while not my cuppa, it provided at least one of my friends to miss his "younger days" of the hobby - so perhaps "games" is here to stay, regardless. The DC Comics was showcasing their Asylum City trailers on their booth-plasma, which to me made more sense to see comicbook themed gameplay involved in a convention like STGCC - but I guess it remains to be seen if dedicated niche games will gain prominence in time. Does not look too far from being a larger staple than it has been before, in a Singapore-crowd-draw context tho - and the only semblance of "booth babes" at the event this year, even tho they were in regular polo-tees LOL (and no, I do not have pics to show ;p). What's a convention without booth babes, man? Welcome to Singapore, folks!


Not everything was about "sales" at STGCC - with the graffiti wall at the far side of STGCC seeing a myriad of doodling happening as done by attendees - in lieu of the artists doing up a mural wall in past years - and a small part of me regrets no adding some ink to the wall (instead of just taking snaps of it) - a nice way for folks to feel they had "contributed" to the event, so kudos. And from the imagery, you can see a whole lot of japanese anime/manga influences (which the organizers seem to gearing towards), and frankly not a whole lot of giant schlong and twarts too LOL

We is a 'safe' bunch here in Singapore :)


[I am very interested to know the demographic of this year's event, as it seems a slightly more mature crowd of buyers, versus a younger crowd of cosplayers = a decent mix from my POV]
Besides my previous gripe about the overall sensory experience of a geek-con, it all falls down to what the booth has for folks, and how 'cool' and appealing it looks (Singapore is about the "cool" more than the ability to process "awesome", I reckon). This year's booths were actually a mix of "awesome", "cool", "night-market-sales" and "why-the-heck-are-you-doing-here?" Here are some more random snaps, although I did miss taking pics of a booth that was selling "rare" old comicbooks (but appreciated it's presence there in the Con).


[Last button standing - even when i was giving them away = so sad! LOL]
Funnily, a whole lot of folks I met exclaimed that they were looking for my booth in STGCC - when in fact I had none! All this stemmed from the fact that they had seen my bagged-n-tagged buttons - which were actually meant for free giveaways instead! Trust me folks, if I had me a booth, I would be trumpeting it to the high heavens! And you are ALL invited to come party and talk toys!


STGCC 2012 was without a doubt, a year of comicbooks. Vinyl toys represented by the sparse few folks were lacking in comparison to the sheer amount of 2-D print and published works. Ironically, the few "freebies" thrusted my way at STGCC this year was predominantly print work (seen above), while I had to fork out cash from my own pocket to purchase the toys you see below.


Pretty "telling" how much me and my work on the blog means to folks here, doncha think? I have made it a point to never ask for free toys, and if you do not think I deserve a free toy, then I would not get any - simple. And seems I get congratulations (for my DTA-"Best Blog" win) from friends and folks in the 2D-biz more than the toy-biz, so you know what? While I am humbly and sincerely thankful to folks all around for their well-wishes, I had not been deluded to imagine otherwise, hence I was not disappointed as I thought I would be, I will not lie LOL


[The 1/6th-scaled hobby is alive and kicking here in Singapore]
I did not bother speaking with the 'big boys' with their big booth-space about their reactions to the event, instead concentrating on the folks in Artist Alley, and in essence, the reactions were mixed but generally positive. Some saw better sales last year, but better response this year, and some visa-versa. A whole chunk of last year's exhibitors did not make a return engagement (but attended the event still), while new folks who helmed their booth seemed generally positive.


[The 'indie spirit' of the convention lived well in the Artist Alley - which to me was a parallel of a "Cultyard" scenario of SDCC/NYCC - but that's just me ;p]
Artist Alley saw a slew of comicbook and illustration influenced offerings, with a smattering of products and self-made plush. Rocket Raygun started a line-up down the gallery including names like Lenil Yu, Sonny Liew (who had a much bigger booth last year), Harvey Tolibao, Benjamin Ang, Ray Toh, mixed in with a more urban-art aspect featuring works from ZiQi, Orkibal and Art:Tech of Eightyfourcube, and products from Roomism and plush from Kikeimono. Apparels did not seem to have a stronger presence than before tho, but Shabowl Brothers were on-hand with exclusive tees from Scarfille and an exclusive STGCC tee from Sean Lee.


The crowd was not as "thronging" as before (or perhaps the central areas where the "Games" aspect of the event saw a congested traffic situation, which proved to be both a bane and boon. Less traffic = less sales? And on the same token, the traffic seemed more "controlled", and perhaps compartmentalized to folks who actually gave a shit about what the event was about, and not a weekend spent in air-conditioning, ya know? The crowd seem to KNOW what they are looking at, and that might also mean a lesser need to "sell". Anybody has a different impression of the event, please do feel free to let me know.

One aspect of the event, which irked me a tad, was the general mood of a very select few folks manning their display space and counters. I had encountered on a variety of occasions when I had "dirty looks" from booth staff.

We are in a convention dwelling on a niche lifestyle which already had been looked upon with suspicion from the general masses ("What? Buy comicbooks? Collect toys? Spend money on games? Don't you have a family to support? Don't you have a regular life to lead?") and with once a year geek-gathering of an event of this proportion, this is one of the only chances to be with likeminded fellow-geeks and hobbyist, without the need for "judgement" from the "other" folks, and here we are being treated like such, with folks looking at us with disdain. Am I the only one who incurred this malady? Is it all in my headspace?

Have I asked you for a free item? Have I been rude to grab anything without asking first? Does my "Media/Blogger" pass mean you are entitled to frown at me? Or does my walking cane unnerve you? Not for the lack of toys to buy had my experience been tainted, but for the unnecessary spirit in the way things are "sold", unfortunately so. Did not appreciate my experience being marred by that, but as Collin David mentions on my FB-wall: "As someone who has reported from NYCC and ToyFair, people DEFINITELY run hot and cold." Thankfully I had other better experiences to cover this lack I had personally felt instead.

Hey, I realized I was ambling around on my walking cane and generally not with a superb smile on my face throughout (what? you think moving around in a crowd who might not necessarily care that I was on a walking cane, was "easy"? LOL), so maybe folks reacted to my expression? This I might suspect, but hell I missed my "enjoyment-mark" with this issue, so I can only hope I'll score more smiles in next year's event *:)*


[A serious lack of art toys representation - ironically I remember the fulore of the first year, when folks complained that were was too much art toy involvement hahaha]
Yes, 2011 is the year of "retail" as well, with everything having a price. I no longer feel the "spirit" of the past years (even last year's) but for the sole showcase of Hot Toys' booth adding the glam factor to an otherwise "insipid" event. We do not have the culture of "freebies" here. The existence of big-name media distros do not have a presence enough to even giveaway free posters or print materials, heck there were no specific event goodie bags to be had (like SDCC), with each booth having their own moreso for utilitarian purposes anyways. So maybe that's a good thing - compared to when media hogged the spotlight at SDCC (I can imagine the folks around the Munky King booth nodding their heads at this ;p).


[Regardless the 'abundance of space' or a dedicated concert-styled venue, it seemed to afford attendees a space to rest or linger, and I realized that was a swell way to keep folks "indoors" for a longer duration, and still have a chance for them to walk the aisles thereafter, or so I think]
Truth be told, I did not feel there was a "bang". Hey, there was even less fanfare. Hell, it was "Sunday market in an air-conditioned hall", but seemingly a "respectable" one than before, and the selection spread quite a decent spread to me (well, but for a serious lack of art toys, of course LOL), which leads me to think, "Next Year Would Be So Much Better" - because it has to, or it will fail and become the white elephant most folks have lamented it to become, and that is not something I want, or look forward to.


[Consider fancy French Maid dress-up or some such frills for eye-candies-sake lol]
Is this an attempt to reboot the convention? To reset the mindset of exhibitors and attendees used to the memories of two, or three years ago? I fail to deduce the answer actually, and neither am I in a position to wildly speculate publicly, but all I can think of right now, is to just do away with the Cafe area, because it was a sham as far as I was concerned.

Or simply, someone should come in and make a 'spectacle' of it - like genre-designed cupcakes, geekery-based snacks etc - heck, like eating is also a 'fun' aspect of the event, and even photo-taking worthy, you know? Heck, I'll happily blog about cupcake toppings that feature Captain America's shield design or sumsuch cheezeness! LOL


[Having transferred the ticketing booth to the 3rd level foyer while freeing up the congestion on the event level on the 4th, made a whole lot of sense logistically, I reckon]
I do not think I am jaded enough at this point to be bitter, but I hope in days to come / next year, we will see something worth remembering, something worth me blogging about, something we can yak on about until the next year's event. Something worth looking forward to, with glee and heightened expectations, and not the dread of an uncertain future.

I want my ToyCon, and come hell or high water, there must be a way to keep it flowing. Are you with me?

The TOYSREVIL-blog will continue select coverage of the event this week, with the bulk of the event imagery predominantly uploaded on my public Facebook page (feel free to tag to yourselves!) - for your leisure eye-candy and enjoyment :)