The Road To STGCC: What is TOYSREVIL?
"Have I bitten off more than I could chew?" Many a days that singular thought rushes thru my head and collides with my brains head-on like an 18-wheeler, and me a defenseless lizard against the glaring headlights and oncoming rubber-tire with a mud-flap that says "Close Your Eyes It Would Not Hurt As Much" (altho "Rango", I am not) … and ever so often, I nod my head in agreement, and keep my trap shut and continue forth with my schemes nevertheless, truth be told.
But on some days, especially when I receive images of toy-exclusives to-come from my collaborator-friends, I smile a knowing smile, that this was all worthwhile, because toys make me smile, and AWESOME TOYS makes things all good in the world!
The Road to STGCC is a hazardous road to be journeyed, with multiple organization and co-ordination of people and toys (mostly people's timeline and postal services), and the burden of administration which makes me NOT envy the organizers of the event, lemme tell you!
Know that while a person/creator/artist might be dealing with his/her own creation and products to be ready for sales or display at the event, at their own booth/s … now times that activity a hundred, or even a thousand-folds, for the event organizers. Now, I'm not here to kiss anyone's ass (I too have my own bone to pick with them, but that's for another post scheduled for post-event wrap-up), but I can somehow relate, on a smaller scale, of course.
But first, I needed to answer a question for myself: "What Is TOYSREVIL?"
To the local physical masses - not the online netizens which makes me giddy with delight day-in day-out (okay, so that there's what you call "kissing-ass") - the majority that will be physically attending the event. For all intents and purposes, a "blog" might not have any tangible value here (and remember, not everyone is "online" in the first place, perhaps), besides the toys it might have for sale. And me, hardly a "personality" worth queuing up for (much less being a "celebrity" muahahahaha I tear in jest), so it is simply down to the "toys for sale", isn't it? Because essentially, I can't really "sell a blog" (locals here don't really see the need for advertising unfortunately).
Be that as it may, the toy-convention scene here in Singapore is but at it's thumb-sucking infancy (NOT that I am a know-it-all, I insist) and the habits of the masses still needs to be honed and shaped, methinks. The focus is predominantly "popular culture" and the scene is dominated by production licensed toys, or mass-produced art toys from the 'larger' labels and brands.
So first on my list of "to-haves" at my humble little rental space at Artist Alley, are "toy exclusives"! Shown here are some images revealed thus far of awesomeness to come - and I do not state that lightly or in over-enthusiastic-hype, people!
I reached out to my friends from all over the globe, and pitched my pitch (note that I am a torrid salesman in the first place, so blessed be the select good people who said "yes") and scored me a bevy of exclusives and TOYSREVIL-Editions, all with the distinct honor of being "independent" and "self-produced", with an high number of them literally "self-made".
And along with that, comes multiple directions each design takes, from exclusivity, to custom-toys, to header-card art, and that by itself, is a full-time job coordinating to be had, IMHO (Read "Lizard-In-Headlights" commentary at top of the post).
Next up, I discuses the toys themselves, then the issue of timeline and delivery, and promotional considerations. Join me on my journey, and hopefully I'll be able to see you folks at Booth F51 at the Singapore Toy, Games and Comics Convention on September 1st to 2nd at Marina Bay Sands!
Cheers
Andy
But on some days, especially when I receive images of toy-exclusives to-come from my collaborator-friends, I smile a knowing smile, that this was all worthwhile, because toys make me smile, and AWESOME TOYS makes things all good in the world!
The Road to STGCC is a hazardous road to be journeyed, with multiple organization and co-ordination of people and toys (mostly people's timeline and postal services), and the burden of administration which makes me NOT envy the organizers of the event, lemme tell you!
Know that while a person/creator/artist might be dealing with his/her own creation and products to be ready for sales or display at the event, at their own booth/s … now times that activity a hundred, or even a thousand-folds, for the event organizers. Now, I'm not here to kiss anyone's ass (I too have my own bone to pick with them, but that's for another post scheduled for post-event wrap-up), but I can somehow relate, on a smaller scale, of course.
But first, I needed to answer a question for myself: "What Is TOYSREVIL?"
To the local physical masses - not the online netizens which makes me giddy with delight day-in day-out (okay, so that there's what you call "kissing-ass") - the majority that will be physically attending the event. For all intents and purposes, a "blog" might not have any tangible value here (and remember, not everyone is "online" in the first place, perhaps), besides the toys it might have for sale. And me, hardly a "personality" worth queuing up for (much less being a "celebrity" muahahahaha I tear in jest), so it is simply down to the "toys for sale", isn't it? Because essentially, I can't really "sell a blog" (locals here don't really see the need for advertising unfortunately).
Be that as it may, the toy-convention scene here in Singapore is but at it's thumb-sucking infancy (NOT that I am a know-it-all, I insist) and the habits of the masses still needs to be honed and shaped, methinks. The focus is predominantly "popular culture" and the scene is dominated by production licensed toys, or mass-produced art toys from the 'larger' labels and brands.
So first on my list of "to-haves" at my humble little rental space at Artist Alley, are "toy exclusives"! Shown here are some images revealed thus far of awesomeness to come - and I do not state that lightly or in over-enthusiastic-hype, people!
I reached out to my friends from all over the globe, and pitched my pitch (note that I am a torrid salesman in the first place, so blessed be the select good people who said "yes") and scored me a bevy of exclusives and TOYSREVIL-Editions, all with the distinct honor of being "independent" and "self-produced", with an high number of them literally "self-made".
And along with that, comes multiple directions each design takes, from exclusivity, to custom-toys, to header-card art, and that by itself, is a full-time job coordinating to be had, IMHO (Read "Lizard-In-Headlights" commentary at top of the post).
Next up, I discuses the toys themselves, then the issue of timeline and delivery, and promotional considerations. Join me on my journey, and hopefully I'll be able to see you folks at Booth F51 at the Singapore Toy, Games and Comics Convention on September 1st to 2nd at Marina Bay Sands!
Cheers
Andy
