A Year Of Events on TOYSREVIL (Round-up of 2017 Conventions & Festivals)
Earlier in February TOYSREVIL'S "One-Stop Guide To Conventions & Comic-Cons for 2017" listed an array of geek cons I've attempted to cover on this blog, of which I'd only had the opportunity to physically attend two of them.
Here's a look back on a year of toy(related) events/conventions/festivals, and personal assessment of the blog-coverage and what lies ahead for those shows in 2018!
*Designer Toy Summit (March 18, 2017 in USA / www)
BLOGLIFE: Zero submissions and fanfare.
*Thailand Comic Con (April 21-23 in Thailand / www)
BLOGLIFE: Zero submissions.
And while perhaps there might have been fanfare, it would have been restricted to language specific. One aspect to overcome any language issues, would be relevant hashtags dedicated to the event, IMHO.
*ToyCon UK (April 29-30, 2017 / www)
BLOGLIFE: Minimal submissions but a decent amount of pre-show coverage! ToyConUK returns in April 7th and 8th, 2018.
*Bangkok Comic Con (April 29-May 1 / www)
BLOGLIFE: Zero submissions and fanfare.
*Art Toy Culture (May 3-7 in Korea / www)
BLOGLIFE: Zero submissions.
Artists featured on TOYSREVIL were apt at posting about and promoting their own works/art, during the event days, so this helped updating folks, and as well share their art worldwide.
ATC are very well verse in promoting themselves on their social media channels, and folks would do well to stay updated on their Instagram / Facebooks.
ATC returns 2nd to 6th of May, 2018!
TTE 5th anniversaryQuick 5 years recab VDO presentation .... see you on 2018
Posted by Thailand Toy Expo on Wednesday, December 20, 2017
*Thailand Toy Expo (May 4-7 in Thailand / www)
BLOGLIFE: Minimum submissions but plenty of blog-coverage.
This event features international creators/producers, who have been very apt at promoting their own works (those who choose to), and folks/followers of their fav artists are more likely to be updated via their social media streams.
*CurioCon 2017 (May 13-14 in USA / www)
BLOGLIFE: Zero submissions and fanfare.
*Five Points Festival (May 20-21 in the USA / www)
BLOGLIFE: Practisioners based in the West are much more apt in promoting their art and products (inclusive of appreciative emailers/submissions), and as well promoting themselves thru their own social medias, utilising applicable hashtags. I had a ball of a time covering this inaugural event, and am looking forward to next year’s!
*San Diego Comic Con (July 20–23 in the USA / www)
BLOGLIFE: Covering events such as SDCC and NYCC provides an abundance of news-worthy posts and mentions, with a wider range of interests from toys/collectibles, to media releases (in the form of TV or genre-films), so it is always an entertaining but ever stressful event!
News submissions were on-point and succinct, and it is much easier to trawl for content(s) via adequate hashtags!
Covering SDCC online since 2007 (but never having had a chance to step foot within the halls), this year's coverage on TOYSREVIL had been pretty decent, although the excitement had somewhat shifted more to "media" than "toys", I admit.
SDCC 2018 happens July 19-22nd.
Although now that they've won a lawsuit for exclusive use of the term "Comic-Con", I wonder about all other similar events using that term might need to change too? :p
*Popcon Asia 2017 (August 4-6 in Jakarta, Indonesia / www)
BLOGLIFE: Zero submissions.
I’d managed to cover a sliver of the event via the regular suspects previously featured on the blog, but it no longer captures the excitement (nor interest) of earlier years, a pale comparison to 2015, when I had the opportunity to visit the event (Thanks to the Brotherhood of Toys!).
*Singapore Toy Games & Comic Con (www)
BLOGLIFE: Celebrating their much touted "10th Year Anniversary" - which I had covered since Day One - this year instead I had experienced the event as an "Attendee", with but a handful of coverage by my lonesome to show for it. STGCC returns in 2018 on September 8-9th.
I am ashamed to admit, news submissions to the blog on my home ground was near zero (Save for the awesome Falling Orbs Project!), with little to no shoutouts from the local toy-community. Pity.
*New York Comic Con (October 5-8 in USA / www)
BLOGLIFE: While SDCC might be more “media”-heavy in recent years, you can depend on NYCC to bring the “toys”, and this year was no disappointment! From exclusives to prototype-sneakpeaks, brands and retailers came to the fore and showed the art toy world what to look out for in 2018! And I had a fruitful coverage on this blog!
Next year's NYCC is scheduled on October 4th to 7th, 2018, and I look forward to it!
*Taipei Toy Festival (October 7th-10th in Taiwan / www)
BLOGLIFE: And while there had been zero submissions (a fact I have accepted since the early days of covering the event since 2007), the annual event proves once again it is bursting with toy-news and happenings, and I look forward to cover it again come October 18th-21st, 2018!
Featured above is a peek at the promo poster, featuring the art of Japanese artists Shoko Nakasawa + T9G - Celebrating the 15th Year Jubilee of TTF!
*Indonesia Comic Con (October 28-29 in Indonesia)
BLOGLIFE: Zero submissions and fanfare.
*DesignerCon 2017 (November 11–12 in USA / www)
BLOGLIFE: The yearly DCON never fails to disappoint, not just in terms of news submissions, but in the sheer mount of interest and interesting things it generates! I had a delightful time covering the event on the blog (more "delight" than "stressed" actually!), and look forward to what 2018 brings!
The 2018 Edition of DesignerCon extends to three days now, from November 16th to 18th, at a new venue: Anaheim Convention Center!
*C3 AFA SINGAPORE 2017 (November 24-26 in Singapore / www)
BLOGLIFE: Zero submissions = But I let this slide, as my blog is not necessarily synonymous with J-Pop! LOL
Be that as it may, I had been invited as a blogger to cover the event, and for that I am grateful! I had a ball of a time and have still unpublished stuff to sort thru too! Continued coverage might spill over on my Otaku-blog @ #iNOTOTAKU! :)
Definitely looking forward to next year’s, and to continued support for AFA - which has since been rebranded as "C3AFA"!
*Tokyo Comic Con 2017 (Dec 2-3 / www)
BLOGLIFE: And while last year’s event was somewhat lacklustre (IMHO), this year’s TCC had my interests piqued! And the result is a wonderful blend of mass genre media, J-culture, and a healthy dose of the art toy world courtesy of a few select toy-brands! You do not need “quantity” to flood the halls to make it an enriching event, IMHO.
CLICK HERE to view coverage of TCC on TOYSREVIL :)
*ToySoul 2017 (Dec 15-17 in Hong Kong / www)
BLOGLIFE: Coming in at the tail-end of a year of covering international events online, "Toy Soul" would inevitably end up testing my resolve and patience, but with the TOYS that are released, they perk me up whenever I come across news online (via semi adequate hashtags :p), and I've had a decent coverage on the blog as a result. As ever, looking forward to what 2018 might hold :)
As much as I'd oft whine about wanting to attend all the events, the reality is that shows closer to home (and presumably cheaper to reach), would be within my reach one day - including Taipei Toy Fest ("dream destination" now), possibly Toy Soul and Thailand Toy Expo ... and going to Tokyo Comic Con will also sate my desire to visit Japan, in this lifetime!
And while I've gagged to attend SDCC and NYCC for years, and more recently DCON, they seemed to be utterly out of my physical and financial reach at this time in my toylife, so I would continued to be pounding the halls online, as I have been yearly. Thank goodness for the WWW, innit? LOL
Other notable (*toy-related) events covered on the blog this included:
WONDER FESTIVAL (Winter) (In Japan / Feb 19)
SUPER FESTIVAL 74 (April 23 / In Japan)
SOFUBI SHANGHAI FESTIVAL (May 20)
DESIGN FIESTA Vol:45 (May 27-28)
3A US VENTURE (July 19-23 / In USA)
WONDER FESTIVAL (Summer) (In Japan / July 30)
SOFT VINYL FESTIVAL in Hong Kong (Aug 5-6)
ILLUSTRATION ARTS FESTIVAL 2017 (Aug 12-13)
BEIJING TOY SHOW in Beijing, China (Sept 8-10)
SUPER FESTIVAL 75 (Sept 24 / In Japan)
BEIJING SOFUBI FESTIVAL (Dec 23-24 / In Bejing, China)
See you folks in 2018!
Andy TOYSREVIL
