"Back to Play" Shanghai Toy Show 2019 (April 12-14)
The 2019 Edition of the annual SHANGHAI TOY SHOW (#STS2019) is scheduled to open its doors at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center (3,2 floor) on Friday April 12th, and exhibits thru Sunday April 14th, 2019.
This year's event image utilises Hong Kong artist Pucky's art, and here's a (partial) write-up of the event;
"The trend toy, also known as art toy or designer toy, is an adult type toy with a collection value formed by a certain creative idea and a sculpture carrier. As a new symbol in the tide culture, the development of the tide is becoming more and more mature in recent years.
Stretching to 17,000 square meters, With over 200 booths in the planning, STS 2019 provides an even larger platform for more top artists to share experience and exchange opinions, advancing the development of art toy industry together with POP MART. STS 2019 is going to cooporates with the top exhibition construction provider, the most professional ticketing company and security company, in order to guarantee the best experience for all the participants. Most importantly, we devotes to provide a free space for artists and designers to realize their unique creativity." (toyshowchina.com)
Organized by POPMART (Instagram / Facebook) - who are currently (and have been for a minute) taking a very aggressive expansion of predominately mini figures in the blind box genre, making collectible toys affordable to curious masses and the consummate collectors, all the while licensing original characters direct from independent artists, in lieu of licensed media of the big chain stores, for which POPMART themselves possesses the breath of retail locations and distributing in greater China, and beyond.
And they are continuing in doing it HUGE, if last year's event was any indication (as seen in the video recap above), and of the smattering of WIP/setups seen today on www is any indication.
With the Asian - particularly the Chinese market exploding, it makes perfect sense to bring in the art and artists, rather than just be a sole retailer of purchasable toys, and in introducing a toy culture folks like us on TOYSREVIL, have had the opportunity to live in for the decades LOL
How it affects the consumerist aspect of the international scene is one thing (The flipper/scapper culture is prevalent worldwide, no doubt), but by enlarging the community of toy-collecting, might be a better option to produce a sustainable future for toys, eventually, as I color myself naive, perhaps.
And while I've since featured select collectibles, here are some others for your considerations, and will attempt to add to this as the event continues forth this weekend. ENJOY!
