TOYSREVIL @ Culture Cartel 2019
This day last week, I visited the 2nd Edition of the annual Culture Cartel 2019, held at the F1 Pit Building - the same venue as last year's - but this year, the entire three levels were filled with more brands and hype! Well, more than I could capture!
But my aim was simple and true: "Collectible Designer Toys", and the sub-culture which I constantly feature on this humble blog you are reading. Sounds "easy", right?
TOYTALK:
This event was touted as predominantly celebrating street culture, with one of the components being the "designer/art toy/collectible culture/scene". And as with hype-beast-themed events such as ComplexCon in the U.S., my primary focus would be solely on "Collectible Designer Toys" and associated+related produce offered.
A few key artists invited+promoted included coarse and Luke Chueh (both having been invited to Singapore's comic-con in the past), and one of the hottest names right now in the scene: Quiccs.
Both Luke and Quiccs had workshops/masterclasses as well, which I thought was a smart(er) way to engage the public, beyond direct commercial transactions. Helping folks immerse into the scene, as opposed to just buying stuff, to feel part of said scene, IMHO.
Compared to last year's representation (BE@RBRICKS and KAWS), this year's representation however, was out in force. A virtual day-and-night, and with Cartel happening on the exact same weekend as SG Comic-Con, it was interesting to see WHO choose WHERE.
Local toy-names+brands such as FLABSLAB, Gagatree, and even ZiQi of MonsterLittle choose to booth at Cartel, instead of comic-con.
Mighty Jaxx had a huge booth presence, while as well represented at SG Comic-Con celebrating Sesame Street. Action City helmed TWO booths at Culture Cartel: Medicom Toys and BE@RBRICKS on the ground floor, and co-represented ToyQube on the second. Action City too represented at SG Comic-Con, with Tokidoki and POPMART... Did they also do Mr Kiasu x Spongebob's booth too tho?
FYI: I do not know the full story or business-relationship of the booths and names, with impressions stemmed from my own personal observations and assumptions, thank you.
Another notable toy-name represented at both Cartel & SGCC: Good Guys Never Win Toys from Indonesia.
All-in-all a very decent line-up of names and spread of collectibles, spanning the gamut of indie spirited products - from the mid to higher-end price-points - and name+pop-associated collectibility. All of whom were what tethered me to the event, and my interests in covering Cartel.
While I might have some small prior knowledge to toy-happenings, the bulk of public reveals happened exceedingly close to the event launch, with minimal promotional news coming my/TOYSREVIL's way, so I had to create content from whatever social media sources were available.
Such is the nature of hype-beast-led culture, I suppose. The "Cop-or-Drop" mentality, "instantaneously gratifying, available exclusively at the here and now!", I suppose?
The event was scheduled for Friday December 6th, to the weekend of Saturday December 7th, and Sunday December 8th. The weekend coincided with Singapore Comic Con 2019 - where I was a official "Media Partner", while I had been invited to visit the Media Preview on December 6th instead. Cartel had one (had) a day more than comic-con, and was opened later til 10pm daily (compared to 8pm), catering to the younger-ish more mobile jet-set, no doubt.
These are what I saw, and this is how I felt...
If this was meant to be a "grassroots/guerrilla"-styled event, then the general-directional-signage-situation could be understandable. Otherwise, it was quite easily "follow-the-crowd" function of direction, although I was beginning to feel like a "duck out of water", truth be told ... But with whatever experiences I had from last year, I felt I could navigate the space, right? I recognised a few faces, even though they did not mine ... oh c'mon, you all pretended not to see, right? LOL
I noticed quite a few eager more-likely-media folks hovering around alongside myself (they had MUCH better and impressive equipment than my iPhone6 and selfie-stick :p), but curiously not the crowd gathered in front of the entrance, most looking down at their smartphones (presumably), checking out what is dropping and worth coping, I suppose...?
I honestly felt as if I was a "uncle" there to pull out / "rescue" my nephew/niece out from the crowd LOL ... or maybe its because I AM a "uncle", lor! BAH! :p
With the reception I'd received, I certainly felt I shouldn't be here in the first place, no longer a "duck out of water", but ready to be roasted and braised over the Pit Of Irrelevance! *breaks-a-cold-sweat*
Thank goodness it at least was not raining (as it had been for the past week), or we'd definitely be soaking wet, were we stood in the open air! My fake bought-in-Batam suede sneakers would be ruined, RUINED, I say!
Friday was the designated "Media Preview" (3pm to 6pm) and "VIP / GOAT" entry, which by 2:45pm when I arrived to registered as "Media", was surprised to find a crowd gathering at the entrance on the ground level, which grew bigger in the 15 minutes leading up to 3pm, and subsequently seeing the crowd rush into the event space as the doors opened, reminded me of Comic-Con happening the next day Saturday, actually! But hey, in lieu of a "Media Pass" (*Or was the wrist-band it?), I did get a coupon for "2 packs of Golden Duck Snacks", innit?
Nevertheless I entered the event hall and had my bag checked by security, only to be told that "Media" needn't be checked, but technically I was not given a "Media" pass, because they had earlier ran out of Media Passes, which could well ave meant the event was a "success" in terms of media recognition and engagement, right?
I did not have time to ponder more as I had to make my way through the younger more agile crowd! But thank goodness, they'd disappeared pretty quickly into the above floors, which I leisurely snapped my way around the ground floor, forgetting I was without a Media Pass LOL
And no, I am not salty about the pass, even though I had been repeating it ad nauseam (*because its fun to, lah :p) ...
In this day and age, having a Media Pass is not longer about "freebies", but about being able to freely snap pictures without anyone needing to pitch-sales me, until I have the need to ask questions. Or maybe folks were just expecting "customers", and fancy photographic equipment lah, I cannot deny and neither am I oblivious to my own circumstance...
So far I've been nothing but a whiney-manbiatch, and I make no apologies for it. The entire ground floor had been devoid of friendliness for me - all except the coarse booth, actually - but I would also understand I might not be their designated demographic.
More images has since been Instagrammed via hash-tagged #toysrevilcc2019 (Yes, that's how TOYSREVIL rolls, even though I am not a recognised media), than posted here today, thanks.
Coarse held court in the ground floor, with a dedicated exhibition zone beside their installation with Mercedes Benz, showcasing their "Sprouting Noop" levitating above the CLA-Class vehicle.
There had as well been a daily instagram give-away, where folks stood a chance of winning a MELTDOWN ANATOMY daily. Results would be announced in the event's Insta account's mystory, which I promptly forgotten about to check LOL
Besides the Instagrammed-slideshow images posted here, I'd hope delve into more images in a separate post (before the year ends?), thank you for your collective patience.
I will not lie, I was hella excited to view the coarse products on display, as this was the first time I'd witnessed their works in person, besides the products sold in retail stores, and of constantly posting about them on my blog, could not beat the sensation of seeing them in person. I am still a fanboy above anything else LOL
Action City hosted Medicom Toys and their BE@RBRICKS - a mascot for all hype beast events around the world over, IMHO - with a dedicated center display for BE@RBRICKS designed by PEX, who was scheduled to sign over the weekend, which I thought was pretty cool, but not actively promoted enough of, at least from my POV.
Another impressive display was the Vintage Star Wars Exhibition, which featured "a million-dollar showcase of 200 items" from the personal collections of 5 folks, whose stories could be read about on Straits Times and AsiaOne.
I had been duly impressed by the pedigree of this exhibit, but felt it would have been far more "effective" at Singapore Comic Con, and at the same time realised it would be myopic of me - why preach to the converts, when you could also reach out to others?
And what I had loved about this particular exhibit, was that they were not trying to "sell" you anything tangible, nor were they necessarily actively out to promote something, but rather to share a "passion", a passion I felt was deeper in spirt with last year's Culture Cartel, versus this year's overall commercial and transactional experience.
Essentially the ground floor hosted all the prominent brands and main sponsors. The space between and across booths were huge and exceedingly comfortable, but to be fair, I assume folks who were at Culture Cartel to cope specific stuff, would have made their way up the two floors, where the more commercial aspect of Culture Cartel offered attendees - which I guess at this time of the day was a mash-up of Media and VIPs?
The second and third floors saw loads of foot traffic and bodies - to my untrained eye (singular :p) - way before the 6pm timeline. Depending on which staircase or lift you took, you might get to greet certain booths before others, all of which was a crapshoot, as far as I was concerned ... but hey, let's call it "an adventure", shall we?
Gagatree's vintage-esque toy robot collectibles first greeted me on the second floor, followed by Action City / ToyQube down the hall, leading to Steve Harrington's installation-space. Most spots were found by word-of-mouth, while bypassing other stalls - which by now I call "stalls" like in a hyped-up "pasa malam"/night-market-style. I know "Singapore is a small country", but ... What pushed me onwards, had been the (inner) realisation that if I were at "DesignerCon", I would have given up trying to navigate the entirety of the hall(s) itself ~ LOL
FI: I have tons of images for both Wetworks at Action City, and ToyQube to share in a separate blogpost, so stay tuned for that!
In another hall was the booth from Good Guys Never Win Toys, who co-launched apparels with Cosmonauts featuring their "Villains of Fine City" characters as carded resin collectibles, as interpreted by Muklay.
Now THIS was a spirit of the sub-culture collaborations I had been hyped-up about! But truth be told, if I had not blogged about it, after given a headsup about, I not have explicitly known at the event itself.
At times I feel that this is what separates hype-events such as this, and comic-con for the niche masses ... one seems to be focused on promoting themselves to the folks who only know of them, while the other promotes to as many likeminded folks as possible... at least from my POV. "Targetted Promotions", you say? I will not deny you.
Major kudos to @ggnwtoys for keeping me in their hustle-n-loop! Grateful, I remain :)
I only managed to find @ziqi_wu's table after a round of walking (thanks to Angeline for pushing me), and came across @crybaby_molly_'s table quite accidentally.
In utter fairness, if I do not let myself fall into the maul of time-crunching, I would nearly always appreciate "accidental finds", gladly so.
Both these booths, I realised, I had found at (nearly) the end of my day at Culture Cartel, and had either been too tired and exhausted by then, or found the "chill" to stop, and breathe, and chat, and that had been a good feeling, I admit.
Truth be told, I could not figure out the layout and placement of brands - much like a shopping mall tenant mix, except for a dedicated row(s) of tattoo art. Or more likely I am not to smart enough to navigate the space.
On hindsight, I had been "hunting" for coverage relevant to my blog, versus the notion of discovering new brands and people, and perhaps if future jaunts happen, I would rather partake as a "tourist", and take in the experience, rather than having to "judge it" - as I am doing now with this post - with my own woefully limited knowledge and experience in the genre(s).
But that is not to say I did not get to meet and experience new stuff and folks! Just that I hadn't Instagrammed them ... :p
The third floor featured @lukechueh's mini art exhibition walls, next to FLABSLAB's booth. He had created the pieces while he was here in Singapore, and that I felt held a deeper "meaning" to the paintings, and not something he "drew somewhere else and brought here to sell", you know what I mean?
There had been quite a few instances of contemporary art and installations in other boothspaces, but I had naught but cursory snaps for, which is quite a pity - for me.
I estimate it would quite literally take me an entire day to be able to experience most of the exhibits, and an entire weekend for a leisurely time to do so, something 5 hours is not enough of LOL - but that's on my head, and no one else's.
Missing Luke Chueh's DesignerCon 100% BE@RBRICK, really had me shaken though, moreso than I expected! He had mentioned he brought in 20 pieces, all of whom had been snatched up by the time I reached his booth... I wasn't expecting them at all, to be honest, so maybe that lessens the "sting" somewhat hahaha
I had missed an entirety of Instagramming the Mighty Jaxx booth, and will instead do a singular blog-feature in the near future. One of my bigger "regrets" for this event, was not taking sneaky-snaps of the sheer number of folks who posed with a finger up their collective noses, at theBanksy "Liberty Girl" life-sized statue ... but I am sure you can find them tagged on Instagram, maybe ~ BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
One aspect of the ground floor activities, is the long mural resembling a train running alongside the length of the hall, which featured multiple urban art by artists - which I certainly wished had further representation/presentation - like a Introduction Panel or even name panel - or maybe there was and I did not see it being put up. I could only recognise STASH and CRASH's art, and of course Quiccs'. I wonder how these were lit up at night though...
These were still being done when the event launched for Media Preview+VIP, and was somewhat the equivalent of last year's murals found inside of the building - an aspect I initially found "weird", bringing the outside IN, but has since embraced it's awesomeness! ... but then again for this year's, having the mural OUTSIDE, felt somewhat like it was being excluded from the scene "inside"... IMO.
I had remembered last year's event, where I pushed myself to after dark, and feeling absolutely wrecked in attempting to reach home, as my personal physicality continues to challenge my resolve for the past decade (*cough*), and was determined not to repeat that again this year, to a somewhat mixed result ... heading out to Singapore Comic Con the next day was a challenge, for which I ultimately blew my own morning deadline.
And while I had walked away from Culture Cartel with zero items in hand, I am instead left with fond memories of meeting folks and friends - both old and new! And while Singapore itself is a small country, and there are only so many players, having a chance to meet folks who want to be met, is a true treat.
My impressions of the event is based on my five hours spent in and around the space, and of the people I met. Truth be told, I felt like an outsider peeking into a scene I am unfamiliar with, a tourist walking the malls in a foreign land: "Oh look! Something shiny and new!", but neither a "fellow citizen", nor even possessing the faux-armour of a "Media"-status, so it had been exceedingly uncomfortable, but for the friends I'd met, fellow collectors, and my co-pilot for this event, Angeline.
Amidst all these and my own self-predication, last year's event stood out more than this year's, which served as a bludgeoning event with too many things happening at once, and my only one working eye to navigate LOL, but I know too well the event is not meant for "me", so no harm, no foul.
Putting both years' events side by side, they'd felt like two different events ... same-same, yet "different". The "Check-Me-Out"-spirit is replaced by "Buy-Me! Buy-Me!", and I am flat broke in my pockets and enthusiasm.
Cheers and Have a Fab Weekend, folks!
Andy TOYSREVIL
But my aim was simple and true: "Collectible Designer Toys", and the sub-culture which I constantly feature on this humble blog you are reading. Sounds "easy", right?
TOYTALK:
This event was touted as predominantly celebrating street culture, with one of the components being the "designer/art toy/collectible culture/scene". And as with hype-beast-themed events such as ComplexCon in the U.S., my primary focus would be solely on "Collectible Designer Toys" and associated+related produce offered.
A few key artists invited+promoted included coarse and Luke Chueh (both having been invited to Singapore's comic-con in the past), and one of the hottest names right now in the scene: Quiccs.
Both Luke and Quiccs had workshops/masterclasses as well, which I thought was a smart(er) way to engage the public, beyond direct commercial transactions. Helping folks immerse into the scene, as opposed to just buying stuff, to feel part of said scene, IMHO.
Compared to last year's representation (BE@RBRICKS and KAWS), this year's representation however, was out in force. A virtual day-and-night, and with Cartel happening on the exact same weekend as SG Comic-Con, it was interesting to see WHO choose WHERE.
Local toy-names+brands such as FLABSLAB, Gagatree, and even ZiQi of MonsterLittle choose to booth at Cartel, instead of comic-con.
Mighty Jaxx had a huge booth presence, while as well represented at SG Comic-Con celebrating Sesame Street. Action City helmed TWO booths at Culture Cartel: Medicom Toys and BE@RBRICKS on the ground floor, and co-represented ToyQube on the second. Action City too represented at SG Comic-Con, with Tokidoki and POPMART... Did they also do Mr Kiasu x Spongebob's booth too tho?
FYI: I do not know the full story or business-relationship of the booths and names, with impressions stemmed from my own personal observations and assumptions, thank you.
Another notable toy-name represented at both Cartel & SGCC: Good Guys Never Win Toys from Indonesia.
All-in-all a very decent line-up of names and spread of collectibles, spanning the gamut of indie spirited products - from the mid to higher-end price-points - and name+pop-associated collectibility. All of whom were what tethered me to the event, and my interests in covering Cartel.
While I might have some small prior knowledge to toy-happenings, the bulk of public reveals happened exceedingly close to the event launch, with minimal promotional news coming my/TOYSREVIL's way, so I had to create content from whatever social media sources were available.
Such is the nature of hype-beast-led culture, I suppose. The "Cop-or-Drop" mentality, "instantaneously gratifying, available exclusively at the here and now!", I suppose?
The event was scheduled for Friday December 6th, to the weekend of Saturday December 7th, and Sunday December 8th. The weekend coincided with Singapore Comic Con 2019 - where I was a official "Media Partner", while I had been invited to visit the Media Preview on December 6th instead. Cartel had one (had) a day more than comic-con, and was opened later til 10pm daily (compared to 8pm), catering to the younger-ish more mobile jet-set, no doubt.
These are what I saw, and this is how I felt...
If this was meant to be a "grassroots/guerrilla"-styled event, then the general-directional-signage-situation could be understandable. Otherwise, it was quite easily "follow-the-crowd" function of direction, although I was beginning to feel like a "duck out of water", truth be told ... But with whatever experiences I had from last year, I felt I could navigate the space, right? I recognised a few faces, even though they did not mine ... oh c'mon, you all pretended not to see, right? LOL
I noticed quite a few eager more-likely-media folks hovering around alongside myself (they had MUCH better and impressive equipment than my iPhone6 and selfie-stick :p), but curiously not the crowd gathered in front of the entrance, most looking down at their smartphones (presumably), checking out what is dropping and worth coping, I suppose...?
I honestly felt as if I was a "uncle" there to pull out / "rescue" my nephew/niece out from the crowd LOL ... or maybe its because I AM a "uncle", lor! BAH! :p
With the reception I'd received, I certainly felt I shouldn't be here in the first place, no longer a "duck out of water", but ready to be roasted and braised over the Pit Of Irrelevance! *breaks-a-cold-sweat*
Thank goodness it at least was not raining (as it had been for the past week), or we'd definitely be soaking wet, were we stood in the open air! My fake bought-in-Batam suede sneakers would be ruined, RUINED, I say!
Friday was the designated "Media Preview" (3pm to 6pm) and "VIP / GOAT" entry, which by 2:45pm when I arrived to registered as "Media", was surprised to find a crowd gathering at the entrance on the ground level, which grew bigger in the 15 minutes leading up to 3pm, and subsequently seeing the crowd rush into the event space as the doors opened, reminded me of Comic-Con happening the next day Saturday, actually! But hey, in lieu of a "Media Pass" (*Or was the wrist-band it?), I did get a coupon for "2 packs of Golden Duck Snacks", innit?
Nevertheless I entered the event hall and had my bag checked by security, only to be told that "Media" needn't be checked, but technically I was not given a "Media" pass, because they had earlier ran out of Media Passes, which could well ave meant the event was a "success" in terms of media recognition and engagement, right?
I did not have time to ponder more as I had to make my way through the younger more agile crowd! But thank goodness, they'd disappeared pretty quickly into the above floors, which I leisurely snapped my way around the ground floor, forgetting I was without a Media Pass LOL
And no, I am not salty about the pass, even though I had been repeating it ad nauseam (*because its fun to, lah :p) ...
In this day and age, having a Media Pass is not longer about "freebies", but about being able to freely snap pictures without anyone needing to pitch-sales me, until I have the need to ask questions. Or maybe folks were just expecting "customers", and fancy photographic equipment lah, I cannot deny and neither am I oblivious to my own circumstance...
So far I've been nothing but a whiney-manbiatch, and I make no apologies for it. The entire ground floor had been devoid of friendliness for me - all except the coarse booth, actually - but I would also understand I might not be their designated demographic.
More images has since been Instagrammed via hash-tagged #toysrevilcc2019 (Yes, that's how TOYSREVIL rolls, even though I am not a recognised media), than posted here today, thanks.
Coarse held court in the ground floor, with a dedicated exhibition zone beside their installation with Mercedes Benz, showcasing their "Sprouting Noop" levitating above the CLA-Class vehicle.
There had as well been a daily instagram give-away, where folks stood a chance of winning a MELTDOWN ANATOMY daily. Results would be announced in the event's Insta account's mystory, which I promptly forgotten about to check LOL
Besides the Instagrammed-slideshow images posted here, I'd hope delve into more images in a separate post (before the year ends?), thank you for your collective patience.
I will not lie, I was hella excited to view the coarse products on display, as this was the first time I'd witnessed their works in person, besides the products sold in retail stores, and of constantly posting about them on my blog, could not beat the sensation of seeing them in person. I am still a fanboy above anything else LOL
Action City hosted Medicom Toys and their BE@RBRICKS - a mascot for all hype beast events around the world over, IMHO - with a dedicated center display for BE@RBRICKS designed by PEX, who was scheduled to sign over the weekend, which I thought was pretty cool, but not actively promoted enough of, at least from my POV.
Another impressive display was the Vintage Star Wars Exhibition, which featured "a million-dollar showcase of 200 items" from the personal collections of 5 folks, whose stories could be read about on Straits Times and AsiaOne.
I had been duly impressed by the pedigree of this exhibit, but felt it would have been far more "effective" at Singapore Comic Con, and at the same time realised it would be myopic of me - why preach to the converts, when you could also reach out to others?
And what I had loved about this particular exhibit, was that they were not trying to "sell" you anything tangible, nor were they necessarily actively out to promote something, but rather to share a "passion", a passion I felt was deeper in spirt with last year's Culture Cartel, versus this year's overall commercial and transactional experience.
Essentially the ground floor hosted all the prominent brands and main sponsors. The space between and across booths were huge and exceedingly comfortable, but to be fair, I assume folks who were at Culture Cartel to cope specific stuff, would have made their way up the two floors, where the more commercial aspect of Culture Cartel offered attendees - which I guess at this time of the day was a mash-up of Media and VIPs?
The second and third floors saw loads of foot traffic and bodies - to my untrained eye (singular :p) - way before the 6pm timeline. Depending on which staircase or lift you took, you might get to greet certain booths before others, all of which was a crapshoot, as far as I was concerned ... but hey, let's call it "an adventure", shall we?
Gagatree's vintage-esque toy robot collectibles first greeted me on the second floor, followed by Action City / ToyQube down the hall, leading to Steve Harrington's installation-space. Most spots were found by word-of-mouth, while bypassing other stalls - which by now I call "stalls" like in a hyped-up "pasa malam"/night-market-style. I know "Singapore is a small country", but ... What pushed me onwards, had been the (inner) realisation that if I were at "DesignerCon", I would have given up trying to navigate the entirety of the hall(s) itself ~ LOL
FI: I have tons of images for both Wetworks at Action City, and ToyQube to share in a separate blogpost, so stay tuned for that!
In another hall was the booth from Good Guys Never Win Toys, who co-launched apparels with Cosmonauts featuring their "Villains of Fine City" characters as carded resin collectibles, as interpreted by Muklay.
Now THIS was a spirit of the sub-culture collaborations I had been hyped-up about! But truth be told, if I had not blogged about it, after given a headsup about, I not have explicitly known at the event itself.
At times I feel that this is what separates hype-events such as this, and comic-con for the niche masses ... one seems to be focused on promoting themselves to the folks who only know of them, while the other promotes to as many likeminded folks as possible... at least from my POV. "Targetted Promotions", you say? I will not deny you.
Major kudos to @ggnwtoys for keeping me in their hustle-n-loop! Grateful, I remain :)
I only managed to find @ziqi_wu's table after a round of walking (thanks to Angeline for pushing me), and came across @crybaby_molly_'s table quite accidentally.
In utter fairness, if I do not let myself fall into the maul of time-crunching, I would nearly always appreciate "accidental finds", gladly so.
Both these booths, I realised, I had found at (nearly) the end of my day at Culture Cartel, and had either been too tired and exhausted by then, or found the "chill" to stop, and breathe, and chat, and that had been a good feeling, I admit.
Truth be told, I could not figure out the layout and placement of brands - much like a shopping mall tenant mix, except for a dedicated row(s) of tattoo art. Or more likely I am not to smart enough to navigate the space.
On hindsight, I had been "hunting" for coverage relevant to my blog, versus the notion of discovering new brands and people, and perhaps if future jaunts happen, I would rather partake as a "tourist", and take in the experience, rather than having to "judge it" - as I am doing now with this post - with my own woefully limited knowledge and experience in the genre(s).
But that is not to say I did not get to meet and experience new stuff and folks! Just that I hadn't Instagrammed them ... :p
The third floor featured @lukechueh's mini art exhibition walls, next to FLABSLAB's booth. He had created the pieces while he was here in Singapore, and that I felt held a deeper "meaning" to the paintings, and not something he "drew somewhere else and brought here to sell", you know what I mean?
There had been quite a few instances of contemporary art and installations in other boothspaces, but I had naught but cursory snaps for, which is quite a pity - for me.
I estimate it would quite literally take me an entire day to be able to experience most of the exhibits, and an entire weekend for a leisurely time to do so, something 5 hours is not enough of LOL - but that's on my head, and no one else's.
Missing Luke Chueh's DesignerCon 100% BE@RBRICK, really had me shaken though, moreso than I expected! He had mentioned he brought in 20 pieces, all of whom had been snatched up by the time I reached his booth... I wasn't expecting them at all, to be honest, so maybe that lessens the "sting" somewhat hahaha
I had missed an entirety of Instagramming the Mighty Jaxx booth, and will instead do a singular blog-feature in the near future. One of my bigger "regrets" for this event, was not taking sneaky-snaps of the sheer number of folks who posed with a finger up their collective noses, at the
One aspect of the ground floor activities, is the long mural resembling a train running alongside the length of the hall, which featured multiple urban art by artists - which I certainly wished had further representation/presentation - like a Introduction Panel or even name panel - or maybe there was and I did not see it being put up. I could only recognise STASH and CRASH's art, and of course Quiccs'. I wonder how these were lit up at night though...
These were still being done when the event launched for Media Preview+VIP, and was somewhat the equivalent of last year's murals found inside of the building - an aspect I initially found "weird", bringing the outside IN, but has since embraced it's awesomeness! ... but then again for this year's, having the mural OUTSIDE, felt somewhat like it was being excluded from the scene "inside"... IMO.
I had remembered last year's event, where I pushed myself to after dark, and feeling absolutely wrecked in attempting to reach home, as my personal physicality continues to challenge my resolve for the past decade (*cough*), and was determined not to repeat that again this year, to a somewhat mixed result ... heading out to Singapore Comic Con the next day was a challenge, for which I ultimately blew my own morning deadline.
And while I had walked away from Culture Cartel with zero items in hand, I am instead left with fond memories of meeting folks and friends - both old and new! And while Singapore itself is a small country, and there are only so many players, having a chance to meet folks who want to be met, is a true treat.
My impressions of the event is based on my five hours spent in and around the space, and of the people I met. Truth be told, I felt like an outsider peeking into a scene I am unfamiliar with, a tourist walking the malls in a foreign land: "Oh look! Something shiny and new!", but neither a "fellow citizen", nor even possessing the faux-armour of a "Media"-status, so it had been exceedingly uncomfortable, but for the friends I'd met, fellow collectors, and my co-pilot for this event, Angeline.
Amidst all these and my own self-predication, last year's event stood out more than this year's, which served as a bludgeoning event with too many things happening at once, and my only one working eye to navigate LOL, but I know too well the event is not meant for "me", so no harm, no foul.
Putting both years' events side by side, they'd felt like two different events ... same-same, yet "different". The "Check-Me-Out"-spirit is replaced by "Buy-Me! Buy-Me!", and I am flat broke in my pockets and enthusiasm.
Cheers and Have a Fab Weekend, folks!
Andy TOYSREVIL
