Tagcom 2012

First Day

Here in the Philippines, there are 4 big toy events each year. Strategically scheduled once in every quarter, a lot of us toy collectors flock to these toy events with enough savings in tow. Tagcom (which stands for Toys, Anime, Gaming, Cosplay, Movie/Maquettes) is one of my favorite because of it's venue's close proximity to my place and it does not charge any entrance fees. While it lacks the star power of Toycon (which is held every June), this toy event is more cozy than the highly congested Toycon. I usually go to Tagcom every night in it's first two days and then spend the whole afternoon there on Sundays. This year however, I'm only able to go on the first two nights. I was hoping I could find the Mattel Ghostbusters set of four that I missed out on the last December Toy Fair. But alas, the seller wasn't able to bring it with him. I guess I'll be hunting it on Toycon instead. So I settled to look for any vintage toys and back issues of comics that I could find. I'll be sharing them a bit later.

Second Day

I also noticed that there are a few toy sellers compared to the previous years. 2rats (one of the more popular hobby shops in Manila) has not been attending since last year. The absence of 2rats though has not dampened the toy hunting spirit. In his place was Big Boys Toy Store (who rented the 2nd biggest space if I'm not mistaken). I'm still quite impressed with how Big Boys grew his business from out of nowhere. If I'm not mistaken, he seems to be the most active mid-size toy seller in the country today, consigning his items to various hobby shops (such as Filbars and Courtside). Cads toys (which specializes on Die Cast cars like Hot Wheels and Matchbox) also took a huge portion of the stall space. I have to admit though, my excitement for this year's Tagcom is not as huge as the previous years because I'm close to satisfied with my collections of my 2 main toy lines, DC and Marvel. It seems that my universe building is close to the end. I'm seriously thinking though of volunteering my collections as a part of the toy exhibits that these toy events include in their attractions.      

Japanese Robots

I took some photos of the toy exhibits, and one of those are the Japanese mechs. While I don't collect Japanese Robots, it's a beauty to see some of those robots here in Tagcom. I used to watch them on TV when I was younger. Seeing the toys being exhibited here in Tagcom brings back nostalgic feelings. Easily recognizable from the exhibit are the popular robots like Voltes V, Daimos, and Grandizer. The rest I'm not so familiar with. I think these robots costs tons of money than a single DC or Marvel character. While it would be cool to own some of these, I guess the price range is what keeps me from getting into this toy line. There was also a Gundam Kit building contest. I wasn't able to take some photos because my camera's battery died on me. It would have been cooler if I have taken some shots of the entries and the winners, but I think they usually announce it on Sundays. It's also one of those toy line that I'll never find myself getting into. Though my brother used to build Gundam kits before I persuaded him to drop the hobby and focus instead on two of his favorite characters, Batman and Spiderman.  

Hot Toys

There were also some cool Hot Toys on display. I specifically had my eyes on the Michael Keaton Batman and the Christopher Reeve Superman. Both really looks awesome and quite tempting. Unfortunately, this is also one of the toy lines that I can't find myself getting into. The price is just too costly for me. While I am very tempted to get the Christopher Reeve Superman, the price just turns me off. I have some friends who knows that I'm a Superman collector, I always get a ribbing from them that in order for myself to be considered the Ultimate Superman collector, I have to own the Hot Toys Chris Reeve Superman. But unfortunately, I can't allow to get those ribbing through me. I still have the discipline to not to get tempted by them. Though there are times that I'm really really close to being tempted. But then again the price discourages me. Maybe in the near future if I could see a low priced Christopher Reeve Superman, I might get one. Emphasis on MIGHT. More pictures below.

Hot Toys Christian Bale Batman and Christopher Reeve Superman

Hot Toys Michael Keaton Batman and Tobey Maguire Spiderman

Advocate Pinoy's Marvel Legends Avengers Exhibit

 The most awaited toy exhibit for this Tagcom event was the PTK (Pinoy Toy Kolektors) Marvel Division Avengers Marvel Legends and Marvel Universe toy display. Volunteered by Advocate Pinoy (http://www.youtube.com/user/advocate928) and Riverspoons, both of these guys were able to feature the best Marvel Avengers Toy renditions of our favorite Marvel Avengers characters. Advocate Pinoy (who by the way is the most popular Filipino Toy Reviewer on Youtube) settled on featuring almost all of the Marvel characters who were part of the Avengers. His display is quite impressive because it even boasts of an appearance by the very hard to find Walmart exclusive Build A Figure Giant Man. I've always revered this guy's collections. I guess he could easily be the King of Marvel Legends here in the Philippines.

Riverspoon's Marvel Universe Avengers exhibit

Next on the list is Riverspoon's massive Marvel Universe Avengers. Riverspoons (who once was a devoted Marvel Legends collector before shifting to Marvel Universe) focused on showcasing the different line ups of the Avengers through the years. His centerpiece was the Avengers movie lineup featuring the Marvel Universe Avengers movie toy line. He also utilizes custom works that he has done on Avengers characters that is not yet released in Marvel Universe to complement the Marvel Universe Avengers. His workmanship on these custom figures is nicely done considering the tedious job of working on the details of a 4 inch figure.

 

The Pinoy Toy Kolektor Marvel Division group is actually a subgroup that is under the Pinoy Toy Kolektor Toy Forum. The forum has actually existed for quite some time already. I joined the forum sometime in 2009. It's actually a good place to make some friends and discuss topics about toys and other stuffs. It is also the place where I usually hunt my toys. In fact, I was able to build my collections through that forum. The Marvel Division is a later addition. If I'm not mistaken, it was just recently organized and we got a group of devout moderators and leaders who are organizing and sharing information on how we can get to know about the latest Marvel related merchandise. Being a part of that group is another experience. We mostly spend our discussion in the recently created Facebook Group page. Though I'm also a Marvel Comics follower, I'm a bigger DC Comics fan than Marvels. And most of the time I long for someone to form a DC group in the same way that this Marvel Division is working. I mean these guys have really done a great job of making the group come alive. It is also a big help that nowadays Marvel seems to be more popular than DC. But the guys behind the Marvel Division has really done their homework on how to make the group successful. And I could only see good things ahead. I'm excited on what the group's plans are in the incoming Toy Con and the premiere of the Marvel Avengers movie. I'm guessing that they would do some TV appearances and Toy exhibits on major cinemas. Now that is something to look forward to. We've got a lot of guys in the group who owns some awesome Marvel Avengers collections. I hope to see some Vintage Avengers stuffs being exhibited.  

Riverspoon's Marvel Universe Avengers

Riverspoon's custom Marvel Universe Avengers

Batman Movie Masters

 And finally my Tagcom hauls. Though I wasn't able to get the Mattel Ghostbusters, I was able to settle on getting some vintage stuffs. First, I bought some Mattel Batman movie masters for my brother. He has intentions of customizing a Bruce Wayne figure in a business suit. So I nabbed the Bruce Wayne/Jim Gordon 2 pack and the Scarecrow on a Business Suit figure. I think he's going to do a Head swap using the Bruce Wayne Head on the Scarecrow body. This toy line is also coming to an end as Chris Nolan has said that the Dark Knight Rises will be his last Batman movie.

DC Superheroes Action League

I also bought some cute DC stuffs for my son. I've waited for these DC Action leagues to reach local shores since last year in time for my son's supposed to be first birthday. Unfortunately, they only reached here in the Philippines this year. But nevertheless, I grabbed some figures and I'm thinking of building the big 7 for my son. I think this is in response to Marvel's immensely popular Super Hero Squad toy line which also features Kid friendly designs. I'm hoping DC would come up a cartoon series for Action League in the same way Marvel released the Superhero Squad Cartoon Series. I want my son to be familiarized with the DC Superheroes at a young age.

  

Ben Gordon, Superman, and Bruce Wayne

 My toy hauls for myself was limited to these three figures. I've been looking for this NBA Mcfarlane Ben Gordon figure that I missed out in last year's Tagcom event. I was already thinking of buying this figure but when I came back on the second day, I could no longer find it. I thought it already sold out. But to my surprise, I saw him this year. This exactly is the same figure from the same exact buyer that I saw last year. I quickly nabbed him. I also managed to nab the much rarer Justice League Superman series one figure which sports the right show colors. I think this is harder to come by because I've only mostly seen the darker blue version and the jointed figure (which I have). Though the card seems kinda beat up, I'm keeping this one mint on card while I open the jointed one to use for a future Justice League Animated toy feature.I also bought a repaint of the Batman Mission Masters quick change Bruce to Batman. Though the orange colored suit is kinda funny looking, I'm thinking of repainting the figure with the right colors. I could have bought more If I was able to return on Sunday. There were some figures that I was planning to buy like the NBA Mcfarlane Tracy Mcgrady figure and the Marvel Legends series one Captain America. I think I'll just look for them at Toycon this June. My time in Tagcom was spent mostly on these...   

Various Superman comics

Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite

 Just recently, my interest to back track on Pre Flashpoint DC Comics issues has grown exponentially. I really hated what DC did to their books. The reboot is just really not my thing. Though it is kinda tempting to check out the incoming Dan Jurgens (my favorite Superman writer/artist) run on Superman, I guess I'll settle for the Pre Flashpoint ones. I purchased mostly Superman comics to fill the gaps of my growing post crisis Superman collection. I just recently found out that I own around 70% complete of post crisis Superman comics. Look like I'm motivated to collect them all. I also managed to reacquire the first Superman comics that I ever had. That comics in the middle with the cover that shows him being ganged up by Batman, Flash, and Wonder Woman was actually the first Superman comics that I ever purchased as a kid. I lost my copy and was determined to find another one. Good thing I was able to find it here at Tagcom. I also bought the first issue of the post crisis Flash which has Wally West taking over the Flash persona from Barry Allen. I already own the last issue of the Wally West Flash version and nabbing the first issue rounds up my Wally West flash collection. I also got the JLA/Cyberforce crossover storyline. I also managed to find the remaining issues of the four part Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite Story arc. The last issue of this arc is a landmark issue because this is the issue where Lois answers Clark's marriage proposal. It's also an interesting read because Superman loses his powers when Luthor teams up with that mischievous imp Mr. Mxyzptlk. Below are the comics that I bought on the second day.

Introducing my son to Looney tunes and Michael Jordan.

Unfortunately Rob Liefeld is not the one who's drawing the art for this

Superman nearly kills the Joker?

The first issue of Superman The man of tomorrow

Superman meets Spiderman for the first time!

Lois breaks up with Superman?

That's it for this entry. I could have taken a lot more photos of the event if I was able to return on Sunday. I'll have to make do with this and make up for the next event.