ToyCon 2016: POP LIFE FAN EXPERIENCE

The Philippine ToyCon season for the year finally came to pass last weekend. And for all it's worth (and criticisms), I generally believe it was still a success. The moment the ticket prices were announced, the Facebook page of Toycon Ph was flooded with criticisms and hate posts because of the steep amount of raise for the ticket prices. Ticket Prices were raised by more than double, leaving a lot of regular ToyCon patrons disappointed and disheartened. But personally, I could see the point of the organizers. Now before you accuse me of being a Toy Con apologist, I'm not. Because I had some controversial posts before too that kinda riled up one of the organizers. The fact of the matter is, ToyCon 2016 is no longer really about the Toys now. The organizers felt that ToyCon had to evolve (and they may have taken their cue from the success of Asia Pop Comic Con held here last year). If you look at San Diego Comic Con (or other related events), it is not only about the toys, the comic books, or cosplaying. Events like those are all encompassing with special highlight being given to the "Fan Experience!". I believe this was the goal in sight by the ToyCon 2016 organizers. And this goal worked for me personally. We can try to be sarcastic and nitpick about the term "TOYCON" and argue that the name itself talks about Toys, but take note of the "POP LIFE FAN EXPERIENCE" title too. Because if we understood what ToyCon 2016 tried to bring, then we would not have been disappointed. Though I agree that the event was far from perfect, and there were procedures, processes, setup, and other concerns that needs to be improved on, ToyCon still managed to bring in a pretty good "Fan Experience". For one, they managed to bring in Coolrain Lee, a popular toy art design creator responsible for a number of impressive artistic toy designs. You could purchase some of his creations on his booth and have it signed afterwards. Mindstyle also brought in their famous Funko Pops! with a variety of ToyCon exclusives and rare stuffs that can only be purchased at ToyCon. Even Mario Maurer, the Thai hearthrob, was in attendance to launch his Mario Maurer Funko Pops. For comic book enthusiasts, Valiant Comics was giving out free comic books to ToyCon attendees, giving us a glimpse of the new and exciting reboot of the Valiant Universe. Transformers comic book super artist Pat Lee was also in attendance to give out free sketches and autographs to his fans. Legendary Zombie comic book artist Arthur Suydam of the Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies fame was also there to sign autographs and do some sketches with a fee. If you are a fanboy (or girl) of syndicated T.V. series, or the Star Wars movies, then you can feast your eyes on Hodor of a Game of Thrones, Superman himself Dean Cain from the Lois and Clark 90's TV series, and Daniel Logan the young Bobba Fett of Star Wars, in the flesh and ready to answer your questions and have photos taken with you. If you love fresh music, ranging from JPOP, acoustic, and R&B, there were a number of JPOP artist and DJs ready to dance with you and bring good beats. Acoustic artist Heffron Drive and R&B artist Frankie J (though I don't know who the hell they are lol!) also brought a lot of shrieking from their female fans. Not to mention the special appearances of local acts Itchyworms and Tanya Markova to close the evening. Although Parokya ni Edgar cancelled in the closing program of the final day, Hodor surprisingly climbed up the stage and gave us a sampling of his rave music mix "Rave of Thrones!" The ones I mentioned above are just samplings of what you could experience in ToyCon 2016. There's a more palatable set of fanboy geekery and more that is for your pickings to satiate your fanboy appetites. And I'm sharing some of my favorites parts of ToyCon 2016 below.        

The Giant VOLTES V statue!

That is probably 30 feet of Voltes V goodness! I know Filipinos will always have a soft spot for this legendary robot. And ToyCon 2016 was all about Voltes V for fans of the robot. Legendary ticket holders were given a 22 inch Vinyl limited edition Battle Damaged Voltes V statue that is said to be limited to 500 pieces worldwide. I'm hoping someday that this would be a treasure!

Stan Lee Exhibit

The organizers tried to bring Stan Lee in, unfortunately Stan Lee is already too old to go on a transpacific travel. The best they could manage was to bring in some of Stan Lee's personal collections while also having a video conference call with Stan Lee on the main stage and had him interact with the fans on the ToyCon venue. The collection exhibit was featured for three days while Stan Lee's video conference happened on a Saturday. Too bad I missed his video conference. Also, a lot of comic book fans felt short changed by Stan Lee's personal collection exhibit because most of the items exhibited were newer ones and mostly movie merchandises. I personally would have loved to see the older stuffs. Die-hard comic book fans for sure would share the same sentiments.

Toy Collections Exhibit

Street Fighter

Custom Made President Duterte 

Lego!

Nano Blocks!

Final Fantasy X Nano Blocks

Enterbay Kobe Bryant

1996 NBA Eastern Conference All-Stars Starters (who's the fifth guy by the way?) 

His Airness Michael Jordan

1996-1998 Chicago Bulls

NBA Finals 2016: Stephen Curry v.s. Lebron James

Michael Jordan Flight!

Benny the Bull with Fanboy Redgie 

NBA Legends

Custom 1/6 Samurai X

One Punch Man

G.I. Joes

There were a lot more different toy lines on display but I took particular interest in the Street Fighter display. They had a good assortment but they somehow missed out on the vintage G.I. Joe Street Fighters which I happen to own a complete set. Maybe I could volunteer it for display in the next ToyCon? Hmm... There is also a custom made President Rodrigo Duterte bobble heads selling at P1,000 each. This guy is becoming a larger than life Pop-Culture Phenomenon like Che Guevara. There is also this pretty impressive Square Enix inspired Nano Blocks that was created from scratch from my good friend Randy Chua. I never had any patience with Lego, much more this smaller version. So that's pretty impressive. That 1/6 Samurai X diorama looks quite cool also.  

Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad, DC's upcoming film based on a comic book about a rag tag band of villains formed together to save the world also had a tattoo giving session where ToyCon goers can have a tattoo of their favorite Suicide Squad characters. There was a Joker cosplayer lurking somewhere but I couldn't find him in time for this photo. I'm excited to see this movie and hope that this could help build DC's cinematic universe.

Star Wars light saber battles

Star Wars fans were treated to an intense light saber battle by this group. The choreography was pretty good. These guys will do the Jedi and Sith lords proud.

Pat Lee Autograph signing and Art Sketching session

Pat Lee and his Optimus Prime sketch at ToyCon

Pat Lee is a pretty much a low key guy. Most of the time he was just sitting in his Artist Corner booth waiting for people to visit him for an autograph or sketch, or even a small chitchat. I actually was looking for him on the first and second day but couldn't find him. Good thing I bumped into one of the ToyCon organizers and asked about Pat Lee's booth. To those who don't know him that well, Pat shot to comic book fame when he started working on the Transformers Franchise. This led him to come up with his own comic book publishing company Dream Wave productions which unfortunately did not last long as it encountered dire financial straits. Rumors had it that Pat mismanaged the company's funds, eventually leading to the shutting down of the company that left many in-house artists unpaid for their services. The end of Dream Wave however did not curtail Pat's work as a work for hire artist for DC, Image, and Marvel. Despite the controversies, it cannot be denied that Pat does have the talent and the skill to be one of the best in the business. His art style leans more towards the Japanese Manga art form or the Chinese Manhua art form. His creator owned Warlands comic book series gained a cult following back in the 2000s. I remember back in his heydays, he was consistently one of the top artists in the Wizard Magazine's monthly best of countdown. He currently resides in Hong Kong and is continuing his work on creator owned projects that he hopes would get a good following in China.

Some of Pat Lee's work on exhibit in his table. He said he bought this at ToyCon and is not selling them.

Pat browses my X-Men/Cyberforce copy

When I reached his booth, I saw that Pat was alone and killing time as he waited for people to visit his space. I spent some time talking to him to keep him company and handed him my X-Men/Cyberforce Crossover comic book for autograph. He was amazed that I still own a copy because he could no longer find one and that he no longer owns one. Before signing it, he browsed the pages of the comic book first while relating to me the memories he had with the book. Soon after, there were some Pat Lee fans who came and brought along a handful of Transformers comic books by Pat and had it signed. That guy also asked Pat to do some sketch on his blank cover Transformers comic book to which Pat obliged. It was then that I knew Pat was willing to sketch for free. I actually brought along a blank cover of Superman: Doomed for the purpose of trying to ask Dean Cain to do me his best Superman sketch but when I knew Pat was willing to do some sketching, I handed it to him instead. Pat is no stranger to Superman as he once did a short run in the Superman/Batman comic book. Pat's sketch of Superman in my blank cover made it look so easy. People were blown at the way he drew the lines and shades. By this time, more and more people were beginning to flock by his space that I funnily took the opportunity to introduce him to some of the curious public. He told me he appreciated my efforts. I was glad to help out because this guy is a natural artist. And if he has done mistakes in the past, maybe giving him a second chance ain't that bad. My conversations with him were basically centered on his thoughts on the comic book industry. How tough it is to capture the mainstream audience with creator owned projects because as he said, people would still go back to the mainstream titles like Superman, Batman, Avengers, X-Men, and the likes. He also shared that his main focus nowadays is to at least get a good audience in the China market.  

With the signed copy of X-Men/Cyberforce

That looked easy

Almost done

Working on the Details

Shading

And it's done! Superman by Pat Lee!

The Dean Cain Fan Experience

There was only one thing that I was after in this year's ToyCon. And that thing was the opportunity to have a Meet and Greet session with Dean Cain, the 90's Superman who graced the small screen with his dazzling adventures and the dashing romance with Lois Lane. For those who are following my blog, I haven't been shy in my Superman fandom as I lap up any Superman news, action figures, comic books, and what not. So I would not let this opportunity escape me. Initially, before it was announced that they would be having Dean Cain as guest, I was unsure about attending ToyCon because of two main reasons. One, it is farther from my place, and Two, the spike in ticket prices (with the assumption that things remain the same) kind of turned me off initially. When they revealed the guests that they were bringing in, I began to understand, but it was not enough to coax me to spend P500 ticket entrance per day. But when Dean Cain was announced, along with the ticket schemes to avail the meet and greet, I didn't think twice about getting the Legendary Pass. I'm not a fan of Game of Thrones so I was basically just meh on Hodor. But I would never miss Dean Cain.  

Lois and Clark Graphic Novel signed by Dean Cain

I already expected beforehand that Meet and Greet events don't usually happen on time and you'd have to make an effort to make it happen if you really want to get the opportunity. So in the first day, I went to ToyCon late in the afternoon to check out if Dean was there. Lo and behold he was there, along with Hodor. Noticeably, Hodor's line was longer. People might no longer remember who Dean Cain is because the Lois and Clark TV series ended some 20 years ago. This was a welcome development for me because it would mean that I get to have my meet and greet opportunity faster than I expected it to be. When I reached his table, I complimented him for his work as Superman and asked some stuffs about Lois/Teri Hatcher. I've always had this high school crush on Lois. I came in prepared by bringing along with me my prized possession of a Lois and Clark graphic novel cover which compiles some choice stories from the Superman comic books in the 90's. Dean was pretty much impressed that I got this 20 year old graphic novel in still very good condition. He was happy to see this old book, it must have brought him memories of his work as Superman. The other people lining up to get their autographs were mostly bringing along random Superman stuffs, so I guess seeing his face on a Superman merchandise might have left him quite proud. Later on someone shared to me that while Dean was having dinner with some of the ToyCon organizers, he was sharing to them how he was astounded by some guy who brought along a 20 year old graphic novel with his face on it. I mean this is not the U.S. This is a third world country that is on the opposite side of the world. And to see someone possess a very old copy of a merchandise with you on the cover, of course you'd feel astounded by the amount of reverence that is given to you. Dean was basically warm and did small talk and was all smiles as he entertained all those who came to have their autograph signatures and photos taken.

Superman 700 and the Lois and Clark Season 1 DVD

I came back on the second day with a fresh batch of merchandise that I wanted Dean to sign on. I own tons of Superman comic books and had to carefully choose which comic books would basically fit Dean Cain. I chose Superman 700. The Anniversary issue that would reunite Superman and Lois after Superman does a long walk all over America. The images in the comic book highlighted the action and the romance that was pretty much done in the tradition of the Lois and Clark TV series. I also brought along my Season One Lois And Clark DVD set. I'm regretting that I didn't purchase the whole four seasons while they were still on sale in the DVD shops here. I envy some kids from Thailand who came all the way from Thailand and brought along their DVDs just to have their meet and greet with Dean Cain. The second day was again productive as I went home with a fresh batch of signed merchandises. And oh by the way, Dean Cain recognized me, that I was that guy from yesterday who brought along those Lois and Clark graphic novel. It's a good feeling to be recognized by someone who once played Superman on TV.

On the third day, I still didn't care about the other meet and greet opportunities with other guest artists. I again waited for Dean to show up. His time on stage was cancelled because Dean wasn't able to arrive on schedule. So no more on stage meet and greet with the general audience (which he graciously did give on the first day and the second day). The photo op with him through the official ToyCon photographer also did not happen as it was canceled due to time constraints. If there was one thing that I was to be disappointed with, then this would be it. But I wouldn't let it dampen the Fan Experience as a whole, because on the third day, I again lined up for Dean with another batch of fresh merchandise that I brought along for another batch of autographs. Good thing I have extra copies of the choice comic books that I wanted for signature and still in line with the Lois and Clark theme. I chose to bring Superman: The Man of Tomorrow 1 because this is the classic Superman of the 90's which ran in conjunction with the Lois and Clark T.V. series. This Superman sported a longer mullet hair, which keen observers should notice that in the first few episodes of Lois and Clark, Dean sported a longer mullet hair. An issue of the Free Comic Book Day Superman that featured the first issue of the Last Son story arc was also another comic book choice I made to have Dean signed because in the Final episode of Lois and Clark, there was a mysterious baby left in the doorsteps of Lois and Clark's home. This story arc was never finished because the series was cancelled after four seasons, leaving a cliffhanger ending to the whole series. The Last Son story arc meanwhile tells about a mysterious boy that Superman and Lois decided to adopt and act as guardians. So yeah it serves a good bridge to the TV series. The last comic book I brought was Action Comics 900. This was a special issue that features a good number of mini-stories. The main story featured Doomsday, the monster that killed Superman back in the 90's as well as the four new Supermen that emerged after Superman's death. Back in the 90's, DC comics had plans to finally have a Lois and Clark wedding in their comic book. But since the Lois and Clark TV series was still running on air, Warner saw it more important to gain mainstream media mileage by having Lois and Clark get married on TV first. This left the Superman comic book writers on a dead end with regards to their stories and decided one day to just kill him off. This started to gain huge publicity as Superman is said to have finally died at the hands of a monster called Doomsday. All of the central characters of that event are reunited in this issue, so having Dean sign it is a nod of that 90's connection. The last item I brought was a T-Shirt that seems to have shrank on me. These four were the final item I had Dean Cain signed and before leaving, I asked him if he could bring Lois/Teri Hatcher with him in his next trip. Or if not, Supergirl Melissa Benoist would do! Dean was all game, laughing and telling me he'll try, and that Melissa is such a sweet girl. Dean was all warm to everyone and all smiles. During the three day event, he was always gracious with the fans. That day ended my Dean Cain weekend Pop Life Fan experience. And I could say it was a weekend well spent as I finally get to meet and greet one of the Supermen.          

Dean Cain's special message to my Sister-in-Law (with my suggestion lol!)

Who's stronger? Superman or Superfan?

The Toy Hauls

Things you get from the Legendary Pass

Well it wouldn't be ToyCon without the toy hauls. Lately I have been laying low in purchasing action figures because most of my money is now spent on comic books. I seem to have rekindled my love for comic books. I purchased a number of comic books in ToyCon but I'm too lazy to shoot photos of it. Let me start instead with the freebies that came with the Legendary Pass.

The highlight of the items that came with the Legendary Pass is the massive 22inch Limited Edition Battle Damage Voltes V. This vinyl made statue is said to be numbered at only 500 pieces worldwide and was selling at ToyCon for P8,000.

There are two version of these Voltes V with the other one being the Normal version. Personally, the Battle damage version looks better because it came with rusting details and the likes, making this Voltes V look metallic. The normal version looks too plastic because of the clean white colors. It is also being sold at P500 lesser than the battle damage version.

Battle Damage version

Normal Version

Included also is a rare number 8 Jersey Kobe Bryant Funko Pop which is the variant version of the Number 24 Kobe. I don't exactly know how rare this Funko Pop is but I saw a number being displayed at the venue.

There is also a ToyCon exclusive Stan Lee Funko Pop included for Legendary Pass holders. I'm pretty sure if Stan Lee made an appearance, then people would be lining up to have this Funko Pop signed by Stan Lee.

And lastly, a Manny Pacquiao Lithograph. There were different designs given away and you could not choose a particular design. I wanted a more real looking Pacquiao Lithograph but got this instead.

For regular ticket holders, a P500 ticket would entitle you to freebies such as these Movie Posters courtesy of SM Cinema. Unfortunately they ran out of Captain America.

There were also a couple of free posters being given away, mostly featuring the foreign celebrity guests. There was also a Program Guide Magazine for the attendees, a Valiant comic book, and other assorted on site activities that would net you different prizes. I got a cool shades from Jack TV in their booth, as well as some T-Shirts and stuffs. P500 ain't that bad if you get to avail all of the freebies.

Mindstyle's Coolrain Eraserheads were also being sold at rock bottom prizes as they try to move out their remaining inventories. I purchased a set for my brother. The Eraserheads are the so called Beatles of the Philippines and I think is the only Filipino besides Pacquiao to have been given the Mindstyle treatment.  

I also purchased a couple of assorted action figures at the price I'm willing to pay. These ranges from DC, Marvel, WWE, and a Vintage Rambo Force of Freedom character. I'm now only missing KAI, Black Dragon, and Turbo to complete the vintage Rambo set.

I'm pretty overjoyed by this find, a Vintage Kenner Starting Line Up Michael Jordan figure that I bought for only P50. Yes that's right, Michael Jordan at only P50! You just need to have the patience of digging up the toy bins to find treasures like this.

Marvel Legends was also represented when I finally was able to purchase this Hasbro Captain America to update my Toybiz Marvel Legends Captain America. I've been eyeing this figure for quite some time but only at the price that I am willing to pay for. In ToyCon I got him at the price I want.

Still overjoyed with this Dean Cain signed graphic novel

Well that wraps up my 2016 ToyCon experience. To summarize, ToyCon really is anything to anyone. for the past 14 years, it has brought joy and excitement to the hobby but the 2016 ToyCon was really an effort to level up the ToyCon experience. I know there was a good number of complaints from the regular patrons due to the ticket prices, but this above all was about the Pop Life Fan Experience. And it worked for me. I believe there was everything available for everyone. Be it for toy collectors, cosplay enthusiasts, fanboys and fangirls. There was enough to satisfy the needs of the regular goers as well. I'll be waiting for the 2017 ToyCon with the hopes that Teri Hatcher, Tom Welling, Brandon Routh, or anyone from any Superman related movies and TV to make an appearance. If that happens, then a 2017 ToyCon attendance will again be a must for me. As Stan Lee says... Nuff Said!