Monday, September 14, 2015

Singapore Toy Game Comic Convention (STGCC) 2015 Recap


The Singapore Toy Game and Comic Convention (STGCC) concluded over the weekend. I enjoyed this year's edition more than last year's. The atmosphere was great! There just seemed to be a buzz everywhere I went.


Organisers Reed Exhibitions had estimated around 45000 visitors to attend the event. I think the actual number may exceed that. One of the draws would have to be the exclusives. I heard Hot Toys fans queued overnight. 


Speaking of Hot Toys, here's their booth. A good portion of it was devoted to Star Wars which comes as no surprise. The main attraction would have to be the 1/6 scale Tie Fighter. We also got to see the the bridge of the Millennium Falcon and the training area on the Falcon where Obi-Wan trains Luke from Episode IV. I was hoping to see the whole Millennium Falcon but I guess there was space constraints. Marvel was not left out. There was a great diorama display of Ultron bots attacking the Avengers based on the scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron. We also got to see Vision, Scarlet Withch and Quicksilver first hand.


The First Order Stormtroopers and Kylo Ren were on display. If I'm not wrong they were first to be exhibited at STGCC!


























Hot Toys and official distributor Action City brought in the life-sized statues of the Hulkbuster Vs Hulk. Awesome to see!


Yet even more awesomeness. Action City's display of "Jiang Shi" (Chinese Vampire) Bearbrick. Toys are not just for display. They can be used for art too as showcased by Wonderfactory's displays and photos at the booth. Baymax following behind a line of Jiang Shi? Fun!



Moving on to XM Studios who for the second consecutive year set up a feast for the eyes, showcasing a number of fantastic new and upcoming statues that include the likes of Ant-Man, Dr Strange, Daredevil and Elektra. Several unpainted ones were also on display such as Kraven and Doc Ock. For the 1/4 scale busts there were Green Goblin and Rhino. Why do I get the feeling Spider-man won't be too far along.



Exciting news for Batman fans as XM Studios unveiled their new line of Batman based statues. The characters from the line will have a Japanese influence. You can see the various characters here



The Falcon's Hangar once again had a whopping number of toys on display and for sale. Beast Kingdom, Kids Logic, Sen-Ti-Nel, DAMTOYS and more!   



The 3rd Party Unofficial Transformers were a huge draw! Until the full gallery is up, you can see some of them here.


Here's something which really caught the eye. The Kids Logic Back to the Future II floating DeLorean! This is a really cool piece. Also to be available are the Hover Boards that were seen in the movie. I like a "Pitbull" please!



The highlight from the Tamshii Nations booth would have to be the Bandai Star Wars Movie Realization series. Boba Fett which was recently announced back in August was on display! Also the Sandtrooper. Boba Fett will be released sometime in November.



If designer toys are more your thing then you would have loved the Mighty Jaxx booth. They had items from designers like Alex Solis, Luke Chueh and Andrew Hickinbottom available.


They also carried items by Jason Freeny, who was one of this year's guest at STGCC. On display was a new line called XXXRay which Mighty Jaxx has done in collaboration with Jason Freeny. The line features figures of DC characters with their anatomy exposed.


Jason Freeny was not the only toy designer guest. STGCC favourite Simone Legno and Huck Gee also graced the event.



Comic fans had plenty to smile about as Agnes Garbowska, Camilla D'eririco, C.B Cebulski, Adam Hughes, Jim Cheung and Adi Granov were guests this year. All of them were amazing. They did their best to accommodate fans' request. As I was leaving Sunday night I saw Jim Cheung still at his table signing books. Simply awesome! The artists were part of various panels, one of which I attended. I hope to have that up for you at a later time. 

From left: C.B Cebulski, Adi Granov, Jim Cheung, Adam Hughes

I wanted to get a head sketch from Adam Hughes but having overspent the last couple of months I just did not have the budget for it. I even had to pass on the Captain Marvel print too. There were also several pieces from Agnes Garbowska which caught my eye. The cuteness and colours of her work is hard to resist.

Agnes Garbowska

For Cosplay Guests we saw Stella Chuu, Yui, Saku, Kuryu & and Nakoto. I did not manage to catch all of them. It's by coincidence that I caught Stella Chuu and Yui on both days. Stella cossed as Yuffie (FFVII) and Tharja (Fire Emblem) while Yui cossed as Saber (FATE Series) and Kujo (Jojo's Bizzare Adventure) on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Both were judges of the STGCC Championships of Cosplay.


























A total of 12 contestants competed in the inaugural Championships of Cosplay. We saw many fantastic costumes but there could only be one winner and that was Handry, who wore the Iron Man Starboost suit. He will get to compete in the 2016 C2E2 Crown Championships of Cosplay in Chicago. I wish him luck! 


Also for the first time at STGCC was the Kids Cosplay Parade. They were all so cute and adorable. I have to mention the Princess Leia pair (dressed in pink and white with lightsabers) who gave us a short performance as well. 



STGCC 2015 was another great year for toys. I enjoyed checking out the various booths and displays. Unfortunately I could not buy anything. And there were several items of interest too. Galleries will be up at a later time so look out for those. Thanks for viewing!


You can check out more images through the following links:

Guests and Stage

Tamashii Nations

Simply Toys

Art Imaginarium, Asmus, Coo, Mighty Jaxx

Championships of Cosplay

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