Toycon 2009

Again, a late update. I've been feeling unwell lately, a little disoriented too. Have no fear though, wala akong A(H1N1) virus! Haha!

This is my first time attending the country's biggest annual Toy Conference so it was such a thrill. I heard so much about it from fellow toy collectors, with it having big sales on toys, as well as holding hard to find items. So for any collector, this event is a must. :D

Apparently, this is the 8th Toycon, and its being held on Mega Mall.

So out of excitement, Richard and I were there before the mall even opened. I've heard things about how the line magically grows so we went there as early as we could. Yung purpose nun is that para mauna ka makapasok at mapagpilian mo kaagad yung mga good deals and hard to find items--ika nga, "The early bird gets the worm"! ;p

Eh si Richard, gusto pa mag-ayos sa CR... pag dating namin sa line, grabe, paikot na sa building B! 10 minutes lang yun after the mall opened ah! Para maiwang mainis, I decided to play Monster Hunter nalang muna. I managed to kill a Black Fatalis (around 40 minutes), while we're still queued up on the line! Pero in fairness, bumilis din yung daloy ng line after a while-- and before we knew it, we got in! :D

The place was heaven for any toy collector! There were toys, comics, exhibits, and for those who likes them--cosplayers.

I immediately went through the stalls to see if I can find anything for my collection. There were rare items nga talaga, but nothing much for my SF collection. After a while, I finally saw something for me-- a player 1 Birdie! For 400 pesos! Great deal! Way below SRP! When I asked what store they were from, the guy gave me a calling card. Much to my surprise, they're the same store I saw in Greenhills... and that Birdie which I got for 400 pesos here in Toycon, they were selling it for 1,200 pesos back at their GH store! Grabe! Haha!

While I was browsing toys, Richard was browsing the whole place for cosplayers, probably looking for the infamous Alodia and her sister Ashley. Richard is a big fan of cosplayers.. everytime there's an event or something, he always asks me if I want to go with him. Being a hobbyist photographer that he is, he enjoys snapping pics of those cosplayers--Alodia and sister Ashley, much to my understanding, are the holy grails of Pinoy cosplayers. Haha.

After a while, I finally met up with my "ka-deal". It was a group buy for Marvel Legend figs which was so 2 months ago. Ang tagal bago nag-materialize yung meetup. So long that I actually grew less of a fan of Marvel Legends. Gusto ko na nga sana indianin pero naawa ako. ;p

Around lunch time, Richard asked me kung pwede kaming sumaglit ng Tiendesitas. It was his cousin's birthday party at the Fun Ranch. Since I didn't bring a car with me (since tag-tipid ako for the event.. every peso counts! haha), off we go with a cab.

Fun Ranch, its definitely a kiddie party. All the while, I thought his cousin was already an adult. Yun pala, seven years old lang. Yung badtrip lang, we had to wait before all the kiddie games were done before we even get to eat lunch! Takte, mag-4pm na kami nakapaglunch! Haha!

Finally, the party wrapped up and we made our way back to Mega Mall. Richard was overjoyed when he learned that Alodia and Ashley were already at the premises! While he went looking for the cosplayers, I went back to toy hunting! Haha! I finally found a Devilman figure from a person I had a deal before. Since he knew me na, he decided to reserve it for me til the next day since short na ako sa cash. Browsing around, I also saw other figures from the Devilman line. Medyo expensive na talaga since rare na nga sila, so what I did was get the seller's contact number para kahit tapos na ang toycon, may chance ko pa rin mabili sa kanili pag nakaipon na ako.

After a while, Richard called me. Pinapapunta ako dun sa lugar niya. Eh ayoko na makipagsiksikan dun kasi ang daming tao at puro cosplayers lang dun (there was a cosplay contest during that time ata). Ayun pala, he wants me to take a picture of him and Ashley (the cosplayer). Pag punta namin dun, tulog na si Ashley sa pinagkakaupuan niya! Hahaha!

I told Richard na senyasan niya na kung pwede siya makapag-papic, pero tinablan na ng hiya. Hahaha!

I took snaps of cosplayers too, by the way. The sexy ones nga lang. May nasalubong ako na Morrigan cosplayer, grabe kita na talaga yung gilid and under ng boobs niya! HOT! Hahahaha! Then my favorite, a girl cosplaying the heroine from Ghost in the Shell.. grabe ang sexy.. tapos CAMEL TOE na!!! Wahahaha! Ahem! ;p

After snapping a LOT of pics, off we go. Toycon Day 1 has ended, and tomorrow is another day! Haha!

Toycon Day 2, nothing much is new. The only good thing is that the people here are fewer as compared to Day 1. This time, I decided to bring a car with me. Binenta ko na kasi yung 20" Lord of Darkness figure ko. Medyo satanic kasi ang dating so hindi ko rin ma-display dito sa house... so I decided to sell it nalang to anyone who'll get to appreciate it. God, I loved that figure... here's a pic:



Pics, courtesy of Richard. He took those nung dumalaw siya dati dito sa house namin. Hehehe! It's a big figure. Sayang lang talaga at hindi maappreciate yan, specially ng mga mommies! Haha! My mom, for one, told me to sell it nalang. All the while, nakatakip lang ng blanket yan dito sa room ko, right beside my bed.

To give you an idea on how big the figure is, here's a comparison with 7-inch NECA figs (feat. Raziel, and Maki's Red Ken! hehe):



Basta it was so big and heavy (the cape is made of full leather) that I decided to bring a car with me. Thank god that someone decided to buy it after me just posting it in the forums the other day.

Once Richard and I got to Mega Mall, we met up with the buyer (who has a stall in the Toycon) so we could finish up the deal. After that, we browsed around the area and saw a familiar face. It was Samson, our classmate from LSM years back. Sumali pala siya ng diorama contest. His entry was impressive by the way, a Sadako coming out of the TV! Astig! He ended up winning 2nd place.

About the toys, nothing much is new since the other day. I finally bought the Devilman figure from a friend. Its great that he decided to give me a discount for it.

On the cosplayers, wala nang tatalo talaga sa mga sexy nung day 1. Hehe. Richard finally got lucky though. Naabutan niya rin sa wakas si Ashley sa booth. Pero grabe, tinablan ng hiya si loko.. ako pa ang pinapalapit para magpa-pic! Haha! Buti nalang dumaan bigla si Lloyd, a friend from UST Comsci. Siya na yung lumapit kay Ashley, and siya na rin kumuha nung pic ni Richard with Ashley. Haha.

After a while, dumating na rin si Alodia (probably the big cheese of them all cosplayers), and cosplayers fanatics (Richard included) had a great time snapping photos! Naging taga-bantay nalang ako ng gamit! Hahaha!

Before we knew it, the day is over. Sobrang pagod ako. Medyo nag-shutdown na nga yung mata ko eh. Thank god it was a Sunday kaya no traffic. Once I dropped Richard off, I'm off home! :)

--
About sa Toycon, you'll really have a great time if you're a toy collector. Besides having rare finds, the usual items has marked down prices so all good talaga. Naisip kong set up dito, since annual lang siya, mag-ipon ka ng isang buwan na sweldo para ilustay dun! Hahaha! Para pag may nakita ka, tawad kaagad, then bili. No hesitations. Madaming rare kasi na good buy na. Pag pinalampas mo, pag balik mo wala na, nabili na. ;p