WAYLANDER: STGCC 2013 coverage

My favourite part of the year is here again - the STGCC! Granted, it's nothing compared to HK's AGC or San Diego's Comicon or Japan's WonderFest, but hey it's all we've got! This year's event is promising, and if improving standards are anything to go by, then next year's one should be even more kickass. There were toy stores, artists booths and nerd knick knacks and otaku goodies galore, and of course there were skimpily-clad cosplayers. And Iron Man featured widely too. I sometimes wonder what would toy fairs be like without Iron Man. Somehow people are crazy for Iron Man even though the movie franchise has finished its run...So here's a quick pictorial rundown. Let's roll!

MIDAS MADNESS

Holy shit we really love our toys, don't we? This queue started over 24 hours before gates open. And what are they so desperate for? The Hot Toys limited ed (800 pieces) Midas Iron Man. Sweet Jesus these guys are really going for gold aren't they? LOL. Scalpers and collectors lined the walkway and camped through the night just for their chance to get one. I'm guessing it's 80% scalpers. Being a collector, you'd be hard-pressed to participate in this madness for the high price this thing costs (close to S$400), and the hours you have to queue. What does this show? That we're even crazier than Hongkong? That we really are toy connoisseurs? My ass. LOL. It shows Singaporeans will want any way possible to make a quick buck. Remember grown men fighting over Hello Kitty, anyone?

And in the morning...

This, is what got them all in a frenzy. If you scoped out eBay now I bet you should see these babies going for 500-1,000. Suck it if you wanna own one!

Of course I would have liked to own a Midas but unfortunately I don't have the Midas Touch to cough up that much cash just to own one. So congrats to those who queued (or paid someone to queue) and got theirs, but lets get down to the event proper:

Fun fun fun is when STGCC comes to town. It's a photo party:

The cosplayers definitely add some life and zaniness to the show...

Yikes...it's a guy!

Man I love this guy's face! LOL. Adrian Pang, is that you?!?!

What happens if Hobbits got into Iron Man suits...

Anybody seen the Joker?

Some famous Jap cosplayer that the blokes were clamouring for....Couldn't get close enough for a clear shot.

The Iron Maidens were pretty flashy.

Mam, could you get away from the display so I can take pics of my Iron Men? LOL

HOT TOYS

These days there is no toy event without Hot Toys. Once again the industry giant is out in full force with their booth that got so crowded they started implementing a queue system...

Hall of Armour!

Mini Hall of Armour!

Gotta hand it to Hot Toys - they had the most kickass displays.

The figure that caused the overnight queue...

Chunky Superman...

My favourite Hot Toy dio of the lot.

PLAY IMAGINATIVE

Local-based company PI has emerged as a possible Hot Toys contender but it's still early days. Still, kudos to them for their Super Alloy display - an orgy of Iron Man suits in all sorts of poses (some awkward).

PI's figures don't have as much poseability as Hot Toys', and are less detailed, but a selling point is their metal composition, and as far as I know, at least their colour does not fade, unlike the 'pink panties' phenomenon in some HT Iron Mans.

Even the drones in the IM movie get the metal alloy treatment, albeit in smaller scale...

And now to my favourite PI section - the DC superheroes. I got me a Supes, even though he looks nothing like Supes but more like a young anime punk LOL.

TRANSFORMERS

It's a pity TFs didn't figure as much here, but what absolutely gave me an eye-gasm was this 50-cm tall Optimus Prime (non-transformable) proto-type. Take. My. Money.

TFs are going BIIIIIIG this year. Check out this two-feet tall STGCC edition Metroplex. I have a Takara version on the way in Sept. Yeehaww!

SPORTS

Not surprisingly, sports figures are the new rage, after the superhero phase. Here we got some Man U blokes.

And Enterbay's exquisite MJ and Lebron figures. I got me my MJs too.

Awesome display. Wish I had this in my house. I wanted to buy the entire hoop and board but my girl gave me a killer look so.....nope. See no buy LOL.

SCULPTURES

Am I glad I'm not into sculptures, cos if I were, I'd be shit-broke. Still it's nice to ogle at some sublime masterpieces on show. I sure wished I had that talent to sculpt and paint something like this...