It was just day 1 and Toy Con was already jampacked with cosplay fanatics, toy lovers, frequent event goers and people who bit into the plug by Sir Mike Enriquez last friday. A big kudos to the marketing department for that. Toy Con was so packed I couldn’t move around to look for cosplayers AND the toys I wanted to buy (as if I had the money for them 🙂 )

Although the event used 2 Megatrade Halls, I can’t help but wishing they had 3.

Overall though, I think I can sum up the event aftermath from several point of views, starting with the avid cosplay fanatic, the toy lover/collector and the frequent or the newbie event goer.

To those who haven’t gone to Day 1, here’s a shout out for one of the biggest events in the country.

What: The 7th Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention 2008
When: June 14-15, 2008, Saturday- Sunday
Where: Megatrade Hall 2-3, SM Megamall
Mandaluyong City, Philippines
www.toyconph.com

Let’s start of with the event goers since they’re the most numerous of the bunch.

Event Goers

• Toy Con delivered as promised

Yep, whether you’re interested in seeing cosplayers, you favorite character’s toy line up, comic books, collectibles etc, Toy Con 07 has got them all. I even manage to find (not buy) a store that was selling Haro Alarm clocks (will try to get this on my next adsense paycheck ^_^) so it more or less proves that Toycon has gathered most if not all of the great finds.

• Toy Con was fun

I’m not sure if everyone was able to watch the full on-stage show but it was quite informative, I for one especially enjoyed the panel discussion with the comic creators. There was lots of interesting booths to but I wasn’t able to visit most of them so I stuck to the ones that I needed to go to the most, the E-games booth for a Cabal Tshirt and a free poster (yeah my joys are just that shallow)

• Toy Con has what you want

Unlike other events that specialize in animes, Toy Con has appeals to many interested parties. I know a couple people who went to the event not for the cosplayers or the event program but for the collectible shops to complete their comics/figure collection. Day 2 promises to be even more interesting since a few TV personalities are set for an on-stage discussion.

Toy lover/collector

• Toy Con gathered most of the best shops around

I know a few toy shops but not ones that carry a solid collection of Gundam Mobile Suit kits so finding one that carries not only Marvel stuff but also Gunpla (Gundam Plastic) kits was a big plus. With a 30 second exchange, I was able to find several kits that was in my must buy collection (like the Hyaku Shiki 1/100 kit) and the Haro Alarm clock. What’s more I found that said shop had a site (should’ve been a no brainer, you’ll see that in the next sentence) where you can look up toy catalogues and which branch has what. The store name? Greattoysonline.com. I wonder how I could’ve missed that =_=.

There were lots of magazine sellers too but I wasn’t able to dive into their selling bin because the lanes were quite cramped due to the sheer number of interested buyers. Will try today but I seriously doubt I’ll get out of there alive.

• Toy Con’s best of the best

I’m usually in awe of the collections on display at the convention because of the time spend collecting them and the dedication put into it. This year wasn’t a disappointment in that line and although there were some items that fall into “I’ve seen this last year” category, I found several new displays (like the Hulk collection, nice timing for it) that really rocked my world. I’m hoping that a friend’s contact will be able to display his collection to day, he’s one of the few who’s collections ( he’ll be bringing Gun-pla) that I’m really interested in seeing.

I won’t be posting the last category since the Cosplay Event still isn’t done. I’ll just update and tie it to the next post. Till then, see you at the convention.