My Toycon 2011 Experience: Share Yours Too

The 10th Philippine Toycon had concluded and it had been one of the greatest convention yet. The cosplay event had been successful and of course the exhibit were awesome. I was amazed with the life-size exhibits of superheroes as well as the diorama of Predator and other toys. The Captain America set was also amazing.

Toys had been on a discount and you can but good quality toys for just as low as P150.00. Chikara Hats and cute hats were also at a low prize. I even bought a Tigress hat for Mei. The Toycon 2011 baller band was also handy so I also bought that for only P30.00. I want to buy the shirt but to be honest I do not feel the design. That is only my opinion by the way.

The Asia Cosplay Meet Philippines competition on the first day showcased tons of talent by the best cosplayers in the Metro and for sure the winner, Team Tenshi no Maou would do their best. They will be representing the Philippines for the Asia Cosplay Meet this June 25 and 26.. The team is composed of Riyo Lendl Enriquez, Claudine De Jesus, and Marianne Bella Topacio.

I also like the presentation of Team Duo Stratos although honestly it had been too mellow dramatic which might have defeated the enthusiasm and action-packed scenes of Final Fantasy. I like the costume of Edwin Theo Santos Rodrigues. I am his friend yet, I did not easily notice him in that costume. Great work.

The individual cosplay competition started a little bit late around 6:00pm and there were more than 200 cosplayers who joined. I was kinda sad because while they allow BGMs I think no BGM was played during the competition. The battle was all costume and perhaps it is because of the presence of Cosplay Nation.  I even took part there and cosplayed as Kratos from God of War 3.

Cosplay Nation did the live filming of the Cosplay Nation Movie during Day 2 and photos were also taken of the best cosplayers during the event.  When will the movie be shown?  Well perhaps we have to wait till 2012.

I do not know who the winners of the individual cosplay competition as well. As of this writing I have tried to search online and even on the website of Anime Allinace but no announcement was posted. The judging was based on COSTUME CRAFTSMANSHIP – 40%, COSTUME ACCURACY – 30%, ON-STAGE PERFORMANCE – 25%, AUDIENCE IMPACT – 5%. I was wondering how can on stage performance be judged if contestants BGM were not played?

The categories to be awarded are Best Green Lantern Cosplayer, Best Anime Character Cosplayer,
Best Comic Character Cosplayer, Best Toy Character Cosplayer, Best TV/Movie Character Cosplayer,
and Best Video Game Character Cosplayer.

There were also lots of freebies by the way including tons of Coke Zero so you will never get thirsty. By the end of Day 2 it seems most of the trash bins are filled with Coke Zero.

I have also seen the original costumes used in the Harry Potter Series although I would say I am disappointed that only four were exhibited and these costumes are not the very popular ones except for Harry's signature shirt and the one used for Quiditch game.

During Day 2 there were interesting panel discussions. They were very informative and engaging however the fact that it was coincided with some other big events fewer audience did attended the discussions. I was wondering if in the future more focus will be given to Pinoy Comic artists so that finally our own comic industry will be revived.

Panel Discussion on Comics Evolution

The group cosplay competition was likewise very competitive and the quality of group performance was superb. As usual the team of HTP-NCPH were very synchronized with the sound and it is the first time I see such kind of performance, however the pure number and astounding costume of the Red Rangers of Project 8 made them the winner of the competition.

The biggest attention getter in this event and also well a source of some of the accidents during Toycon 2011 was the presence of Alodia Gosengfiao. It was sad that some fans of Alodia would really try to be close to her at the expense of others even children. There was a report that someone got pushed over an exhibit and that exhibit was broken. He was asked to pay the toys even if it was not his fault just because of some weird Alodia fans.

Of course the guards is still a problem. It was the first time I learned of the policy of no dressing at comfort rooms and no strolling around of cosplayers in SM Megamall. It was weird for me because after all cosplayers do bring earnings to the mall. Perhaps, some actions of cosplayers those who are "attention grabbers" made this policy necessary.

I was also involved with the Rizal 150 Project of Naruto Cosplayers PH.  It is called "Idol Ko si Rizal". About 150 cosplayers had been photographed to signify the importance of Dr. Jose Rizal to our youth and in our country. (more photos here and here.)

Overall ToyCon 2011 was a blast. Nothing is perfect in this world and everyone do have some mistakes in events. What we can do is air our experience and hope that it would help the organizers improve the next event. We have seen the biggest ToyCon this year but I do not think that we have seen the biggest and the best yet for next year it will still be better, bigger and more awesome.

Thanks for the wonderful experience.

If you want to SHARE YOUR OWN TOYCON 2011 EXPERIENCE just comment on this blog post.

Till next ToyCon :)

(My ToyCon Album 1 | My ToyCon Album 2)




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