Cosplayers and More at TOYCON 2012

Toycon 2012 is the first ever convention about Anime, Games and Toys that I have attended. There were so many people there and a lot of cosplayers. The event, which was held in Megamall from June 15 to 17, started at 10AM and ended at 9PM. I went there with my friends and we saw a lot of toys for sale.

photo borrowed from toyconph.com

I approached the Playstation Booth and there were a lot of discounted PS3 items on sale. As a Playstation fan myself, I saw a lot of my favorite games there. They were also showing the trailers of upcoming games with some of the footages coming from E3 including the trailer for the Last of Us, and the upcoming Assassins Creed 3. There was also a booth about the upcoming Batman film called The Dark Knight Rises and they also showcased products and toys about the movie.

I was very happy to see that they are still producing new Gundam Models. When I was a kid, the Gundam Models were some of my favorite toys and I also watched the Anime show; the new one from 2011. I also saw a lot of The Zoids series toys which I also played with as a child.

Comics enthusiasts would be happy to know that there were also a lot of Manga available for sale at discounted prices. There were a lot of them and I didn't have much time to browse them all. But I saw a lot of my favorites there like the Vampire Hunter D which is not actually a Manga, but a Japanese novel. Then there was Death Note which I actually like although the ending is so messed up. I likewise saw one of my top favorite manga of all time -- Ghost in the Shell. For me, its concept and art design is what makes this the best manga.

Moving on to Cosplay, there were a lot of cosplayers there. So many, that they had to categorize them under Anime, Games, and Super Heroes. I recognized a lot of the cosplayers from the games category  because, as a hardcore gamer, I've played a lot of games. I saw some characters from the Final Fantasy and Metal Gear series. But my favorite was the Dragonborn from the Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim, one of the greatest games of 2011.

Up next was the Anime category and I recognized a lot of them too. The characters from the Death Note series appeared on the runway along with Alucard and the police girl from Hellsing OVA. It's a shame though that that not all of my favorite anime characters were there but still I had a great time. All of their costumes were wonderful and very detailed.

Well that's just about it. Before closing time, I asked some of the cosplayers for a picture and they seemed to be very energetic when it comes to dealing with fans. I'm sure they were already pretty tired for posing and showcasing, but still they remained cheerful when accommodating photo requests. Now that's great attitude.

I hope I can attend the next Toycon and I'm hoping that the Video game section makes a bigger comeback. Until next time!

SM E-Plus Relaunch

I like the movie Cars and got a chance to watch its sequel, Cars 2, when SM Cinema's E-Plus card held a family day at the IMAX theater in Mall of Asia.

The E-Plus re-loadable card stands for Entertainment, Privileges, Lifestyle, Upgrades and Surprises. It allows people to watch movies without having to wait in line just to buy tickets. With the E-Plus, you just load credits into your E-Plus prepaid card and you can also upgrade it to a loyalty card. With an upgraded card, moviegoers can earn points like when they use the card to buy at any Snack Time branch in all SM Cinemas.

SM Cinema's brand new E-Plus launch in MOA was a great experience. Guests got to watch Cars 2 and later, we were given vouchers so we can join fun games and redeem free meals. There was a ton of exciting things to do like this game at the White Hat booth. Contestants have to stack as many White Hat cups as they can in their arms and try not to let them fall until a picture is taken of them holding all the cups to get a free White Hat yogurt with the toppings you chose. It was not easy to do but I had fun trying to fit in as many cups as possible.

There were also great raffle prizes they awarded to guests. I didn’t win anything but I still had a great time.  Plus, there was this Magic Act by one guy who performed amazing tricks for us to see and they were so cool. I am always amazed when I get my mind blown away by dazzling feats of magicians because I like to try doing magic tricks on my cousins too. 

All in all, the whole experience was great for me and my dad and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Too bad dad forgot to bring a camera so we didn't get to take good pictures. 

Come Join TOYCON 2012 this coming June 15, 16, & 17!

The Philippine Toys, Hobbies, and Collectibles Convention is coming back on its 11th year! Earlier today, I excitedly attended the press conference in SM Megamall and learned about a lot of cool stuff.

In the conference room, we witnessed the most awaited cosplay battle of the century -- the battle between Marvel Heroes and DC Heroes. It was evident how much effort both teams really exerted in creating their wonderful costumes. Particularly, I was very impressed about the detail in Iron Man's. Although it was just a sort of exhibition "fight" and no winners were declared, I'd vote for The Avengers because I think their costumes were better than those of their competitors'.

Since I listen to K-Pop, I also enjoyed watching the wonderful act of the trio who performed this kind of music. Some of the songs were quite familiar to me and I'd say the performers did great on the dance floor.

Aside from the entertainment, we also got to check out various toy collections that I inspected closely. There was this rare collection of Hasbro stuff that included a lot of GI Joe figures and models from the 80's to the current generation. You'll be able to see these exclusively showcased at the TOYCON so look for them there.

For the past ten years, TOYCON has been highlighting the best of all things pop-culture including movies, anime, comics, gaming, and pop-culture collectibles and memorabilia. 

Honestly, I haven't attended any TOYCON in the past but this year, since I have more time and can travel on my own already, I'll make sure to grab the opportunity to be there. I have always been a fan of Anime, Western Comics like Marvel and DC, and of course Video Games which, I'm sure  I'll see to see a lot of in this year's TOYCON. I heard they are adding a lot of cool stuff so this time, I'll definitely make it.

By the way, Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Pacific Licensing Studio are co-sponsors of the event where it will feature the latest products and merchandise of the highly anticipated film "The Dark Knight Rises" which will be released on July 19, 2012 in theaters and IMAX.

Alongside the TOYCON, there will also be a "DC Comics and The Dark Knight Rises" on ground event at the SM Megamall Events Center. You may also want to check out in store promotion of the DC Comics and Dark Knight Rises merchandise at all SM department stores from June 1 to July 31, 2012. For every single receipt purchase of P500 worth of merchandise, customers may win 1 of 2000 movie passes for the Dark Knight Rises movie and an entry pass to the DC Comics/Dark Knight Rises event on June 16 and 17.

So if you're a toy aficionado or collector, jot down June 15, 16, and 17 on your calendars and head on over to SM Megamall's Megatrade Halls 1, 2 and 3 from 10AM to 9PM! Since it's also Father's Day weekend,don't forget to tag your dad along and have a good time! See you there!

For more information, please log on to www.toyconph.com or visit their Facebook page.

Event Coverage: IP e-Games' Domination 6

Yesterday, I attended Domination 6 hosted by IP e-Games at the World Trade Center. The event venue was fully packed by more than a thousand gamers and cosplayers by the time we got there before noon. It's a shame that I didn't get to stay to finish the whole thing because we had to catch a concert that night and had to leave earlier in the afternoon than I'd like to, but I've witnessed a lot of cool stuff. 

The merging of IP e-Games and Level Up! Inc., the two biggest online gaming companies in the Philippines was great news to me! You see, I have been a fan since Ragnarok Online came out. During the event, we saw the trailer of a new game called Bounty Houndz. The gameplay video of it has outstanding graphics! I'm sure that Bounty Houndz will be successfull as well as other games they are planning to release.

Point Blank is still looking great. It's still the best online FPS game for me. By the way, not only is e-Games releasing Bounty Houndz but also Level Up! games is releasing Eligium -- a massive Player Versus Player game, featuring Guilds, Sieges, and Legions. I bet Eligium will be a story-focused online game. The representative who talked about it on stage said that it will be much similar to World Of Warcraft so I have high hopes for this one.

Diablo 3 will also be released here in the Philippines. Since the 1990's Blizzard has always been successful when it comes to gaming. They have some of the best games like StarCraft, WarCraft, Diablo and Diablo 2. There's no doubt that Diablo 3 will be successful as its predecessors were .

Of course, the gaming ambiance won't be complete without some of the best OPM bands present. Up Dharma Down delivered a clean and wonderful performance. Their hit single Oo and Tadhana made the crowd go wild. We already left before Tanya Markova went on stage but I'm sure they also rocked the place with their music. 

Overall, the event was a HUGE success. Hopefully, the merger between the two gaming companies will lead to a promising future for game enthusiasts. If you are a gamer, you should also make plans to attend when the next Domination event comes around next year. It's really, really cool!

* Photos borrowed with permission from Orange Magazine TV