Toycon 2009 Megapost: Day 2

Continuing my coverage of the 8th Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention (aka Toycon 2009), I came back on the second day to finally shop in peace, since I don't have to do anything for HERO TV today (I think). I came in at the unusually early 1130PM, and while the longest line in the world I had the honor of witnessing yesterday wasn't there anymore, the venue still had enough people to render the air conditioning useless.

I went to the HERO TV booth first, it being smackdab in front of the entrance, and found people happily snapping away with their cameras, posing with our life size Voltes V and Astro Boy statues.


Since it looks like it's gonna be a slow day, I decided to roam the rest of the convention floor to see if there was anything new. I checked out the gallery of toy photography again to take a closer look and what I saw where pretty awesome. Some of the entries are pretty awesome, and the Haruhi Suzumiya scene blasphemously reenacting the Last Supper cracked me up.


There seemed to be more toys today than yesterday, or it's still the same and my lazy eye is playing tricks on me again. Still, there were more than enough toys to sell to every man, woman, child, pet chihuahua (there was one in the venue!) and man-child to play with.


It was then that I found what I was looking for since yesterday...a Mikuru Asahina Figma! Would have wanted to complete the set and get Haruhi too, but I still have to look for that Yoko Revoltech!

It's really hard walking around a giant room full of toys with little money to spare...you'd wish you could buy everything. Seeing Theater Works' entire display of 12" Hot Toys, er, toys just made me openly weep.


It was then that I noticed something I didn't notice yesterday...a separate conference hall full of toy and statue displays from members of Pinoy Toy Kolektors forum!

Here are some statues and busts by fatboystudios. It doesn't show it, but that Michael Jackson bust was literally sweating, like he just came out from the game of his life. That's too much realism for me, dawg.


I love dioramas, and this exhibit featured a huge one...I don't know what the diorama's about, but it's like Black Hawk Down with GI Joe figs, down to the miniature terrorists, great looking buildings, guns a-blazing and real sand!


Hell, there's even a small diorama of that memorable scene from The Ring, complete with miniature VHS tape and strobe lights!


There weren't just toys in the ToyCon. There were the usual hats, clothes, statues and some pretty random stuff...like bread with faces.


That was enough weirdness for me, so I went back to the HERO TV Booth, which by then was reduced to a ghost town. Nobody was coming in anymore, with people more interested in War Rock or looking at where Alodia last left a footprint. How do I turn this around?

Why, getting pretty cosplayers as unwilling booth girls, of course!


Two of my lovely members from the Hero TV Forums, dressed up in full cosplay, decided to help out, politely welcoming the people outside to take pictures inside our booth, without us even asking. Whaddaya know, it worked! A couple of minutes later, the place was packed! With a cute wink and a smile the girls managed to get even the most grizzled con-going veterans to take pictures next to Flash Bomba and Dragonna!


Isn't that nice of them? Well, a few hours of padding our number of visitors for today and it was time to call it a day. ToyCon 2009 looked to be a huge success, despite the looming financial crisis hovering over everybody's wallets. People had fun, my friends had fun, I had fun...it's all good in the end.

And I didn't come home empty handed for once!


And that ends my coverage of the great ToyCon 2009. If you have any questions, comments, or just want to brag about all the swag you got when you were there, drop me a comment and let's talk about it! Thanks for reading!

ToyCon 2009 Megapost: Day 1

Nothing stirs so much fanboy glee like making a chick in a European maid costume hold your lightsaber while making it look like she's beating you up. Score one for self-esteem brother! But I digress...it's the 8th Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention, also known as TOYCON 2009, where self-esteem isn't altogether needed, only a big wad of your last paycheck, a camera, and hopefully a whole canteen of clean drinking water, as I will learn soon enough.

For those not in the know, the aforementioned and affectionately called ToyCon is THE convention for the complete geek package. Toys, statues, anime, and stuff you didn't realize you need...it's all there. And even if there are like tons of toy conventions scattered throughout the year, you're nobody unless you've been to this one.

I was still nobody when I got to the venue at the ungodly hour of 10AM. What waited outside was, I honestly kid you not, the biggest waiting line I've ever seen in my life. It looked like it fucking looped Megamall twice! Thank goodness HERO TV was a major sponsor!


Inside was even crazier, as the venue was packed with all sorts of people with money to burn, and for good reason. This was toy nirvana, people. You wouldn't realize how much your salary means to you unless you find yourself spending it on all the latest and coolest toys and the rarest finds. 2Rats helped burn through your pockets with toy bargains out the wazoo.


Maxicollector didn't make things any easier either.


And beside it was the curiously called Alodia's Edge, where people were physically struggling to get in. I wonder what could be inside?


Oh, it's Alodia again.


Anyway, the stuff I was looking for (a Revoltech Fraulein Yoko Movie Ver. and a Mikuru Cheerleader Figma) wasn't there. You could hear my wallet's sigh of relief a mile away!


There were also toy exhibits like those hipster Snitch vinyl toys, Stikfas, Transformers toys (both movie and cartoon versions) and an exhibit to the late great Alfredo Alcala, one of the first few Filipinos who broke into the American comics scene drawing some legendary comic book runs from both DC and Marvel! If there's anything to be proud of for being a Filipino, it's this one.


Believe it or not, I cosplayed as Itsuki Koizumi from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya on Day 1!


But unfortunately, my first was also my worst, as I seem to be so bad at cosplaying that nobody recognized who I was cosplaying as. I'm not fucking Light Yagami, people! My pants aren't even the right color for the guy!

It got so bad that I had to pull a hapless Haruhi cosplayer to demonstrate who I was. And unfortunately I could not convince her to stay beside me to identify me at her expense.


Speaking of cosplayers, there were fewer of them today than I'm used to. Maybe because ToyCon is more of a toy collector's thing than an a cosplay convention, but what few we got were awesome.













































































Standing in the HERO TV Booth for four freaking hours takes a lot out of you. Good thing some of my good friends from the Hero TV Forums were there to ease the suffering a little. Or did they?


And I just found out that one of the legendary Joker cosplayers right now is actually my college schoolmate! When you've done the Joker this good, where else can you fucking go? Where else can anyone go?


All in all it was a fun day. Saw lots of people, ogled at lots of toys, and met lots of friends from high school to college...it was like a freaking reunion! Who knew toys can bring together people from the most disparate walks of life?

Up next, drama, dioramas and total devastation! Stay tuned for Day 2!

The new Batman and Robin?

Sir Azrael just pointed out to us some preview pages from Batman and Robin #1, written by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, the team who gave us what apparently was the biggest thing to happen in comics since Power Girl, All-Star Superman.


It kicks off the 'newest era of the Dark Knight' by introducing to us the victors of DC's recent Battle of the Cowl, where a buttload of Batman's supporting cast fought each other for the right to wear the legendary cowl of Batman, after the original's apparent demise in Final Crisis. I don't know why I think this, but I honestly think this is a refreshing change of pace for the Bat books (despite not reading enough as I should). The new Batman doesn't have the emotional scarring and shoulder chips that Bruce had, and the new Robin isn't as, well, Robin-like as all the other guys who've taken to wear green panties or tights beside ol' Brucie.

Not only that, Grant and Frank has effectively challenged Grek Pak and Fred Van Lente to a 'sound effect battle', with salvos like this:


Drop the mike up in this mother--!

Anyhoo, check out the seven page previews by clicking on these words.

EDIT: And I now know that it came out yesterday. Which makes me an excited ass. :(

EDIT 2: By some serendipitous stroke of luck, one of our bosses brought to the office all three issues of Battle for the Cowl. Will review later coz it's fucking awesome.

How do you beat this?

I consider myself a pretty mellow guy, you know? Nothing stirs me that much except when it has something to do with comics, girls, anime and adobo.

Then I heard the news.

A local TV station has announced that it's going to air for the first time in the Philippines what could possibly be THE most talked about and anticipated anime series in any sort of recognizable fandom.


Seriously.

I mean, dude. Seriously. How the hell do you beat that?

My Week in Comics: Captain Britain and the MI13 #13

I know Power Girl is already so last week's news, but I had to get this off my chest (hee!). Jimmy, Justin, Amanda...I love you guys, but if there had to be an example of how to make a successful first issue, Power Girl #1 wouldn't be one of them. For someone with as much chest-icular fortitude as her, I had a hard time staying awake trying to pay attention to her. Oh, and bewbs.

Ehm...now where was I? Oh yes, My Week in Comics...the comic book review column that takes the time you wished it would take to read comic books and waste it on reviewing one! So what have I gotten myself into this week?

Ah, yes…Captain Britain and the MI13 #13. It’s a pretty unlucky number for this superteam, as Lord Dracula switches his invasion plans into high-gear, making sure that nothing stands in his way towards the total domination of England. It's got some heavy stuff, more vampires than even Twilight would know what to do with, and it's got some throwaway cameos by Union Jack and Norman Osborn! Talk about getting bang for your buck!

If I could only use one word to describe this particular comic, it would be “Scary.” Granted that I haven’t been reading comics that long (what’s 15 years anyway?), but I’ve never seen a villain win so hard like this. The lord of vampires made sure that England’s ass is his. Cutting England off from aid via force field, shooting vampire missiles at them from the moon, taking the MI13 down one by one like a bunch of amateurs…Dracula had all the bases covered. It's that sort of surgical precision I don't see a lot of in villains these days...and if I had my way, I'd only let Dracula have all of it.

If there’s anything that would take this comic down a notch, it would be Leonard Kirk, whose usually awesome pencil work is more scratchy and plain than usual here. And often, some panels would say one thing but show something totally different. I mean, let’s just say you wouldn’t know that there was some ‘holy water carpet bombing’ involved in a panel or two if the characters didn’t straight up tell you!

The ish didn't wow me overall, but I'm hoping all the shit that happens in this issue will lead to an epic showdown of ultimate power. The MI13 doesn't know how lucky they have it. I mean, how many here can brag that they're about to throw down with the Lord of Vampires? This one's an easy 3.5 out of 5.


Did my review help you in any way? Then gimme some love by leaving a comment below! Better than a donation, and the only denomination you need are Internets! My Week in Comics is up on Fridays. Thanks for reading!

Finally, Free Comic Book Day!

Happy Free Comic Book Day, fellow citizens of comicdom! Frankly, I'm surprised I was able to celebrate at all. My last brush with FCBD ended in disaster, but like that black dude in Harold and Kumar said, "The universe tends to unfold as it should."

But I still didn't get to grab some free comics from the good people of Comic Odyssey (the ultimate Free Comic Book Day destination)...due to oversleeping. And if there's anything I learned from last time, if it's already 11am, don't bother going.

Thankfully, I still had some comics waiting for me in Planet X Comics, where I was pleasantly surprised to see that I got some FCBD comics waiting for me in my pull box! And since I missed out on My Week in Comics 2 weeks in a row (did anybody miss it at all?), I thought I'd just share with you guys what I thought of these awesome freebies!

First up is Arcana Studio Presents, Arcana Studios' offering for FCBD. It's more of an appetizer of sorts, teasers for upcoming projects like Kade (looks good, reads weird), Creepsville (I find the 'mishmash of monsters and aliens and weirdos in one town' concept pretty interesting), Eve: Vampyre Diva and Koni Waves (with art that has shades of J. Scott Campbell, which means 'me likey'). It's a bit sad to know that some FCBD's just become teaser pamphlets instead of full, original stories you can spread around to your friends after you're finished, but that's just me.

Next is Radical 2009 Preview. I'm still kicking myself for not getting into Caliber (Radical's Wild West take on the Arthurian legend) sooner. Their graphic work is just gorgeous, you can tell people slaved over this. From Hercules to FVZA to Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead...I mean, they even got an upcoming title called Aladdin, Legacy of the Lost that looks like it could kick that Disney streetrat's ass all up and down Disney World! Any company that could make freaking Aladdin badass is aces in my book.


And finally we come to Marvel Comics' FCBD offering, Avengers. Unlike the first two which are simply previews and teasers for upcoming releases, this issue is an all-original story by Brian Bendis and Jim Cheung. It starts with Thor falling down from the heavens looking like somebody beat the living crap out of him and it gets crazier from there! A Frost Giant appears in the middle of New York and the New and Dark Avengers must find away to stop it from making it his personal outhouse while trying their best not to kill each other...and their actions here will have ramifications over the rest of Marvel U..

As per Bendis' usual, it's a pretty wordy adventure with lots of action and peppered with punchlines, supplied by that motormouth Spidey. While Secret Invasion still left a bad taste in my mouth, I found this to be a pretty enjoyable story. Of course, the fact that the spotlight is on Ares (one of my favorite characters) might have something to do with it. And together with gorgeous art courtesy of Jim Cheung, it all combines into a fun comic that should please longtime readers and newbies alike.

And that's the spirit of Free Comic Book Day, anyway. Making people aware that there are awesome comics out there for just about anyone if you only care to look. I know I'll be leaving these babies in the office...you never know when a future comic book fan might pass by!

Speaking of comic book fans...how's YOUR Free Comic Book Day?

Revoltech Fraulein Mikuru Asahina Review

When I was chilling in Singapore for the weekend I chanced upon this quaint shop in Suntec called Otaku House. They got lots of good stuff in there, including some Figmas I've been dying to try getting into. Unfortunately, they didn't have a Mikuru or Haruhi Figma, so I settled for the newly released Revoltech Fraulein Mikuru Asahina ~ Mikuru’s Adventure ver. , which I'll be reviewing today.
















First of all, she's freaking cute. I've never seen an episode of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, but I know the characters and I've been crushing on Mikuru since forever, so I'm pretty glad to have gotten a figure of her.

Sculpt is gorgeous, and the detail is great, though there's some clumping of the paint I see on her costume as well as a yellowing on her apron that I don't see in any promo shots.

But her face is one of the most accurate renditions on a figure I've ever seen. It's like she's jumped out of your TV to give you a taste of her Mikuru Beam!

She comes with a whopping 8 pairs of hands (9 pairs if you include the ones already attached to her) for either putting her in heartbreakingly cute poses or recreating scenes from the anime. Her Mikuru Beam face and accompanying hand sign is worth the price of the entire figure set alone!

There's also a miniature futon tataki (a futon beater to beat the dust out of futons) and two handguns for when you want Mikuru to get medieval on any lecherous action figs you might put beside her.

As for articulation...well, this is the first time I've come across the unique Revoltech artic, so please pardon my n0obness. According to my immensely time-consuming research, the Revoltech joint system uses peg joints that 'ratchet' when you move them, apparently giving them the ability to strike a wide variety of poses "just like in real life" as well as keeping them posed that way.
















And therein lies the rub on my Mikuru figure. The joints on her lower body (specifically her waist and thighs) are so loose that it's a pain to pose her. I don't feel the ratcheting of the joints other than the ones on her feet, and even then they would be pushed out alignment at the slightest touch.


She also feels floppy in my hands and getting her to stand on her own is tedious because the natural state of her waist and her head is bending backwards. The figure stand included with the figure is a godsend, but it would have been nice if she was able to stand on her own with ease. I don't know if I just got a bum figure or anything, but it's not something you can actually watch out for, so just be careful in handling her.

Also, be careful in swapping out hands or heads. While I appreciate the modular design of Revoltechs and their ability to be truly 'customizable', you're going to need a little more elbow grease (so to speak) when handling this Fraulein. The Revolver joint pegs on mine are stuck tighter than a black hole, and it took me a while to both pull them out to allow hand and face-swapping and to realize that I didn't actually 'break' my Mikuru and it's supposed to be pulled out like that. >_<

I've been reading from some websites of the ability to 'tighten' Revoltech joints using special 'Revolpliers', but so far I don't think it's possible. So for now I'm stuck with painfully posing this Mikuru figure.

But when you do get to pose her right...it's...it's magic.

This Revoltech Fraulein Mikuru Asahina is my first anime action figure so she'll hold a special place in my heart (after Hazuki Fujimiya, of course). She's a cute figure of one of my favorite characters, so she's a great addition to my collection. You just have to be really, really, really careful in handling her.

I got her for 46 Singapore Dollars, which translate to roughly P1,470++. I don't know if it's cheaper here in the Philippines or anywhere, but with her 'hand'ful of accessories and fun chotchkes, she's very well worth it.

There's a Figma version of this specific costume of hers coming out in May 2009 if my sources are correct. I guess I'm off to save for a Mikuru or Haruhi Figma next!