A fortnight ago seems like a very long time, but the experience of visiting the most recent STGCC (Singapore Toys, Games and Comic Convention) is still fresh for many visitors.
Many visitors from the region dropped by Marina Bay Sands for STGCC’s 10 year anniversary, with a long lineup of special guests – from comic stars to toymakers and international cosplayers – and new attractions.
The mega convention this year was made of 6 separate zones: Pop-fun, Exclusively Yours, Artist Galore, Star wars the Force Experience, Akiba Zone and Good Game Experience (GGXP). Within each zone was its own world to explore.
One of the more surprising thing for me was that there was food being sold in the convention hall. Located in the Pop-Fun segment, the stomachs of the many guests were fed by Central Perk, DC Heroes Cafe, as well as the World Snack Fair that provided everyone with a wide variety of delicious goodies.
Pop-fun was indeed hyped up by many fans of toys and figurines, as well as Tokidoki, with long lines and rushing of fans to get their hands on the exclusive merchandise.
We were treated to statues of Marvel heroes as well as original silhouettes within the Exclusively Yours area, a sizeable outlined space are where many intricate and beautiful statues produced by XM Studios, a local company that creates exclusive and premium collectibles.
This segment was particularly dangerous for many fans and toy collectors, due to the fact that a lot of the toys and merchandise were for sale. For instance, adorned on the shelves were exclusive and reissued Gundam, Star Wars, model kits and memorabilia. Leading forward from here is the Star Wars: Experience The Force. This space featured a life-sized installation of the interior of the Millennium Falcon that allowed us to take a peek of the interior of this well-loved space vessel. Also on display was Ray’s speeder, where fans like me were allowed to hop on and get our photos taken.
My favourite area in the whole convention was the Artist Galore zone, where many talented artists and invited guests gathered to share their work with fans of geek culture. Returning again are Marvel comic book artist, Adi Granov and David Mack, joining the line up of artists include; artist and writer Arthur Adams, comic book illustrator Joyce Chin, Mirka Andolfo, and Disney’s James C. Mulligan. We also have our very own invited guests, the one and only 6-time Eisner Award Nominee Sonny Liew signing books as well as greeting fans at the convention.
Good Game Experience (GGXP) was a new and interesting addition to the convention this year, as a full exhibition hall that was entirely dedicated to video games. Featuring e-sports competitions, indie game studios and many of those sweet new gaming gear for all the gamers out there to try out. Concurrently taking place at the zone was the Dota 2 and CS:GO ROG Masters 2017 Singapore qualifier finals. Convention goers had the chance to go head to head with each other on table tops, we got to try out tabletop war games like Star Wars Armada and Warhammer 40k. Attendees got a chance to choose and paint their own little space marine to bring home as a cool souvenir, which in my opinion was really cool!
There was also the Akiba Zone, a segment dedicated to J-culture and cosplay, with a lineup of Japanese DJs spinning the deck, and other Japanese performers (like Rie Yunohara and Tokyo CLEAR’s) gracing the mini stage. Of course, there were celebrity cosplayers hailing from Asia (Suitao, Shimo, Iori Moe), and even from Italy (Leon Chiro) who had long lines of fans.
What a way to celebrate a 10th anniversary!
by Terence Lim
