My Visit to the 11th Philippine Toys Collectibles Convention 2012

The family that cosplays together stays together.

It was sort of a baptism of fire for me. I had never been to any toy convention nor have I ever been in the Philippine ToyCon ever—although I had been fully aware of its existence the past few years, but I never had the chance to visit or drop by, until now—on their 11^th year.  I’d have to thank fellow blogger Azrael Colladilla (who happens to be one of the pillars of the Philippine ToyCon) for such because he invited me on the ToyCon press conference, which further nudged my desire to attend the ToyCon 2012.

An alien graved the Philippine ToyCon2012.

Bruce Lee's still looks so much alive in this statue.

With Kyle as my sidekick, we braved through the hellish traffic in Ortigas just to get to SM Megamall that Saturday afternoon. There was a clash between a bus and a cab on the right side of the road going to crossing. So it had taken quite a while before we were able to make it in SM Megamall. On the 5^th level of the said mall, we were both surprised to see the long queue of people for the ToyCon 2012. Some came with their entire family as cosplayers, some with colorful and huge props, others came in typical casual clothes. It was a good thing we had tickets already, so there’s no need for us to line up. 

This Cosplayer duo gamely posed for the camera.

Some Cosplayers were given the chance to see themselves on TV.

Kyle enjoyed the car racing that was part of the exhibit. He even had a hand in one of those cars. It looked like a miniature real car because its got its own lights and it does have such amazing speed, just like in the film Fast Five. 

A sexy female cosplayer with sword. 

There were simultaneous events going on in the three halls of SM Megamall’s Megatrade.  There were online gaming, toy merchandised being sold—wide range of toys were made available. I even saw the toys I grew up with. G.I Joe, powerful siblings She-ra and He-Man figures, Rainbow Brite, Little Twin Stars, OMG, the list could go on and on! I seemed like a kid lost in a huge toy store, with so many items to choose from, I didn’t know what to buy! It felt like I went back to my childhood days when I wanted to purchase these figures for myself. There were so many figures, dolls, different movie and anime merchandise—there even was one selling glow-in-the-dark earrings and personalized blings such as dog tags with engraved names on them. Comic fans could even find their long lost items in order to complete their collections. And there were also DVDs—for different cartoons' fans needs. 

Kyle Madrid with a cosplayer.

One of the figure collections of Ironman that were on display. 

Another cosplayer poses before my camera.

Kyle had so much fun with photo opportunities from cosplayers. There were even freebies such as Zesto drinks and Royal True Orange-in cans. Plus photo booths, not to mention on-stage games and all sorts of entertainment. We both felt like we were in dreamland or some fantasyland where we see everyone eager to showcase their costumes and share their treasured collections. Kyle said, “I didn’t have any idea how hard it is to wear such costumes until I saw someone removed his, he was perspiring as if he’d just come from a run.” 

Kyle truly enjoyed the free car race game.

If you guys missed this chance to join in on the fun, sorry but you have to wait until next year’s 12^th ToyCon to be able to do so. And next year, Kyle and I both promised to save money to buy our desired toy—we’ve only purchased shirts this year. This will be something to look forward to, year after year…J