STGCC: Wrap Up

STGCC has come and gone, and it was a great, whirlwind experience. Direcow put up a quick wrap up of his first day, but a few days later we have some photos, and I’ve got my own two cents talk about. =)

First up: The great panels. We had a whole slew of great panels. I suppose the comics ‘East meets West’ panel on the first day perfectly illustrated the meridian that STGCC (and I would suppose Singapore as a whole) aims to be; that meeting point of ideas and culture, a place to mix and to get some sort of gestalt out of that. I don’t think it’s very often that you see a western comic panel end only to see a cosplayer step up for his or her own panel, but you get that here in STGCC. Comic greats like Kieron Gillen and Paul Levitz met with Toys gurus Simone Legno and Andrew Bell or Cosplay and Anime stars like Kipi and Itou Shizuka… talked about their various means of creation, or how they came upon their calling… regardless, it was an eye-opening feeling being able to listen to the combined experience of such a diverse group.

Of course they did a lot of signing and meet the fans sessions too…

SPEAKING OF TOYS!

Wow. So much lewt. Simone Legno of Tokidoki was back again (and from what I heard enjoying his outing at the Butter Factory), Devilrobots was in full force, as was Andrew Bell, and Kotonukiya made quite a bit of cash over the weekend (we were planning to buy a few things on the last day but turns out everything we wanted sold out). But probably the one booth (and one thing) that blew away everything out of the water was Hot Toys’ exclusives in STGCC.

Seriously. Did you see the lines? We don’t have a good shot of it, but if I remember correctly by the time the con opened we had 600-700 people lining up for 3 toys with a run of 500 each.

Yeah. Some people would be going home sad this year.

But not only did they have exclusives, Hot Toys’ booth also blew everything out of the water. I’m sure you have seen some of the dioramas in other blogs, but they also had weird funky modded iron men, as well as a pretty darn cool sales counter who also happened to have a back wall that probably ended up as a pretty eye catching backdrop for a lot of photos.

Of course, Marvel and DC wasn’t going to go out without a bang either. Marvel had a great step up from its booth last year, and DC came out swinging with a pretty snazzy booth for its first foray into STGCC and the Asian market.

And while local comic book mainstay GNB comics was noticeably absent this year, there were quite a few more shops who turned up to fill in the spot, like Harris Planerds, Kinokuniya and others.

Some other vendors were here that nicely rounded out STGCC, including a superhero related jewelry booth, an art shop, and several collectible stamps and stamp-related paraphernalia. Man. Those stamps were beautiful.

Artists’ Alley also looked pretty energetic, with a few booths featuring a group of artists to ease costs.

What seemed to be the most noticeable thing that we noticed this year though was how BUSY STGCC felt this time round! Sure, some people will say that the floor space was cut down with the stage and walk of fame taking up a whole hall (they can probably afford to rejigger that a bit next year), but we’ll leave that judgement for the absolute numbers when the dust has settled. All we know is that we felt an energy run through the exhibition hall the entire weekend, and it seemed to have affected most of the other people we met. And that was the best part about this year’s convention.

I always like to say this about a convention, but that’s only because I whole-heartedly belive it’s true. Sure some people think that conventions are about the big names you can bring down, or the exclusives you can buy, or the chance to see and be seen in costume. But at the end of it all, it all boils down to people meeting other people and realizing that what they love isn’t that bizarre or ‘fringe’. That they have a place to come to and feel at home. It isn’t about comics vs manga, or exhibitors vs organizers. We’re all geeks (or nerds or whatever you choose to call yourselves) here. And the sooner we come together and celebrate that as a community the sooner we’ll be able to see STGCC as our very own San Diego Comic Con.

And to all those that we met in STGCC! Be it comic book guy, anime guy, or just all round fan… we would love to keep in touch with you. Maybe to do something together, but probably just to talk about what we love! So, comment, email or write to us. We would love to hear from you.