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Posted June 16, 2018 by Ryan Villanueva in Collectibles
 
 

Back To Basics At ToyCon PopLife FanXperience 2018

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Convention season has already begun and what better way to kick off the season with ToyCon Pop Life FanXperience 2018. Yeap! I know that’s quite a read but before it became the big pop-culture event that it is known today, it was known as TOYCON PH: The Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention or simply ToyCon.

Before the celebrities, artists, musicians became part of the convention, ToyCon was just all about, TOYS. We’re not saying that we’re against about the extra attractions that were added to ToyCon, in fact, we’re all up for it. Geek and Pop-Culture is at all time high right now, thanks to different blockbuster movies, and high-rating tv shows and it seems that everyone wants to join in on the fun, which is good as the members of our geek community (or family as what we like to treat it) continues to grow. Actually, right now is the perfect time to be a geek, as our family continues to grow, there’s something for everyone, a place to belong.

This year, we decided to take it back to the basics and feature what really started this major convention, from the hallowed halls of Megatrade Hall to occupying the the two storey halls of SMX Convention Center, toys. Every year as ToyCon grew larger, and with a different set of celebrity guests, toys would still be the heart of it all. In this feature, we wouldn’t showcase the latest, newest or highly articulated figures, you could check our Facebook page for that. Here we would showcase toys of simpler times, toys that would rekindle your love for the passion of collecting toys.

Remember the days when Happy Meal toys were the hot fuss? No, I’m talking the Happy Meals of recent years but the Happy Meals during the 90s. You weren’t in if you didn’t own one of these. Today the McDonald’s Happy Meal Food Puzzles sell for PhP 300.00 a piece and the Jollibee set sells for a whopping PhP 2,000.00.

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Now that we’ve evoked your sense of nostalgia, how about we take it further back? We’re pretty sure that the titos and titas of the Philippines have played Super Trump during it’s heyday. Today,  a pack is sold for PhP 150.00.

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Miniature sets were also a hit during 90s, girls would have Polly Pocket while boys have their Mighty Max. Event without the figures, a Polly Pocket would set you back Php 1,000.00 to Php 1,500.00, while Mighty Max sells for PhP 300.00.

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We were also able to see another play set at ToyCon, though this isn’t as miniature as Polly Pocket and Mighty Max, it basically has the same concept. During the popularity of the Teen Titans animated series, they released a Titans Tower play set. This Titans Tower still has all of the action figures inside and is being sold at PhP 2,000.00.

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Still on the topic of miniatures, we were amazed when we saw this at one of the booths during ToyCon. These miniature food displays are perfect scale for your 1:6 action figures, especially if you’re into making dioramas or toy photography. Another interesting thing about it is that these miniatures were being done on site. These miniature food sets costs 3 for Php 100.00.

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Another hit collectible during the 90s were sentais or Power Rangers. When you had one of these, you were the envy of your classmates or the kids in the neighborhood. Sadly, I didn’t get to own one so I’m envious of those kids. Haha. Today, the Megazord is being sold for PhP 3,000.00 and the Thunder Bike at PhP 1,300.00. Though not a sentai or Power Ranger, the Aliens Power Loader beside the Thunder Bike sells for  Php 1,800.00.

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You wouldn’t be a certified 90s kid if you don’t know who this guy is. He’s so popular that today, this simple action figure has a price tag of PhP 300.00. To our readers who weren’t familiar, this figure is Nebula Mask Machine Man or locally known as Machine Man.

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Before Bandai S.H.Figuarts released their highly articulated action figures, they started out with this Dragon Ball Z line. It has limited articulations but a cool thing about is that you can take their clothes on and off. As a kid, it’s cool to have that feature as it imitates the characters when they go Super Saiyan or when they’re battle damaged. This Son Gohan action figure retails for PhpP 500.00.

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Another interesting find at ToyCon was this Back To The Future Hover Board miniature. To those who are not familiar, this was Marty McFly’s (Michael J Fox) skateboard from the Back To The Future II movie. I don’t know if I misheard the seller, but I think he mentioned that they were selling it for PhP 500.00. If that’s the correct price, I think it’s a steal. I wonder why no one was buying it.

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Some would say that the price of admission at this year’s ToyCon was quite expensive at PhP 600.00, as that would have been money that could have been spent buying toys. We wouldn’t dwell on the economics behind it but what we can say is that you can still buy cool stuff if you’re just patient enough to look at the different bins and booths. Here are some of the stuff that we were able to score at PhP 50.00.

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While we were doing this feature, our creative director, Tony, joined in on the fun. He posted a “Lista Challenge” wherein he challenged his friend’s list to post stuff that they would like us to find. We looked high and low, scavenge every toy bin we could find and these are the results of that challenge.

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As ToyCon continues to grow each year, you could be easily get lost when you enter the huge halls of the SMX Convention Center. For first time congers, the different booths, celebrity guest, the lights and sounds, the number of people walking along with you, it could be a lot to take in. It sure is nice to have a list of things to do or what a list of toys to buy while appreciating everything that’s around you.

ToyCon Pop Life FanXperience 2018 is just the beginning. There’s still a lot more to come for the rest of the year for us to enjoy!


Ryan Villanueva

 
Your resident all around Flipgeek, from comics,movies,games,toys,music and even sports. A big Spider-man fan raised in the ways of the Jedi,who listens to punk rock and a sucker for chick flicks.