Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention 2010: Day 2

Security was pretty tight, especially for the DCUC Figures

The highlight of Day 2 was at STGCC was the people!

While Day 1 saw quite a long line to enter the exhibition halls as the gates opened, there was still elbow room to mingle, shop, and get stuff signed.  Well, Day 2 probably saw traffic increase y three times--great for the people running the Con (because it's the first year the event is ticketed) but bad for me! I couldn't turn without narrowly avoiding smacking someone in the face, with my own face!  But nah, that can only be a god thing.  More people means it's more likely the Con will come back bigger and better in 2011!

The other great thing was that I got the chance to really meet quite a few people today, which was nice because you hardly get the chance to talk to others when in large crowds, but in a Con like that, you get to speak to artists and writers promoting their work, as well as fellow fanboys when lining up for autographs. And that's where Day 2 began for and ended me, in the queue to get a signature!

"Honestly, I was really gonna pay for the DCUC.  I just...got a little lost..."

The (Little) Red (Riding) Hood!

I arrived after lunch today after the exhaustions of Day 1 and headed straight for the Salvador Larroca signing session.  The Rangerlord and I missed out on him yesterday along with hundreds of others because he was delayed flying in from Spain due to bad weather.  Rangerlord had entrusted me with completing the signing of his Invincible Iron Man TPB because he had to be elsewhere (ranging).

HALO guys on my tail.

I got there 15 minutes before the end of the session but was faced with a big guy with an "end of the line" sign who duly explained that it was unlikely that the guys 10 people in front were gonna get to meet him, so I almost failed in my first task of the day.  Luckily, I stuck around because the big guy, who I later found out was named Keith, realized there weren't many of us left in the line and let us through!

What you don't see is his dagger below camera

Like: That I got Salvador's signature right next to Matt Fraction's for the Rangerlord.  And...

Like: For Keith, who had to put up with this guy just ahead of me who was pretty nasty to him and told him to "piss off," which Keith duly did without any fuss.  It could've turned ugly right there but cooler heads prevailed so kudos to the big guy!

Tron chick about to kick my ass with her thingy

Dislike: The guy ahead of me in the line that told me the trade paperback I was getting Salvador Larroca to sign was "worthless."  I responded, "Yeah, maybe if you're thinking of selling it on Ebay."  But the value was to the person who owned it more than anyone else.  He agreed, but was clearly smug about his choice to have walked out to a not-so-nearby comic store to but a stack of single issues to sign.  Ah well, not everyone is naturally nice.

Starro! Guess what the eye was made of? Starro-foam!

Like: The cosplayers!  These guys were the highlight for anyone with a camera.  There were cosplay competitions kicking into full gear today and I didn't manage to get any shots of he anime/manga inspired costumes because they scare me.

Ok just kidding, they don't.  But I'd feel awkward taking picture of and with things/characters I'm not familiar with.  Where is Pikachu when you need him?

I KNEW the Sith and the Japanese were in cahoots...

What shots I did get were of those who were not in competitions but were in the convention hall proper wowing the photo-op hunters.  The ones that I really wanted to get a shot of but were very much swamped at their own both were the Stormtroopers from the Singapore Legion of 501st Legion. Those guys have got a great setup so hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to snap some pics!

Like: The Marvel Heroes Panel with their artists and talent scout (and writer) C.B.Cibulski.  This was my first non-media panel and one of the few that I had planned on attending.

Leinil, Alex, Esad, C.B. Salvador, Giuseppe, and Harvey.  Check out the white calves!  Lol.

The artists were chatty and really funny, answering questions about their motivations, family life and ambitions.  Special mention goes to the comedy duo of Alex Maleev and Esad Ribic.  They started the ball rolling when asked what motivated them to draw and Maleev said, "deadlines for me, money for Esad."  Ribic was especially candid, sprinkling his Eastern European accented answers with some flowery bits of swearing, like, "If you want make sheetload of money with your art you don't work in comics, you go work in advertising or some sheet like that."  He's a bear of a man and reminded me of a Croatian version "The Dude" from the Big Lebowski.



The best answer of the session came when a fan asked what's the artists' ambitions were after having established themselves in Marvel, to which Maleev replied, "Well after getting established in Marvel the next logical step is to get established in DC."  Funny guy.  Oh yeah and he draws Daredevil pretty well too.

2 for SS20 (US$15.40).  Aww yeah...

I just wanted Giganta's leg...

Like: The haul!  What's a toy and comic convention without toys, eh?  Props to the vendors who slashed their prices for the Con instead of jacking them up.  Even as I was leaving toward the end of Day 2, some of them were already going around with their price taggers and slashing prices some more.  Special mention goes to Toy Realm, who's owner Vincent is a damn nice guy (I got that DCUC Iron from him yesterday), Falcon's Hanger, who knocked S$10 bucks off the price because I got two Challenge at Cybertron 3-packs.  Thanks to Roy for that one. :)

S$45 (US$34.60): the pick of the day!  Woohoo!

The other store worth a mention is Robo Robo, who started with low prices on Henkei Transformers and Masters of the Universe Classics!  Long may it continue (well into Day 3 at least... :P).

He was drinking, really!

Like: That my day ended with a two and a half hour long wait in line to meet David Lloyd, who did V For Vendetta with Alan Moore.  The guy was a champ, with a bottle of wine and a full glass next to him right from the start of the session.  The reason for the wait was because he wanted to do sketches for everyone.  By the time it came to my wife and I, the convention hall had closed and he couldn't do a sketch.  He was so nice that he apologized for it when he really didn't need to.  We didn't mind at all, because we just wanted to meet the man and take a photo.  And silly me, I left my V For Vandetta at home. -__-

Oh yeah, and props go to Bernard and G&B Comics for bringing the guy in.  He's a class act!

David Lloyd, Superman, hot reporter wife.

Like: That while in the line we met Gerald, who had a booth for his 3Dsense Media School, where they teach animation and stuff.  We discussed DC and Marvel comics and Transformers.  Yeah, and because of that talk I ended up swooping for the Challenge of Cybertron while the wife held our place in line.  Thanks dear! And if you're reading this, Gerald, it was great meeting you.  Thanks for helping me make up my mind about the TFs I was on the fence on! :)

Day 2 Convention Rating: Another solid 8/10!

The day was really affected by the crowd at STGCC.  But instead of fighting them, I found that talking to people individually works better! :P The toy deals were also great, though I'm waiting for Day 3 to really grab some stuff I've been eyeing.  The Con is really a great place to do Christmas shopping, especially for myself!  Heheh. ;D