Asian Comics, Toys, and Hobbies Collective (ACTHC), Inc.‘s Cholo Malillin has announced last week that TOYCON PH 2015 will be the last one held at the Megatrade Halls and confirmed to the audience that they will move to the SMX Convention Center – Manila in Pasay City on June 11 and 12, 2016.
The organizers of the highly-anticipated event did not say where exactly at SMX Manila the event will be held, but assured the fans that next year’s event will be “massive.”
A source from SMX Convention Center, meanwhile, confirmed to Anime Pilipinas that TOYCON PH 2016 will be held at the four (4) Main Halls of SMX Manila, instead of the Function Rooms where events such as Best of Anime and Cosplay Mania are usually held.
The event was booked for June 10-12, 2016, with June 10 as the possible date of the event ingress.
This will be the first time since Hataw Hanep Hero 2007 that a pop culture convention will occupy all four main halls of SMX Manila. The deal between SMX management and ACTHC has been made as early as last week, according to our source.
SMX Manila’s main halls has a total floor space of 9,130 sq. meters, which is more than double the floor space of the SM Megamall’s Megatrade Halls 1-3 and Function Rooms combined at 4,214 sq. meters.
Previous anime events like UP AME‘s AME Track 10, Mangaholixx Manga Mania 2008 and Oh No Manga 2013 were held only on a single hall of SMX.
ACTHC, formerly known as Collectibles Unlimited, has mulled moving to SMX Manila last year for TOYCON PH 2015 due to the ever growing crowd traffic, which it has acknowledged in the past. However, the organizers returned to the Megatrade this year because SMX Manila was booked for the month of June.
In previous years, TOYCON PH’s organizers dismissed the possibility of moving to a bigger location, owing to the sentimentality of the venue and to superstition as well.
The event has been held at the Megatrade starting with the small function rooms in 2002 before expanding into the main halls of the Megatrade.
UPDATE: We have been informed by our sources that the deal between TOYCON PH organizers and SMX Management as early as last week.
