For the fifteenth year of The Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention, popularly known as ToyCon, they are upping the ante on the exhibits, guests and other attractions now that they are partnering finally with the biggest names in pop culture.
The event, scheduled for June 10-12 and to be held at all four halls of the SMX Convention Center – Manila, will boast different activities and big-name guests courtesy of PopLife, a China-based company which distributes the Funko POP figures to Asia, which has partnered with Salt Lake Comic Con to bring the FanXperience brand to the Philippines.
FanXperience, according to the official press release, hopes to create a brand new experience “with exclusive show merchandise, exhibitions, international cosplay competitions, celebrity appearances, and much more.”
Among the international celebrities and guests gracing ToyCon are R&B singer-songwriter Frankie J (Francisco Bautista Javier Jr.), Twilight actors Bronson Pelletier and Kiowa Gordon, Thai actor Mario Maurer, Irish actor and disc jockey Kristian Nairn, who is known as “Hodor” from the HBO Series Game of Thrones, New Zealand actor Daniel Logan (young Bobba Fett in Star Wars), and The Adventures of Superman star Dean Cain.
The indie pop duo Heffron Drive, composed of Dustin Belt and Big Time Rush star Kendall Schmidt, will also be performing on the Toycon stage.
Activities for this year include an exhibit from comic-book genius and former Marvel chairman Stan Lee, called Stan Lee’s Excelsior! Exhibition, a moving exhibit featuring comic book covers, rare memorabilia and original artwork.
A full-scale Voltes V mecha model spanning 25 feet tall will also be on display, which also includes a fortieth anniversary retrospective of the beloved anime series. Suicide Squad, Kotobukiya and Funko exhibits and Exhibits from different toy groups.
There will be two cosplay competitions that will also be held on Toycon weekend. The Cosplay FanX Manila Leg, a competition of the FanXperience brand, will be held on the convention’s first day, where competitors may win as much as PHP 25,000 for the individual category and PHP 50,000 for the group category and will also have the chance to represent the country at Cosplay FanX Finals to be held in Thailand. The Toycon Individual Cosplay competition, meanwhile, will be held on the last day of the event.
Other activities include the launch of GMA Network’s Encantadia reboot, alongside its cast, different contests like Toy Photography contests, Toy Custom contests and Art contests, among others.
A total of more than 200 exhibitors and dealers will also spread out inside SMX Halls 1 and 2, measuring around 4,565 square meters of space – at least a thousand more than their Megatrade outing in 2015.
This is the first ever Toycon to be held at the SMX Convention Center, which was announced at the end of their last event at the SM Megamall’s Megatrade Halls 1-3 and confirmed months later.
Megatrade has been the home of Toycon since 2002, and the move to SMX has been the clamor of event attendees ever since, but the organizers at first dismissed the imminent move, owing at first to superstition and sentimentality.
In 2014, because of the growing crowds that Toycon has produced, the organizers mulled a move for 2015, but was deferred because of the fully booked schedule of the convention center for that year. At least 30,000 people attended that last outing at the Megatrade Halls.
15th Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention × PopLife FanXperience is happening on June 10-12 at Main Halls 1-2 of the SMX Convention Center – Manila. For more details regarding the event, please visit their website at toyconph.com or follow them on Facebook.
