Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention (STGCC) 2016 - Recap

The ninth edition of the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention has come to an end. The event was held over the weekend once again at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre at Marina Bay Sands, Level B2 Halls E and F. 

Queues formed early in the morning, especially on the first day despite the rain. The huge turnout should be of no surprise by now. Not when there are a number of exclusives and new items on offer. 

As with previous editions members of the 501st Legion Singapore and Cathar Base Singapura would lead and welcome attendees into the halls. Both groups have been a staple of the event for years and have always been supportive of various charities and causes. They were raising funds for the KK Hospital Health Endowment Fund at the event. A donation entitled you to take a photo with the Star Wars characters present at their booth at that time.

Sticking with Star Wars. There were a number of new and upcoming figures on display from Hot Toys. They include old Luke, Han Solo & Chewbacca, R2-D2 & C-3PO, Rey and Finn based on their appearance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Marvel had the centre stage with this awesome Captain America: Civil War display which included a Giant Man which stands around 1.7m tall! I wonder if Hot Toys would actually release a Giant Man figure of this size. But then again, its not needed. You can just buy a costume for yourself and be Giant Man. Lol. Other notable Marvel figures include Deadpool and the Netflix Daredevil which were great to see.

On the DC side I was drawn to this colourful display of Suicide Squad Cosbaby. So cute!

Action City unveiled the exclusive SJ50 MY FIRST BE@ARBRICK BABY 400% as well as its 100% counterpart.

The figure is a tribute to the 50th Anniversary of Singapore-Japan Diplomatic Relations. There will be a SJ50 Matsuri event in Singapore. It will be held from 29 - 30 October 2016 at the Civic Plaza Outdoor Courtyard Ngee Ann City. There's going to be traditional and pop Japanese culture, live performances, demonstrations, talk shows, food and drinks. Mark the date!

More from the Action City booth in the link: http://comeseetoys.blogspot.sg/2016/09/stgcc-2016-action-city-mystery-berbrick.html

XM Studios now where their awesome statues had people scrambling to place their orders. I hear some queued for more than fours hours just to do so. I would love to get a statue or two myself but I'm glad in a way I don't have the budget to collect these. 

Here's a sample of some of the statues on display. Amazing work!

They also had a special room set up where they showcased some of their prototypes, WIP pieces and concept art. And behind closed doors they had some of their Star Wars statues on display. Photography was not allowed for those. But what I can say is they look awesome.

More on XM Studios in this link: http://comeseetoys.blogspot.sg/2016/09/stgcc-2016-xm-studios.html

Imaginarium Art unveiled their line of G1 Transformers statues to the public for the first time at STGCC. The first two releases are Soundwave and Ultra Magnus. These statues are highly detailed and come with additional parts which you can swap in to change the pose of the statue. An exclusive version for Soundwave was available for order at the event. The exclusive will come with Ratbat!

More on Imaginarium Art in the link: http://comeseetoys.blogspot.sg/2016/09/singapore-toy-game-comic-convention_10.html

Over at the Bandai booth there was a dedicated section showcasing their Star Wars model kits. I love the layout. Its big, clear and informative. 

At the Tamashii Nations section we saw several new items including the S.H.Figuarts (SHF) Classic TMNT figures, SHF WWE and Sanrio Figuarts ZERO PVC figures just to name a few. 

Perhaps the most interesting items are the Chogokin Toy Story Combination Woody Robo Sheriff and Buzz the Space Ranger Robo. The characters combine to form a big robot. But you know what? The two sets can be further combined into an even larger robot! How cool is that!

More from the Bandai booth in the following link: http://comeseetoys.blogspot.sg/2016/09/stgcc-2016-bandai-tamashii-nations.html

The Falcon's Hangar (TFH) always brings in a ton of products to STGCC and this year was no different. In fact there was even more with Comicave Studios displaying at their booth as well. The highlight from them for me was seeing the 1/12 scale Captain America 75th Anniversary statue. 

TFH is a must visit place for 3rd party Transformers.

I was most happy to see the upcoming Street Fighter V figures from Storm Collectibles. I can't wait for this line to hit!

More from the TFH booth in this link: http://comeseetoys.blogspot.sg/2016/09/stgcc-2016-falcons-hangar-comicave.html

I'll be adding another gallery for TFH in due time. 

StarWars.SG put up an awesome display of the hangar of The First Order based on Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

And at the front of the display is a showcase of Astromech droids which was put up in tribute to Kenny Baker (R2-D2) who recently passed away.

There were no "easter eggs" to be found in the display this year. However there was a small section on the side where various characters were hanging out.

There's still a lot more toy booths which I'll add the gallery link to at the bottom of the page. Right now I'll like to touch on some other things.

I felt the Carousell booth was a great addition to the event. Selected Carousell users could sell their items at the booth for a couple of hours. This meant that the products at the booth were constantly changing and you would want to check back every few hours to see what was available. I saw items ranging from LEGO, superhero action figures and anime figures. I spoke to one of the sellers and he said that they did not have to pay any fees which is great! Hmmm perhaps I should sign up for next year. And hopefully they will have a bigger booth!

The "Game" portion at STGCC got a boost as this year saw the first ever Overwatch eSports Mountain Dew Cup. Judging by the crowd turnout it looks to be a hit. The matches were fast and furious which had the commentators constantly exclaiming with excitement. 

Gamers could also try out the recently released Raw Data VR FPS game at the MSI VR Experience Zone. You have got to give Raw Data a try. It is immersive, fast paced and exciting!

From VR gaming to VR entertainment, the Syfy Channel made their debut appearance at STGCC and they were promoting their upcoming series Halcyon which will premiere on 22 September 2016 at 10pm. Halcyon is a cop show set in the future where crime can take place in virtual reality. For the best experience watch it in the Halcyon app for Gear VR. It'll allow you to experience the show in an interactive 3D world!

Just a side note. I was excited when I first saw that Syfy Channel on the list of exhibitors. I was hoping they would bring in the 360 Degree Camera like they did at Supanova in Australia. That would definitely have raised the level of fun and excitement even more. Next year perhaps. Organisers Reed Exhibitions have already promised bigger and better things for next year which will be STGCC's 10th Anniversary. Fingers crossed!

Kinokuniya also made their return to STGCC and from what I observed it was one of the busiest booths for its selection of comics, TPBs, manga and pop-culture merchandise.

Guests aplenty at STGCC. There was so much going on I could not keep up! Here's a few images of some of them.  

Seated from left: Simone Legno, Haruhiko Mikimoto, Phil Noto

Stephanie Hans

Jacob Chabot is a fun person to be around. He was always engaging and wore a smile on his face.

Jacob Chabot

Pugoffka

From left: Hwei Lim, Emma Rios, Lim Cheng Tju (moderator), Rachta Lin, Sakimichan, Brooke Allen and Stephanie Hans

Artistes from the AKIBA Pop Stage

Lastly the STGCC Championships of Cosplay which was won by the following cosplayer. The name escapes me for the moment. The competition was close and frankly anyone could have won it. There were many highly detailed and well painted armoured costumes.  

STGCC 2016 was another fine edition. I took things a little easier this year and actually spent more time viewing and browsing. I found I enjoyed the event more as compared to running around. One reason for that is that I did not have anything that I really wanted.  

Artist Alley / HMO / Mighty Jaxx

Bandai / Tamashii Nations

Collectors Baze / Simply Toys

The Falcon's Hangar / Comicave Studios / Kids Logic / Storm Collectibles

The Falcon's Hangar / Beast Kingdom / Sen-Ti-Nel

XM Studios

STGCC 2016 Championships of Cosplay



Thanks for viewing!