Things I saw at STGCC 2014

This year as usual, I applied for the media pass to get into STGCC, that's the Singapore Toy Games Comic Convention. I saved quite a bit. This year's 1-day and 2-day tickets are $19 and $25 respectively. Despite the high price, the event was still packed with crowds. I expect ticket prices to go up again in the future.

This year's artist alley seems larger. It just felt like there were more booths. It's great to meet up with friends who have been there since the first STGCC. They are still working hard. I think STGCC is a good event for these artists to promote themselves, even though the cost of the booths seem to be rising.

The booths and stalls are also better mixed in variety. 2013 was almost the Iron Man con as the movie came out last year.

I noticed more people creating their own IPs, such as coming up with books and especially toys and collectibles. Many of their works are quite impressive. Hats off to them. Being in the art and creative industry is a lot of hard work. I hope I can help a few by mentioning them below.

Stephanie Raphaela Ho and her new comic book The Adventures of Fatman and Superchub. It's a comic that has superheroes who can't be bothered about their weight and body images.

I met Gene Whitlock at 24 Hours Comics Day 2013 at Lasalle. The quality of his work caught my eye last year. He told me he will be there for this year's 24 Hours Comics Day as well. At STGCC this year, he's out with his new book The Unsavory Alphabet, a crime/detective illustration book featuring alphabetically named animal characters.

This is the Evil Ryu figure from local company Kinetiquettes. One of the founders and sculptors is Adeeb Islam whom I have interviewed before on the blog. This Ryu is the prototype coloured version. He's standing on the roof of a temple. The base plate will be joined by Akuma's in the future to form a bigger diorama.

Evil Ryu is priced at SGD$440 and will be available in December 2014. Only 300 pieces will be created. You can pre-order at https://www.kinetiquettes.com/product/evil-ryu-1-6-diorama/

Kinetiquettes also revealed their Dhalsim prototype and this is really cool. It floats with the help of magnets, the current on the base plate turns the figure.

Benjamin Chee with his comic book Charsiew Space.

Rex Regrets is still going strong. Check out the funny cartoons at https://www.rexregrets.com/

I saw an unicorn.

These tiny quadcopters are quite cute.

Eva has new Matcha pillows at the comic con.

This Josiah Gan with his comic book Storm Warning: A Storm Approaches Volume 1, a story of how a Border Collie puppy grew from a curious, destructive puppy into a show-stealing adolescent. Josiah is the founder of K9 Kulture, a dog daycare centre that was inspired by his dogs.

On the right is Aurelia who's a science teacher. The book in her hand JJ's Science Adventure is written by her, published by Harvest Edutainment. It's an educational comic based on the same textbook syllabus that MOE are using in schools. She hopes that her book will make it easier for kids to learn and like science. If only all school textbooks are like this, life as a student would be much easier.

These are figures from Build It Full.

I was told those lifelike 3D figures cost $600 each. I'm seriously considering to get one of them in my own image. I can imagine all the possible photo opportunities. I've read in the newspapers that there are other companies doing the same thing, and Japan has had this for quite a while, but this is the first time I'm seeing these figures up close in Singapore. To get your own 3D figure, just visit their website for more details at https://builditfull.com

Artist Alley. Too bad I didn't bring a wide enough lens to capture everything.

The body paint booth. No wonder I saw a lot of people with face paint.

Toys from Mighty Jaxx

On the right is Alan Bay aka Smallguy with his artbook that I've featured on the blog.

It's an honor to meet Sarah Isabel Tan (right). I like her illustrations. Check out her work at https://firestarterdesign.blogspot.sg

I also met 1000 Tentacles, Khor Pheik Hoy and Leong Wan Kok (right). I've reviewed their artbook Twisted Mind of 1000 Tentacles before. This year, they added hand-sculpted figures for sale.

They came up with these really cute stylized characters that are based off movies and their own creations. Each piece is hand-sculpted and so will be the ones they are selling. Due to the amount of effort required, the figures are only limited to 5 each. When I talked to them in the evening, many of those were already sold out. Follow them on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pkokartz and see what they are up to next.

Sonny Liew with his sculpture and new comic The Shadow Hero, created in part with Gene Luen Yang. The Shadow Hero is very favourably reviewed on Amazon, and is available in Kindle format as well.

Another local artist who shares the booth with Sonny is Chan Shiuan, and she has these pretty hilarious illustrations of Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

That Spider-man looked sun-burned.

This Magneto on Sentinel Throne statue is amazing. The company behind this is XM Studios.

XM Studios took up quite a large floor space this year to showcase their Marvel superhero statues. They look terrific.

Thank goodness this year they didn't feature as much Iron Man as last year.

Check out the noses.

Classic Prime still looks the best.

There are a lot of cosplayers and an entire hall was opened up just for them. Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the cosplayers.

So that's all from STGCC 2014. It's fun and exciting to see new artists and to catch up with old friends.