Toycon Plugin Hollywood April 2004
Toycon Plugin Hollywood April 9-11, 2004
By John Wong, Action-HQ.com
This year's Toycon Hollywood had to be one of the best ever with loads of fun such as the splashy opening event press conference (including attendance by various notable Hong Kong directors and actors), one-of-a-kind item auctions, autograph signings, cool bands, multiple exhibits and free booze from San Miguel Brewery Company. This 3 day event held at the Hong Kong Exhibition Center is well worth flying out to Hong Kong (HK). And at only a $2.50 entrance fee per day and getting a limited designer created puzzle card, it's a deal you can't beat!
This past weekend's Toycon was drastically different from previous years as there were a number of new events. One main difference is the noted theme "Hollywood" which involved an added Hollywood-inspired art exhibit. This is something very new as Alex Lau of Covert commented, "..27 [of us designers] got together for drinks and we wanted to come up with something to help promote Toycon as well as the designer toy industry as a whole." Well, the designers certainly achieved this goal as some of the 20 creations exhibited were amazing to say the least. View the press-pass-only photos of the exhibits compliments of Action-HQ.com (AHQ). You might even be able to catch them in person as discussions are currently underway to bring this exhibit to other major cities around the world.
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As you will see, the Hollywood theme was interpreted loosely to include movies not just from US but also from Asia, and included characterizations of movie characters. Some of them were properties from the movie Daredevil, Mission Impossible, Planet of the Apes, Clockwork Orange, Mask, 2010, Terminator, Star Wars and many more. These are just exhibition pieces and will not be mass-marketed although some of the designers are in discussion with licensors about possible production such as Simon Wong's denim zippered Mickey Mouse.
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Speaking of denim, the Designer Levi's exhibit was also another unique event arranged through BrothersFree. This exhibit jointly promotes the HK designers as well as the newly released Levi's N3BP jeans. Originally created by Belgium designer Mark Westmoreland, these jeans had become a canvas for the artists. You will see that their added touch included some interesting designs/graffiti as well as some more off-the-wall add-on such as metal strips and wiring tape. Jason Siu took it even a little further and assembled a florescent arrow sign on his pair. This exhibit is planned to be shown throughout Asia by Levis Co. at later dates. And for you guys overseas who just want a pair of cool relaxed fit jeans, sorry, they go for around $85 and are only available in Asia. (Note that Levi's prices are about 30% more in Asia than in the US.) (Click to see more pictures of the Designer Levi's exhibit.)
As mentioned earlier, there were also a lot of other new events that occupied attendees. Most notably were the autograph signing of the local designers and auctions held on day 2 and 3. In addition to cool vintage toys available, the designers created one-of-a-kind white or silver version of their figures specifically for the auction. Crowds were fierce and one of the show's highest bids at $410 was for Simon Wong's Ando white diamond encrusted figure.
As for general show attendance however, it was quite sparse with just only around 25 dealers selling their wares and designers exhibiting their creations. The attendance has decreased over the past few years as reported in our previous coverages, but regardless, there were a lot of established favorites showing their latest offerings. Probably the most notable among them were BrotherFree's BrotherSanger figure/display, numerous items represented through Toy2R and Colon Ho's United Planet Mars Gunner figures. Deserving mention is Pop-Salute, a new-comer, which picked up a HK license to produce 12" Terminator 3 figures and HK movie "One Arm Swordsman". These highly detailed 12" figures with box-full of accessories will be available for sale at AHQ soon.
Disappointingly, there were less visitors compared to previous years. A major contributing factor was poor planning on the event organizer to span the show over 3 days for such a physically small event (ComicCon is 3 days and it is 15 times bigger) and to hold it over the Easter holiday when most Hong Kongers are out of town on vacation. To make a long story short, as one designer put it, "though Toycon has been doing less, the designer toy industry has been growing... and that it has to do more with cost and timing for us to exhibit then anything else [as they do have full time jobs]". They figure it to be a post Michael Lau evolution and that things will be even be better soon. Most of the designers will have new lines coming out in August. We are anxiously waiting to see!
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Anyway, if one does get done with all the toy goodies, exhibits, auctions and getting their figures signed by their favorite designer, he can always kick back and enjoy the live bands playing covers/original rock/alternative music plus sipping cold beer while chatting up the tight mini-skirt San Miguel girls.
There are 112 images of the exhibits (the pages below contain thumbnail images which lead to the full-size pictures):
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Giveaway Contest: Get a chance to win a limited 200 pieces only set of Toycon Plugin Hollywood cards for free by joining the Action-hq.com mailing list. To enter, just send an email to [email protected] with the subject heading "Toycon Plugin Hollywood". If you are already on the mailing list, you can still enter. Winner will be contacted by email and announced by April 30, 2004 at Action-HQ.com.
click to visit Action-HQ.com
Images courtesy of Action-HQ.com.
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