ToyCon 2023: Celebrating Twenty Years Of Play
(Press Release)
From its humble beginnings to becoming the annual spectacle in the Philippine events landscape that everyone looks forward to, the Philippine TOYCON is recognized as the biggest pop culture convention in the country. This year, TOYCON PH celebrates its milestone 20 years as a destination event, also making it one of the longest-running pop culture events in the Asian region.
With each iteration, the Philippine TOYCON has gotten bigger and better, establishing itself as a cultural juggernaut and one of the most anticipated events of the year, as thousands of con-goers take part in a weekend of fun, nostalgia, and fabulous finds!
With this year’s TOYCON happening from July 7-9 at the SMX Convention Center Manila, this year’s edition promises to raise the bar again for pop-culture events as it returns back to form as the collectors’ mecca and an ultimate destination for pop-culture fan engagement. TOYCON this year will feature almost a hundred toy exclusives from partner exhibitors, with top toy brands like Funko, Lego, Bandai, Hot Toys, Pop Mart, JoyToy and many others. We will be featuring the top toy designers in the country, from the region and from the US. World-renowned toy designers like Quiccs, Wetworks, Creon Chknhead, Arman Kendrick and more, add to the hype with their limited edition TOYCON releases.
TOYCON also partners with international brand and licensing giant, MINDstyle, to bring you the FanXperience, where con-goers can sample the latest trends in upcoming art toys and purchase Pop Asia exclusives. Fans also get to interact with top creators and designers like Punk Drunkers and Reen Barrera. You also get to check out the Secret Fresh merchandise and exhibits. And one the most anticipated toys of the convention brought in by MINDstyle is the very first ever Philippine Convention exclusive in the form of TOYCON’s brand mascot, TC-02, as an official Funko Pop collectible!
Globe is this year’s event co-presenter and they are bringing in the Globe Playboxx Booth where one can unleash their inner child. They also bring the Globe Premium and VIP Passes loaded with awesome toy exclusives, merch and vouchers. Avail of these VIP passes to be the first to own these much sough-after toy exclusives like Creon Chknheads CCW Buck Philippine Colorway, and Punk Drunkers convention exclusive Pops.
Still very much a highlight for the event is the ongoing live-action adaptation of the beloved Robot Romance Trilogy anime known as Voltes V. This Philippine production, known as Voltes V: Legacy with GMA TV, has received rave reviews for its cutting-edge special effects and attention to detail, clearly serving as a love letter from its makers to the source material. The cast of Voltes V Legacy and its show-runner, Director Mark A. Reyes will have a fan interaction on the TOYCON stage. GMA will also bring in other stars to grace the event.
But that’s not all, because from our homegrown talent taking on a much-beloved Japanese franchise, we also get to welcome some special guests from the Japanese Tokusatsu (“live-action special effects”) universe. First up, we have Tetsuo Kurata, aka Robert Akizuki, as he was locally known when he played Masked Rider Black and Black RX. With him of course is Ryosuke Kaizu, who played Red Mask in Hikari Sentai Maskman. All those who grew up with these 90’s heroes will have a blast to see them up close and personal along with their props and vehicles in the Toku Spirits booth.
Cosplay also returns to TOYCON in a big way with arguably the most entertaining and most talked-about cosplay competition in the country. The Cosplay KO heightens the excitement for individual cosplayers on Saturday with a P20,000 cash prize for the best anime and the Anime S Cosplay World Stars local qualifiers in the Duo Category and the Cosplay Pop Duo Contest liven up the TOYCON stage on Sunday. Celebrity Cosplay photographer, Jay Tablante, also conducts a Cosplay Photography workshop sponsored by Canon.
Movie fans will celebrate in the immersive cinematic displays as Warner Brothers sets up for Barbie the Movie and the highly anticipated DC superhero movie, Blue Beetle. Paramount Pictures also joins the fray with a booth for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
TOYCON also brings to the fore the top local and international creators with not just one but three Creative Zones: the Comics Zone powered by Komiket, with top comic book artists and illustrators, and two Toy Designer Alleys with the best local and international toy designers including Hot Actor, Pucky, Chino Lam, Unbox Industries and more! Enjoy more than 80 toy exclusives to be released by more than 40 toy designers around the world!
And of course, the heart of the event is the TOYCON Collectors Gallery where around 80 toy collector groups will display their collections with exciting panel discussions and competitions for Custom Toys, Toy Photography, Best Display and Awards for the Best Toy Collectors Group sponsored by the Philippine Toy Groups Association. And definitely, the shopping and collectibles hunting is unsurpassed in TOYCON with more toys, comics, collectibles to be found in more than 250 vendor booths!, And even bigger fan experiences than you could possibly imagine await you over this epic weekend!
An absolute epic experience awaits all fans this July 7-9 at the SMX Convention Center as we celebrate 20 years of TOYCON with the TOYCON MINDstyle FanXperince. The only question is: will you be celebrating with us, or will you be missing out on one of the hottest events of 2023? The choice couldn’t be clearer - see you there!
The 20th TOYCON Philippines and MINDstyle FanXperience is presented by Globe, in partnership with Great Toys Online, Filbars, Hobbiestock, CalicoToys, Gaming Library, Funtastik, Talent High, Solid Toys, Collectors Base, Stormy Vault, Devil Toys, the College of St. Benilde, Bostik, Cybercraft PH, Grimalkin, JoyToy, Gnarly, and supported by Canon, GMA Store, Quiccs, Toku Spirits, Funko Funatic Philippines, Big Boys Toy Store, Image World, Yori, Warner Brothers Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Del Monte Potato Crisp, with hotel partners, Citadines and Heritage Hotel. Also powered by Exlink Events, Anime Alliance, Ambox Events, Komiket, IPMS, the Philippine Toy Group Association and Creon Chknhead.
Tickets are available at SMTickets.com or onsite during the event dates at the SMX Convention Center. The Globe Premium Passes and Globe MINDstyle VIP Passes are available on Tickelo.com.
