So once again I dropped by the Singapore Toys, Games and Comics Convention (STGCC) this year and it was a blast. As always, it cannot quite compare to what I've seen at the actual Comicon, but it's close enough I guess.
I went down crazily early this time, queueing up before the doors opened at 10am. And the most amazing thing you see when you step in is this huge booth decorated in pulp-fiction styled posters of almost every comic book-related movie imaginable: Captain America, the Watchmen, Superman, Batman, etc., belonging to the figurines booth. I can honestly say I didn't really take notice of the figurines, even though I know that they are quite awesome and had a few hundred photographers milling around.
I TOUCHED PAUL LEVITZ'S HAND AAHHHHHH! I am such a fanboy. Once President of DC Comics, he's now Contributing Editor of DC Entertainment. I TOUCHED HIS HAND AHHHHH and I, for some reason, COMPLETELY FORGOT that I was wearing my French Connection Iron Man T-shirt (the only genre-appropriate shirt I have) when I asked him to sign my preview of Justice League #1, and he asked me, "What's that on your shirt?" I was like, CRAAAAPPPPP (Iron Man's a Marvel character, in case you don't know). But he was cool, he said it was okay, he's had thirty years of Marvel experience behind him. I got a nice Legion of Superheroes badge from him as well. Should have been a ring, but I'm not complaining. AHHHHH I am SUCH a fanboy.
Most of my attention was caught up at the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 area, where I got to see live-action (in a manner of speaking) MvC3 action. It was kinda disappointing to see everyone using the same few characters, but I guess it was to be expected since it was a tournament and all. Sometimes you'd catch a glimpse of Viewtiful Joe, or Ameratsu, or Felicia, or Storm, or Haggar, but not very many other tier-two characters. Bumped into Cleon after lunch there; he was participating in the tournament. Stalled out a Dark Phoenix in his first game, and I had diahorrea and missed his others. Said he hadn't played for two months, and he was still quite good.
I invested $150 in comics that afternoon. It's roughly the same amount I would have spent on comics over the next three months, but at the insane discounts at the convention, got double the number of books I would have gotten if I'd spent $50 a month at Kinokuniya. Bargain! Plus there were so many Civil War trade paperbacks there that are never stocked on Kino's shelves. Double-victory!
I managed to work up the nerve to ask this Black Cat cosplayer to take a picture with me. She had the most authentic Black Cat costume I've seen ever. I was being so totally awkward and chasing her between booths and waiting for her to get her commissions and stuff and then I finally asked her. I figure I still have so much to learn about talking to girls. Such a nerd.
Anyway, I spent a considerable amount of time watching the guy demo Dragon's Nest, and I have to say, it has gotten me quite hooked. I might try it out soon, maybe once Team Fortress 2 becomes less interesting. Who knows.
Well after that it was a train ride to Tanah Merah for natsu matsuri, the Japanese summer festival. On the way I was standing a short distance away from this girl, really pretty, whom I noticed had a STGCC stamp on her arm as well. I was hoping for a chance to get closer to maybe (I don't know!) talk to her, or something; point out a price tag sticker was stuck to the front of her blouse, then remark about STGCC, and maybe start talking. The opportunity never arose, and a couple of stops from my destination, she moved away to the centre of the carriage. I figure I still have so much to learn about talking to girls. Such a nerd.
The festival itself was insanely crowded. I have never seen so many non-Japanese people attempting to do a Japanese thing outside Japanese restaurants or AFA. I had no idea that it was so popular, or that so many people know about it. It was packed, and the stalls were all overrun, especially the food ones. In the end I didn't try much Japanese cultural stuff, because all the queues were too long, and the festival music stopped just after I convinced Jonas to join me in the dance. SIGH.
After that was a nice dinner at Changi Airport, where Sheu Zhi completely confused the waitress by asking for "wen-leng shui" (warm ice water) and the entire night she was calling him that. Hilarious.
Best part of the day? No mob!
The Edna Man
