An Annual Phenomenon: Toycon 2013

Lego Heroes: A display of Super Heroes from different Franchises made entirely out of Lego. 

Would you consider an annual event a phenomenon? Even if Toycon happens every year I still get this 'Wow!' feeling whenever I see the number of people gathered (inside or outside) of Megatrade Halls 1, 2 and 3. When you pass by for any other convention, you can easily compare the number of people who attend or rather the lack of attendees-nothing compares to Toycon. 

Lines are so long and snake across the 5th floor for miles at a time (no joke), some cosplayers content themselves with just hanging out -outside the convention and pose around for eager photographers and curious onlookers. 

COSPLAY: Supergirl: Lot's of Superman Reference due to Man of Steel 

Unlike last year's Toy Convention were we were able to attend the Opening Ceremonies  (Ribbon Cutting), this year we had a meeting at 10:00 AM so we had to miss the opening ceremonies and arrived well after lunch time. It's a good thing I asked a friend to purchase tickets for us in advance or else we would have been stuck in line for hours ~ not to mention we had another gig at 3:00 PM in Odyssey Megamall (Thirty Seconds to Mars - album buy out - photos and blog post still pending! :P) so yeah - schedule is always full but we just had to squeeze Toycon in :) 

TOYS: It's fun to drool...errr marvel at the many, many, many toys on display. 

Looking at my blog post on Toycon last year - there was an air of regret since we were not able to have the 'ultimate' Toycon experience. Unfortunately it was also the same for this year-if not even more. I know I told myself last year that I would file for a leave on the Friday of the Toycon but with work and all the other events we have ~ things really didn't fall into place but in the spirit of making the most of what was already there - we did our usual stroll around and taking photos but there was one extra special objective that we had for this year's toycon and that was to support my cousins Luis and Beau with their SuperElite Props booth (Luis isn't my biological cousin but we are basically are- in the essence of it). 

If you guys don't remember Luis you can check out my Interview with a Storm Trooper blog post last year! :)  

SUPERElite PROPS 

So apparently SuperElite Props has been a project that Luis has been working on and it made it's debut during this year's Toycon. So what is SuperElite Props all about? Well you can actually own your very own movie props (Storm Trooper Helmet, ROTJ Lightsaber, TK E-11 Blaster) all of which is locally made with the best materials and is as close to the original as possible. 

Reference Boards for SuperElite Props during Toycon 

How can you be assured of the quality from SuperElite Props - well here is just a few of the facts: 

An unbuilt TK bucket from the US (which is made of the same material) can cost from up to $250-350 and that does not even include the shipping fees. 

Buckets from SuperElite Props pass 501st standards. Don't know what the 501st is? You can check them out here. 

The helmet is made out of 2.0mm Vacuformed ABS plastic which is the same plastic used to create the original props. The rubber trim and brass screws are sourced from the US and the UK. 

And for great photoshoots with your SuperElits buckets, they have green lenses that won't show your eyes even with a camera flash. 

Photo from SuperElite Props Facebook page. 

Photo from SuperElite Props Facebook page

Original helmets have a 'handpainted' detail - SuperElite buckets replicate this by using decals that look handpainted. 

The Hovi Mic Tips (the two black thingys on the chin) are also accurate casts of water fliters used back in the 70s. 

SuperElite buckets are lighter when compared to the licensed MRCE/EFX counterpart. 

Photo from SuperElite Props Facebook page.

Luke's Return of the Jedi Lightsaber 

Ever wanted to be a Jedi? Well you get a step closer when you have the Luke Return of the Jedi light saber - also available from SuperElite Props! :D 

Photo from SuperElite Props Facebook page.

 SuperElite Blaster 

SE (SuperElite) blasters are cast from an original British Sterling SMG (Sub Machine Gun) Mark 4. The scope is a cast of a M38 rifle scope. 

SE blasters come with a steel scope rail and custom attachment for the Hengstler counter (the box thingy beside the scope). 

There is a custom O ring attachment at the back, the blaster weighs about 
1.5-2 lbs. 

The markings of the Original Sterling rifle are precisely replicated as seen on the magazine housing. Even the telescope has markings as well. 

The core of the blaster is made out of a PVC pipe to make it stronger and to avoid warping. 

Each blaster is carefully built and weathered to make it as accurate as possible. 

One Happy Trooper - sealed with a kiss from Jinri Park 

The boys at the SuperElite Props booth had a little surprise (and lots of bragging rights) in the form of Jinri Park who even kissed and signed a helmet :) 

Pardon the 'no-sleep look' approaching to 24 hours of being awake :p 

The man behind the helmet - Luis Cacho

You can check out SuperElite Props facebook page for more exciting details!  

For inquiries you can contact Luis at 0923-472-0044. You can also send an email to supereliteprops@gmail.com 

Hopefully next year would be our Toycon experience - will definitely be filing for leaves and fattening the wallet :P 

Toycon is always fun - it's like being a kid again and no matter how you grow in age, there is still that child's wonder that never goes away. I guess it's only in Toycon were in you ask the sexy promo girl to step aside so you can take a photo of the cool Sentinel display behind her. Because when it comes to Toycon it's all about celebrating that child in all of us. 

For MORE photos during Toycon 2013 head on over the Facebook page!