It was a rainy Friday afternoon when my niece and I arrived at the SMX Convention Center to attend the first day of ToyCon 2018. Being a regular at pop culture-related conventions, I was ecstatic to attend this one since I hadn’t attended ToyCon PH before. My niece had never been to any convention, either, but she decided to accompany me because it appealed to her interest; she started collecting Funko Pops recently, which I knew would be heavily marketed at this convention. 

At the press con, I learned that this is already ToyCon’s 16th year. From their humble beginnings as a small convention in SM Megamall, they have now expanded and is now being annually held at SMX. Their audience has also grown from being just a couple of toy collectors with shared interests to having families come together to show their love and appreciation for toys, as well as characters, artists, and creators.

This year’s convention also brought in several celebrities, such as Kelly Hu, Dante Basco, Michael Copon, and Kevin Greivoux, as well as legendary comic book artist Neal Adams.

During the floor’s Q&A, Kelly Hu was asked about her non-aging beauty, to which she candidly responded that the secret is not having kids.

After the media event, I went inside the actual convention to check out the booths and displays. It was definitely a haven for toy lovers and collectors since you could find a bunch of collectibles everywhere.

I ended up eventually bumping into my niece. I saw her ToyCon haul and how happy she was with her purchases. She was able to find the rare Funko Pops that she was looking for along with some other new ones which are now part of her growing collection.

When I asked her about her thoughts on the convention, she had nothing but positive comments. She praised how the event was handled and how organized it was. The sellers were also very accommodating and answered her inquiries. The place was also packed with rare stuff that made the trip even more worth it. 

She now understood the hype surrounding it and said she would definitely come back next year, this time with a 3-day pass. We had dinner afterwards and I was happy that her first-ever convention experience was such a blast. ToyCon, you’ve now gained another annual con-goer! Congrats on the successful event and looking forward to the convention in the years to come.

ToyCon PH 2018

Website: https://www.toyconph.com

Facebook: https://www.facebooj.com/toyconph