As the title says, coming up on the 6th and 7th of September is the long anticipated Singapore Toy, Game, Comic Convention a.k.a STGCC 2014 happening in Sands Expo and Convention Center, Marina Bay Sands! Brought to you by Reed Exhibitions– the world’s largest event organizer and in collaboration with the creators of New York Comic Con (NYCC), STGCC is another epic event with six top-notch pop culture personalities from the East and West.

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Cosplayers at the 2013 Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention

Kuala Lumpur, 16 June 2014 – Fans of anime and cosplay can expect to see stars at this year’s annual Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention (STGCC) as the event announces the first wave of six top-notch pop culture personalities from the East and West. Making their way to STGCC from the East are three renowned DJs from Japan, each highly-regarded for their work in the different realms of Japanese music – Anisong, Touhou and Vocaloid. Inu, D.watt and sasakure.UK will take to the stage on the first night of the two-day convention with a music showcase. Spinning the latest hits from popular Japanese games and anime, the STGCC DJ Night will teleport fans of anime and games to Japan. From the West are three multi-talented artists – Humberto Ramos,who is well acquainted with Spiderman, Alex Solis,the father of “The Famous Chunkies” featuring oversized superheroes, and Simone Legno,the creator of the popular tokidoki brand.

The Iron Man 3 showcase at the 2013 Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention

Bringing together the best of pop culture from the East and West, STGCC 2014 takes place on the 6th and 7th of September at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Marina Bay Sands. “The show has matured over the past six years, and we have amassed a very loyal following of fans from Singapore and the region by bringing together vibrant international content from the East and West for a regional audience,” said Ms. Rita Magnus, Senior Manager, Pop Culture Cluster for SGTCC. Taking over the helm of Southeast Asia’s leading pop culture show for the first time, Ms. Magnus, who has been the show’s Western content programmer for the past three years, has fresh aspirations for the show. “With a strong list of pop culture personalities and attractive offerings for our fans, we aim to put together a stellar content of substantial mass appeal and pave way for the show to be elevated to the next level,” said Ms. Magnus. SGTCC – the leading pop culture show in Southeast Asia – in 2013 concluded with a record-breaking attendance of 40,000 local and regional visitors.

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STGCC DJ Night profiles

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Popular artists from the West

Works from the first wave of Western pop culture personalities can be seen on the most popular everyday platforms – from TV to watches and bags. Come and meet these three amazing artists at STGCC and get their autographs on your favourite merchandise!

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Artist Valley

MALAYSIAN ARTISTS

• D’creativeaholic - D’creativeaholic is an indie brand created by Artist Shenly Yee in 2010. It is derived from 3 words “The Creative Workaholic” which carry the mission to support a “Never-Give-Up” spirit on dreams no matter the difficulties and obstacles faced. Dcreativeaholic creates various interesting and wacky monster characters, product designs as well as illustrations, toy figure, merchandise etc.

• 1000Tentacles - Founders of 1000tentacles® and award winning artist, Leong Wan Kok and Khor Pheik Hoy have been involved in the art industry for over 20 years, with numerous art projects ranging from commercial illustration, art print, comic, character design and toy sculpture. 1000Tentacles is based in Malaysia.

• FUSE is a visual art duo hailing from Malaysia, composed of concept artists Jing and Arm. Influenced by their love for mechs, comics, games and all things cool, they dabble primarily in illustrations and various visual development. Although they usually work digitally, live commissions are provided upon request, with limited slots.

• Running Snail Studio + Bram Lee - Fei Giap, a Malaysian illustrator, part-time art teacher and co-founder of Running Snail Studio published his first illustration art print series “Color of Scenery” in 2012. 2 years later, he published a new series - “Fantascene”and had it printed as a postcard collection. Bram Lee, a professional freelance 2D/3D artist based in Malaysia was awarded with CG Choice Award (2007) and CG Challenge Master Award (2011). Bram founded Big Bunker Studio with partner programmers in 2012 and has developed 5 games for mobile platforms.

• Booth of Lost Things by Sonny Liew + Gary Choo + Mighty Jaxx - A joint collaboration by Sonny Liew, an Eisner-nominated (the comics industry’s equivalent of the Oscar Awards) comic artist who now resides in Singapore, local sculptor Gary Choo, and Singapore-based toy producer Mighty Jaxx, Booth of Lost Things present “100,000 Horsepower”, a resin bust that resembles an emo version of the pop icon Astro Boy (a robot superhero from a classic Japanese manga series).

MALAYSIAN EXHIBITORS

• IMA Collectibles SDN BHD: Imaginarium Art is a producer for 1:4, 1:2 and 1:1 scale replicas which currently holding licences of Marvel and MGM (ROBOCOP) to produce and distribute to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Hong Kong.

• T & M SDN BHD: Happy Costumes was created with kids and their parents in mind. We deliver costumes of high quality from the best manufacturers.

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Since you’re reading this blog where I share my interests and somewhat exciting (to myself) lifestyle, I believe we’d share similar interests and likes. As a fellow cosplay/ anime / manga (japanese comics) enthusiast, here are a few more guests that may interest you as much as it interests me to attend the event!

Aliga is well known for her kawaii cosplays and natural cuteness. She has been the VIP guest cosplayer and judge for many cosplay events across Asia.

There will always be a powerful moe moe aura surrounding Aliga whenever she’s in her cosplay costumes.

I’ve met Stay during her first two visits to Malaysia as guests for two cosplay events couple months back and as I’ve previously mentioned before, I’ve been a fan of her projects ever since I’ve indulged myself in anime. Stayxxxx squeezes in time to be a cosplayer amidst her fanatic schedule of Anime, Manga and Gaming. She appreciates cosplay with a sense of realness, and hand makes all her costumes. Cosplaying at her own pace, Stayxxxx hopes to live life to the fullest with her 5 cats.

Nao Shirahane sensei (AKA Dmyo) is an illustrator from Korea who is currently residing in Japan.

She is known for her drawing for the online game Trickster, and illustrations for the game DJMAX. Nao Shirahane is famous for her character designs and contributions to various works, namely –

- Nintendo 3DS game “Onna no ko no misshitsu ni itara maru maru shicau kamo shirenai” by D3PUBLISHER INC - PSP Game “Sucre” by GIGA - Mascot illustrator for Culture:Japan - Insert illustration in light novels and magazines also serialized manga published by Kadokawa and Koudansha

Nao is active in her Doujin Circle “Snow Ring” and “Sleepless child”, her project as an illustrator with Taiwanese cosplayer “Stayxxxx”.

Another cosplayer that I’ve looked up to for quite some time, Lenneth XVII is a self-paced cosplayer whose only drive is her passion for the characters she cosplays. She’s not picky about who she cosplays, but rather why she cosplays them. The learning process in cosplay is endless so despite being in the circle for close to 14years now, meeting new people and handling new projects always teaches her new things every time!

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ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS

Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organizer, with a growing portfolio of over 500 events in 40 countries, and a staff of 3500 exhibition specialists. Our events serve 43 key industry sectors, and in 2013 we brought together over 6 million active event participants to drive sales, network and learn. We have over 50 years unrivalled experience in developing, marketing, selling and organising exhibitions and events. We excel in creating brand leading, highly targeted events where people from around the world can come together to do business, network and learn. Our vision is to deliver contacts, content and communities with the power to transform your business. We are the world’s premier exhibition organiser, with a network of 34 offices worldwide, and a rapidly growing portfolio of events and partners in the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Middle East. This global perspective enables us to share local knowledge and world-leading expertise and resources for the benefit of our customers worldwide.

ABOUT SINGAPORE TOY, GAME & COMIC CONVENTION

The Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention combines the best of pop culture from East and West to Asia, uniting the worlds of comics, anime, toys, collectibles and games. It is the pre-eminent event in the Asian market that fits with other shows in the Reed pop culture portfolio, including New York Comic Con (NYCC), the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Star Wars Celebration, PAX, NYC - Special Edition and OZ Comic Con. STGCC will reach out to a whole new world of fans in Asia and opens a vast market with exciting opportunities for companies to break into the Asian market and/or reinforce a growing presence. Fans will experience a showcase of pop culture’s coolest and latest products, and be thrilled by personalities and characters from the worlds of superheroes, villains and realms of fantasy. STGCC’s vision is to deliver quality content and spread the currency of cool in Asia and aims to be the leading catalyst for the pop culture industry.

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So what’re you waiting for?

STGCC tickets are up for grabs now! Priced at S$19 for a one-day pass and S$25 for a two-day pass, tickets are available for sale at selected authorised retail outlets and at the event itself. Visit www.singaporetgcc.com/tickets-queues for more ticketing details.

Check out www.singaporetgcc.com for the latest STGCC news!

images (c) Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention 2014