Just Like Heaven!!!

...and that's just how it was for me last Thursday, the 7th... It was the 1st day of the Annual Taipei Toy Festival (a 4 Day Event)..... of course, I braved the crowds right away and went.... along with my Partner in Toys Crime, Juliana..... just look at this COLLAGE with all these COOL, FUN, & EXCITING TOYS! okay, okay, not all mine... I WISH!!!
It was a Great Day.... wish I could have brought home all that I wanted - but one MUST have limits, right?? Mind you, I still came home with a lot... and thinking of going back for more later today..... hahahahahahahahahaha

Tons of tpoys to look at from some FAVE designers.... Be@rbricks galore, Stay Real, Hot Toyz, C.I. Boys, etc... and even a bit of STAR GAZING as, Scandal Ridden Hong Kong Star, EDISON CHEN made an appearance debuting his CLOT designed tees and Toys - and some authograph signings and photo taking.... too bad it was waaaaay tooo CROWDED - could not even get close.... so had to take a few shots by ZOOMING the camera - hence, not too sharp...

Treated myself, the iPhone really to a new case, TOFU!!!!

MEET BUBI!!!

For me, this BUBI is the most FAVE one that DEBUTED at this show.... have always wanted a Little Boy Blue type character... and he comes quite close.... Designed by Au Yeung from the Series: "The Bubblegum Adventures of Periwinkle". So far there are three variations issued for "Episode 1: London Raindrops". Well basically it is just one boy but each Blind Box, he could come with an umbrella (Easiest to get.); a back pack (Harder to get..); or this one, with a hat (My most FAVE!)... each one also comes with a blown bubblegum that he can hold or put in his mouth.... FUN!!!

Anyway, have UPLOADED a few photos here if you care to see:
Taipei Toy Festival 2011 on FLICKR
-will be UPLOADING more this weekend... just way too much goodies.... Just Like Heaven, indeed....

Cheapman Cutie

Am soooo behind with precessing my Taipei Toy Festival 2010 photos for several reasons... 1) I took way too many photos - and it is harder to pick and choose; 2) my photo editing program is not the best - so it is more time consuming; 3) been busy over the last few days with visits & 4)been so busy with things to do and to attend to....5) last but not the least, been having so much fun with this new toy of mine picked up from the show: "Cheapman"!!!

Juliana & I came across Cheapman's booth as we walked about while we wait for Sue n Cecilia to finish their HUSKY purchases... one look at this cutie in his bunny outfit - and it was love at first sight!!! Mostly on display at the booth were Postcards & pins of cheapman.... art works, illustrations and such.... there were a handful of vinyl figures also on display... and if only I could have taken them all.... alas, only one was available - I HOPE, just for now.....

Meeting the artist and maker was just the added bonus - he was nice and sweet.... his endearing personality truly reflects the character of his creation... he IS cheapman, indeed! One thing that made me SMILE - BIIIG - was when I was listening to Juliana's conversation with him: Juliana asked:"How come you only have one Vinyl Toy for sale?"... to which he replied, without hesitation but with a biiig smile: "Because I have no money to make others!" I laughed inside and was truly endeared to him and his character even more so... right there and then - I loved my cheapman vinyl toy even more....We bought few of the toys (as well as, the cute postcards) - and he graciously signed each and every one of them for us... each of the s we wait, I could notice that each person that passed the booth stops by and were instantly drawn to this little cute figure... and they too, had to go home with cheapman in tow...

LINKS to CHEAPMAN:

Cheapman Home Page

Cheapman On Facebook

My Flickr Album of Cheapman

it's the little things.... (JULY 2010)

aaah... was feeling a bit down as I was missing IFDC again this year.... but with all that has been going on personally, it was just not in the cards for me to TREK to Las Vegas and be with some friends and enjoy the convention... instead, Ito contend with hearing about it all from friends.... and admiring all their photos...

Still, I have to say that "Life is STILL Sweet!" I instead over the last few days had my own fun seeing friends.... hanging out with Jason & Todd... taking a side trip with The Wus... and of course, attending the Toy Festival with the girls.... there is not much I can say - no words can describe the feelings except "it's TRULY the little things that makes the difference in life..." So instead of boring you with more ramblings - I will just let the photos speak for themselves...

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3 out of 6 - halfway there... (July 7th)
Hi.Life with Todd & Jason after a BIIIG meal from Wo Jia Niu Pai (July 8th)

Friday @ Fridays with Juliana (July 9th)

Taipei Toy Festicval with the Girls (July 10th)

Day trip with The Wus (July 11th)

...and of course, seeing an entry of mine on 365 Project, as one of the popular ones for the day...

2010 Taipei Toy Festival Update

Just got new INFO on the upcoming Taipei Toy Festival... and this time in ENGLISH... so am sharing....

================
2010 台北國際玩具創作大展
Taipei Toy Festival 2010

Date：8th to 11th, July,2010
Venue：Huashan Cultural-Creative Park
Open Daily from 10:00 to 20:30
===============

2010 Taipei Toy Festival
- celebrating the fantastic world of designer toys and collectibles

The 7th Annual Taipei Toy Festival (TTF), the only major designer toy exposition in Asia, will once again take place from July 8th to 11th at HUASHAN 1914 CREATIVE PARK, Taipei, Taiwan, celebrating the fantastic world of designer toys, products, and collectibles subsequent to previous six successful years.

Themed “MONSTER vs. TOYS”, 2010 Taipei Toy Festival will host more than 100 specialty vendors and private providers from Japan, Hong Kong, U.S., Taiwan, Canada, France, among others. Many designers have announced the release of their own TTF limited edition vinyl toys during this venue. These highly collectible figurines will only be available during this 4-day event. This is a not-to-miss venue for worldwide toy fans and collectors.

2010 TTF features two themed posters for this year’s event, one designed by the renowned local artist Push by Push Comic and the famed Los Angeles-based artist Amanada Visell. Their different interpretations on “MONSTER vs. TOYS”, express the versatile aspects in this exceptional toy exposition. Admission tickets of 8 different designs by renowned artists are available for purchased. Collect them all.

TTF Catalogs, Designer Toys, from previous years have become collectibles among collectors for its thorough collection and exquisite photographs and quality printing. 2010 Designer Toys, the third issue, is expected to be another hit.

During the venue, there will be free giveaways for the first 500 visitors each day. The fans also have the chance to win prizes, such as Hong Kong-Taipei roundtrip airline tickets, passes to Hong Kong Disneyland, designer figurines, and a lot more.

2010 TTF also host the first Graphic Novel and Comic Book Fair, exhibiting graphic novels, comics and illustration books by animation artists from major Hollywood studios, as well as from Taiwan, Canada, Japan, France, etc. In addition, designer Ts, clothing lines, accessories and collectible sneakers will also be available on the exhibition floor.

For Artist Signing schedules, special Auction, and other information, please check out TTF official website! (www.taipeitoyfestival.com)

Daily hours are 10:00 to 20:30. Admission price is NT150 per day per person. See you in July in passionate Taipei.

The organizer, MONSTER TAIPEI INTERNATIONAL INC. stands on their vision to serve as a platform for connections, communications, information exchanges among the toy community; and to make Taipei Toy Festival a market place of the opportunity for new product launching, new brand announcement and a yearly fun gathering among global fans and collectors.

GENERAL INFORMATION-
TAIPEI TOY FESTIVAL 2010
DATE: July 8th~11th, 2010 (THU~SUN)
VENUE: HUASHAN 1914 CREATIVE PARK, Taipei, Taiwan
HOURS: 10:00~20:30
GENERAL ADMISSION @ NTD150/per
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.taipeitoyfestival.com
Blog: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/monstergear08/
HUASHAN 1914 CREATIVE PARK: http://web.huashan1914.com/en/index.html
VISITING TAIWAN: http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/
Contact organizer MONSTER TAIPEI mail to toyzone@ms36.hinet.net

Taipei Toy Festival 2010

Set your calendars and make way for 2010's Taipei Toy Festival!!! Happening in July for 4 consecutive days - the 8th thru the 11th...If it's anything like 2009's Taipei Toy Festival - then it will be another MUST SEE, MUST EXPERIENCE, oh-so-much FUN Event - filled with toy designer/artists from all over the world... meet n greet... exhibitions.... and yeah TOYS to add to the collection!!!

SEE YOU THERE!!!

Taipei Toy Festival - Photos Up!!!

As you already know, my main reason for attending this event, besides all the cool Vinyl Toys was to FINALLY meet in person, tokidoki creator/designer, Simone Legno... I had already missed him a couple of times before - once in Manila and another time here in Taipei... So this time around I made sure I will be in attendance...

It was a 4 day event, starting Thurs the 9th, the day I came back from my last Manila trip... still feeling a bit under the weather, I made sure I took my meds, vitamins, and drink lots of juices to get better and be able to attend... Saturday the 11th was date of choice to attend... Perfect day for Juliana and Sue - alas, due to unforseen reasons, Cecilia could not come and it worked out well as David got the day off from work and was able to use the extra ticket.

For NT$150 (US$4.50) - we got to enjoy a day's worth of meeting and greeting the featured designers; get to see in person so many toys and products I only got to see online and in magazines; but and get personally authographed those that appealed to us; and of course, SIMONE LEGNO. He was totally nice, accommodating and sweet... could not have been happier. We got our goods signed, personalized, took photos with him and of course, chatted a bit... it was PURE HEAVEN for us all!!!

Well, it was more like HEAVEN & HELL!!! HEAVEN as we were loving all that was on displayed abnd being offered... HELL as it was not good for the pockets, as most hobbies, are not. Two things worked in my favour though and I saved myself a lot of expenses: 1) I pretty much have all the tokidoki goods made so far... and 2) the other stuff I was looking for, from different designers & tokidoki, were not available... except I did luck out and found the LE Platinum Version of SABOCHAN... so of course, I snapped this one right away -- happily so!!!Some of my Purchases (Clockwise) tokidoki X Bearbrick: Issued for the Taipei Festival; Levi's X tokidoki tee; LE Platinum Edition Sabochan; Oli Bears "Heaven & Hell"
The experience was a real delight, one that I would totally recommend to all you Vinyl Toys lovers, and one I would love to do again, and again, and again.....

For all the FUN PHOTOS - PLS CLICK HERE

A DAY IN tokidoki HEAVEN!!!!

Story and Photos to follow...Just could not contain the excitement from yesterday's Taipei Toy Festival outing...Just Us with tokidoki GOD & creator, Simone Legno!!! Have a GREAT WEEKEND TO YOU ALL!!!