Earlier this month, December 7, 2019, at the Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention, Singapore. We just had the very first comic con experience, the Singapore Comic Con 2019 (SGCC). Whenever we heard a Comic-Con the first thing that pops in our mind is it’s all about comics and anime. But the recent SGCC 2019 actually had a gaming and eSports event which makes this event more exciting and relates to our platform. Not to mention, there was a Wrestling match! The Singapore Comic Con was a two-day event that happens on December 7 to 8.
Here are some glimpses during our weekend at Singapore Comic Con.
During the first day, the event was filled with fans queuing as early as 7:30 AM, and other fans also wearing their favorite cosplay character already, which gives other people a chance to get a photo with them.
Inside the hall, fans got a chance to experience a lot of different booths; from the Good Game Experience (GGXP) Zone, Artist Alley, and on the main stage. Game tournaments like the PVP Esports Regional Corporate League for Mobile Legends Bang Bang and Dota 2 were also one of the most anticipating tournaments. A special doodle board was also placed, where fans can contribute their own arts to see for everyone.
Aside from that, Pokemon and Tabletop game fans also enjoyed their experience at the GGXP where Pokemon Championship Series battle and a Tabletop tournament in SGGC 2019 took place. LEGO Singapore also announced its latest toy, the Creator Expert Module Bookshop during the first day.
The star-studded guest line-up included comic creators Greg Capullo, Jock, Andy Kubert, and David Mack, toy designers Jason Freeny and Tara McPherson, gamers Alodia Gosiengfiao, Topson and Viva La Dirt League and cosplayers Astarohime and Jin (behind infinity).
We also check some of the interesting booths during Singapore Comic Con 2019, check it below.
Mere Gods
The first booth we had interviewed was from an RPG novel based game called Mere Gods written by Tan Shao Han. It was actually our first time to hear an RPG novel game, and it’s quite unique to know that a novel can be also played as an RPG game just like in the video games.
Mere Gods is all about a Southeast Asian deity, in the Philippines Mythology, it’s like the Diwata. The player can choose between the role of a deity or spirits, and your goal is to help the oppressed people of the lake-town of Greensand by bringing their life back from the foreign liberators.
The RPG novel based game is divided into three parts, it includes a story-book and some small rules on how to play the game. The book is available online from their official website curiuschimeras.com, you can purchase it in a digital format (ebook) for $7.00.
Mr. Tan Shao Han also mentioned that one of their artists is from the Philippines and some of the arts are inspired from the Philippines heroes like Lapu-Lapu. It’s great to know that our fellow Filipinos artist contributed their talents abroad. Cheers!
Lord of the Chords
If you love playing music, or a musician by profession, you might get interested in this one. Lord of the Chords is a card game about music. The team started as a Kickstarter campaign way back February 2019, with an initial goal of $15,000. Their campaign was a super hit and easily reach their goal in just about 75 minutes. After the campaign, Lord of the Chords raised over $300,000 of funds.
When we asked, what’s behind the creation of the game. Jonathan Ng says “We created this game because we found music very boring one and we make it more fun”.
The card game is playable with 2 to 4 players, the card is packed with visual instruction for players to easily check the use of the cards. We’ve tried the game and we’re wowed with how the game works by its simplicity and enjoyability.
If you’re interested in purchasing the Lord of the Chords, it is available online at the official website at www.lordofthechords.com/.
Wild Magic
The next booth we’ve interviewed was from Brunei, the owner is actually a half Filipino/Borneo. Wild Magic is basically a hobby store for the Dungeon and Dragons Community based in Brunei. They do have workshops where they’ll teach players the trick to be Dungeon Master (DMs).
For Filipino gamers that are based in Brunei, tried checking out there community to learn more about Dungeon and Dragons and other tabletop games.
To know more about Wild Magic, you can check their official website at www.wildmagicstore.com/
Dungeons and Dragons and Tabletops Games Community
Singapore is probably one of the largest Dungeon and Dragons Community in Southeast Asia. Their community comes together to SGGC to show fans and visitors in SGCC how the tabletop games work.
“We come together because we really like to play Dungeon and Dragons, We meet together 3 times a week to play D&D. We play a bunch of Dungeon and Dragons like the Adventure League which has a shared campaign, where players can bring one character from a game, to another game”
For those who haven’t know, Dungeon and Dragons are mixed role-playing games with story, boss and heroes. Ruled by a game master who basically decides the rules and flow of the game based on the game guidelines
Other tabletop games were also be seen in the SGCC.
Other Booths
You’ve probably used these cute emoticons on your messenger, Qoobee was also there in the event. Visitors were able to purchase these cute plush toys in their booth.
Mighty Jaxx a Singaporean designer toy and art collectibles studio was also present in SGCC.
The Beast Kingdom as well, showing off different toy characters and merchandise from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and more.
A hand-drawn and digital art poster were also showcased.
Pop Mart Dedicated booth for Labubu and other toy collectibles.
Tamashi Nations also shows off and sell anime character toys from Gundam, Dragonball Z, and other anime characters.
Shirt and other merch from Disney products.
High-Quality Action Figure for Marvel and DC Heroes were also displayed at the center of the hall. Note: Once broken it is considered sold. Yikes!
We haven’t watched the movie, yet, but we saw a glimpse of the Jumanji: The Next Level movie in SGCC with this Jungle puzzle course. Lots of kids and even kids at heart tried this mini obstacle course, you will be timed as you conquered those little challenges. The shorter the time the better.
Cosplay Everywhere
The event was filled with cosplayers, even going to the Marina Bay Shoppe, you’ll find a lot of cosplayers taking pictures with the mall-goers.
They even had a photoshoot outside of the convention hall, and of course, we had a chance to take photos with them.
During the 2nd-day, the Championships of Cosplay final took over the main stage in the late afternoon. Cosplayers competed and won the hearts of the judges such as Bernard Phee, Astarohime and Jin (behindinfinity) who guest judged this year’s competition. After a spectacular display of talent by all competing cosplayers, Danniel Adi Putra emerged on top and was crowned as the overall champion for the Championships of Cosplay 2019.
Danniel won himself an all sponsored trip to represent SGCC at the prestigious cosplay competition at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) in 2020 as well as a cash prize and tickets to SGCC 2020.
And here are some of the photos of interesting cosplayers during SGCC.
Plague Doctor: Who haven’t thought that Plague Doctor was present during the Singapore Comic-Con? We did! He was busy all over lego! If you are familiar with Assasins Creed II: Brotherhood, they are the ones who are selling vials of medicines in their shops and stands.
Predator cosplay: Predator was also present during the Singapore Comic Con. What a coincidence, if you play Ghost Recon Wild Lands, one of the hardest enemies to defeat is the predator, well that is based on our experience.
The Death Stranding guy was also present during that time, we were curious about what cargo he was carrying during the event. Is it a lost cargo? Oh, BB was also there.
Toys and Merchandise
There were lots of toys and merchandise that were showcased during the Singapore Comic Con, name anything you think of, it was there. Even those childhood anime characters like the classic Power Rangers’ Megazord, you can find and be bought there.
Here are some pictures of the detailed sculptures and action figures from the well-known sculpture artist for Marvel, DC, Capcom and more.
Pokemon Tournament
At the Hall C, Maxsoft and Project EXT hosted an exclusive Pokemon Video Game tournament and Trading Card game. Participants during the events won prizes and a fast track invitation to the prestigious Pokemon World Championship.
Participants playing the Pokemon Trading card game.
PVP Esports
In the gaming zone, The PVP esports by Singtel features the grand finals of the two games for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Dota 2 on its first day.
The team included in the grand final match for Mobile Legends was from the Philippines, the Realpage Esports team, against the Indonesian team Savier. The close match was in favor to the team from the Philippines which become the champion of the grand finals, bringing home 2,000 SGD and 10,000 SGD for the charity of their choice.
In the afternoon, the match for the PVP Esports Regional Corporate League Dota 2 was won by the team Teletubies from Thailand against the team GTR from Malaysia, they take home a total price of 3,000 SGD and 10,000 SGD for the charity.
For the 2nd-day, the PVP Esports returned with the Campus League Finals, where tertiary teams battled it out in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang for the grand prize of SGD $5,000 and 3,000 Diamonds per player. Unstable Network took the competition by storm and walked away as the Champions of the PVP Campus League Grand Finals 2019.
Also, Alodia was present on the 2nd-day wearing her Lunox cosplay a character from Mobile Legends Bang Bang for the meet and greet with her fans!
It also features the Gamersaurus Rex which held an all-day-long tournament for the game Dungeon vs. Dragons, Warhammer, and Song of Ice and Fire. A painting workshop tutorial also happened in their booth.
Hearthstone fans were also excited to try out the Heartstone Battlegrounds where they play along with other fans in the booth and get exciting rewards.
Mobile Legends Bang Bang
A lot of players from the Philippines must be so happy if they saw this booth, and we also saw some Filipino fans in the event enjoying the mini-game show and picture taking with Mobile Legends cosplay characters.
Toy merchandise like the Miya character was also available in the Mobile Legends Bang Bang booth.
Wrestling Matches
During the first day of our coverage, we are busy covering the booths at the GGXP area and we’ve noticed this loud noise of smashes, and crowd cheering, we thought it was a punch bag machine or something. We didn’t expect that it was a wrestling match, it is actually our first time to see an up-close live wrestling match in our entire life. 😀
This is also the first time that Singapore Comic Con included a wrestling match in the event. It was performed by the professional wrestler from Singapore Pro Wrestling.
The wrestling match was conducted during the 2-day event and was one of the thrilling activities to watch from as professional wrestlers aimed for the same winning belt.
Renowned Comic Artist from DC and Marvel
Fans got an exclusive insight into artist processes, live drawings, and unique collaborations through the panel sessions on the main stage. Some highlights included a talk with Batman and X-Men illustrator, Andy Kubert, and a Mr. Kiasu Meet SpongeBob SquarePants panel. The sprawling Artist Alley gave fans a chance to meet their favorite artists, and purchase special merchandise and products.
There are live drawing sessions from the artists, where you can learn and see how they draw from scratch. And also, some autograph-meet-and-greet session.
Filipino Artists
We also saw some arts from our fellow Filipino artists in the event. Below, from left to right; Rudy Nebres “Deadly Hands of Kungfu #22 page 8”, Nestor Redondo “Tarzan #245 page 20”, and Ernie Chan “Conan the Barbarian #117 page 26”.
And, (left to right) Mico Suayan “Bloodshot: Salvation #1 splash page”, Rian Gonzalez “Jose & The Pussycats #8 cover”, and Kajo Baldisimo “Treese #1 page 6”.
Conclusion
Singapore Comic Con was a huge success. It was a breathtaking event, blasted with cosplay, comics, anime, collectibles, esports event and renowned comic artists and celebrities around the world. The two-day hit event came to a close after drawing in an estimated 55,000 fans.
So many firsts during our stay in Singapore! From the foods, the culture, high-end malls, clean surroundings and even people who are so friendly and willing to help you in case we have some difficulties during our stay in Singapore. But most importantly, we met new faces and some familiar faces along the way and that was before SGCC (PVP get together) and during the SGCC 2-day event. We are glad that some of our acquaintances “GamerMalaya” that we met before were also there to cover and gave support to the SGCC and PVP e-Sports.
Most and foremost, a huge congratulations and a shoutout to all the winners who bagged some prizes during the tournaments, cosplay competitions and among others. Secondly, to the team behind Singapore Comic-Con and PVP e-Sports for the trust!
It was a great way to end this year for GamingPH and got a chance to do a cover with the Singapore Comic Con 2019. Again, thank you to PVP Esports and ReedPop for inviting us!