STGCC 2012 Recap: Day 1 - Operation Red Dot Biceps Begins

It's with deliberate intention that Red Dot Diva decided to pace herself with more personal time at this year's STGCC.

She really wanted to hang out with her friends more, network with more interesting creative people and soak in the atmosphere. So, she only scheduled for two interviews during the weekend.

1 September, Day 1, was a terribly stuffy, fiery, hot day. The haze was bad and the acrid smell of smoke didn't help ease the commute to Marina Bay Sands. At the registration area, one could even feel the heat emanating from the large glass entrance doors. It was like an oven.

Red Dot Diva bumped into @rsilvers at the crowded registration area, and was told that the line for normal tickets was unexpectedly long. As a registered media, Red Dot Diva practically sailed through the process without no problems at all.

Ahhhh. The air-conditioning in the exhibition hall was such a relief to the merciless heat outside.

Upon entering the hall, there was the Harris Planerds booth offering deep discounts. Hmmm... signs of them closing down?

Planerds discount booth

One short aisle down is the booth that no one could ever resist visiting - the Hot Toys booth. Red Dot Diva noticed that it was less than half the size of the booth they had last year. Probably, 'coz a ragin' Hulk has already SMASHED a huge part of the booth. (Yes, he was at STGCC. Truth. Lookie right here!)

SMASH!

There were repeat toy displays like those from the Iron Man series. But the new ones like "The Avengers" diorama, with the super-heroes having a battle with Loki....

Oops. Iron Man got cut off. Difficult pic to take!

..... and the figurines from "The Dark Knight Rises" movie, including the humongous 1/6 scale of The Bat model looked very very cool. They were all unfortunately, too rich for Red Dot Diva's blood.

Signings were already going on at the Walk of Fame, conveniently located near the Media Pavilion. While saying hi to local artist friend Wendy Chew, Red Dot Diva had an unfortunate leafy and toxic run-in with Poison Ivy.

The only antidote to the almost lethal pheromonal dose was to rub some Red Hot Glitter on the super-villainess. It is also a good thing Red Dot Diva has a fair bit of rapid healing powers.

Having gained some control of her senses, she made a quick trot to the 8-Bit/ Vinyl on Vinyl/ Invasion section, where she knows most of the biceps action would be at.

Sitting in a row busy doing sketches were Mark Brooks, Carlo Pagulayan, Mico Suayan, Jason Paz and Mark Torres. W000t!

Stephen Segovia, Shawn Yap and Rudy Ao, who was a menacing beefy Bane (and whom Red Dot Diva thought was actually scarier than the movie version), joined the rest later.

Ahhhh! SCARY!

The show floor orientation continued, taking Red Dot Diva past the Star Wars Singapore Garrison members of the 501st Legion and their accompanying Lego Star Wars dioramas. Dear ET, can you please stop popping at unexpected places?

Didn't he already phone home?

A walk-by the Diamond/ GnB Comics store revealed that a signing was going on with artist Ario Anindito. There were quite a number of fans waiting in line for him to do sketches, and the booth was busy with folks browsing through the comics on sale there.

Ario Anindito busy sketching for fans

On Day 1, Red Dot Diva even had time to sit in two panels - a Spotlight on Tristan Eaton moderated by friend and toy collector Edward, and another on Andy Diggle that was moderated by fellow geek pal, Nicholas. Compared to the cosplay/ anime guests, the Western pop-culture panels had a smaller crowd. Which was a pity. Because Red Dot Diva thought these guests have so much knowledge and experiences, and were interesting to listen to.

She also had an enlightening interview with Marvel artist Mark Brooks, who was understandably a little wary about her biceps-neediness. Haha. (Not to worry, comic book fans. Mark didn't run away from Red Dot Diva so a separate post on the interview will be up later!)

Mark trying to Keep Calm and Protect His Biceps

She also dropped by to view the DooDoo Dolls, Tristan Eaton's booth, and said warm hellos to a few friends at Artist Alley - namely Kelvin Chan and Noval Hernawan.

Ohhhhh, and people ..... Do note.. "The Unseen Darkness" (at HairyasHell's sculpture-centric booth) has now been SEEN by Red Dot Diva. And it is downright EVIL. And awesome. At the same time. (See pic below)

And the day rounded up with a lengthy yet interesting interview with 3 of the Gilamon Studio boys - Lefty, Eng Huat and Sau Lim at their shared booth with Sonny Liew. Always lovely chatting with each of them. (Yes, another interview with the Gilamon Studio boys are also in the works!)

The only downside of STGCC Day 1 was the lack of cosplay-ogling by Red Dot Diva. She hardly went around to check out the cosplayers because she had been enjoying herself so much hanging out with various friends. Hence, she missed the ladies who cosplayed the DC women - Oracle, Power Girl and Supergirl.

A pity.

But as in most good pop-culture conventions, it's just not possible to do everything you want on every single day. And that's actually a very good thing!