Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) 2023 Booth Highlight - This One Is For the D&D Dice Gobbos (Ammybunny / Sambal and Mages)

We are on the final lap toward the mega pop-culture festival of the year! Singapore Comic Convention (SGCC) spans two floors - L1 and B1 - at Sands Expo & Convention Centre (MBS) - again this year. So, there is a lot to see and do for fans young and old on 9 and 10 December 2023.

This also includes die hard Dungeons and Dragons (Dnd) fans. If you are looking for awesome looking dice sets, you can acquire them at Artist Alley and at the Tabletop Arena in B1. Red Dot Diva's pal Edward, who is a DnD player, found a couple of exhibitors who will be bringing in some enticing dice sets. Here's a quick rundown on Ammybunny and homegrown collective, Sambal And Mages.

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Comic conventions are like a mecca for enthusiasts of all things geek, where people of diverse backgrounds and interests come together to celebrate their shared love. It's a place where you can let your inner superhero shine, embrace your inner wizard, or boldly go where no one has gone before. Me? I like my dice.

Though I have all but stopped tabletop gaming and D&D, my insatiable obsession with shiny dice finds me lurking around gaming stores or convention booths, my eyes gleaming with a covetous glint at the sight of glistening dice sets. After all, I still need some for my Magic the Gathering games.

Legend has it that dice goblins have elaborate hoards filled with an eclectic collection of dice, ranging from glittering gem-like D20s to metallic D6s.

Precious materials? YES.
Vibrant, iridescent colours? YES.
How do you find space for more unnecessary dice? YES.

So I went for a quick scout at the wares, and am pleased to report to fellow gobbos my finding.

AMMYBUNNY'S DICE PALS BOOTH [L1-AA19]

Not dice dice but still good. Hard to resist chibi Baldur’s Gate cast with oversized dice but clearly, Astraion should have been nibbling on a D6. Australian-based Ammybunny has dice pet charms and dice pet pillow charms, but will not be bringing them to SGCC. (Very Sad face emoticon).

BGDP will be available as charms ($10) and sticker sheets ($10). Other merch offerings include the very very very inappropriate Ayato Mousepads ($40) and tote bags (see pic below).

Short Q&A with Ammybunny

Ed: If you do not mind sharing, and I'm assuming here, what is your deal (obsession) with dice?
Ammy: I love the unpredictability of them in any RPG. They help make every session fun and memorable!

Ed: What is your ideal seggsy dice?
Ammy: Nicely crafted semi precious stone dice are my fave! I have a set of rose quartz dice that I use for all my DnD sessions.

Ed: Who's your daddy in BG3?
Ammy: I went into the game thinking I would simp for Astarion but fell for the Emperor instead XD


SAMBAL AND MAGES BOOTH [B2-C05]

In the heart of our own community, a group of artisanal dice makers has emerged, crafting gaming treasures, unlike any seen elsewhere. They have appropriately named themselves Sambal And Mages.

I’m in love with the three sets above but they are costly - the washi tape series will set you back $200. They have dice sets that range from $135 to $180, and generally, and we know how things work, the prettier they are, the more expensive they get.

They have yet to announce their SGCC 2023 offerings but don’t expect them to sit around. I bet my last dollar that they will sell out.

If you like some dice jewellery/accessory, check out one of their designs here.



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Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) 2023 Artist Highlight - Discovering Artistry: Allen Erie (Andrea Rosaline)

The Singapore Comic Convention (SGCC) may feature a smorgasbord of activities, like opportunities to meet esteemed comic book creators, a cosplay competition, stage activities and talks by industry professionals. However, Red Dot Diva thinks the soul of SGCC lies in the talented creators at Artist Alley.

It has been a Red Dot Diva blog tradition to interview a selected bunch of creatives who will be boothing at SGCC's Artist Alley. This year, Red Dot Diva's friend Edward helps to kick off this year's slate of interviews with a chat with Canadian freelance illustrator Allen Erie (Andrea Rosaline). Read on to check it out!

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Like any other kiasu attendee, I religiously combed through the exhibitor list and stumbled upon a treasure trove of creativity that left me utterly spellbound. The moment my eyes laid on Scaramouche, I knew I was doomed. As I scrolled through her entire IG, her fanart of mobile titles Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail, held my attention a willing hostage; generic chibi wares have a hard time registering a bleep on the radar of a convention veteran like myself but this - this - was something else.

Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) 2022 Artist Highlight - Filipino Illustrator Bea Gomez aka BlueToaster

It is just two more weeks to Singapore Comic Con (SGCC) (previously known as Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention), the island's pop-culture event of the year! The comic convention, featuring over local and international 40 guests (Red Dot Diva is beginning to lose count!) and 350 exhibitors, will return to Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay on 10 & 11 December 2022.

Having a slew of renown guests appearing at SGCC is exciting for sure. However, Red Dot Diva has a soft spot for what used to be called “Artist Alley”. This segment of the exhibition show floor, filled with booths from aspiring artist, craters and writers to well-known one, is the indie heartbeat of the creative community. Generally, everyone there is friendly, which helps when you are hoping to make new connections!

In previous years, Red Dot Diva publishes interviews with a few indie artists before the physical convention kicks off. After a two-year hiatus due to the recent pandemic, the RDD pre-SGCC interview tradition returns! To kick-off this year's “Artist Alley” spotlight, Filipino creative Bea Gomez aka BlueToaster bravely fielded Red Dot Diva nosy questions:

Diva Previews the SACRED GUARDIANS Comic - It's Soul Food for South-East Asians!

Holy Bak Kut Teh! The prequel comic to the local tokusatsu SACRED GUARDIAN SINGA project will be having its launch tomorrow, 12 September 2020 on local leading publisher AsiaPac Book's Facebook page!

The virtual launch party for the comic entitled SACRED GUARDIANS will begin at 3 PM. Writer Aydeel Djoeharie and artist Alan Bay will be appearing at the livestream (moderated by AsiaPac's Chong Lingying), ready to share their creators' journey in bringing this book to fruition.

“Writing Sacred Guardians was both challenging and fun. With inspiration from American and Japanese superheroes, the story blends in Southeast Asian history, heritage, cultures as well as positive values to create an exciting, relatable story for our young (and older) readers,” said Aydeel Djoeharie, who written and directed several film projects before.

As for the book's artist Alan Bay, “Sacred Guardians was a special project for me not only for its story and characters but because it also helped me get through the pandemic as I spent most of time staying at home and working on it.”

Just before tomorrow's launch, the five SACRED GUARDIANS poofed in unexpectedly into Red Dot Diva's lair with a present - a limited preview copy of the comic. They declined her offer to stay for tea, but said that she could share a little about their origin story to her readers.

An Interview with Illustrator Alan Bay - Artist of Sacred Guardians Prequel Comic

Local Red Dot Island illustrator Alan Bay may call himself smallguydoodle on social media, but his artistic talent is anything but small.

He has worked for an extensive list of projects, ranging from high profile game titles like Assassin's Creed, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Romance of Three Kingdoms Online, to comics, cartoons and children's books.

His first printed fantasy-RPG-based comic was a collaboration with Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) and ChuangYi Publishing called ATLAS. The comic still lives as ATLAS REALMS on tapas.

Alan's recently completed comic book entitled SACRED GUARDIANS will be released this month by local publishing company Asiapac Books. It is a prequel origin story written by Aydeel Djoeharie (co-founder of tokuAsia) for an exciting and ambitious tokusatsu live action series project called SACRED GUARDIANS SINGA.

Red Dot Diva is excited to get her hands on SACRED GUARDIANS, so she took the opportunity to ask Alan Bay about his experience working in the different industries as well as nab a couple of teasers for the upcoming comic book.

STGCC 2017: Booth Highlight - Get Drawn Into the Surreal Magical World of Jessica Emmett's Art

Pandas, dragons, unicorns and cute meowfaces! Those were the things that attracted Red Dot Diva to Jessica Emmett's art when she first met her at last year's STGCC.

Since then, they have kept in touch on Facebook, and Jessica's charming and colourful visual ideas were exactly Red Dot Diva needed for the RDD blog's rebranding project.

Jessica has a knack of infusing the familiar and the strange, especially when she decides to let her imagination fly with drawings of monsters and creatures from the fantasy realm. While Jessica was very busy preparing for STGCC 2017, Red Dot Diva asked her a long list of nosy questions!

Red Dot Diva: Please introduce yourself, and tell us how you got into the career of illustration and graphic design.

Jessica: I’m Jessica Emmett, a freelance illustrator and artist from the UK who’s now living and working in Singapore.

I’ve been creating and making from as far back as I could hold a pencil. I grew up being very dyslexic, so it’s no surprise I gravitated to visuals in high school. On my art foundation I found a passion for photography and ended up doing a Photography degree and a Media Arts masters in Manchester. I was accepted onto a PhD to study how adoption is represented in art and media, given I am a transracial adoptee myself who had worked with many East Asian adoption communities. But life threw me a curveball in the form of the financial crisis which affected me and my husband as a young married couple. I had to withdraw from the program a week before my start date. Devastating, but also an amazing opportunity to re-evaluate what I really wanted to do with my life.

I asked myself what I always wanted to do. As much as I loved photography, I never stopped loving to draw. I also always wanted to do an online comic. Despite my lack of formal illustration training, I created and collaborated on Adopted the Comic that ran for a few years. It continues to be an important resource for the adoption community. Even though I thought I was terrible at drawing I was shocked that people started to make requests for me to do illustration commissions. It led to illustrating an education book, Learn Thai, and on completion of the first book I was hooked! I decided to dedicate myself to illustration.

Alongside my illustration, I’d also picked up sculpting again. It is only recently I’ve started to take 3D work more seriously.
Red Dot Diva: That's quite a journey you've been through!

Diva Popped Into The Illustrations Arts Fest Marketplace at LaSalle (29 October 2016)

Over 70 artists took over LaSalle College of the Arts' Campus Green last weekend (29 to 30 October 2016) promoting and selling their creative works during the inaugural Illustrations Arts Fest run by Organisation of Illustrators Council (OIC) and the Puttam School Of Film & Animation at LaSalle. According to OIC, there were about 35 alumni and current students of LaSalle who set up booths at the marketplace, and the rest were indie creators and professional artists.

When Red Dot Diva and her friends arrived at the venue at about 2 PM on the first day of the fair, it already felt like a jostle at some of the narrower walkways.

Nobrow Press' booth, which was located at the front end, saw its fair share of interested buyers. Their colourful books carried a distinctively European style, and she overheard from the lady manning the booth that many titles were selling out fast.

STGCC 2016: Booth Highlight - Meet Newcomers Allena & Samuel Lee

While scrolling through this year's STGCC exhibitors list, Red Dot Diva noticed several newcomers who will be setting up their own booths.

One of them has a simple booth name called Allena and Samuel Lee. This straightforward branding may not have caught your attention right away but the two young and talented illustrators are motivated and eager to showcase their art to the world.

Red Dot Diva delighted to introduce Melissa (aka Allena) and Samuel to art fans out there:

STGCC 2014: Alex Solis and His Chunkies Chomp Their Way Over to Meet his Asian Fans!

Whimsical. Imaginative. Hilarious.

Those are the first three adjectives that came to Red Dot Diva's mind when she first came across graphic designer Alex Solis' artwork. She had noticed him on Threadless, and then, through some art/ design articles online.

Other than his Famous Chunkies art pieces, his collection of seemingly simple illustrations using very ordinary objects, and sometimes even with his hands, belies a clever sense of humour. He even gives the term "spooning" a new visual meaning. Haha.

And that was before Red Dot Diva actually saw how cute Alex Solis was and that he was actually quite, quite bicepstuous. Have one ever seen him do those crazy break-dancing moves? Like Whoaaaaaaaaa!




Ed of toys-etc and fellow-collaborator from the Glam Bloggers' Alliance grilled Alex about his work and Fatman/ Batman. Red Dot Diva was delighted to discover that she had something in common with Alex: they both have the same sentiments regarding Batfleck!

STGCC 2014: Bicepstuous Booths #3 - Jai'Ho!! Kini Merch Spices Up Artist Alley with Goodies, Mumbai-style!

Pssst...

Has anyone noticed that this year's Artist Alley is getting more diversified with regards to the origins of the creators? There are artists not only from Red Dot Island itself, there are those from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Japan and South Korea. And this year, there's even a husband and wife team coming all the way from Mumbai, India!

Diksha & Abhijeet Kini's Mumbai-based store Kini Merch, will be setting up their goods at Booth #AA8. Animator and indie comics publisher/ artist Abhijeet Kini, has worked in the field of illustration since 1999. He has worked with several publications like Random Timeout Mumbai and Hindustan Times, and he is also recognized for his work in popular Indian cult titles "Tinkle", "Milk and Quickies" and "Angry Maushi Vol 1 and 2". Mumbai-centric "Angry Maushi" is actually Abhjeet’s first self-published comic book. Diksha his wife, is the queen of merchandising in their enterprise.

Red Dot Diva finds it terribly exciting to that will be extra spicy Indian-flavoured biceps at this year's convention. Here's Abhijeet Kini telling us more about himself, his experiences and his various works as well as the origins of Kini Merch:

STGCC 2014: Guest Announcements - Humberto Ramos and More Heading Our Way!

And there we have it!

Yesterday, the organizer of the Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention has officially announced the First Flush of Guests for this year!

As in previous editions of the "coolest" (or "hottest" - in Red Dot Diva's opinion - Biceps galore!!) pop-culture convention on the island, there will be guests coming from the East and from the West.

Who are they?

STGCC 2013: (Regretfully) Introducing Local Illustrator Jerry Teo

Jerry's self-portrait

With STGCC happening just next weekend, I carry the burden of having to introduce a local artist whom I got to know many years back.

He is Jerry Teo, a Technical/ Military illustrator providing illustration services for companies and organizations that require infographics or artwork for their products, services or training purposes. Jerry is also a part-time workshop instructor with LaSalle SIA College of the Arts. He has been working in that capacity for the last 4 years and counting.

At STGCC, Jerry will be showcasing something new that he started working on not too long ago. I've always regretted being impressed by Jerry's artwork and this latest project of his, has made me regret it even more.

Here is a Q&A with Jerry, who probably also regrets answering our nosy questions: