Arigatoys Collectibles announces Mystery Bag event, other surprises for Christmas Toycon 2013

The Philippine toy community has grown much in recent years. Despite the various economic difficulties facing the country, fans have remained devoted to their hobby, as evidenced by the increasing prevalence of online groups—especially on social media!—dedicated to action figure collecting. 

 

Also serving as a testament to fan enthusiasm is the success of annual events such as the Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Conventions (Toycon). 

 

While the Toycons have been around for over a decade, this year’s June Toycon was particularly massive. The numerous sellers’ booths offered items ranging from the most popular toys to the rarest finds, as well as collectible cards, comic books, and all sorts of pop memorabilia. There was even a cosplay competition, to the delight of attendees.

 

Arigatoys Collectibles, the Philippine distributor of world-renowned toy brand Revoltech Yamaguchi, also participated in the event, where they displayed super-poseable action figures straight from Japanese company Kaiyodo, itself.

 

Pinoy toy community: Amazing

 

“The toy community here is amazing,” said Harvey Yu, product manager of Arigatoys Collectibles. “You see them on Facebook, you have groups that have meet-ups just for the sake of the hobby, so it’s a nice community to be in.”

 

This December, Arigatoys Collectibles will be sponsoring the 8th Christmas Toys and Collectibles Fair 2013, or Christmas Toycon for short. This time, along with their Revoltech Yamaguchi display, they will be showcasing figures from three other popular toy companies: NECA, Kotobukiya, and perhaps even McFarlane.

 

According to Yu, their Toycon exhibit will be an invitation to new customers and clients.

 

More importantly, by promoting the four different toy brands they are distributing locally, they hope to show the respective toy companies and manufacturers that the Philippines is a burgeoning, viable market for their products. Their ultimate goal is to show these foreign companies that Filipinos truly love their products, so that said companies could be convinced to bring these items directly to the Philippines. That way, local retailers won’t have to purchase the products from abroad first, and then be forced to hike up the price when selling them locally.

 

“For NECA, we have 18-inch figures we are planning to display,” stated Yu, regarding one of the toy brands his company will be displaying. “The first one would be the battle-damaged limited edition Iron Man. We will also have the Man of Steel Superman figure on display. Aside from that, we will also show the Pacific Rim 3-packs and 2-packs, the one with the battle-damaged Jaegars, the one with Kaijus. We’ll also display Walking Dead, Predator, all those figures. Whatever’s been released, we’ll display it there.”

 

As for Kotobukiya, they will be showcasing Marvel, DC, and Star Wars statuettes. Two cases will be displayed, so that will be two to three figures per shelf.

 

Revoltech Yamaguchi will be making a return as well, as Arigatoys Collectibles have observed that this particular brand continues to be well-received among local action figure enthusiasts.

 

“When you see it, it’s really amazing,” said Yu regarding Revoltech figures. “The reception that we had in June, everyone thought it (the figure) was customized. They didn’t even know the figure, they just said, ‘Wow, what an amazing figure.’ They didn’t even know these toys were available here in the Philippines already. That’s what we want to do: we want to give people the chance to see and appreciate all the products that we are bringing in.”

 

The toys on display will be out of the box and placed inside clear, glass cases. The top of those cases will be open, so that people who wish to take photographs won’t have to worry about the glare from the glass.

 

Last but not the least, the Arigatoys Collectibles exhibit will even have its very own Christmas tree, decorated with the current releases of Revoltech figures.

 

The Mystery Bag event

 

Aside from their action figure showcase, Arigatoys Collectibles will be holding a special “Mystery Bag” event. People will be able to purchase “loot bags” for Php 1,250 each. The loot bag itself is an eco bag, and each will contain a random Revoltech Yamaguchi action figure or set of action figures, along with a few other goodies.

 

“Each bag contains a random Revoltech figure so that people can appreciate the brand, as well as start their very own collection,” said Yu.

 

The standard retail price range of a Revoltech Yamaguchi figure is between Php 1,900 and Php 2,100. Php 1,250 for a loot bag is “basically around 40% off the retail price,” stated Yu.

 

“You even get more goodies aside from the figure itself,” said Yu. In addition to the figure, the bag will also contain a limited edition poster, a specially-made ball pen with “Revoltech Philippines” on it, a Revoltech Philippines bag tag, and an Arigatoys gift certificate.

 

The best photographs to come out of Arigatoy Collectibles’ recently-held toy photography contest will be featured in the posters.

 

“The posters will be the winning entries from our photo contest. So we will be giving away, so far, around 5 different poster designs.” These designs will include the winner of the contest and four honorable mentions.

 

As for which possible Revoltech figures the bags will contain, Harvey Yu mentioned a few examples, such as the five different Evangelion units, an exclusive Gurren Lagann set that includes four figures, Vic Viper from Anubis: Zone of Enders, Monster Hunter dragons, and the Danbo and Yotsuba summer vacation re-release.

 

All figures will come in unopened boxes, so they will be in mint condition. “There’s a chance for you to get all items, including the exclusive Gurren Lagann set of four,” said Yu. “That’s four figures in one bag. So that’s an automatic Php 6,000 peso item for only Php 1,250.”

 

In line with their goals regarding the other three brands, Yu hopes the Mystery Bag event will serve the purpose of spreading awareness of the Revoltech Yamaguchi. “There are a lot of people who don’t know about Revoltech products. There are some who get turned off by the price. But the truth is, when you get the figure, you get a lot; you get more than what you pay for. So that’s what we’re planning to do. We got sponsored by Revoltech to have an event that will allow people to get to know the brand better.”

 

There will be a limited quantity of loot bags at the Arigatoys booth, so expect it to become a race to purchase and collect all the figures available.

 

Making a mark: the possible future of the toy community and industry

 

This December’s Toycon won’t be Arigatoys Collectibles’ last. They will be present for next year’s summer Toycon as well, for which they plan some more interesting reveals.

 

“We’ve been talking with Kotobukiya,” explained Yu. “We’ve been in discussion with them whether we can bring their prototype figures here so that we can display something that’s never been seen before. The gray, unpainted figures. So far they’ve been very cooperative about it.”

 

He added: “For June of next year, I don’t know yet which exact figures they’ll be giving us, but they’ve already said that they will be giving something to us. So that’s already assured. We’re very excited for that.”

 

When and if this does happen, it will be the first time in history that a popular, international toy company allows its hotly-anticipated products to be revealed on Philippine soil.

 

“So far there hasn’t been one,” said Yu, speaking of prototype reveals in the country. “If the event pushes through, it will be very good. It will be awesome for Philippines. It’s going to be a mark, because we’re really trying to grow the market here in the Philippines. What we want to do is, of course, we want to pursue those items directly from Kotobukiya, because we want them to know that there is a market for their products here.”

 

Yu and his partners in Arigatoys Collectibles are themselves devoted figure collectors, and are proud to be part of the local toy community.

 

As for the Christmas Toycon, Yu had the following message for those who are considering attending:

 

“I hope you can come because there are a lot of things in store for you that you might not have seen yet. And hopefully, it will encourage you to start your own collection.

 

“We will be there, all four of us (the Arigatoys Collectibles partners) will be there. We will be there for any questions that you might have, any concerns, whatever you want to know, we will be there.”

 

This year’s Christmas Toycon will be held at the 5th floor of SM Megamall Building B, in Megatrade Hall 1, and will be open from 10am to 9pm, from December 13 to December 15. — TJD, GMA News