Toymaker goes Japan!

Yes! Like what  the title says, I'm going to Japan tonight! My last trip there was 10 years ago. So I am pretty excited about it. 

Being a Gunpla hobbists, I am like returning to the motherland of Gundams. I will visit as many hobby stores as possible over the span of 8 days. Mission: to research what makes our Japanese counterparts tick? Looking at completed models on magazine help very little. But seeing them  up close and personal will put things in perspective! Hopefully, I will find the breakthrough that I have been seeking for a while now. 

Well, I am going to indulge myself with the local delicacies and gorged myself to death! And I am going to visit this! 

So expect to see lots of pics one week from now. Woohoo...!!!!!

Transformers Cybertron Con - Very soon..

 Some new updates on the even itself... 

STELLAR LINE UP UNVEILED AHEAD OF

RESORTS WORLD ™ SENTOSA TRANSFORMERS CYBERTRON CON 2012

Fans to look forward to expert panel sessions, Con exclusives, 50 customised model kits and more.

Singapore, 4 March 2012 – With less than a week remaining to the biggest TRANSFORMERS event to hit Southeast Asia, branded play company, Hasbro (Singapore), the organisers for the upcoming RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA SINGAPORE TRANSFORMERS CYBERTRON CON 2012 (‘Cybertron Con’), has announced a series of special opportunities for TRANSFORMERS fans to look forward to.

Led by displays of TRANSFORMERS toys, collectibles, video games,  and more, the Cybertron Con, held at the Resorts World Convention Centre, Compass Ballroom, from 11 to 14 March 2012, will also offer fans an inside look into the breadth of upcoming releases and products via a four-day spectacle of panel sessions with TRANSFORMERS brand stewards, designers and more. Fans can expect to learn the latest developments from the brand including details on the upcoming fall release of the ‘Fall of Cybertron’ video game, upcoming products from the TRANSFORMERS: Prime line.

Panel Sessions

Giving fans a peek behind the curtain and an inside look into what’s coming in the future of TRANSFORMERS, the Cybertron Con line-up of panel sessions are as follows:

Sunday, 11 March
2:00pm – 3:00pm	General Interview Panel by TRANSFORMERS Brand Team and Takara Tomy Team
4:00pm – 5:00pm	TRANSFORMERS: Prime Panel Presented by Hasbro Studios and Polygon Pictures
Monday, 12 March
2:00pm – 3:00pm	‘Behind the Scenes of TRANSFORMERS: Prime’ Panel Presented by Hasbro Studios and Polygon Pictures
3:00pm – 4:00pm	Takara Tomy Brand Panel
Tuesday, 13 March
5:00pm – 6:00pm	Hasbro Studios ‘Art of Animation’ Panel

Joining design legend Hideaki Yoke, the newly announced special guests are:

§  President of Hasbro Studios, Stephen Davis;

§  TRANSFORMERS Global Brand Director, Jerry Jiovin;

§  TRASNFORMERS Global Brand Design & Development Vice President, Aaron Archer;

§  Vice President of Production, Hasbro Studios, Kathy Page (producer, The Spectacular Spiderman, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry);

§  Jeff Kline (producer, TRANSFORMERS: Prime, G.I. Joe: Renegades, Men In Black: The Series);

§  President/CEO of Polygon Pictures Inc., Shuzo Shiota (producer, TRANSFORMERS: Prime); and

§  Jose Lopez (designer, Godzilla, Green Lantern: First Flight, Men In Black: The Series).

For a complete list and bios of the special guests at Cybertron Con, please visit www.cybertroncon.com.

Variations of DMK Optimus Prime and Bumblebee

11 more days to Singapore Cybertron Convention! As you guys might have know by now, works by local modelers will be put on display. I am glad that some of them allowed me to publish their works here. So let me present to you their latest masterpieces. 

Image from Open the Toy

MG Gundam Age-1 Normal - First Look

Admit it, most of you out there are probably not Gundam Age fans. It could be the anime which IMO tailored for the younger generation rather than us the oldies. But to be frank, I enjoyed this series. My son loves it as well. He bought a couple of 1/144s from the series too. 

When Bandai announced the release of Master Grade Gundam Age, I thought the response was at best, lukewarm. But somehow, I feel that this new MG could be something altogether. Hence, to generate interest, I organized a Group Build for Gundam Age. 

I managed to get one when it was released here and boy, this is a surprise package! In terms of engineering, the shoulder joints were remodeled to give better articulation. THe proportion just right and construction is relatively straightforward. There is no seam lines at all! 

DMK Nemesis Prime and Ultra Magnus

A few months ago, I was approached to build a Transformer kit for Singapore's first ever Cybertron Con. We have two Dual Model Kits (DMK) to choose from. Both Leon and I opted for Optimus Prime.These DMKs are hot stuff and much sought after in the market. 

Leon decided to do Nemesis Prime version while I do Ultra Magnus. It took me two months to finish this. It is longer than expected but I wasn't working on it everyday. The DMK is much different compared to Bandai Kits. But the details on the internals are fantastic. I had a great time painting them. Since I doing a white colour scheme, I needed to get blue flames decals from Samuel's and thanks to him, I got them within a week! 

MG Age-1 Normal Group Build organized by Hobby Art Gallery

Hobby Art Gallery has announced a Master Grade Age-1 Normal Group Build. The deadline for this build will be 1 May 2012. Participants are required to bring their finished model down to HAW on that day. A prize (to be revealed later) will be awarded to the best MG Age-1.

You can come up with alternate colour schemes and/ or new concepts, light/ heavy modifications. And as an added incentive for the Group Build, all participants can register and buy MG Age-1 at 30% off SRP. Upon submission of the entry, participants will also receive a discount coupon for their next purchase at Hobby Art Gallery/ Hobby Art @ Work.

This discount coupon entitles participants to:-

1.  10% discount on accessories;
2.  10% off the retail price for Bandai Model kits (HAW/HAG retail prices)

For those of you who are interested, please register your interest at Hobby Art @ Work (HAW) when you purchase the MG Gundam Age there. Announcements will be made when the kit hits Singapore shores! I highly encourage this as I will be there at the meet and share my build as well. See you all in May!

Links related to the GB.


http://hobbyartatwork.blogspot.com/2012/02/mg-age-1-normal-group-build.html


http://www.facebook.com/events/348174988535995/

Transformers Cybertron Con 2012

For all the Transformers fans out there, I have great news for you guys. Come March 2012, Singapore will have her first ever Transformers Cybertron Convention at Resorts World Convention Centre in Resort World Sentosa. There is no doubt that this is going to be big and all of you TF fans out there better make yourself available for this party. And the best part is. we will be the first country in Southeast Asia to have this event! 

Gundam Heavyarms - First Look

I went back to Gunpla because of Gundam Wing series. And that was more than 10 years ago. Back then, I had to contend with High Grades only and was wondering why Bandai did not release master grade versions. So when they announce just that, I was ecstatic even though the wait was really long. HA is my favorite for the series as I like heavy weaponry/ armament mechas. I painted three HGs (1/100) for this one!