Following World Cyber Games (WCG), Singapore will add another major otaku/geek convention to the calendar of events. The SINGAPORE TOY & COMIC CONVENTION (STCC) will be the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.
STCC 2008 – 27 to 29 June @ Suntec SICEC
The convention, modelled after San Diego Comics Convention and the Tokyo Game Show, is organised by Play Imaginative – the people behind the conceived-in-Singapore urban vinyl series “Trexi“. The three day event, from 27 to 28 June, will be held at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Check out the official event web page for programme and updates. Since Play Imaginative has its roots in the urban vinyl culture, you can expect a significant representation from this niche.
Urban Vinyl: Levi’s Ltd Edition Danny Chan x Ultraman 12″ Figure (from Vinyl Pulse via the Fortress of Testicular Fortitude)
It’s a little tricky to label urban vinyl collectors as ‘otakus’, because the urban vinyl is associated with the hip and trendy street fashion culture and clubbing lifestyle. Urban vinyl may be an offspring of Akihabara’s otaku culture (figurines, limited edition collector items etc) – but its growth is nurtured by the Shibuya fashionistas & Harajuku street style. Certainly, there’s no mutual identification between those who haunt Akihabara and the tribes that hang out at Shibuya/Harajuku.
Otaku Fashion? Fashionable Otaku?
But of course, being a geek and being fashionable are not mutually exclusive states. There are geeks who can dress up and look convincingly fashionable.
0ne x Ultraman with 8″ dressed in Levi’s. Galaxy Wide Limited 1 piece only.
The phailures are the posers trying to look fashionably geek. What separates the real geek /otaku from the fashionista – A true otaku pursues mental/spiritual gratification when he indulges in the hobby, while a wannabe craves for superficial materialistic gains and ‘glamour’. [yes...following the logic of the 2D vs 3D debate, and why we otakus love to fap so much]
