Kaiju Korner: 2009 Taipei Toy Festival Report

Another year, another TTF! Hard to believe this is already the 6th go around! Once again the show, which runs for 4 days, has attracted companies and designers from all over Asia, and some from North America and Europe.

As the show has gotten bigger every year, it has outgrown its original location and has moved to a downtown art space which once housed a factory complex.

Folks lined up early to get the free giveaway toy and be the first in line for some of the many show exclusives. The folks at the front of the line told me they arrived at 4:30 AM. When I rolled up at 9:00 the weather was already hot, but the worst was yet to come...

The show is being held inside one of the former factory buildings, which is pretty decent sized. Unfortunately, just this morning, the air con malfunctioned, and with thousands of people pouring in, the heat quickly became stifling. Matter of fact, it was hotter inside than outside!

For about an hour from noon to one, I took refuge in the restaurant next door and enjoyed a cold Hoegarden and hot calzoni. Good stuff!

Fortunately, they fixed the problem by the early afternoon, and it was pretty comfortable in the building afterwards.

Since there was is much going on at the show, I've decide to divide my report into a few parts. First, the sofubi.

Paradise:

This booth got a lot of attention, as the show had exclusives from Biskup, T9G, etc.

The TxT figures will not be sold at the show but rather at an event hosted by Paradise at their shop in Taipei.

Spanky:

One up:

Awesome Dead Presidents customs at the One up booth!

Secret Base:

Check out the new figure based on English's Supersize Me figure. It's made in Japan by Secret Base, with the first version set to launch at SDCC later this month.