The annual Great Singapore Sale (GSS) just started last Friday and that day also marked the beginning of the June school holidays!  A lot of Singaporeans have reportedly been shopping at full throttle during the long weekend.  It seems that no matter how the economy really is, people will always find ways to spend even more on so called bargain hunts! 

It’s the same for toy collectors.  Now it’s a good time to splurge on toys from the departmental stores, where most of them are giving at least 20% storewide discounts till 25 July 2010!  Some local toy shops might join in the GSS and offer discounts on some of their toys too.  My $$ damage has yet to come because the toys I want are not released in the stores yet.  Hopefully they make it in time for the GSS discounts, even though they are new arrivals!

So how’s your $$ damage on toys purchased during the GSS?  Or is it really much too early to tell?  Feel free to share your comments here!

Overall I found the whole event this year very disappointing.  Not only because I didn’t have anything to buy, but mainly because there were too few stalls.  In short, I was better off visiting the Sunday Toy Market at China Square Central on a random week!

From the beginning I was already skeptical about the Toy Carnival 2010.  Since it was part of a much larger gaming exhibition, it inevitably became a ’supporting cast’ instead, and in a very small section right at the back of the hall some more!

Furthermore, I totally dislike going to the Expo on a long weekend where so many other events were happening there on the same day.  There were the Food Fest, John Little Sale, Popular Bookstore Sale, and some furniture events on the same weekend too!

Hence the moment I stepped onto the Expo MRT station platform, I just felt like leaving immediately because of the large crowds, and not to mention the hot and humid weather!  The walkways outside the individual halls were so packed with people that I had to walk outside in the heat instead. 

So how about you?  Did you make any great toy purchases at the Toy Carnival 2010?  I know some toy collectors did, but I think they were the minority.  Most of us feel shortchanged when we went all the way there to squeeze with the crowds.  I hope the organizers of the Toy Carnival will bring the event back to SAM, like in 2009 in the coming years!

This blog post is a follow up from an earlier one that I posted a few days ago - “Did you ever regret from delayed buying of toys?”

What I mean is that at some stages of your toy collecting hobby, you tell yourself that you want to take a break or stop collecting a toyline altogether.  Then some months or years later, you suddenly feel that you really want those toys (that you had intentionally skipped) after all.

This happened to me for the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) 2007 Exclusive Super Hero My Little Pony (left).  She was available for sale at a local toy shop for a reasonable price that year but I skipped her, thinking that I didn’t wish to collect so many ponies anymore. Then I regretted my decision in the following year and I had to import her myself for a slightly higher price, and with some hassle.

Another scenario is when you see the toys you want at great abundance in every retail store you go, that you feel no hurry to get them.  You assume that the toys will still be there when you have the time to go back and buy them, or perhaps after you clear some space at home first before buying it.  You even procrastinate for months and even years, or forgot about it.

Then the inevitable happens - the toys you wanted were sold out or no longer available in all the retail stores, except in the resale market for much higher prices.  But you want those toys so badly that you put in last ditch efforts to hunt for them, and hopefully find them in some isolated store at the original retail prices or less.  If not, you’ve got to buy them at resale prices for $x more, but you will get them, at last.

So do you catch up on missed toy purchases too?  Or are you able to really totally forget them and just move on, never to ever turn back and hunt for them at all?  Do feel free to share your comments here!

It’s Vesak Day here in Singapore today, and a public holiday too.  Hence I take a blogging break. 

To those who celebrate this special occasion, Happy Vesak Day to you!  To the rest, happy holiday and enjoy your long weekend!

The Great Singapore Sale is here once more! 

Time passes by so quickly isn’t it?  It’s been another year and many of us in Singapore are looking forward to splurging, or making impulse purchases during this sale period (28 May - 25 July 2010).  

Happy shopping everyone!  I know I will, LOL!

Yes, the Singapore Toy Carnival is back in Singapore this year and this time, it will be held at the Singapore Expo (next to Expo MRT Station)!  As stated in the above banner, this annual toy event will be held over this coming long weekend.  The floor plan of the exhibition hall is also available online.

We have a public holiday on this Friday (Vesak’s Day), hence I’ll most probably visit the carnival on that day to check out what interesting potential toys there are to shop for or admire there!  I’m sure quite a lot of local toy collectors will attend the Toy Carnival too.  Have a great time there this weekend!

Yup, that pretty much asked it all!  Sometimes in the course of toy collecting (and perhaps in other aspects of life), you thought that you could do without a certain toy or decide to buy it later.  Then when that toy became sold out or no longer available (because it’s passe stock), you suddenly want to kick yourself for not getting it when it was widely available everywhere then. 

Perhaps, you thought that you could bet on the lucky chance of getting it at a clearance sale some day. But alas that hopeful day never came, and the reality set in that the toy had ‘disappeared’ out of your reach, locally.  The other option is to specially import it yourself (e.g. from ebay) and usually at a higher price, though they could sometimes be cheaper.

Some collectors would claim that they would forget it and just move on.  Others would keep dwelling on that horrible regretful feeling that keeps tormenting their poor souls day and night.  Sometimes it can be difficult to decide when is a good time to buy toys - when they are right in front of you on the retail shelves at original retail prices, at clearance sales, or when your paycheck comes etc.?

So did you ever feel regret from delayed buying of certain toys too?  If yes, how did you deal with it?  Do feel free to share your comments here!

G.I.Joe POC action figures - wave 1

When I first saw the above photo of the 2010 G.I.Joe The Pursuit of Cobra (POC) wave 1 figures, the first thought in my mind was ”wow”!  They look like the classics line brought into the real life movie universe, very nice!  I don’t know if they are mostly new molds or repaints.  Can someone confirm that?

This G.I.Joe toyline is called ” The Pursuit of Cobra”, so that implies that Cobra escaped soon after the movie and is on the run for 2010 right?  Then what happened to poor Destro?  Is he still stuck in prison?  LOL!

I like that new sceptre of Cobra Commander.  Everyone in this wave looks more heavily armoured and weaponized than before.  Look at Storm Shadow (the white ninja), he now has 4 katanas!  Good gosh, how many Joes is he expecting to slash in 2010?  Oh, it also means that Storm Shadow survived from the movie!

These POC toys are scheduled for worldwide release in the coming months (around 3rd quarter).  If you collect them, keep your fingers crossed that we’ll see them in our local departmental stores too, and hopefully at lower prices than the 2009 G.I.Joe The Rise of Cobra (ROC) movie toys!  Happy saving and waiting for these cool toys!

HFTD Scout action figures - wave 1

Top row (from left): Backfire & Brimstone

Bottom row (HFTD): Crankstart & Hubcap

These are the wave 1 figures 2010 Transformers Hunt for the Decepticons (HFTD) toyline.  I wonder how many local fans and collectors are keen on collecting them.  The Scout class Transformers movie figures tend to be lower profile compared to their Deluxe, Voyager and even Legends counterparts.  Like the rest of the HFTD toyline, we expect to see these HFTD Scout toys in Singapore departmental stores in the coming months ahead!  Happy waiting for them!

HFTD Voyager action figures - wave 1

From top to bottom: Seaspray, Payload & Night Ratchet

Here we have yet more repaints of existing Transformers toys from the 2007 - 2009 movie toylines.  I’m not sure if Seaspray is also a repaint. 

The above 3 figures from the new and upcoming 2010 Transformers Hunt for the Decepticons (HFTD) toyline will released around the the 3rd quarter of 2010 at mass retail. 

If you are still keen on collecting these Transformers toys, you can start to look out for their arrival to Singapore in the coming months.  Happy waiting for them to come here!

Note: Meanwhile the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) toys in the local departmental stores have gone on clearance sale at last!  Read more at my previous blog post!