Grown-ups who are kids at heart (and real kids with some extra spending money) will have plenty to do at the eighth annual Taipei Toy Festival (台北國際玩具創作大展), which runs through Sunday at Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914).
The event is the largest convention in Asia dedicated exclusively to art toys (commonly referred to as urban vinyl) and character design. Launched in 2004, the event is organized by designer toy importer Monster Taipei (台北怪獸). This year’s edition will feature more than 80 booths and over 200 individual designers, ranging from the team behind well-known brands like kennyswork and Winson Creation to up-and-coming artists.
Monster Taipei says it expects a total of 38,000 visitors over the course of the event. The first 500 visitors each day will receive a limited edition figure and are eligible to enter drawings for prizes like a round-trip plane ticket to Hong Kong (where designer toys first gained popularity during the mid-1990s), Hong Kong Disney tickets, an Asmus Toy 12-inch figure and WaveMonkey hats, belts and limited edition CDs.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The festival is known to collectors for its selection of hard-to-find limited edition figures. Highlights this year include the surreal Three-Eyed Mickey, a collaboration between Clot Inc (Edison Chen’s (陳冠希) T-shirt company), Los Angeles-based MINDstyle and Disney.
The year’s event will shine a spotlight on Old Master Q (老夫子), the classic comic book character that has entertained readers in Chinese-speaking countries for nearly half a century. Joseph Wong (王澤), the son of Old Master Q creator Alfonso Wong (王家禧) and the series’ current author, collaborated with toy designers for a special exhibition focused on the series. It will include original manuscripts and one-off handmade figures.
Today’s events include autograph signing sessions with Taiwanese designers Kasing Lung (龍家昇) and Captain Butter (奶油隊長) and American artist Amanda Visell. Fans can line up tomorrow to meet the designers of Japanese brand Dankeschoen, Old Master Q’s Joseph Wong, Hong Kong designer Kenny Wong (王信明) of Kennyswork, Spencer Ong of Rotobox and David Quiles of Outta My Mind Creations. The event closes on Sunday with a signing session by the artists of Taiwan Comix 3, an anthology, and a “live painting” session with the artists behind Devilrobots.
Photo courtesy of Monster Taipei
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