Darna, Trese, and other Filipino toys at ToyCon Philippines

July 20, 2022

The Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectible Convention or ToyCon PH has been going on for 19 years now. It’s also Asia’s biggest and longest-running toy convention, reeling in around 30,000 people every year. It was my first ToyCon and my first big event since the pandemic, so it was a bit overwhelming. In the end it was worth it, seeing all the classic 80s toys I grew up with, but also newer toys made by Filipino artists.

“Sari-sari” toys, stickers, and Darna

It was nice to see Filipino-themed toys in such a pop-culture event dominated by US and Japanese toy culture. And seeing smaller local toy companies and individual artists was inspiring. One booth had a tiny sari-sari store with miniature food items inside. Turns out these adorable little Filipino food miniatures are made by Scher Paddilla at @Chibicravings.

Sari sari store toy with miniature Filipino food by Scher Padilla of Chibicravings — Sari sari store toy with miniature Filipino food by Scher Padilla of @Chibicravings.

Under the tindahan or store were samples of her tiny works. There were small bottles of Red Horse, San Mig Light, and even boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts.

Miniature Filipino food items by Scher Padilla of Chibicravings — Miniature Filipino food items by Scher Padilla of @Chibicravings.

She even had small frying pans filled with different kinds of food, like fried eggs and even one with 3 tiny longganisa.

Little longganisa miniature art pieces by Scher Padilla of Chibicravings — Little longganisa miniature art pieces by Scher Padilla of @Chibicravings.

There were also artists featuring their own stickers. There was one of a character named “Man From Manila” by LAB520 and JeAA. And another of Darna by Lino Reyes of @vectorizta.

Man From Manila sticker by LAB520 by JeAA — “Man From Manila’ sticker by LAB520 by JeAA.

Darna sticker by Vectorizta — Darna sticker by Lino Reyes of @Vectorizta.

Speaking of Darna, there is a new television series by ABS-CBN featuring the super hero coming out soon. The stars of the show actually showed up later in the day, but thankfully I missed it as I was avoiding the growing crowds. Luckily I got to see all of the Darna paraphernalia instead.

Darna superhero statue at ToyCon — A large statue of Darna beside the ToyCon main stage.

Darna action figure toy by Ravelo Comics, figure sculpted by LooseCollector and produced by Halimaw Sculptures.

Darna action figure toy in packaging. — The Darna action figure in its packaging. The action figure is currently P3,500 or $60 USD.

Filipino vinyl figures

As expected at a ToyCon, there were lots of vinyl figures, and of course Funko pop toy figures. I couldn’t find any Filipino Funko pop toys, like Darna or that Mickey Mouse with a barong, but there were a few non-Funko vinyls that featured the Philippine flag colors.

Skull vinyl figure toy with Philippine flag colors — Cool-looking skull figure called “DKS” by local artist Craig Ecleo of @Yourblankhere. Its robe reminds me of that sorcerer Mickey Mouse in Fantasia.

Puso vinyl figure toy by JonT with Pilipinas hoodie fand flag colors inspired by pet French Bulldog — A character named “Puso” in a Pilipinas hoodie by artist JonT. It’s inspired by their pet French Bulldog.

ZETA Manila Killa vinyl toy figures - Mega Zeta and Micro Zeta in Philippine flag colors — This figure is called “ZETA Manila Killa”, the big one is Mega Zeta and the small one is Micro Zeta. By Filipino artist Quiccs.

TEQ63 vinyl figure toy with Philippine flag colors at Anatoy booth — This character is called TEQ63, and is featured in Philippine flag colors. By Filipino artist Quiccs.

TEQ63 Filipino key chain at Anatoy booth — A keychain of TEQ63 in Philippine flag colors.

Quiccs is a popular visual artist and toy designer based in Manila. His toy character V63 was featured on all of the ToyCon materials. I liked how hip hop and Voltes V was incorporated in this toy, with the Adidas shoes, large hoodie, and Voltes V helmet. It turns out that Quiccs works in several mediums incorporating street art and graffiti.

Another hip-hop and Voltes V-inspired toy was VOLTES V: Mecha Streetwear Series figure, designed by Cebu-based Ken Hensly of Kensuke Creations and produced by RLUX Customs.

V63 vinyl figures by Filipino toy designer Quiccs — Up front are renditions of a toy character called “V63” by Filipino artist Quiccs, inspired by Voltes V. In the back is a streetwear version of Voltes V designed by Cebu-based Ken Hensly of Kensuke Creations and produced by RLUX Customs.

Manananggal action figure

What really caught my eye was a detailed action figure of a Manananggal or a spirit that separates from its bottom half and flies around. The name comes from the Tagalog word tanggal, which means to remove or separate. Beside her were creepy Tiyanaks or basically zombie babies that trick or attack people. The name Tiyanak is derived from the Tagalog words patay anak or “dead baby”.

Manananggal with tiyanak babies action figures — A great-looking Manananggal action figure, along with a small army of Tiyanaks.

Tiyanak king by LooseCollector — A Tiyanak king complete with horns.

Trese action figures

Last but not least, there were awesome figures and statues of the Filipino komik character Trese. The Trese series had just come out about a year ago, and brought the Filipino comic to more people. The comic itself premiered in 2005, and features detective Alexandra Trese who taps the powers of the unseen and unknown to solve mysteries. Particularly powers & spirits of Filipino lore.

Spotted these older action figures based from the original Trese komiks, which were drawn in black and white.

Trese action figure toy from ToyCon 2018 — Older Trese figures from 2018.

There were also newer action figures featuring two versions of Alexandra Trese, her normal form, and one of her Sinag or “flash of light” form. It actually glows in the dark! The newer toys are by the company LooseCollector. You can buy them online at Shopee here.

Trese and Tresa Sinag or flash of light action figure toy — Newer Trese action figures by LooseCollector.

Along with Alexandra my next favorite characters in the Trese komiks and series are the twins or Kambal, Crispin and Basilio. They’re Alexandra’s masked backup and bodyguards, and essentially demigod twin brothers with a big sense of humor.

Large Trese with Twins or Kambal Crispin and Basilio — An Alexandra Trese and Kambal sculpture by Legendary Beast Studios.

More toys

Everything Everywhere All at Once action figure toy — There was also a toy from the movie “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.”

Optimus Prime statue from Transformers — Optimus Prime from Transformers.

Cyborg or robot Lucky Cat toy — A cyborg or robot and mustached rendition of a “Lucky Cat” or Maneki-neko.

Noodles toy with sneakers — This must be the Lucky Me noodles with ethylene oxide.

Large Jollibee funko statue — A huge Jollibee Funko statue.

Are Filipino toys international ones too?

Astro Boy and a boy at ToyCon Philippines 2022 — A young boy with a larger-than-life Astro Boy, a classic manga and anime character originating from Japan.

As long as kids play, there will always be objects they play with. However I didn’t see any renditions of toys played by Filipino kids across the country. No jolens marbles with cool designs, no mechanical fighting spiders, no DIY slingshot toys or tirador, no drone-saranggola hybrids, no free-standing ligid-ligid or kariling wheels that don’t fall even while stationary, and no sungka.

Kids these days especially during the pandemic, are often seen playing apps and videos on their parent’s phones, linking them with others around the world. Even if they aren’t playing with phones, they watch cartoons whose primary purpose is to sell plastic versions of themselves all over the world. One day, when they get older, they’ll see these toys at a ToyCon and feel the same nostalgia I felt walking around last week. I just hope that by that time, every child, Filipino or not, can actually afford to buy them. Even better, all the DIY toys kids play regardless of means, can get the spotlight too.