Andy
Sat 29th & Sun 30th April 2017 will be here in no time. London will be preparing for the art designer toy onslaught. ToyCon UK 2017 will see some changes…. 2 awesome days of fun! Yes, one extra day! More art toys, what more could you ask for? This will be the 5th year of TCUK, and we can already predict this will be the best of the lot. Double the toy art porn & fun. Here’s the floor plan so you guys can prepare to guide yourselves round ToyCon as well as some tips for attendees.
This is just our personal experience from past few ToyCon UK shows and ideas that might help the reader (please note this is just guide & everything is a personal view )
- Get there early, if you are looking to buy exclusive and/or limited edition items.
- If you are looking to buy exclusives jot down which ones are your priority, this way you will know which booth to go to first and less chance of missing out on the item you want.
- Don’t forget to check your favourite artist releases, some exclusives might be released on a specific day.
- Carry some cash with you, because not all booths will accept credit cards/PayPal. Get your cash out before you enter the hall (BP Petrol Station over the road from the venue on 339 Cambridge Road has a cash machine)
- Some artists will sign/doodle things, like sketchbook/toys, but please remember they will be busy and don’t bug them too much if they decline – don’t take it to heart. If you don’t have Blank DIY toys etc there will be vendors with blank toys – so you can purchase them at the venue).
- Make sure you’ve printed your tickets out.
- Some Vendors/ Booths have goodie bags & giveaways – so make sure you check out all their social channels. Our booth The Toy Chronicle will be having a few giveaways 🙂
- The worst thing to happen is for a fan bringing more than 3 items for artists to sign and then finding them on eBay a day later! Please don’t do it and have respect for the artist!
- There will be question & answers sessions with artists on Centre stage., so prepare some questions you would like to ask. Bring a notepad & pen – you might learn a few things from artist/customizers sharing their tips and guides.
- Take a shopper or tote bag with you, those toy boxes get heavy quick and some sellers won’t have bags. Plus in England, it’s 5p for a plastic bag. Save the environment and money to buy more vinyl, resin, plush, pins etc 🙂
- On the booths there will be flyers/business cards – pick them up, sometimes there are discount codes for future purchases!
- Please don’t haggle the prices. Artists work far too hard and don’t make that much money on toys – with the hours they put into their work. If you’re looking for a few bargains, last year we found a couple of booths doing a little bit of discount towards the end of the con.
- Take your time to look around, always hidden gems. It’ll be quieter in the afternoon, so will give you more of a chance to wander around again to see if you have missed anything.
- Take your chance to see everything in hand, much better than photos and videos.
- Buy it quickly or you will regret it (happened to us before)
- If you break it, you buy it.
- Take photos of ToyConUK then upload them and hashtag it to #TheToyChronicle you might get something through the post
- Most important is to ENJOY the experience and look at artist work you wouldn’t normally look at or interest you, you might be surprised at what you find!
- Spend time at every booth, even if you don’t know the exhibitor, you might find a new love or something you didn’t think you would fall in love with.
- This year there will be plenty of live art and workshops etc, so make sure you have taken note of the time.
Tips from Exhibitors
- Check if it’s ok to handle products on booths before picking things up. Some people are fine with it, others aren’t so keen.
- Don’t be afraid to chat to people running the booths. We really enjoyed chatting with to people over the years, not everyone will put a face to a name they have seen on the internet so don’t be taken back by it.
- Need food and a little drink? don’t worry bar/cafe open all day for everyone, just don’t buy too many beers for Gary. Plenty of places to grab a bite to eat n drink over at Bethnal Green road and cater for all kind of diners including a “cracking veggi restaurant which does take out right next door to the venue too.. Great breakfasts in there -Doktor A“
- Most important is to have fun and enjoy the day.
The ToyConUK 2017 Booth Floor Plan
Don’t be shy and come over to our booth and say hi
See you all April 29th and 30th.
SAT, 29 APR 2017, 10:00 – SUN, 30 APR 2017, 17:00 BST
Buy tickets now at http://www.toyconuk.com/buy-tickets
You can find all the LIVE streams via our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/thetoychronicle/ give us a like if you haven’t already, a like goes a long way.
Don’t forget to check out ToyConUK on Instagram and Facebook too.
