PREVIEW of Hot Toys Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum

I was one of the privileged few who got to view the Hot Toys Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum before it officially opens on 9 October 2010 till 21 November 2010. Yesterday.sg and I Love Museums had invited me to attend Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition Media Preview on Thursday, 7 October 2010 and what an exhibition it was and is going to be. No 12-inch figure collector or Marvel collector or toy collector or comic lover or art lover or any normal human being in Singapore should miss this event at all. Everyone should view this exhibition at least once IMHO

When you enter, you are first greeted by a 1:1 scale War Machine Statue (unprecedented) specially produced by Hot Toys for this exhibition. This life-size figure is imposing and just draws you in.

I can't wait for the 1:6 version which will be released soon. By the way, this exhibition also showcases 11 x 1:6 scale Hot Toys Iron Man collectible figurines from their "Iron Man" MMS series, including War Machine.

This life-size War Machine stands a towering 7 feet high and has to be one of the highlights of this exhibition.

Although there will be a FREE entry on Sunday 10 October 2010 to this Hot Toys Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum, can you imagine the crowds and screaming children all descending on this place? True aficionados should just pay for the $5 entry fee on all the other days to really truly enjoy this exhibition without the crowds and take in the sights and displays on its own merit.

This Hot Toys Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition first started in Hong Kong as a promotion of Hot Toys Iron Man collectible figures during the release of the "Iron Man 2" film in Hong Kong (as if they need to promote their merchandise! The demand for Hot Toys exceptional products already far outweigh their supply). It was so HOT that it was then exhibited in Taiwan before coming here to Singapore. Check out the unloading and setup process HERE (a behind-the-scenes look)

What is the link between this exhibition of 12-inch figures and the Singapore Philatelic Museum? The great nice people at National Heritage Board and Singapore Philatelic Museum justify this Iron Man exhibition by drawing the link with recently released Marvel stamps in the United States. Kudos to them for making all these possible :) And we get to view these exhibits before Japan does YAY!

There will also be 21 Artist projects customized by acclaimed designers from the US, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. This is Hong Kong director-scriptwriter Derek Kwok's (The Pye-Dog; The Moss) artwork titled "MossMan" - one of my favorites

Another beautiful art piece is this "ULTRA IRON MAN" by ULTRAMAN, Founder of Ultra Design, superfans of Tezuka Osamu, specializing in advertising illustration, character design and toys production. He also collaborated with Hot Toys for projects such as Astro Boy, Black Jack & Pinoko.

His design concept combines elements from his favourite Astro Boy and the Japanese robot in 70s, so that the Iron Man he customized has a strong feeling of robot of earlier times.

This fusion of Iron Man meets Astro Boy really comes together very nicely and I would shell out money for this piece if it was made available because I, too am a fan of both characters.

A beautifully crafted piece and I really like how the anime aspects of Astro Boy gels with the mechanical aspects of Marvel Comics Iron Man.

This exhibit would be even better if the lights were switched on but I guess that would be a logistical nightmare, having to replace the batteries every time it runs out.

This piece is called “To Protect and Serve” by Bernardo Esquivel, 3D Key Artist/Painter & Prototype Fabricator of Sideshow Collectibles, US who has big passion for military history and science fiction movies. Concept inspired by and based on the hit movie “Blue Thunder” in 1983.

I took quite a lot of pictures and will show them in the next post for the benefit of overseas readers who won't get to view this spectacular exhibition. This is truly an exhibition where collectibles meet ART, hence "collARTible" and it's a fantastic way to showcase the quality and value of collectibles to the general public and to get more people excited about these figures thus increasing the collector base which is all good for everyone.

For local readers i.e. all Singaporeans and visitors to Singapore, go visit this Hot Toys Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum from 9th Oct to 21st Nov 2010 and Opening Hours are: Mon (1pm to 7pm); Tue-Sun (9am to 7pm). And don't go on the FREE entry day because you won't get to see much. Pay a visit and you won't regret it.

Part II: Full ON Armor! Iron Men
PART III: The Weird and Wonderful
PART IV: Stark Raving Mad

Related links:
Behind-the-Scenes of Hot Toys Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum posted at Fortress of Testicular Fortitude by good buddy Shaun (a MUST READ!)

Ken Moo's Media Preview - Iron Man CollARTible Exhibition at Singapore Philatelic Museum. Check out this 1.95m tall blogger's post and FLICKR photos

Emerson (another fellow collector who was also at the preview and also goes by the moniker "BloodyJun") has taken beautiful photos of the exhibits - I mean it: this guy's shots are bloody AWESOME!

All credit to www.yesterday.sg and http://www.facebook.com/ILoveMuseums for making all this possible!