I've waited so long for the Gunpla Expo to roll into town that it feels anticlimactic to visit only once and be done with it. In order to fully enjoy all that the Expo has to offer I've gone three times now, with plans for a fourth trip later this week.
My first visit was on the 19th, so that I could drop off my submission for the 2015 GBWC. The Expo hadn't technically opened to the public yet, and as a result there wasn't much to see aside from the other GBWC entries. I went again on Sunday the 23rd to watch the official master of Gunpla, Meijin Kawaguchi, announce the winners of the GBWC (more on that later), as well as experience the Expo in full swing. However, two complications occurred on Sunday that forced me to consider returning to the Expo the following day: to my embarrassment I'd left my camera's battery in it's charger back at my home, meaning I had only the subpar camera built into my phone available to me (dejavu!), and the crowds on Sunday were so intense that it was impossible to enjoy any of the Expo's activities without fighting my way through throngs of people or waiting in dreadfully long lines.
Thus today after work I made a third trip to the Gunpla Expo, arriving an hour before closing time, in hopes that it would be a much more pleasant experience. Maybe I'm just looking for excuses to go to the Expo as many times as possible before it packs up and I have to wait a year for the next one, but in my defense when I arrived at the Expo this evening there was a significant decrease in the number of people in attendance. This allowed me to leisurely browse the display cases featuring the latest Gunpla fresh from Japan, toy around with several of the activities, and best of all I was able to complete the stamp rally without having to stand in any lines.
The stamp rally is a mini-game of sorts designed to encourage attendees to check out everything the Expo has to offer. Located throughout the convention hall are 15 stations, each featuring a task that should be completed in order to earn a stamp. Tasks include voting for a Gunpla in the GBWC, taking a survey, making a blog post about the Expo and showing your post to staff (easy!), buying something (...), etc. Once all 15 stamps have been obtained the attendee has a chance to draw a ticket from the lottery box, and on that ticket is written a prize. I got the 15 stamps with barely any hassle but I'll collect my prize later this week, when I make my fourth trip to the Expo to retrieve my Gunpla submission.
It's a silly thing, but going back and forth to the Expo as often as I like makes me appreciate that I'm an adult. For example, I saw my Gunpla-loving 5th grade student at the Expo on Sunday. He had come with his dad, and for all I know this was his one chance to attend. Being a child, his desires have to first be approved by his parents, and even then what he wants may not be deemed what's best for him. Meanwhile, I can do whatever I want, and if that means going to the Gunpla Expo four times in a week than no one gets to stop me!
On the flip side, his dad bought him a Perfect Grade Gundam 00 Raiser plus a Gunpla Expo-exclusive base stand, so he may in fact have the upper hand after all.
Well... at least I got my photos!
Well... at least I got my photos!
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