Geek-Tastic!: Archon and the Geeks of Cebu - Color Article by Bayani Miguel Acebedo

When I was in high-school, I was a part in organizing one of the biggest Otaku events in Cebu: Archon. I was always excited about it because it was a chance for me to be surrounded by my own kind. Sure the geek culture has become more celebrated now, but back then, it was one of the weirdest things to be a geek. Geeks were the kids who didn’t care about socializing. They brought their card games to school and played with them during recess and lunch. They didn’t care about what people thought about them, and they were always welcome to talking with people who had the same interests.

if people HAD the same interests

Archon was when I could be around people who loved everything that I did, some even loved them more. In Archon, I saw some of my favorite characters come to life (well, depending on how good the costume was), and I could see rows of people playing with trading cards and video games. It was like running into a family reunion, only everyone in this family understood you.

This year, they celebrated Archon X, the tenth anniversary of the convention. I could say, from the earlier years that I’ve been attending the event, they’ve added a few more features. Back then, there were barely any toy exhibits for the people to see. Myself being a former toy collector would always awe at the collections that these people would bring in. The video game scene has also become bigger. The rows of people playing back then are just few compared to the gamers attending Archon now.

Kind of this crowd, but brown and out in public... times 50.

But even though Archon is a well-celebrated event for the Cebuano geek, I feel that there’s something that’s lacking for the fanboys here in Cebu. If you’ve ever been to Manila, you would just drool over all of the geek things that you can find. You can stop by Yexel’s Toy Museum in Las Pinas and marvel over the huge collection of figures and statues. They even have an in-scale Optimus Prime torso (I guess the full-body one can’t fit in the store). There’s also the Sci-Fi Café in Quezon City which, apart from being littered with tons of pop-culture memorabilia, serves nerd-tastic delights such as the “Supreme Man Pizza” and the “Planet of the Shrimps”. Not even to mention the countless other conventions that they have going on there.

Too bad "Schindler's Fish" didn't fall in the Sci-Fi category

I guess Cebuano geeks have a long wait before we can have the nerdy treats that Manila has to offer, but in the meantime, let’s enjoy the company of our fellow Nerd-folk. Live long and prosper.