A Virtual Figure Gathering

It has been a long time since I formally met or gathered with my figure friends, in the sense that I intended solely to meet them for the fullest length of time and not be involved in anything else grander with or without them, such as going to an event or convention. However, current conditions have forced many of us to be compartmentalized, and a face-to-face meeting is out of the question. Therefore, like many meetings held in this day and age, it was decided that one is to be held virtually through a conference video call. That meeting happened today in the afternoon, and it was a neat one to say the least.

More than 20 people signed up for the gathering, as evidenced through a standby group prior to the gathering. Once the gathering happened, it was quite lively: at its peak, there were at least 12 people present in the conference video call, and it made for something engaging. A few figures were shown off over the course of the gathering by video call, and it got quite a few excited. This is a figure group gathering, of course, so naturally figures or other related merchandise would be involved. I also showed off something of my own during the virtual gathering and it may have impressed a few.

To make the gathering more lively, there were a few games instituted by the members. One of them was a lipreading test for first-generation Pokémon. I got a few right, but there were others who answered more quickly than I did, and overall the points were pretty evenly distributed. Another was a multiple-choice quiz involving some general (or maybe not so general) knowledge about Pokémon regarding different aspects, from game to anime to figures. Different people knew different things and edged out others, or simply got lucky; I and a friend got a lucky and winning streak on a few figure questions, and we don't even have many figures to start with - and yet this is a figure group gathering.

Despite the fun, there were a few issues. Since this was a virtual gathering and since everyone is in different places, connection issues could and did arise. For some, the connection might not have been strong enough to carry a conference call like this, including their own side of the call. I too was affected and the problems that concerned me forced a restart of my PC and router, the crucial devices for this virtual gathering. The gathering was also relatively short, approximately two and a half hours, though this wasn't too much of an issue, and it was slightly supplemented at the end for what might be the seeds of the next gathering.

This virtual gathering might not have turned out per everyone's expectations, but it may have been the one thing that a few people in my figure group has been expecting. For some people in my figure group like me, they may have very much desired for something like this to happen, and today fulfilled just that even with all the imperfections. For the time being with all that's going on in the world, it is likely the only way that all of us will be able to gather, and that may be the only expectation... perhaps in addition to meeting a few great Pokémon fans and the figures or merchandise they can or have mustered up since the last time.

One year ago: The Path of (the) Silph

Two years ago: Go Gets Social

Three years ago: LINE Pokémon Themes