What was my first Cosplay experience like at Phoenix ComicCon
2013? Good, bad and ugly…in a good way.
So, Saturday I had my first experience dressing up for a convention
(commonly known as “Cosplay”).
Overall, it was great, but here are some
things I learned from the experience. Plus, I’ll share some great pictures I took at the con.
1) Pick Something Easy.
I chose a relatively easy costume. The second hardest part was finding
the beanie, which I bought on eBay. The rest were just clothes I got
from a thrift shop and an old pair of sneakers. The hardest part was
the whiskey bottle because I don’t drink whiskey and didn’t want to
spend $18 on a bottle. I ended up buying a Kosher wine bottle and
printing a label from the Internet.
The whole costume ran me about $40
and was easy to put together.
Based on how stressed I was with just doing that, a homemade Iron Man costume would have been way too much.
2) Pick Something Recognizable.
You want people to recognize you on sight. I made a mistake by choosing
someone that is relatively well-known, but easy to miss.
When I went to
buy gas they thought I was a homeless guy. If I hadn’t had my son they
would have kicked me out. But they still treated me like dirt. By the
way, support the homeless. They have a hard time.
Walking through the
convention center most people just gave me dirty looks until someone
recognized me. I heard, “Hey Hancock!” I turned to see a guy asking me
for my photo.
3) Pictures are Really Important to
Cosplayers.
I heard a few whispers and saw a few people pointing, but it was only
when someone asked me for a photo that I felt it was worth it.
One of the exhibitors called me over and I glowed when he said, “I just have to get a picture of you.” It made it all worthwhile.
Being
asked for a photo is the ultimate in praise. It says, “your costume is
so good I want to remember it.” It’s a great feeling.
If you go to a
con and see a great costume, ask them for a photo. You can always take
it secretly, but it’s better for everyone to ask.
As a side note, after taking the picture, show the person
the photo. I always do it and realize that without seeing the photo you
don’t know what you look like.
4) Being a Cosplayer Doesn’t Make You
a Cosplayer.
Maybe it was the costume, but a lot of other Cosplayers were really
rude to me.
Not in a mean way, but when I gave them a thumbs-up or
tried to talk to them some people turned away or ignored me. I thought
being in costume made you part of a club, but I was wrong. We’re still
just strangers. That was kind of sad.
Here are some pictures from the con. There are some good, bad and awesomely ugly costumes there.
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| Batgirl answers the call |
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| Mandalorain Merc and Merc-in-training. |
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| “What time is it?” Adventure Time! |
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| Best Deadpool ever. |
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| She said, yes. It is heavy. |
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| Black Widow |
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| Female Predator |
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| Dalek meets R2-D2 |
I met a lot of great people at the convention, but here are some of the
cool people I met that I wanted to highlight.
Arizona Avengers
The largest Marvel cosplay group. I’ve met the Arizona Avengers before
and they’re all great. We’ve interviewed members before and hope to do
more in the future.
Justice League of Arizona
The largest DC cosplay group. I didn’t get to meet them since they were
doing a panel, but they had a great display.
facebook.com/JusticeLeagueArizona
Pop Culture Paradise
My son was dying to see Spider-Man, so it was a dream come true when we
met these guys. Plus, they have a cool reading program for kids!
facebook.com/PopCultureParadise
Zoms Plush Zombies
Head over to his site to buy Zombie plush dolls. They’re cute, they’re
cuddly, and they’re hungry… for braaaaaaains! You can also print out
free pop-ups of zombies and Survivor Steve!
Tara Wheeler
The best Doctor Who Cosplay I saw was from Tara since she had a little
dog dressed up like K-9! Plus, she knits her own Fourth Doctor scarfs!
Jenny Parks Illustration
Jenny sells the cutest little buttons, posters and stuff featuring cats
as superheroes and Doctor Who. She calls them Doctor Mew.
Voyage Trekkers
Nathan Blackwood from Voyage Trekkers had an awesome panel on producing a web series.
Would you ever dress up? Have you ever done cosplay?If you have, do you have any tips?
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="37680 ">12 Comments
Sorry they gave you such a hard time! That's just wrong. I would've guessed you were Hancock.
Don't let it scare you off other Cons. Maybe cosplayers just aren't as friendly.
People can be just people… i find that you dress up only like everyone wants your photo… you should google the event and Hancock.. you will see the amount of captures are out there…
I could cosplay as Peter Griffin from Family Guy pretty easily if I put on a white shirt and green pants. Maybe I should pay someone to cosplay as the Scarlet Knight at conventions.
I really enjoyed the article. I have never dressed up before but my son always loves meeting the different cosplayers. You have given me the courage to try a father son thing next time we go. By the way who won in the matchup of the Dalek & R2-D2?
What a really nice and refreshing post, Mo. Hopefully, if I visit the states next year, we could got to one of these conventions dressed as Blade and Alfred Pennyworth. Ha!
That's awesome! I have never done the cosplay thing…not sure I ever will. Maybe one day. Yours was awesome, but some of those costumes look INSANE. Time and money is no object to a lot of diehards.
It's amazing how much effort and work people put into cosplay, but when you see a crowd surrounding them asking for pictures it's all worth it.
You got it Jay…Can I be Blade? 😉
Thanks David! It was a tie I understand.
We'll see how good the movie is before I cosplay as Will Smith again.
Good point Jeremy. Well, I Googled it and there's nothing yet. Maybe next year.
Thanks. I'm not scared off Alex, but I won't be running up to strangers anymore…which is good advice anywhere.