NYCC 2012 Con Report

wow so New York Comic Con 2012 is over!! Good points and bad points, but the con itself was great! If I went to it again I would definitely want to wear a sci-fi or comic cosplay! Anyway here is my con report:




THURSDAY

Somehow dragged self out of bed at 5am and the parents drove myself and glayish to the airport for our 8:30am flight. Customs took a long time to get through, but the flight itself was super fast and on time!! Flying is so much better than driving for 10 hours in a car.. although having to smash wigs into a checked suitcase was really not ideal.

Turns out our flight touched down in Newark not too long after chibik3r0's, so he waited around for us and we all shared a cab into the city.

We got to our hotel the Element hotel on 8th & 39th (only about 2 - 3 blocks away from the Javits con centre).


(Not my photo, from google)

chibik3r0 then headed to the metro to get to his hotel further away.

As soon as glayish and I walked in, I spotted izunadrop247 in the lobby, carrying his Son Goku cosplay!

Since we arrived earlier than normal check in, we all had to wait around in the lobby until our room was cleaned and ready for us. It took about half an hour, and then we all rushed up to put our bags down.

WE HAD A KITCHEN O_O;;!! How strange. Anyway the room was hella expensive with just glayish and I, but there was literally no floor space and we only had 1 king bed. So it would have been way to uncomfortable with more people.



Our view was another building, lol.



We then walked around to get some NYC pizza, which was GREAT!! Food always tastes better in the States.

We then hurried back to the hotel to eat (using the plates and forks and stuff provided o_0 in the room). I hurried to get into Son Gohan (Android saga), while izunadrop247 put on his Son Goku cosplay with no problems OTL.

So for NYCC I decided to volunteer for acparadise @ the FUNimation booth.

acparadise only had me booked for Friday / Saturday, but as it happened Henry said he needed me to come work on Thursday at the start of the con, so I re-planned a bunch of meet-ups for that.

We got ready with some time to spare, so the three of us walked over to the Javits centre to see how far it actually was. When we got there I guess things were problematic because Henry was unable to come get me into the showroom ahead of public entry. I had to wait until everything opened at 3pm before I could join the line to be on time.

For the next little while, glayish took photos of me and izunadrop247 in our DBZ cosplay. There were very FEW other people in cosplay that day, so we got stopped for our photos a lot. I also forgot how popular DragonBall Z is in the states!!






Android Saga Son Gohan cosplay 3 by ~TechnoRanma on deviantART
Cosplay Photo of QuantumDestiny on American Cosplay Paradise

When they started letting the public in to the showroom floor, glayish went back to the hotel to finish some things on her Thor cosplay.

izunadrop247 and I joined the line and I used my 4-day pass to get in, heading straight over to the FUNimation booth. Things weren't ready so Henry said to come back in an hour or so.

Roamed the dealer's hall...



Then met up with hentaigirl82 in her Bulma cosplay! I tried to find some decent Star Trek merchandise.. (which was lemon difficult >_< )

Made my way back to the FUNimation booth only to be told I wasn't needed on Thursday OTL....!!! Well didn't have to scramble as much to get to the Javits centre if I had know that damnit. Also, I received a 'Speaker' badge instead of an 'Exhibitor' badge, which doesn't get you into the showroom past the line. So I spent more time in lines than I had expected to, but I got more free time on Thursday than I expected, so that worked out.

I had a great time hanging out with izunadrop247 and hentaigirl82!! We checked out Artist Alley in which I actually found some amazing artwork!!!





(Actually hentaigirl82 and I bought art at the same time from the artist and he mixed up which pieces belonged to who. So I later had to go and correct the switch up...)

Afterwards we went outside and took some photos and video :D



A good Samaritan came outside too, saying he saw us unable to get a full group photo, and did us a service of getting few pics of all of us together *-*



It got dark and none of the cabs I flagged down wanted to take us back to the hotel, saying they were only going 'downtown' OTL... or they did not stop. So izunadrop247 and I walked back to the hotel. (THANK YOU)

Parted ways, and glayish and I ate our left over pizza for dinner and prepared for our cosplays for the next day.


FRIDAY

Yvonne arrived in New York! She was staying at the same hotel and got in too early for her room to be ready so she came to store her stuff in mine. We hung out as I ironed and got my North Italy cosplay on, waiting around for Mike (Rock nam Lee) to call me so I could go give him my 4-day badge he bought off of me.

glayish arrived back to the hotel room and Yvonne came with me as I grabbed some quick lunch from the Mexican restaurant next door to our hotel, since I likely wouldn't have any time to eat anything until after my FUNimation booth time ended (1pm - 4pm).

When we got back up to the room, glayish's new Loki cosplayer (for her Thor) had shown up and was getting dressed.

Mike (Rock nam Lee) finally called and Yvonne and I got a cab over to the convention centre. Got on the phone trying to find where he was, and nearly walked right into him XD;;. Anyway we did the badge thing, and I suddenly had more cash to spend.

Mike + Alex B (his girlfriend), Yvonne and I went into the dealer's and planned doing dinner together, then parted ways to roam around.

Found a Germany! I was actually several inches taller than her, lol (for once), so I crouched down. Actually she had her dad take a pic too, and I'm kind of convinced she was probably 13 - 15 years old X'D... *feels so old*



Friday it got to 1pm and went to the FUNimation booth and Yvonne went to go check out some autograph lines.

So basically what I was doing at the FUNimation booth was showing off the new FUNimation mobile app for smart phone and having people sign up for FUNimation.com accounts (with a free prize raffle as incentive).

...Lawl, now, I don't actually own any Apple or Android technology (lol I know, for shame). I freaked out a bit the night before because I couldn't remember what the hell the youtube walk-through looked like, so I might definitely look fail trying to scroll through shit on a touch screen.

Thankfully, Henry ( acparadise ) let me do the walk-through and sign up on the laptop / website since I was most comfortable on that XD;.

sppandaaa was there as my booth bro!!! (Though a lot younger than expected XD) She wore Chibi Romano, which she portrays oh so well XDD. It was great to actually hang out (even tho we had to help anime fans in between)!! She is one of my fav convention people, and pretty much the only reason I wore Hetalia again XD. I forgot to get a pic of us from Friday OTL.

During the Friday hours, there was no chair to sit at the booth and my chest binding started getting wonky with duct tape in bad places during the last hour, so I'd say that last hour was terrible on a personal note.. lol... but otherwise it was a productive time.

There was one moment where sppandaaa and I were talking to some guy about the app and then while I was mid-sentence he bee-lined away after a Miku cosplayer.

fuck lol so rejected. If I had been wearing a sexy girl cosplay that likely would not have happened damn it!!

chibik3r0 dropped by briefly!! I think that was the only time I saw him at the actual con o_o;;

Afterwards I met up with glayish in a sitting alcove where she and her new Loki were eating. Sat and rested feet a bit, and then texted to find out where Yvonne was.

Apparently Yvonne's thyroid issue was acting up, and so she almost had a fainting spell while trying to find us. We found her and she felt really bad and needed to go back to the hotel. glayish wanted to stay with her random Loki at the con longer. . .

So I walked Yvonne back to the hotel (where she finally got checked into her room). Ripped off that terribly itchy North Italy wig (good grief the amount of hairspray and the number of times I have worn that thing...) and sat and read Yvonne's Phoenix: End Song comic book that featured Emma Frost a lot while Yvonne recovered.

Went back to my room to change out of Italy and re-style my Max wig for the next day. It didn't get too flattened by being in the suitcase, so that was good.

Later on glayish and the Loki came to the hotel room and started getting out of cosplay for our group dinner with the other Canadians who drove down. It was cold outside, so for the walk there the Loki borrowed my coat (I wore 2 on the airplane trip lol;).

Alex B. had chosen the Shake Shack

(Not my photo, from google)

Checking up, we figured out it wasn't a place you could call for reservations. When glayish, Loki, Yvonne and I walked over there and met Alex B. we realised you weren't even guaranteed a table to sit at!! It was basically like a fast food place, but with fresh burgers and shakes.

The line was long, and there was no place to sit, so we kind of awkwardly waited for Mike (Rock nam Lee) and MeltingMirror to show up.

Yvonne went back to the hotel for reasons, and some minutes later Mike and MeltingMirror arrived! Everybody got in line to order while I stalked around hunting for a free table or spot to somehow fit 6 (Mike, Alex B. MeltingMirror, Loki, glayish and I) of us.

Lawl. I totally dived in front of a group of girls waiting for a booth and got it before them. They were so angry. bahah XD;

Anyway we all sat down and ate some good burgers and fries. FOR ONCE A BURGER COOKED TO MEDIUM, LIKE IT SHOULD BE!! The food was great, although the circumstances to getting to dinner and the seating weren't ideal for conversation, it was still a good time. Afterwards well walked around and into some touristy stores, before we parted ways.

Walked back to the hotel with glayish and the Loki.

Started cleaning mess up and ironing my things for the next morning. Yvonne came to our room and asked to talk to glayish outside, so I was stuck doing my ironing, listening to the stranger Loki sit on the bed and talk to their parents' on the phone.

The Loki finally got a call from her roomate, so she started packing to leave. Finally after about an hour or so glayish came back to the room and saw the Loki off. (The Loki also borrowed my coat for her trip in the evening, since she was coming back to change in our room again on Saturday -_-; )

glayish and I went to sleep, with some AWFUL conversation about being L & Light (Death Note). lol.


SATURDAY

UGH SO DIFFICULT TO GET UP.

I dressed into North Italy fast and texted izunadrop247 to meet up. I went outside to try and get a cab, but apparently for just that stretch of 20 minutes there were absolutely no cabs coming down the hotel street......

The thing I feared was having to walk someplace far alone and it ended up happening OTL. It was either walk or be obscenely late trying to find a cab. So I walked and spotted some guy in a Captain America shield hoodie who looked like he was headed for the con, and followed him pretty closely. lol. Oh and that was also the day they decided to close off the street that izunadrop247 and I had walked Thursday night, and turn it into a bazaar of cheap and counterfeit items;;;;;

ffjshsks. Anyway I got to the con and bee-lined for izunadrop247. We joined the MASSIVE line to get into the con centre.

Immediately went to hentaigirl82's booth to fix our art swap problem, only to discover the artist had completely left out the Star Trek 2009 print that had attracted me to his stall in the first place. OTL. Went over to artist alley and made the exchange, and picked up another Enterprise art, cause really why not. His arts were only $10/each ($25 for 3)!! There were a hundred other booths selling shitty anime digital prints for so so much more, with far less than half the talent this guy had. It's reaaaally easy to see why many people scorn the Anime art form because of that.

Anyway, art all swapped up and fixed, izunadrop247 and I went over to the food court where I grabbed some quick food before the Saturday FUNimation booth shift.

BTW, the best cosplay at the con:

RUBY ROD. HAD to take a pic. 5th Element is still fantastic.


So I got to the FUNimation booth and izunadrop247 and I parted ways. I had taken extra strength painkillers beforehand (THANK YOU chibik3r0 !!)[Bad username: chibik3r0),]</lj>.

Saturday passed by so quickly, it was fun!!
(uh wow face is twisted horribly OTL)

I don't think America could resist this England eating delicious burger, lol:



sppandaaa never finished South Italy or Ray Kon (Beyblade) so that failed OTL. If I had known I would have brought other cosplays to wear. Like Military!Hungary which requires no binding! Still I doubt I would have been recognized as 'the one with that video', so I'm glad I brought Italy!

At the end of the shift (4pm), Yvonne and izunadrop247 met me at the booth! Apparently izunadrop247 found Star Trek: TOS phasers, so we ran over there and I bought one!! After that we were racing against the sunset to get some photos in.


I found a fem!Germany 1P while on our way out!

We went outside and met up with glayish and the Loki. The 5 of us walked back to our hotel and I immediately started getting into my Max (Beyblade) cosplay!

Yvonne in her Emma Frost wig (coat covering her cosplay)


izunadrop247 checking some settings on my Nikon in preparation of taking photos of us <3


We headed out to the streets of NYC to get some quick shots in before the sun went down!


Beyblade V Force Cosplay - Max by ~TechnoRanma on deviantART
Cosplay Photo of QuantumDestiny on American Cosplay Paradise
(taken by izunadrop247 in the fabric district)

Uh yeah so when these pics were being taken, some scruffy old guy walked by and said he would give me a dollar. This alarmed me, and he interrupted the photo session. We were all very 'WTF' at that. He finally left. We got more photos of Yvonne as Emma Frost!

The Loki had to go meet somebody for dinner, so Yvonne, glayish, izunadrop247 bundled up and went to explore Times Square and broadway and all that @_@!!

We ate dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ

(not my photo, from google)
Thanks so much to izunadrop247 who got the bill!!

In Times Square, they had people dressed up in terrifying (bad) mascot costumes like Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Woody. One cookie monster tried to solicit us for a dollar for having taken a photo with him. APPARENTLY THIS IS A NORMAL THING IN NEW YORK!? LOL. That completely explains that weird man trying to give me money while I was getting photos of my Max cosplay -_-;

The four of us walked off the food around Times Square. Went into the Hershey's store and I bought some chocolate as a gift for some co-workers at home.

We got back to the hotel room, rested for a bit, then I started packing all my cosplays away for the plane ride the next day @_@


SUNDAY

Last run through the dealer's room! Yvonne, glayish and I went for one last go through the dealer's as soon as the con opened.

While in line to get in, I recognized the back of the guy's head in front of me. SAM LAU (Baron Karza)!!!!!!. LOL it's a running joke that we always see Sam at every con we go to, without fail we manage to run into him. Talked with him while we slowly got in to the building.

I took off on my own and power shopped. I managed to finally find somebody who carried the Slayers R-Evolution-R Blu-Ray + DVD full 26 episodes boxset!!! Finally!!



I also got a Star Trek captains shirt, although it's too big (as usual) so it will be used as a uniform for working on cosplay.

I also entered the FUNimation raffle that I had been running on Fri/Sat, although I didn't win ^^;; and I wasn't able to see if I won anything else, since we had to leave so soon.

glayish got me a Kirk x Spock doujin!!!


Now if only I could read Japanese. I bet it's hilarious damnit OTL!!

We ate lunch in the food court (though wow it was bad), and then headed back to the hotel so we could get to the airport.

Going through customs was SOOO much faster than at Pearson. Goddamnit Air Canada!! We were there with over an hour to wait at the gate, and then the flight comes in 30min late. We departed SO much later than we were scheduled to, so we ended up back home at 5pm in the evening. Ugh..

I partook of the inflight movie of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. Even with all the delays the plane ride wasn't long enough for me to watch until the very END, but omfg it was pretty good. The Italian sea lion named Stefano with the curly whiskers just... just lol.



The similarities just made it that much better.

That was NYCC for me! I might have another LJ post about certain things.. I dunno maybe.


Now for Halloween @_@