Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Best Cosplay of Dragon Con 2014, Pt 3

Time for more Dragon Con goodness!

And we're going to start off with a bang, because a battle-ready Cinderella holding a bazooka named "Fairy Godmother" is preeeetty much the coolest thing I've ever seen:

Look closely: the bazooka shoots pumpkins. YES. And look at all the other princesses geared up for battle! Lots of great details, but I'm especially loving Aurora's Maleficent-skull staff.

Next up, a stunning... Lady Loki, I think?

 
 That staff alone is a work of art, but also check out her filigree arm bracer, and the delicate snake on her corset! So many pretties.

Dragon Con can be quite family friendly, as this extended family of Krieger clones from Archer will attest:

 This whole group is related: I think there are two parents with their kids & kids' spouses. Now that's how you do a family reunion!

And a reference for the characters:

I'm pretty sure everyone will recognize THIS character:

 
 Remy from Ratatouille! BRILLIANT!! 

Those of you looking for Halloween costume ideas, take note; this would be relatively easy to do!

And here's another easy one, but it made me laugh with delight. Let's see how many of you recognize it:

 
His shirt says "Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho."

:D

Optimus Prime, ROLL OUT:

 I love that he has windshield wipers.


A perfect Hans & Anna:

By the time I recognized this Zealot from Bioshock Infinite, she'd passed right by me:


(Zealots carry a coffin on their backs, painted with the likeness of Lady Comstock:)


Fortunately John leaped into action, and managed to run ahead for a photo of the Zealot's front - and to my delight, the cosplayer turned out to be a lady Zealot!

 
Zealots are always men in the game, and are rarely cosplayed, so seeing a gender-swapped version made it that much cooler!

Next up, the whole gang from The Lego Movie:

Check out Metalbeard - hee! And the Unikitty Girl is adorable. Oh! And do you see the human version of Wyldstyle in the middle?


Here are four steampunked members of the Green Lantern Corp:
 
 Plus a classic Green Lantern on the right.

Green Lantern's ring was crazy bright, but I thought it looked really cool in this shot:


I saw some familiar faces, too: remember this Ronald/Joker & Wendy/Harley mashup from last year?

 

 But no matter how many times I see it, I will never get tired of Consuela from Family Guy cleaning other peoples' costumes:

And then there were two!



Next, some assorted baddies:


This one is from the video game Alice: The Madness Returns, and I immediately fell in love with her chess piece staff:

Here's the closest reference I can find - sorry it's from the back!


 Next up, a little hurdy durdy cäken schmööshing:

 Swedish Chef! I even got a complimentary "bork bork bork" for my trouble.

I'm proud to say I knew EXACTLY who this was the moment I saw him:
 It's Lt. Dangle from Reno 911! - as a Ghostbuster.

Now THAT is a mashup show I want to see.


Really loved this Strawberry Shortcake outfit:

SO SWEET. Hard to see, but her shoes had the sparkliest crystal strawberries on them.

And how cute is this 2nd Doctor with his Cyber(wo)man lady friend?!

That armor dress is SO GOOD. And look, she cut out eyelash notches in the helmet!

And while we're talking Doctor Who, here's one of The Silence:

 

I generally prefer creepy over gory, but I have to show you guys this next one:

That's my friend the infamous John Strangeway (aka Steampunk Boba Fett) as Dale, and his friend Ben as Tucker - from Tucker & Dale vs Evil.

Aaand a reference, for those of you who - like me - haven't seen it yet:
So if you're wondering, yes, that IS half a torso Strangeway's carrying around his neck up there.
(I've been assured this movie is a comedy. Still not sure I'll ever see it. o.0)

How's this for a perfect accessory - and a fun example of forced perspective?

Carl is wearing a garden hose harness - just like in the movie - and floating behind him is the house from Up! So perfect! Plus he was careful to put on his "grumpy face" for the photo.

As someone who prefers masks when cosplaying, I'm always on the lookout for new and creative ways to cover your face. These two ladies had some of the most unique examples of the whole con:

Funky cool!

I've photographed him before, but this year was the first time I got to officially meet Dave Lee, aka steampunk Darth Vader. Here he is in his diver's costume, which some of you may recognize from the DC parade:

 The back was equally impressive, with all kinds of colored lights and doo-dads:
 And here's Dave's daughter, sporting an incredible captured mermaid cosplay:


Dave tells me they'll be adding even more to this one in the future, like interior lights and more detailing on the robot. She really pulled it off beautifully; definitely one of those costumes that make you look twice!

 Awww, sad mermaid. :(

 I'm hoping to find more photos of this Warhammer Space Marine later, but for now, here's a grainy one:
 
These space marines have a zillion different color schemes & varying details, but here's a general reference:


The cosplayer did have a helmet, too, but apparently he can't really see out of it, so most of the time he left it off.


And finally, what was arguably one of the greatest costumes Dragon Con has EVER seen:

 
HE IS GROOT!

Thank goodness he was so tall, too, or else I'd never have gotten any shots at all. The crowd was glued to him, and a full-body angle was completely out of the question.

This happened when I caught another camera's flash, and I thought it was pretty cool:

 

And then ANOTHER Groot came out, and the crowd went nuts:

 *boop*

And one final shot, which almost has a kind of melancholy to it that I love:

He seems so stoic and sad. I just wanna hug him. Or water him. Or something.

Oh, and do you see the little twig sticking out of his shoulder? Love that.


K, that's it for this installment! And I think I'm just past my half-way point, so... EEK. (I'm pacing myself, so forgive me if it takes even longer for the next batch. I want to talk about things besides cosplay from time to time, too!)

****

[Click here for Part 4!]

41 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Love your cosplay pics.

    Can I recommend you do check out Tucker and Dale, I hate teen slasher films but love this, it's like the genre flipped on it's head. It's about these poor rednecks who keep having teens killing themselves all over their property.

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  3. Loving all these photos (and future cosplay ideas). Please pace yourself as much as needed. Remember, this is YOUR blog. You can put whatever you want here, not just what you think your readers will enjoy.

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  4. Hey Jen, how come there was nobody in the picture after the 2nd Doctor/Cyberwoman? ;-)

    Also, I really need to see Guardians of the Galaxy. Everyone keeps going gaga over Groot and I have no idea who he is.

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  5. I dressed as Amy Pond, Day of the Moon-style, on Sunday. My bestie swore she saw a Silence while we were walking around and made me add another tally mark to my arm. I didn't see it. Or maybe I just don't remember...but I guess she was right!

    Also, that Groot is amazing.

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  6. Thanks so much for posting all these! It feels like I was really there!

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  7. FYI, that Groot was done by Lee Hurley. You can find all the build progress pictures on his Facebook page under HurleyFX!

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    1. Yes, Lee Hurley is AMAZING! So amazing, that James Gunn posted his cosplay when he only had the face piece done. We've become friends since. He is a wonderful man, married to a gorgeous woman (inside and out) who is now expecting his first baby and just got his official green card. Go follow him on FB, it's totally worth it!!

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  8. I heartily recommend Tucker and Dale. I put it off for a long time, but when I finally watched it, it was so worth it. Very funny. Subversive.

    Also, I love that the robot carrying the sad mermaid has a tentacle for a moustache! Wonderful pictures all around.
    -Leilani

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  9. oh jen, your dragoncon photos make me want to go! wow. thanks so much for sharing your experience.

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  10. THE SILENCE! I saw one last year, and didn't manage to catch him in time to get a decent picture, so I was looking for him ALL WEEKEND this year, and never saw him! It amazes me just HOW MANY awesome cosplays there are at DC, that you can go all weekend and still miss so many of them!

    Love the "Die Hard" sweatshirt guy! That's my favorite Christmas movie. :-)

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  11. Ahhh the Swedish Chef is my favorite Muppet, that was fantastic. And then I fell out of my chair laughing when I saw the Tucker and Dale cosplay! I've made most of my friends watch that movie and the next day they go out and buy it for themselves. It is bloody but not gory, just really, REALLY funny.

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  12. TUCKER & DALE vs. EVIL!!! I make all my friends watch it.. HA! Such a great movie! So funny! :)
    Those steampunk Disney Princesses are always a delight to see! (Is Belle reading a book about gnomes??)
    - - - - Gives me inspiration if I ever get up the guts to go to a con...
    Love LEGO Movie too! "Everything is awesome!"
    Sweedish Chef was there, also?? You're KILLING me with all this awesomeness, Jen!
    Can't wait to see what the next batch of squee-worthy pics bring!
    --Piper P from Washington State

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    1. Hehe I was that Swedish Chef! And I am even from Sweden, traveled all the way to the US for my second DragonCon :D

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  13. Looking at some of the complicated costumes, what do those guys do when they have to go to the bathroom? Some of them look like they'd take hours to get on or off.

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    1. Sometimes there are hidden escapes with velcro, poppers and elastic. Sometimes it really is just a case of "I have to pee, back in forty-five minutes or thirty if someone comes with to help". I've been in both camps before, the latter when I was building something in almost no time and couldn't devote the hours to making it easier on the day and still get it done on time |D It's amazing what you can do with a friend's help, up to and including inescapably hot-gluing yourself into your armour on the day of the con and cutting your way out with a box cutter at the end of the day.

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  15. Tucker and Dale -vs- Evil is a fantastic movie. We've had so many people watch it and the first 15 minutes we always get the shifty eyes pointed in our direction and thought bubble of "really, you are making me watch this". But once you get past the first 15 minutes you will be very happy you watched it.

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  16. I have only recently seen The Avengers. I love looking at cosplay, and seriously thought there was a Lady Loki! The whole movie, I was waiting for a female Loki, but none...alas!

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  17. Perhaps you just haven't gotten to them yet, or maybe they're just not as eye-catching, but I'm surprised to have not seen any Night Vale characters at all. My daughter went to Boston ComicCon, as the Eternal Scout and there were so, so many Night Vale cosplayers, mostly Cecil and Carlos. If you haven't listened to Night Vale, it is a great podcast!

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  18. Love these costumes, so many talented people! I assure you Tucker and Dale vs Evil is definitely a campy cheesy comedy movie. I despise anything horror related, and was very reluctant to watch this based on the fact that it was labeled horror on Netflix. I finally watched it after much reassurance that it isn't scary at all. If you can stand the gorier parts of Supernatural, this is about on par.

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  19. Wow! Keep these great pictures coming; I love every one!

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  20. I swore I would never be THAT fangirl, but I can't seem to help myself.... THOSE AREN"T GREEN LANTERNS! well, the one at the end is, but the other's aren't. There are 2 black lanterns, a red lantern, and a blue lantern.

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  21. That mermaid costume is amaaaaaaazing *eyes get large and sparkly*. It's not only clever but beautiful!! If I had any talents at crafting I would try to steal the idea!
    So many amazing costumes (Pumpkin Bazooka Cinderella, Consuela, Die Hard corpse guy!) but that mermaid takes the cake!

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  22. The Groot is Hurley FX & the Green Lantern is iObject Cosplay
    https://www.facebook.com/Hurleyfx
    https://www.facebook.com/iObjectLaw

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  23. Your Krieger clones aren't all family. Yet. :)

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  24. The sweatshirt is from the first Die Hard movie. The creativity and talent you capture is amazing!

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  25. Thank you so much for posting all of these, they're completely wonderful!

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  26. OMG, Tucker and Dale! The hilarious ways those dumb kids die makes it a great movie.

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  27. After reading the many comments regarding Tucker and Dale, I had to see what it was all about, so we watched it tonight. It's on Netflix streaming now. Husband, 15-year-old son, and I enjoyed it, but looking back at the cosplay photo now, I don't get the peach ice tea or the huge weapon/gun reference because they weren't in the movie. Maybe someone can help me out?

    ALL the costumes you've featured on the recaps are freaking amazing. The workmanship and creativity are just so awe-inspiring. Can't wait to see more DragonCon photos, but yeah...looking forward to the post about John's man cave, too. Ewww...I always feel a little gross saying "man cave."

    KW

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    1. The gun I can't say, but the tea might be to push home the redneck/southern influence?

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  28. Tuck and Dale vs Evil IS hilarious, but also slightly gory. You feel so bad for them, though, they're just in the wrong place at the wrong time!!!! If you love Alan Tudyk as much as I think you do, you'll love this movie :-)

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  29. Tucker and Dale vs Evil is a GREAT movie! You must watch it! It is hilarious and only somewhat gory.
    Love these pics! Thank you for sharing all of them. Love the Fairy Godmother! Lol!

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  30. That Space Marine is straight up one of the best out there. That guy is known as Sylgian over on the RPF or Gary Sterley elswhere. His giant hand is 3D printed! If you want to see his instructables build it's here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Gary-Sterleys-40k-Space-Marine/

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  31. Another vote for you to watch Tucker & Dale vs Evil. It's so funny!!

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  32. The captured mermaid has an unimpressed Mykayla Maroney face in the picture of her dad!

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  33. Hehe I was that Swedish Chef! And I am even from Sweden, traveled all the way to the US for my second DragonCon :D

    Thanks for including me in your album. Was my first time cosplaying and had so much fun! People in the US really LOVE the Swedish Chef. :D

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