Thursday, February 19, 2015

Shock Pop Comic Con, 2015

Last weekend John and I drove down to Fort Lauderdale for the first ever Shock Pop Comic-Con. It was held in a nice convention center, had excellent vendors and artists, easy parking, a great selection of media guests like Corey Feldman, Elvira, & Sylvestor McCoy... and practically no one there.

Yep, Friday was a complete ghost town, and even Saturday brought out very few attendees. I felt bad for the vendors, some of whom barely even made the cost of their table back, and I can only hope the con as a whole made enough to come back next year, since it really was nicely put together.

For our part, John and I had a blast in Artists' Alley buying ALL the things, hanging out with our artist friends and making several new ones, and roaming the aisles looking for cosplayers to photograph. There weren't too many, but what we did find was pretty dang impressive:

This Groot went on to win his category in the costume contest. Gotta love the plush Rocket attached to his back.

SUPER impressed with this young Maleficent's wings:

Aren't they gorgeous? (She also won in her category, I believe.)

Plus she did a great job matching the jewelry, side pouch, and dress texture from the film:

And check out the sculpted "bone" tips on the wings:
 


John brought his camera along, too, but with a wide-angle lens. He tried this once at MegaCon, and found you can get some ahhh-MAZING shots if you ask the cosplayer to lean in to the lens, like this:
 
 (I had a lot of fun editing these. That one visible eye is just too creepy, right? HEE!)

This Predator turned out a little bobble-head-ish, but I like it:


 But my absolute FAVORITE is this Skeletor:

SO GOOD. 

I should convince John to take the wide-angle to all the cons now.


I think it being the weekend of Friday-the-13th MAY have influenced a few of the costume choices:


Although these three were actually some kind of comedy troupe there at the con:


Gender-swapped Edward Scissorhands & Aquaman, plus a dapper Doctor:



 An adorable Alice & Hatter:



And be still my heart, because is this not Harold Ramis' doppelgänger?!

 EGON! 

Now I'm happy AND sad at the same time. Dangit. [sniffle]


Here's another of John's wide-angle shots:


 And Crysta from Ferngully:


(In case you don't remember her:)


 You guys know I'm a sucker for a good mashup, so this colorful Batgirl Jedi is just perfect:


 And I found him somewhere else, but I'm guessing this Superman Jedi probably came with her:



How much do I love that the one guy in this trio is dressed as Batgirl instead of Joker?

 SO SO MUCH.

:D

 More winners from the costume contest: this mom and her four daughters dressed as the MLP ponies in their Grand Galloping Gala dresses:

Parenting: you're doing it right.

Here's a comparison shot from the show, so you can tell who's who:

I love how they really nailed all the accessories! 
Plus the girls were really into their characters:

Rainbow Dash is winking, Pinkie Pie is sticking out her tongue, and Twilight is just, well, so Twilight. Love it.

And lucky for us, sleepy little Fluttershy eventually peeked out at the camera:

I think my ovaries just did a Kermit flail. SO CUTE.

So should we tell mom/Rarity that she has to have one more, to be Applejack? :D

[Update: I just heard from Seraphima, the mom, and she has a fan page here on Facebook! Oh, and Twilight Sparkle is actually her niece, not her daughter. So she's an awesome mom AND the cool aunt. ;)]

And finally, here's the costume contest's Best-in-Show:


I'm sure they announced the character, but I completely missed it. Help? 
(Love her pull-along pig!)

Update: She's wearing the Rathalos armor from the game Monster Hunter - and she's got a Facebook page here, if you want to check it out! I looked for a reference image from the game, and found this cool figure:

I like how she's even posing the same way! Hee!


K, that's does it for Shock Pop! Although lemme tell ya, I found some stellar new prints, so next month's art roundup is gonna ROCK. Can't wait.

Ah, which reminds me: I stil haven't heard from one of my three winners this month, so Swarztikoff? Please e-mail me to claim your prize!

29 comments:

  1. I actually went to my first Comic Con on Feb 8 -- it was Wizard World comic con in Madison, WI. I was able to get shots of pretty fun costumes (including a cool steampunk one) and had a great time hanging out in artists alley most of the day. I couldn't buy much (just let my boys get a couple things), but there were so many things there that I wanted! We will be going to more comic cons in the future and will hopefully be cosplaying ourselves next time! (This time it was a last-minute thing to go, so no time to put costumes together!)

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    1. I'm always broke as a joke at cons, so when I see something I really like but can't afford at the time, I ask them if they have a website and/or a business card, and I write on the back of it what it was I wanted, because once you've gathered like 50 of them, it's easy to forget who had what.

      (Well, it is for me, at least, what with my years of wild hedonism.)

      Cheers,

      Storm the Klingon

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    2. Oh, my GAWD! Storm is back! PHEW!!

      Where ya been, girl?!?! I've missed your comments!

      KW

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    3. Just chillin' like a supervillain, commitin' my crimes.

      I didn't leave, I was just lurking; I guess it has been a while, hasn't it?

      I kinda had a nervous breakdown a year ago next week. But I'm all sorts of medicated now, and doing much better. I credit both The Bloggess and Wil Wheaton for the realization that I needed help. I've been amazingly creative, simply because I can plan and concentrate again; I'm finally an official Drag Designer, sewing couture costumes for my awesome performance artist friend. Got a new Pug named Mr. Fred T. Lucas, and he makes me laugh and gives me a reason to get out of bed every day. The Vulcan is operating at acceptable efficiency levels. Thanks for asking; I really didn't think anyone had noticed.

      Cheers, thanks a lot,

      Storm

      P.S. Please forgive the lateness of my reply.

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  2. Hopefully I'll get to the Rhode Island Con this year. It was a DISASTER last year with them selling WAY MORE tickets than the building would allow in. Here's to hoping they changed it.

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  3. Get ready for a bad pun.. One could say that Fluttershy here is feeling Shuttershy :D

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  4. I think I'd like going to a small con. Too bad you don't know ahead of time that it will be small!

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  5. Wow, considering how dead you said it was, I'm REALLY impressed with the elaborate costumes! So awesome! And again, thank you for taking the time to share. :)

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  6. The last costume is from the game Monster Hunter! You create your character so there's no actual name. She is wearing some AWESOME Rathalos armor with Rathalos Great Sword and her sidekick is a Poogie in the watermelon costume!

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  7. I hope that the Jedi Batgirl and Superman *didn't* come together, but saw each other across a crowded Artists Alley and fell in love :)

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  8. Ooh, I like that last cosplayer's tumblr! Voila!

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  9. my sister and I are thinking about going to our first con in June, but when I did the math, it's around $250 each for a 3-day pass, a meet and greet and just 1 photo op. And of course, there are other photos ops and autographs we may want (and souvenirs). So I was just wondering if the pricing is pretty average compared to other cons? And if you have any tips that might make it a little more affordable? Thanks!

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    1. That's an obscene amount of money! The amazing Mister Wil Wheaton was just asked a very similar question on his Tumblr, and this was his response:

      "You can look for a con where everything doesn’t has some sort of additional charge, and there isn’t a clear line drawn between the VIP guests and everyone else. Look for shows that are non-profit, or that benefit a local charity (Phoenix CC comes to mind), and talk to fellow fans about shows they’ve attended, to get a sense of what would be awesome, and what’s going to be disappointing."

      Dude has never been so right; try to find a con that doesn't gouge you every chance they get. Things like paying for "photo ops" and "meet and greets" is a more recent product of cons becoming hip. No shade intended there, girl; I just mean that in the past 5-10 years or so, a LOT of for-profit, greedyass cons have popped up everywhere, and it kills my old fangirl heart that people are going to them as their first con experience, and they are usually very disappointed.

      The best cons are run BY fans, FOR fans. If you see the name "Creation" involved, RUN. To paraphrase another Wheaton quote, their whole trip is to turn the guests upside down, shake all the money out of their pockets, and then crap on them. Which is a shame, because back in the early 80's, some of my fondest con memories were at Bay Area Creation Cons. SO many old friends from those cons still in my life-- THAT is what cons are about. Meeting other people who love what you love, as well as meeting "famous" people who have taken part in stuff you love.

      Whatever con you end up at, I hope you have an awesome time! You will be with Your People! :)

      Cheers,

      Storm the Klingon

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  10. Damn ya...your Egon photo made me go awwwwwwwwwwwwww! :( Egon was my favorite Ghostbuster and I was so sad when Harold Ramis passed...SUCH a talent!

    BTW, I feel like I should thank you for the con photo tips. I don't have a fancy camera. Just a very nice (Japanese?) digital that I got handed down to me from my husband, buuuuuuuuuut I am going to my first ever con at the end of February: the Ring of Fire con here in Va Beach and I am SO looking forward to it and trying some of your tips. (BTW, it's going to also be my first outing as a Jedi Knight with the Rebel Legion and we are getting to meet PETER MAYHEW!!!!!!!!!!! (This is where I scream and flail my arms like Kermit!)

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  11. I knew I saw Rarity as Demona in Gargoyles last Miami show! I found her for you. http://medievalmomdesigns.com/page/2

    -Bianca

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  12. I always love checking out your Con costume photos. Yet the one that made me Kermit flail had to be Patrick Bateman from American Psycho (Guy in raincoat holding the axe). Huge Christian Bale fan and that particular scene is rather funny to me in a very dark humor way. :)

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  13. Great photos, as always! Did you get any shots of Elvira?

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  14. Always love your con photos. I just want to hug everyone and say "Thank you for being awesome!"
    -- Piper P from Washington State

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  15. Yeah, as somebody who went to the con to try to sell my wares, it was mega disappointing, like many of the other vendors I left hours early on Sunday because it was a ghost town. I didn't sell a single thing the entire weekend, and barely had any traffic in the corner I was in. I'm sure the con had a lot of things going for it, but if they want to really recommend themselves to vendors there a few big changes they'll need to make to be ready for next year. I wish them tons of luck, I won't be back.

    I'm glad you got all these amazing photos though! Several of these were ones I wanted to get but couldn't from behind my table, so now I can show them to people and talk about how awesome they were!

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  16. Little cons always have some of the best costumes! I love the MLP family, they're so adorable!

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  17. Is it me or has the shockpop comiccon facebook been deleted?

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  18. The MLP cosplayers look like they're wearing Yaya Han wigs! Cool!

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  19. Sad - Shock pop Comic Con is out of business.... no online presence, no facebook. All gone... Oh well, great attempt though.

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  20. They really go out of business already?

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  21. JOHN WATERS AND OTHERS NEVER GOT PAID BY FORT LAUDERDALE'S SHOCK POP COMIC CON
    http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/music/john-waters-and-others-never-got-paid-by-fort-lauderdales-shock-pop-comic-con-6927337

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  22. damn scammers put a black eye on conventions.... http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/music/john-waters-and-others-never-got-paid-by-fort-lauderdales-shock-pop-comic-con-6927337

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  23. Amazing Show! Great Guest Lineup, Well put together! Hope to see another Shock Pop Comic Con next year. Need a better date and a smaller venue, but really had a blast, and well done considering this was the first ever shock pop comic con. I will be back if there is another one!

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