Last weekend John and I took the 2-hour trek up to Tampa for
Fanboy Expo. You might remember this - as I do - as the
little con that hosted James Hance last year. Despite it being quite small, I had a blast then and was really looking forward to it again this year.
Fanboy moved to a different hotel this time, though, and I think that, above all else, is why it went so wrong.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, a positive sign:
Literally!
I'm glad to see even the smaller cons taking a stand against potential harassment. In fact, this was the very first thing you saw at Fanboy, before even making it to ticket sales.
Then I spotted Belle in the midst of a good book:
Think she's made it to chapter 3?
As we queued up for tickets, John and I got our first glimpse at the biggest problem with Fanboy:
No, not crowds; the layout. This narrow hallway was extremely long, and was the only way in or out of the con. That wouldn't be a problem, except the staff was also using the hall for the hours-long autograph line (that's all the people against the right wall) PLUS vendor tables squeezed in on the left there. You almost literally couldn't move at times, much less shop at the poor vendors.
The autograph line was so lengthy because Fanboy had snagged both the original Batman, Adam West, AND the original Robin, Burt Ward, as guests. I guess these two rarely appear together, so fans really came out of the woodwork... and Fanboy wasn't expecting the crowds? I guess? That's the only explanation I can come up with.
To give you an idea of the madness, our friend Chris came to Fanboy ONLY to get West's & Ward's autographs, plus a picture with the duo. Just those things took him
the entire day.
More insanity: here's the line - on an actual stairwell - for people who were pulled from the autograph line because they didn't have cash. To pay with credit, you had to first wait in this line, then go to the next one.
This stairwell was the only way to get to the panel rooms upstairs. So you could definitely say "traffic flow" was an issue. 0.o
There wasn't much to see or do at Fanboy besides stand in line (every time we found a quiet corner to stand in, someone would ask, "What's this line for?" EVERY TIME. It became a running joke!), so John and I left after just a few hours. The only panel I wanted to see had some Disney voice actors, but the con scheduled it quite early - just an hour after open - so I missed it. (Boops.)
The vendor room was fairly lackluster with only a handful of artists, and several told us nothing was selling. The crowds were apparently spending all their money on the exorbitantly priced Batman & Robin autographs, which were $60 - $100
each. (With much more for photos.)
The costume contest was held upstairs in a tiny cave of a room, so dark that photos were impossible - and no stage, so you couldn't see them anyway.
Topping it all off, I think Fanboy was over-priced, charging $25 for a single day's admission. That's almost MegaCon money, for a convention one quarter of the size!
Ahhh, but I've griped enough, right? Let's get to the cosplay!
I love this pose, ha! Ariel and the Discovery of the Dinglehopper. :D
This Hellgirl had some fantastic contouring going on with her body paint:
Plus I love the contrast of her red with R2's blue.
Note the epic side-eye photo bomb, which I didn't have the heart to crop out. Hee.
I'm seeing a lot more colored contacts on cosplayers, and I can see why; really helps the eyes "pop."
The inflatable dino made me grin:
I should mention I had some camera problems at Fanboy, and nearly scrapped this whole batch in frustration. Almost all of my shots had varying degrees of blur to them, no matter
what I did. Since then John's discovered there's a known focusing issue with the Canon 7D, and he just downloaded a software fix for it. I'm hoping that means my next batch is better!
... which is all a lengthy excuse for why this Moxxi is so blurry.
Just pretend you're not wearing your glasses. Or that you need some.
The blurriest of all, but I loved the little Claptrap hanging off her jacket tails:
An adorable Star Trek family:
I think this is an Asgardian Belle?
It's like Thor's hammer, but with a rose inside! Clever, right? And I like all the roses on her gold armor.
These Harley, Ivy, and Catwoman bathing beauties are SO FUN:
Look at Harley's little ring float!
And I think Catwoman has a beach ball in a bag... which kind of looks like a giant bomb?
Seriously. LOVE.
Another creative take on a classic: Warrior Chieftain Mandalorian:
That huge feather headdress was a sight to behold, and lots of great detailing here.
Korra and Asami from Legend of Korra:
(Korra [aka Queen Nyota Cosplay]'s FB page here.)
Such a great show. If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can stream the first season there for free.
And here's one I've never seen at a con before: Elphaba from Wicked!
Wicked is John's & my favorite musical. Here's a reference from the actual stage show:
Ooh, lookie, it's my favorite local droid again!
It's been a while since I've seen this guy out. I've dubbed it the Captain EO, and I lurrrve it.
And finally, my favorite costume duo of the day, worn by my friends (& Epbot fans!) Jason & Allison:
Steampunk Mary Poppins & Bert!
I'm sure most of you have seen the movie, but just in case:
What really amazes me are the details these two put in. And they made EVERYTHING. Allison even made her own corset, steel boning and all! She has red LEDs in her umbrella, and little vials of sugar on her bracers:
Plus a big silver spoon on her belt. Hee! Her other bracer has a compass (for tracking the winds, of course):
Not to be outdone, Jason's arm bracers had art supplies in them:
Paints, brushes, and the leather pouches have oil pastels and chalks inside.
Feather and flower detail on Allison's goggles, and the most squee-worthy detail:
Tiny spoon charms on her skirt ribbons!
I'm kicking myself for not dragging these two outside for a proper photo shoot, since these shots are terribly dark and grainy. Hopefully you guys get the general idea, though:
And that was Fanboy Expo!
Sadly I don't think we'll be returning next year, unless maybe they slash prices and/or change venues again. It would also help if they booked more celebs, though obviously Batman & Robin drew in huge crowds for them. For you locals, I'd definitely choose
Tampa Bay Comic-Con instead. It's held the same month (this weekend, in fact), costs just $5 more, and is easily four times the size.
Speaking of which, we're at Tampa Bay Comic-Con at this very moment, so stay tuned for those photos later. Hope to see some of you there!
