What a weekend! As expected, I had a blast at my second ever TFCon! Just like last year I spent the weekend in cosplay, I helped out at Retro Joad’s booth, I bought some Transformers, I swam in the pool, and I chatted to fellow Transformers fans. But this year I also entered the costume contest, spent more time walking around the convention, and got even more involved in the Transformers fandom and community. I still never got around to going to panels, but I plan on going back to TFCon so I’ll definitely have the opportunity to do that in the future.
On Saturday I donned my knit Grimlock cosplay – “Grimloom” as he has been appropriately nicknamed. I had a lot of fun wearing that cosplay, and I loved peoples reactions to it, but I did not expect that it would be so difficult to wear. When I tried it on at home it was comfortable, and although it was warm I knew that it would be easy to cool myself down by opening up certain parts. What I did not expect was the enormous strain on my neck and shoulders that only got worse throughout the day. The dino-mode body was so heavy that it pushed down on my head and dragged on the backpack straps that secured me into the cosplay. I was not able to wear this cosplay all day and had to (partially) change out of cosplay in the afternoon, but I made sure to keep it on long enough to compete in the costume contest.
As far as cosplay contests go, this one had a few hiccups (as is to be expected) but overall it was a lot better than most masquerades I have competed in at other conventions. Unfortunately, a lot of the necessary efficiency behind the operations of the costume contest were due to the fact that we had a limited amount of time in the room in which the contest was taking place. Registration and judging both took place in advance in the hallway, and although it made it difficult to figure out where to go at times, it helped speed up the judging of the costume contest so that we would take up less time on stage. This was definitely preferable to spending 4+ hours in a masquerade green room with little or nothing to do.
After speedily showing off our costumes on stage, we were asked to gather in the lobby – this was both the best and worst place for us to be. It was not ideal as this is a high traffic area in the hotel, so the mass gathering of cosplayers meant that it was difficult to move through the area. On the other hand, this was a great opportunity for pictures as there were so many amazing cosplayers gathered in one place. It is a shame that we did not have enough time in the room before the next panel started, as it was not ideal to hold the awards ceremony in the hotel lobby (and I’m sure there were some audience members who never got to see the winners announced because of this). Overall, however, this was a well run costume contest and the organizers did their best to make the event run smoothly despite the lack of space. Oh, and did I mention I won second place in the Rig Division? There were so many amazing cosplayers I still can’t quite process the fact that I even placed!
On Sunday, Mark and I did a couples cosplay as Blaster and Soundwave. Since I was in a MUCH more comfortable cosplay, I was able to be a lot more helpful at Retro Joad’s booth. Just like last year, I REALLY enjoyed working the booth. As someone who is relatively new to Transformers, it is a fantastic learning experience as well as an opportunity to get to know other fans. I feel like I had even more fun at the booth this year since I am a bit more knowledgeable about the fandom than I was last year. Not to mention I was hanging out with some pretty awesome friends at the booth all weekend. I can’t wait to help out again next year!
I think one of the things that made this year so much better for me was the people. Over the past few months I have been following more Transformers fans and fan artists on twitter, immersing myself in the fandom more than I did when I first got started. So by the time I got to TFCon, there were artist’s booths I had to check out in person because I had seen their work online, I was able to have more in depth conversations with some of the people who stopped by the booth, and I had some great conversations with fellow cosplayers in the costume contest. Now, after the convention, I am following many new artists, cosplayers, and fans on social media and I feel like I am becoming much more involved in the fandom. And for someone like me, who started watching Transformers as a way to bond with my significant other, it feels really nice to be getting involved with the fandom in my own way. I am meeting like-minded individuals who are closer to my age and who enjoy the same kinds of things about Transformers as I do. My experience in this fandom just keeps getting better.
Bonus Pictures – I definitely spoiled myself this convention:
The combined haul of the Retro Joad crew
Transformers Prime is my favourite so my Prime collection keeps growing
I STILL can’t believe I placed! / Got more jewelry from WaywardMartian and a pin for registering in the costume contest
These two Junkions are my first ever Third Party purchases (to be shared with Mark) – This inspired me to want to make a Wreck-Gar cosplay out of scrap yarn and junk
Artwork from Matt Moylan (Lil Formers Starscream) (with my new tiny Prime Starscream figure), Sara Pitre-Durocher (Doodling Starscream and Sharkticons), and Pangolinart (ADORABLE Dinobot family picture)
