Miami Supercon 2014

Last year I said I wasn't going back to Florida Supercon; the facility was broken down, the staff was nonexistent, and the crowds were suffocating. But - BUT!- they moved to a new convention center this year, so John and I decided to give it another try.

The new center is miles better than the last one - lots more room and big open aisles -  but parking is spread out over 14 smaller offsite garages and lots, many of which require shuttles, so that's an added stress. We only went Thursday and Friday to avoid the crowds, though, so those days were a breeze - almost dead, really - and we were able to park close and walk.

My friend Christie as hipster Elsa. Isn't her hair perfect?

While the center is much better, the Supercon staff and organization doesn't seem to have improved much. On Thursday they would only sell 2-day tickets for Friday and Saturday, but on Friday they would only sell 2-day tickets for Saturday and Sunday - so you could never buy a 2-day ticket to use on that day. They wouldn't sell single day passes in advance, either, so we had to wait in line again on Friday. Not a huge deal, but when we tried to ask about this, we were shrugged off and ignored. Urg.

I'll attempt to offset my bellyaching with pretty cosplay pictures. Hi, Link & Zelda!

The new center doesn't allow any outside food or drink - not even water! - which is especially nuts since there are no water fountains inside (!!), and only a handful of overpriced food vendors. We heard stories from friends stopped at the door by belligerent staff and forced to throw out water bottles and sandwiches, but John and I had no trouble smuggling food and drink inside a backpack. So I guess the rule is: keep it secret, keep it safe.

 

Shhhhh.

On the plus side, Supercon had a fantastic vendor room this year, filled with stuff I actually wanted to buy. That never happens! From Totoro backpacks to Pony plushes, Portal toys to handmade assemblage robots, this place was a geeky shopper's dream.

These "Woah-Botz" were SO FUN.

And don't get me started on the heaven that was artists' alley, which was the biggest I've seen yet. I spent ALL the money!!

I couldn't even fit the whole haul on our dining room table. Awww yeeeeeeah.

(Half of those are going on the give-away board for this month's art roundup, btw. Who loves ya?)

Here's my friend Dana as an angry Sith. Everyone say, "Hi, Dana!"

("Hi, Dana!")

Now check out this photo of his:

Yep.
THIS IS AWESOME.

Dana likes getting pictures with costumed kids at cons - if you ever meet him he has some great stories - so when he ran into this little girl Vader on Friday he asked her to cross her arms and look stern. Isn't it fabulous? And what a great way to treat our next generation of cosplayers!

Moving on...

Beautiful steampunk Rogue is beautiful:
 

And I love that this Chell made her own gun AND longfall boots:

Always a sucker for any version of Wonder Woman, and for Meridas who use their own hair:

A lovely Harley and Poison Ivy:

 

Probably the most impressive costume I found, and definitely the one getting the most double-takes:

I believe this steampunk chap's chair was fully automated - you can see the control stick in his right hand - and there were "smoke" towers in the back with little spinning bits on them. AMAZING. And while I don't see how he could possibly have legs in there, I figured it would be indelicate to ask.

[Update: Someone just pointed out these two are from Wild Wild West. I had to look it up - saw it ages ago, but I don't remember anything - and WOW did he nail Dr. Loveless!]

I decided to have a little fun with my editing software, and gave their photo an old-fashioned makeover:

The folding chairs in the background were really throwing off the Victorian vibe, so I just blurred them out. Let's call it water damage. :)

Phew! I'm all photo-edited out for now, but stay tuned for more fun cosplay pics later!