Tampa Bay Comic-Con 2015, Part 1

Who's ready for Tampa Comic-Con photos?!

First, cue the crickets:

This, my friends, is the cash and credit card line on Saturday morning. See all those glorious, wide open aisles in front of me? This is why you never ever ever pre-order convention tickets.* The poor schlubs on the right did the "right" thing and pre-paid online. They had to wait in a monster line that stretched out and around the building... in the rain. But those of who didn't plan ahead? We skipped merrily past the hordes right up to the registers. It's not right, but there 'tis.

[*Correction: I was too emphatic there, guys; sorry about that. Sometimes you should pre-order, so the trick is doing your research and knowing the individual con.]

Other than that and a few other crowd-related problems, I'm happy to say Tampa Comic-Con continues to be a great con. It's held in a beautiful convention center with ample, cheap parking, and the vendor room is arranged with MASSIVE aisles to help with traffic flow.

And oh, was there traffic. Friday was perfect, with just enough crowds to make it feel like a con, but Saturday was a madhouse, reaching a capacity that didn't even allow for photographs, if you can imagine that. We had to hug the exterior walls and hope for a spare foot or two just to aim the cameras. Then the AC started to fail, unable to cope with that many bodies, and things got kinda sweaty. o.0

That wasn't so bad, but the food situation was: there just wasn't any. The few center vendors were immediately clogged with hours-long lines, forcing attendees to choose between eating and getting to see the con. Most conventions bring in extra food carts and vendors, so I'm amazed to see such a rookie mistake at a huge, well-established con. On the plus side, unlike SuperCon there ARE water fountains around, which was a life-saver.

So, to sum up: If you go to Tampa CC next year, do NOT pre-purchase tickets, bring cash, and pack a big lunch.

Now, PEEKTURE TIME!! 

 

 Cannot. Handle. TEH CUTE. 

(Lookit dat face!)

Sweet Moogle girl:

Moogles are from both Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. You'll know their cosplayers by the red ball on top.

Glinda the good witch:

 

And another Elphaba from Wicked, this time in her glamorous finale dress:

Look at all those ruffles! RESPECT.

Daenerys with one of her fiercer looking dragons:

Great face paint on this Joker & Harley. Then when they turned to leave I heard clanking, and...

 Ha! That could be just for cosplay, but I kind of hope they really WERE just married.

This Tank Girl cracked me up. Her poses were pure GOLD:

Hee! 

Here's a reference, in case you don't know the character:

 Another one you may not recognize: here's my friend Christie again (I promise I DO have other friends, honest) as a gender-swapped Vash from Trigun:

 

And a reference:

At least this next character needs no introduction, I hope:

 Sweet Staypuft!! And is that a Slimer purse? WANT.

You might recognize this cosplayer; she was the gender-swapped Kristoff in my SuperCon roundup - the one with that faaabulous giant plush Sven on her back. I wonder if she ever sells her stuff? She's a wizard with a sewing machine.

Another classic, for you Rocky Horror Picture fans:

I love seeing pics side-by-side like this, so we can appreciate all the details - right down to the anklet and matching jacket chains.

 

I'm still not a fan of zombies, but when a group does a Disney mash-up this cleverly, ya gotta give props:

 Um, Belle is gnawing on Beast's hand. 

Ew.

Here, have a giant bunny feet chaser:

 GIANT BUNNY FEET!

Any Avatar: The Last Airbender fans out there?

 There's a running gag in the show where a cabbage seller's cart keeps getting destroyed in the kids' battles. Then he cries out, "MY CABBAGESSSS!" (It's funny, honest.) There are even a bunch of memes for him:

See? 

I like that I'm doing my part to educate the geek masses. :D (Not to mention John. I'm starting to quiz him at cons now, seeing how many costumes he can ID.)

Love this smirk:

I've photographed him before, so you might remember this guy. (Pretty sure he's Tyrion from GoT.) The red silk is covering his real legs, and this remains one of the more ingenious chair cosplays I've seen. 

Dead Ted? Ted Pool?

 

Either way, punny mash-ups make me happy.

Related:

 

 :D

This Hocus Pocus group was too fun:

 

And a reference, since I know *I* don't remember:

 Gah, I'm only about halfway through my favorites, so I'm going to end here. I'll leave you guys with more epic cuteness, in the form of a little Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy:

Couldn't resist including the one with Mom tugging the headphone cord out of his mouth. :D

Stay tuned for part 2, which includes a cosplay group SO epic I had to take video. Also, Post-Apocalyptic Muppet Hunters. NEED I SAY MORE? (Yes, I know I do. So, next time!)