GM and Zaku Cosplay Mania X

Finally was able to convert and upload one of the few vidoes I had of me and Ricki's Gundam 08th Team series cosplay last Cosplay Mania X. Ricki cosplayed the RX-79[G] Ground Type GM and me as the Zaku MS-05L Sniper Model. It was fun to see ourselves on video, seeing ...how other people saw us walking and acting like robots. Enjoy!

Thanks to Wilson and Addy for the assistance, and Polidread and Jam for the video!

UPAME Track 10 Convention Review

UPAME Track 10 turned out ok at the start, although they were late around 20 minutes. Entrance was slow due to the ticketing being just one line. Most of the people who were already inside were there because they bought advance selling tickets. The line snaked all the way almost to the other end of the convention, and was forced to fold the line four to five times to avoid crowding the other already ongoing events such as the World Robotics Olympiad and the Canon Photography Marathon. That was just for those who got inside SMX.

Outside SMX was weirder. UPAME did not have direct control on the decision on how the entrance should be done, instead the security of SMX were the ones who controlled the number of people going inside.

Why so slow?

Cosplaying and the Law

Cosplaying your favorite character has always been the basis for dressing up in conventions, but there are times where some people may have stepped over the line without knowing it. Fun as it may seem, there are certain cosplays that may get you into trouble, and here are some tips to get you as far away from, the very least, an embarrassment, and the worst being jail term.

International Guests to grace Cosplay Mania X

Its been under wraps for months, making sure we are able to pull it off, making sure to make their stay here safe and interesting and absolutely exciting.

The guests were officially announced at Naoko Cosplay Blog. Naoko is Cosplay Mania's official international guest relations officer. Click the link and check out who.

But for me, this is the cosplayer I finally want to meet in person.


Yep, it's him, the guy, the first mecha cosplayer to ever win the prestigious AFA cosplay competition. Mirage_cld in the forums, real name being Clive. With the generous help of Naoko, we were able to invite him to come over and be our exclusive guest for Cosplay Mania. This is also the time I realized how excited i was to finally get to meet him in person, after chatting and communicating with him online for years, not just in the forums, but even as early as the days I was still running my now defuct Geocities-hosted mecha cosplay tutorial website MECHACOSPLAYTIPS.TK. I even invited by Clive himself if i could visit him someday in Singapore with my costume, i guess the tables are turned on me for being too slow, hehehe.

What's exciting was that he wasnt just coming over just to visit, he's coming in costume! Man, to finally find out how he build his awesome creations.

I dont know if im suffering from fanboy jitters, but yeah, i am a big fan of Clive and sure as hell i hope i dont go flipping-over-mental when i shake his hand.

I knew about this for months, now i can finally breath easily and share this wonderful news, not just to fellow mecha cosplayers in my network, but to everyone else. :D

I am so looking forward for Cosplay Mania. How about you guys?

Another strange thing to collect

I like strange things, and nothing piques my curiosity even more than strange Rei Ayanami collectibles.

Its no secret that I love that particular NGE character, and its no secret either that I share that very same interested with thousands of other NGE enthusiasts. If I had lots of money to throw away I would have made my own little shrine in no time, but instead i live within my means and settle with finding that one little Rei in the most obscure or unlikely places.

This particular item was on sale at Comic Alley. And yes, its not an official NGE merchandise. Its a keychain of sorts made of yarn, thread, beads and felt paper, about 2.5 inches tall. I was visiting the store in Megamall (the day KFest was going on, but decided to roam around the mall instead) and was looking for random Rei figures and checking out their prices when at the corner of my eye i saw this lonesome keychain figure tucked in a corner near the manga sale shelf. It was actually missing part of the head gear (one of the beads was missing) so it was 50% off the original price of P120. The keychain even had a little brass bell attached to it.

Neways, it goes straight to my collection box of NGE stuff, adding to what I aim to having a rising collection of strange bootleg or original Rei collectibles.

Post-modern Pop-culture Machete

This will be a short one, i promise.

One of the most fascinating things about humanity is how good we are in integrating traditions with current pop-culture.

We took this picture on the bridge-border of Pangasinan-Tarlac on our back to Manila from our Baguio trip TORCH event. Along the way we saw stalls and shacks of small businesses selling large wooden statues or machetes. Wood carvings are the most common and popular source of living in the northern provinces, and machetes or large statues of Igorot warriors and women are the most common theme. Many are found being sold in Filipiniana stores, a particular example is one store found in Pasay Road across the former Goldcrest area (now under renovation), where a giant 10 foot Igorot adorn the entrance like a wooden guardian.

But these carving and sculpting talents are no longer exclusive to these traditional themes. Lately, toy department stores, cinemas and some specialty shops have commissioned some carvers in Pangasinan to carve more popular foreign pop-culture icons as part of their marketing efforts to promote their wares. Some swear they're cheaper than fiberglass but hell to transport due to their weight.

Toycon Thoughts: Toys and Cosplay

I hate going to Toycon. Because of the fact that, no matter how hard you try, no matter how long or how much, you will not be able to leave the premises without turning your wallet into a desolated wasteland (read: spending until you have just your commuting money left. Not even enough for food).

So I will rant my "hate" by showing you some of my thoughts and stuff I got on the first day of the convention.

GENERAL THOUGHTS
I arrived quite late around 3pm but the place is still packed with the usual cosplayers. That was the thing that bothered me actually, there was a huge increase of cosplayers this year, and most of them were there for social reasons, and not to join the event's contest. It proved both boon and bane: the costumed characters attracted a lot of attention from bystanders by their colorful costumes but made that part of the building wing almost impassible by mall goers. In the point of view of a con goer (i didnt cosplay this year, i went there to look around and check out toys) I had a hard time trying to get from point A to point B. It even came to the point that the mall admin decided to clear out the spaces in the immediate vicinity of the entrance/exits and would only allow those who actually want to go in the con to enter the area. I cant blame the cosplayers hanging outside the venue, because once i got inside, i saw there werent any space for them anyways. It was packed full of toy booths and people mingling and buying.

Robotech and Carl Macek: A small tribute

Carl Macek.

In the anime community he is both loved and hated. He introduced anime in the western hemisphere, and to do so (thanks to western cartoon requirements and standards that were totally different from Japan) spliced and diced three unrelated sci-fi anime into one giant space opera we recognize to this day as ROBOTECH.

Here's a news snippet that i found in Anime News Network:

"American producer Carl Macek passed away due to a heart attack on Saturday. Macek and Beck had co-founded the anime importing company Streamline Pictures in 1988.

Macek is best known for producing Robotech, the 1985 redubbed and edited adaptation of three different anime series — Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeada. He also worked on the dubbing of many anime projects from Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years (redubbed and edited adaptation of Captain Harlock and Queen Millennia) to more recently, Bleach and Naruto. His other dubbing production credits include Vampire Hunter D, Robot Carnival, My Neighbor Totoro, and Aura Battler Dunbine. Although Streamline Pictures did not dub the 1988 film Akira, it did release the film in theaters and on video tape in the United States. "

Cosplay Thoughts: Character Knowledge and Original Characters

Last PCC, the organizers gave me a unique opportunity to be part of the judging panel where we could ask questions towards the top 20 cosplay finalists. All them were deserving of being part of the top 20, and I personally had a hard time choosing which of them would be the best of their category.

The question and answer portion, although quite lengthy at times, had shed some light on some contestants, especially on parts where i had to ask them to perform characters they seemingly chose for themselves.

Part of being a cosplayer is knowing the character you are cosplaying. How much you know can determine how good your performance is when trying to impress the judges (this applies if you are joining a contest). In non-contest situations, having a sizable knowledge of the character would help you generate a certain "authenticity" to your cosplay, not to mention a huge sigh of both relief and glee from fellow fans of that self-same character you are cosplaying.

My Zerg Hydralisk Cosplay

My Starcraft Hydralisk Zerg costume made for You Got Game convention last 2006. I only remember seeing two videos of it in action, one shot during the catwalk, and this. This was shot in our garage, where a friend of mine wore it because he wanted to borrow it for a Halloween party. Added some sound effects.

The costume was retired, its fate documented in my old Livejounral entry back in April 19, 2008: http://teeth-for-eyes.livejournal.com/2008/04/19/

Prosthetics Tutorial: Flesh & Metal Cyborg Battle Scars

Eva_guy01 Tutorial
Flesh and Metal Cyborg Battle Scars

(photo courtesy of Universal Pictures Terminator 2)

This tutorial will teach you how to easily create (yes i promise, its easy) basic special effect prosthetics that will replicate damaged skin and exposed machinery of cyborgs or any other characters like The Terminator, Bionic Man/Bionic Woman, Ghost in the Shell characters, DC's Metallo, Star Trek Borgs and even Fembots.

Let's start with basic scars.

Sense and Sensibilities: Election Gun Ban and Cosplay

(crediting Neonkenji21 for bringing up the topic on his Multipy Blog)

I'll make this absolutely easy to understand and straight to the point.

Guns and other objects similar to such will be frowned upon
if not get you in trouble with the law on Election season.

Please don't try to rationalize that they are toys, that they are
made of harmless plastic, styrofoam or wood.