Do you love cosplaying? If you do, there's an upcoming cosplay convention for all ages. It's absolutely incredible! Video games. Anime-wrapped cars. Showings of the newest anime. A small library full of mangas. Panels to teach you how to customize your cosplays. A wig contest. Video game contests. And… an amazing expo hall with many different creators and store-bought places like Cartridges Galore for cosplaying gear and products! Find products you can't find anywhere else that are handmade by people at the expo hall!
An expo hall is basically a shop, but with anime and limited edition merchandise you probably can't find anywhere else. Most of it is handmade with custom prints and pins from original creators with original art. If you want, you don't have to go “in Cosplay” to participate! It's a great experience even for people who don't love cosplaying.
If you decide to wear a cosplay but don't have a lot of money to spend or don't already have a cosplay, there are some options. There are online sites where you can get cheap cosplays, but if you really want a great quality cosplay… they can be really expensive and hard to find. Some cost as much as $1,000. Most people get their cosplay from Amazon cosplays, which is a great place to get your cosplays. You can also make your own cosplays, which is great. Do it yourself and be confident in what you do.
Also, I strongly recommend that you buy figures from them while you’re there, especially because if you're buying anime figures from Temu AliExpress, Amazon or any other seemingly trustworthy websites, you can easily get scammed and get fake figures that aren't real. Here's the problem with keeping fake figures, even if you like them. Fake anime figures are obviously made to be very cheap, they're not made to be high quality, which means everything about them is cheap. But the plastic printing, details, and the paint are going to be very cheaply made. The cheap figures could have paint with aluminum and lead inside of it, which is extremely toxic, especially if this paint comes off and gets into your air. Anime figures are also supposed to be put on display, so if the paint starts rubbing off and getting into your air conditioning or circulation system, it can be really bad for you. So I really encourage you to buy figures from the con, because you can actually look at the box and figure out if it's real or not.
I encourage you to express your interest in playing and, if you want to go to a cosplaying convention, I totally support you. Unfortunately, this fan base is not loved very much and can be constantly bullied, but every time I go to this, everybody's so loving and caring. If it's a great place to be, really. If I were you I would totally go. It's only in Altoona and they have really affordable prices.
One of my favorite things that happened when I went is that everybody loved my cosplay. It was so supportive and nice and it really lifted my spirits. The first thing I did was go to the video game hall which was amazing. They have every single console you could ever think of! They have PCS, ps5s, Nintendo Switches, GameCubes, the original Nintendo, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, Xboxes, Xbox One, Xbox Two, Xbox Three. It’s absolutely great!
The expo hall was really nice. Some of the stuff was a little bit overpriced, but I think that makes sense because the original creators made this stuff by hand and it's really important to support them. Also, everything there is really cute and well made and you can even buy new things for your cosplay like wigs, hats, and purses. They have a library and a little theater in one of the rooms where you can watch new shows of the latest anime. There’s also a little library where you can read any manga you can think of.
There are some things I wish I had known before I went my first time. Make sure that you have some sort of water bottle and snacks. They do have vending machines there, but it's kind of a hassle to get cash to use them. And it doesn't matter where you go, the food lines are always super long. I would try my best not to use cash anywhere, because a lot of the creators take Apple Pay or some sort of digital pay, or even a credit card.
If you choose to wear a wig, do not do what I did when I went to this cosplay convention. All I did was put on a cheap cap and my wig. But that was all I wore the entire time at the con. My wig was slipping off and I was stepping on it constantly. The first thing you want to do if you do get a wig (and it doesn't matter if it's short or long), you're going to want to buy some sort of wig cap. You can usually get a 10-pack on Amazon for like seven bucks Also, you're probably going to want to get this hairspray glue that’s on Amazon. I'll have that in the links below so you can buy it.
In conclusion, I think you should really go to this because it would be a great opportunity for you if you want to try cosplaying or just like Anime in general.
Have fun cosplaying. And I hope to see you there!