Fantabulous Fan Expo

I know, I know... I'm 3 weeks late at posting this.

To be fair, my hard drive did bust and I had to get a new one and reformat the entire thing...again.
Also, there was that whole incident with the flu, but I'd rather not get into that.

I am finally back up and running (both me and the computer) and I figure better late than never.

This is the first Fan Expo ever that I've gone all 4 days!

Granted, Thursday I was only there for a about an hour, just to pick up my tickets and see if I could scope out the 501st.

Awhile back, I mentioned that I was waiting for approval of my ISO costume. Well, I got accepted!! I'm now 1 of 2 ISO girls in Canada.

Now, although the ISO isn't a part of the 501st, it is affiliated with them. I got in touch with my local garrison to see if I could help them out at Fan Expo. My long time facebook friend Roy (aka Darth Vader) said they'd be more than happy to let me help and to just stop on by and see him.

Thus, that's what I was doing on Thursday. Unfortunately he was in a panel, so I just wandered around a bit before I met up with some friends.

There were some great Doctor Who displays to check out

 This picture totally represents what I think Fan Expo is all about;

Doctor Who, Star Wars, Ghostbusters and the Batmobile, all in one picture.

We can totally all get along. Love what you love and wear it with pride.

check out this kick ass Alice and an adorable Marill!

I spent a bit more time there on Friday. I got out of work early and headed down, once again, to see if I could find Roy. This time I actually did. He told me to show up on Saturday with my costume. I was thrilled. 

I've never wanted to steal something so badly in my life...

While I was loitering around the 501st table, I got to see something pretty spectacular. Ian McDiarmid (aka Emperor Palpatine) was escorted by a company of Stormtroopers over to their replica emperor's chair, where he signed it and posed for pictures! How cool is that?!

I apologize, I couldn't get close enough to take very good pictures.

I had great conversations with members on how to make costumes, including this awesome Rebel pilot

And this amazing Queen Amidala!
(yes, those are the first two costumes that I want to make for myself)

There was a great photo-shoot happening on the Batmobile as I walked by, and I had to stop and snap a picture.

Speaking of Batman, this is probably the most awesome Batgirl costume I've ever seen! I really want my own!

Steampunk Flame Princess and Princess Bubblegum!!

There were a lot of Rule 63 Supernatural characters running about. I love this delightful Castiel. I will admit, I might have chased her down to get a picture of her. She was very sweet about it

This group of Supernatural fans made sure that I got a picture with all of them. This included them shouting "Dean" as loudly, and as in character, as possible to get her attention. It was pretty funny.

Rule 63 Mal!!

LSP!

This Luna Lovegood was so good, I actually didn't realize for a second that it was a cosplay! I just thought, oh hey, there's Luna..

I was super sad that I missed the Sailor Moon panel, but seeing all the amazing cosplay made up for it.

Luna in human form!!!!

Wow! just Wow!

This girl had an awesome minesweeper dress on. Its too bad that she was super rude to me.

Saint's Row! And the notorious dildo bat! Well played sir...

I've never seen such a fantastic Ripley cosplay before! I was super impressed. She was also super sweet, which I always appreciate.

I met up with some friends and we went to see the George Takei panel. I didn't manage to get any pictures (or at least clear ones) since we were at the very back. He was gracious and funny and wonderful to listen to. He likes to talk, which is great, but that meant that there were only a few questions for him that got answered. I would've like to have heard more questions.

Saturday was a fantastic day. I got up, put my hair in victory rolls and headed down to the convention centre.

On my way, I ran into this lovely Enchantress.

And these fantastic caped crusaders

Hanging out with the 501st was super fun! I had a blast.

I got to watch as kids and adults alike, took shots with a nerf gun at Lord Vader, and an array of troopers, for the Make A Wish Foundation.

I was put in charge of guarding the displays. Although most people were very respectful, a few people tried to touch them when they thought no one was looking. A polite reminder that someone was pretty quickly put them back in line.

I managed to snap this great shot of a cosplaying Emperor sitting in his chair.

 

These two Jedi hung out in front of the display for awhile, taking pictures with everyone. They were super nice and chatted with me for a bit. Pretty much everyone in the 501st came over and introduced themselves to me at one point or another. It was really great. You can really tell that they're just one giant family.

 

Check out these amazing replica props!

During the 501st march and the group photo, I got to help run the booth!
Not only that, I got to help run the raffle as well. The prizes were amazing and the money went to a good cause! I was surprised at the turn out for the draw. It was huge. I even got to draw the tickets out!

Yup, that's me in my brief moment as a booth babe :p



For the parts of the day when I was on break and wondering around, here are some of the other great things that I saw

They may have named the dog Indiana, but this guy is much better suited to it.

I can see how going to Fan Expo might be like going down the rabbit hole.

Zelda and Link in all their glory

I'm pretty sure that these two girls were actually princesses. They were kind and courteous and super sweet. They might have been my favorite of all the cosplayers all weekend.

Not to mention that they totally look the part.

The Lady Amalthea!! The Last Unicorn cosplay makes me super happy!

Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Jupiter! I love it

This girl had made her own Padme costume and I really want my own version of it!

Look at those side buns on her cap!!

Deedlit and Pirotess!!
I've never seen anyone do Record Of Lodoss War cosplay! This was astonishing!

How about this adorable little Spok sitting in the Emporor's chair?
(you can see Ian McDiarmid's signature on the side)

Steampunk, showgirl, batman sirens!

These guys totally made my day
(and possible fulfilled my teenage dream of seeing both of them at the same time!)
Swoon!

Sunday was a nice, quiet day at the convention, at least for me.
Adam and I went and met up with some friends and just wandered around for a few hours.

Mako Mori and Elizabeth cosplay

Roy asked me to stop by the booth when I was there, and he thanked me for all my help and gave me these:

2 Canadian Garrison hockey pucks and my very own official patch for my uniform!!!
YAY!!

Now this is where I would usually show you all the awesome loot that I bought. You'll be surprised to know that I only bought one thing.

Yup, a Laurie B! print.
As usual, she recognized me, which I still think is awesome!


All and all, it was a lovely, if not tiring, weekend and I can't wait to do it all again next year.