Aftermath: New York Comic Con 2015

Our Bob's Burgers group was a hit!

Ack! Ack! Another New York Comic Con has come and gone and I've emerged victorious. Albeit tired, sore and with no desire to hear my own voice for at least a few weeks. Therein lies the adventure that is NYCC. We had a rallying cry all weekend of the show- if we didn't love this, we wouldn't do it.

Our "NYCC Skybox", as we ended up calling it. All that separates us from the teeming masses.

 Much like last year: me, Little Asian Sweatshop and Maria Danalakis Art all pitched in and got a booth on the main floor of the exhibitor hall and had all of our usual pinup-inspired goodies for sale. Now fully aware of how grueling NYCC's schedule is, we decided to not be as ambitious in our cosplay themes. Four 12 hour workdays in a row that have the intensity of a Macy's on Black Friday really takes a toll on us physically and mentally, so we played it more low-key this year. Thursdays we just wore whatever- I dressed in a pants version of my Mouseketeer outfit. Friday was Batman-themed where I was a very loose interpretation of Catwoman. Maria dressed in her adorable Riddler dress and Fenny busted out her VERY old-school Robin costume from cosplays past- she literally had not worn it in over 12 years. It was hilariously terrible- back from the days when all we had to make costumes from was cheap wedding satin. She looked great though. That costume will always crack me up. Saturday however was our crowning achievement- we had a Bob's Burgers group of Maria as Linda, me as Tina and Fenny as Louise. It hit two big bullet points with me and cosplay- amazingly comfortable and instantly recognizable. And Maria was BORN to play Linda. She borrowed my bubble flip wig I had made from Fifi Mahoney's and was SO into it, even being in character a good chunk of the day. Our little Cosplay Diva! Sunday was our 'screw it' day- jeans and hoodies. We were so tired people should be happy we were even there at all.

#NYCC exhibitor booth 2682- Paigey and Friends!! Come see me, @littleasiansweatshop and @mariartist

A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on Oct 8, 2015 at 9:30am PDT

Unfortunately we were unable to get the cherry spot we got last year so we had to choose a booth location all the way in the back of the exhibit hall- which also happens to be the length of about 4 football fields. As a result we all did well, but not as well as last year. Either way- we are def planning to exhibit again in 2016. This is usually the most social I am all year, so it's a good way to get all of my desire to dress up in silly outfits, talk about art, get pictures taken and hang out with friends in one fell swoop. Plus I get to make a little money and hear from people coming up to me about how awesome they think I am? Let's do it! It's certainly a nice break from sitting in front of the computer in my apartment while wearing 4 day old pj pants. (Like I am now…)

JFC ITS ONLY THURSDAY PEOPLE 😰

A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on Oct 8, 2015 at 11:39am PDT

Got a visit from my pal, burlesque superstar Dangrrr Doll as Black Canary!

Fenny in her awful/awesome Robin costume. At 8am.

It was always like a little party at our booth.

Rewarded with elote for a hard day's work!

At times standing at the front corner of the booth it was almost hypnotizing watching the endless shifting sea of people. And every day of the show it just got more and more crowded. You thought it was "bad" on Thursday and Friday? (It was.) Oh heavens, that was mostly comprised of people who were willing to take off from work to attend. Saturday and Sunday are usually when the GENERAL PUBLIC come out to the show, as those are the days most already have off for the weekend. It was like each day just escalates more and more with attendance until it reaches maximum humanity. And then, AND THEN on the final day- Sunday, when you don't think it can get any worse with the shuffling masses and lack of personal space, they decide to make it KIDS DAY. >_<; So now not only are you dodging and weaving through people in general, but at least 40% are most likely going to have a slower, waist-high counterpart attached by the arm who is being dragged through (or pushed, or led) the mob. Which I have to admit- I really feel kind of bad for kids who are brought to New York Comic Con. I just don't see it really being that fun for anyone under the age of 12. If you really think about it- you're being led around a building that kinda-sorta looks like an amusement park with characters running around and and crazy structures like the giant pavilions that the larger companies build. Buuutttt-- it's crazy crowded so you can't really stop. Each aisle is like a giant, slow moving line with no real ending. And being a child, you can't really run off on your own to check out whatever catches your eye. (As my mother would say: That's how you get snatched!) Also the characters and cosplayers running around are a bit of a gamble if you choose to have your child interact with them. Some cosplayers I know are great with kids and have an amazing rapport with the public. Others however can be weird, or creepy, or rude- because guess what, cosplayers are people who are there to enjoy the show just like everyone else. They're not there like characters from Disney World who are paid to be there and have a code of conduct in a controlled environment. There's going to be characters dressed up in costumes that most parents would deem inappropriate for their children to see- whether they're super sexy battle bikinis, gory zombies that will scare the crap out of them, or guys in spandex bodysuits where you can totally make out their gross little wiener waggling all over the place. And don't get me started on the in-character Deadpool cosplayers. Also I hope those parents either brought a ton of money or have their "No, you can't have that." game on lock because they are essentially walking their child into a giant toy store that stretches on for miiiiles. However, I must say there needs to be a mass reinstatement of the 'keep your hands in pockets' policy I had as a kid when shopping with my mom- too many grabby little fingers of questionable cleanliness smeared on all my merch. Look, but don't touch guys. Jeez. What I'm saying, in my opinion is that a lot of NYCC isn't fun for little kids. It's big and boring and scary and anxiety-inducing, especially if the kid didn't really want to go in the first place. Or thought that NYCC would be more akin to an amusement park, only to find the only rides is a crowded escalator. There's plenty of smaller shows that are way more kid-friendly with even special areas set up where they can color and draw and do kid things that I think they would probably enjoy more than standing crotch-level next to a lumpy, middle-aged Spider-man with a visible trouser snake.
I'd have to say with my experience the best time for a kid to start going to conventions (especially NYCC) is early-mid teens. They can go of their own volition and pursue their own weird interests with other like-minded teens with little to no supervision. Much like dropping kids off at the mall back in the day (or do what my parents used to do and go as well, but wander around on their own). Plus cons are held during daytime hours and are relatively safe- more and more conventions are stepping up their staffing, security and policies to help the expanding community feel more included. I know if I had the option of going to a con like the ones they have now I would have lost my damn mind. I however didn't start going to cons until 1998 when I attended my first Otakon at 17, and I've attended shows every year since then. The way I actually met my best friend Fenny was through anime conventions and the mutual friends I had within different groups that all met up at various shows in the mid-Atlantic area back in my late teens/early 20's.

…and now I must scream. 😩

A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on Oct 10, 2015 at 3:24pm PDT

Louise and Tina waiting for the M train.

Practicing my Tina face in the bathroom. Weirder. No, WEIRDER.

I LOVE Maria as Linda. I kept randomly looking over at her and cracking up. The inclusion of her into Fenny and I's cosplay shenanigans has definitely breathed some new life into our jaded old convention souls.

It's so weird seeing me in glasses so big.

As much as I bitch and moan during cons, especially NYCC- I really do love attending and interacting with people and sharing my art and merch with everyone. It's crazy and crowded and physically destroys you over the course of 5 days (we gotta spend all day Wedsnesday setting up the booth), yet as soon as my recovery week is over I'm already thinking about next year.

I just want to go to the restroom. 😖

A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on Oct 11, 2015 at 9:34am PDT

I attempted to be social on Saturday night. Phil and I met up with some out-of-town friends for drinks and I ended up almost nodding off after 1 drink.

Aw! Friends!!

Dorking out with our con pals Brit and Emily!

Fenny and I quoted Mr. Meeseeks from Rick & Morty all weekend. I'm kind obsessed and Fenny had never seen it so we spent every night after the show watching episodes on hulu. It's brilliant and if you aren't already- you should watch it too. Fenny and I are already talking about doing R&M characters for 2016.

Aftermath: Baltimore Comic Con 2015

Baltimore Comic Con 2015 marks *8* years of attending comic conventions as a professional exhibitor! Man o Manischewitz! It almost seems like I know what I'm doing at these things, right? Haha! I've got you all fooled!

BALTIMORE COMIC CON! AA tables 199 & 229! (Rear facing Endcap) With me as always is @littleasiansweatshop #baltimorecomiccon

A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on Sep 25, 2015 at 12:42pm PDT

I've been writing about Baltimore Comic Con for as long as I've had this blog (which is actually coming up on a good long while!) and going is always a treat. It's my hometown show so I get to see an interesting mix of folks- friends from my past intermingle with the new and it's always a fun party at my table that I set up alongside my best friend in the whole wide universe: Fenny from Little Asian Sweatshop. I always do rather well at this show and I'm able to save money by staying at my parents house a mere 15 minutes away.

I also changed up my appearance for the first time in quite a few years: chopping off my hair into a short pixie-ish cut and dying it royal blue! I needed a change and had this realization that my hair when long had been spending 95% of the time clipped up, which is kinda pointless. I also have very little hair styling ability and once I'm dona fixing my bangs and spit curls I'm just about at the end of my patience- so I figured let's keep the front the same and just chop off the back. Easy Peasy!

Spoopiest of the Spoopys

I am VAMPYR!!!!

AMAZING Elvira and Pee-Wee cosplayers that were in character! So good!

They made me SO HAPPY!

With Kayley and Sharon of Cosplay 10.6 as Gwen and MJ

I am WORTHY!! With Kayley of Cosplay 10.6 as Thor

With Hunter Spanks, tattoo artist at Have Fun Be Lucky! This is his FIRST COSPLAY! Awww!

Here's a video interview with me from Sunday with Loading Snacks:

Fenny and I's tradition of post-con crabs at Captain James

Aftermath: Awesome Con 2015

Nooooo!!! Fenny!!!!!

Awesome Con (May 29-31) in Washington, DC! We've heard so much positivity about this show and have gotten some very professional-looking flyers for it since it's inception a few years ago. With my best friend and frequent partner-in-crime Fenny of Little Asian Sweatshop living right outside of DC, we figured we'd give AC a shot and see if it's something we'd like to add to our regular convention schedule. This was the first show of 2015 with our regular dream team of pinup goddesses: Fenny of Little Asian Sweatshop, Maria Danalakis and of course, myself.

AWESOMECON

A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on May 29, 2015 at 1:15pm PDT

Once upon a time 3 little girls went to Starfleet Academy...

Overall I liked Awesome Con. It wasn't perfect, but the stuff that it got right- especially for a show only a few years old- was stuff that will make it into a great con once it's been around a few years. They really had their shit together. Lots of staff, all very friendly and willing to help. Unlike my last show. Lots of room behind the tables as well. Enough room to put on SKITS, because me and my friends are ridiculous. And the three of us donned some classic Star Trek uniforms, of course. I mean both William Shatner AND George Takei were guests there. We HAD to.

Fenny fulfilled her red shirt destiny. 💀

A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on May 30, 2015 at 2:45pm PDT

 Haha, yes we are ridiculous.

I got my bangs specially cut to be a Vulcan that weekend.

 There were a few things I wasn't super crazy about.
A big one was realizing I'm not that crazy about DC in general. When I lived in Maryland I used to avoid it like the plague- the traffic is crazy, it's easy to get lost in and it being an older city who's general infrastructure doesn't handle the influx of people coming in and going out. Also after living in NYC for 8 years (woo!) their Metro system compared to the subway is a confusing, high-stakes nightmare. That closes around midnight. Ugh. Now I remember why I never went to the city without an 'adult' to guide me.

After setup on Friday.

Also it being such a young show, from what I've heard in years previous they have expanded the floor to accommodate bigger crowds every year since the show has been opened. The problem with this however is when you keep expanding the floor, everything gets placed further and further apart. Including attendees. Much like the last Heroes Con I attended in '13, the expansion causes even record crowds to appear smaller which leads to less hype, less excitement and less sales on the convention floor. I'd actually rather have a smaller floorplan with more crowding of attendees in the aisles than large swaths of empty floor shining back up at me. But then that's easy for me to say as a mere vendor. So... ::womp womp::. Also? I think the show could stand to be a 2-day versus a 3-day.

We also had Artist Alley neighbors who were a male artist and his wife who insisted on keeping their small 2-3 year old son strapped in a stroller behind the table with headphones and an iPad for almost the entire duration of the show, and when he wasn't watching the ipad he was sleeping in the stroller. Oh and they fed the kid candy. ALLLLL DAY. Which is a total buzzkill, because now we need to watch our volume, watch our language and listen to the kid freak out and cry when the ipad runs out of juice. Fortunately the mom had the sense to stroll the kid away when he started to melt down, but still... ugh. Originally in our layout of our tables we had Fenny next to the family, which if you've ever met Fenny you'd know in a convention setting she is very loud, very boisterous and very potty-mouthed. Having already witnessed some epic snippiness last year at Baltimore Comic Con over Fenny's volume levels, I had the forethought to switch with her to the furthest table space to avoid further possible conflict. Ever the little adjudicator I am.

We found an awesome Uhura and had to get pics with her. <3 comment-3--="">

Also SAD, my trusty vertical Paigey banner died at this show. I opened it up for the first time after coming back from Dallas and when I pulled it out of the bag about 3-4 little nuts and bolts fell out too that controlled the spring mechanism that brings the vinyl banner back into the base and holds up the support pole. It had a good 4 years and I wanted to get a new one anyways, so now that def has to happen.

We were also near the ever-awesome Jennifer Rose and Ruby Rinesko as Batman and Batgirl!!!

Overall I really liked Awesome Con, but I'll probably give it a couple years to come into it's own before I return. My earnings weren't quite enough to validate the trip down, plus a lot of the folks I saw were my regular customers at Baltimore Comic Con, which is a lot easier for me to get to.  

More pics!!

Sunday morning coffee! It's too early for this.

Throwing Vulcan gang signs.

OMG it's TIGER MILLIONAIRE!!!!

Show mantra.

Aftermath: NYCC 2014

OMG, New York Comic Con... My last show of the season and most definitely my busiest, craziest and 'chew-you-up-and-spit-you-out'-iest. This 4-day behemoth of nerd and pop culture (Oct 9-12) was the site of our lovely 10x10 shared booth #2875 on the Exhibitor floor, that I shared with partners-in-crime Little Asian Sweatshop and Maria Danalakis.

Got my Natalie Dormer smirk on!

I came in to start setting up Tuesday by bringing our tables and chairs, because on the Exhibitor floor you are only buying space. You can rent tables and chairs from the convention center, but you will be charged an arm and a leg for them. I just went ahead and bought some fold away tables at Home Depot. Still cheaper. Wednesday all three of us came in and brought our merch and started setting up our booth. We have also started realizing the amazingness of TARPS! We can set up all our stuff and just leave it on the table if it's covered! Before, we used to take everything and put it under the table, then every morning of the show put it back where it was. It was a huge pain. Not anymore, tarps are where it's at!

Each different color was a price group. Dark blue where we were was the 'cheap seats', but still was almost 2 grand for just a 10x10 space.

Tuesday's load-in, all by myself! 2 tables, 2 chairs!

Wednesday's setup! Home for the next 4 days!

 Thursday was crazy. I don't know if it was that Johnny-Come-Lately ticket holders could only get that day because they're not used to the INSANITY that NYCC has become or what. (Seriously people, start paying attention.) But Thursday was literally like a Saturday at any other show, but spread over about 4 football fields and consistently busy. We were NOT expecting that, especially with what little we knew about traffic on the main floor. Most of my experience on the main floor of NYCC has been in passing (save for 2010 when I shared a booth), passing and weaving and trying to get from point A to point B in one piece. But behind the safety of 'Fort Booth' we at least could stand in our own personal bubbles and take in the crazy crowd flows and people watch. And of course, network and make money! The crowds were so crazy on Thursday that almost half of mine and Fenny's giveaway promo postcards were GONE. And we got A THOUSAND of them, each! Fenny and I were thinking we'd have to run to Staples in Midtown and run off some Xeroxes before they close. Which would have suuuuucked. And then this is how smart and awesome my husband is: while at home, he found a local print shop that can make us actual postcards and then suggested Fenny and I get 1 card with both our graphics on either side. See, we had both been giving out individual cards. At the same events, where we're usually standing right next to each other. If we have one card for the both of us- twice as many cards to go around. Duhhhhh, me. Which is good, because with rush fees we had to shell out like $430 for them. A mistake we won't make again. Plus now- double exposure for our brands!

Our view from the booth of the far left wall of the main exhibit hall

Since all 3 of us girls love to dress up for shows but wanted to wear different stuff but still match in some weird way, we decided each of our days would have a theme. Thursday was TRAVEL! I was a Stewardess, Fenny was a Star Trek OS ensign and Maria was a sailor! So by air, by space and by sea!

We are now beginning our descent into NYCC. Please return your trays to their upright position

I think the addition of my beehive wig really adds to it.

With the crowds as crazy as they were, there were also no announcements being made for the exhibitor floor closing at 7pm. Actually as far as I could tell there weren't any announcements at all on the exhibitor floor. So at 7, the floors were still full of attendees and potential customers. I mean it's not like all of the people on the floor are just going to "poof", go away right as the clock strikes 7. So they *finally* got con staff to go down each aisle and herd the attendees down towards the exits around 7:30. Which sucked because we were trying to get down to the Rawr! Burlesque show in Dumbo, Brooklyn at 8 and totally missed it. Boo. Oh well, we got burritos.

Aw! Maria's sisters came by to wish us luck!

Then came FRIDAY!! We were already BEAT just from Thursday. We took a car service from my apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to the Javits Center all the way over on the Hudson in Manhattan. Traffic was crazy. Today's dress-up theme was FORMAL FRIDAY. Fenny and I bagged our outfits to put on at the show, because they were redonk and we were going to again attempt to go out after the show.

Still kicking! Let's do this!!

I was Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe, much like I was at Dr. Sketchy's Factory Party way back when. I went without my glasses, so most people I know were indistinguishable blobs until they came within 6 feet of me. Fenny wore her wedding dress with Chun-Li hair buns and Maria was proper dainty lady. It was busy Friday but almost not as crazy as Thursday, which was weird. It was still busy enough though. Marilyn was a bit much to wear for vending a show as intense as NYCC, it's really a drinking and partying costume. In a well-lit bar. The restrictive dress, lashes, gloves and blue fur stole are fine for 3-4 hours, but a 9 hour workday and you wanna rip everything off and go screaming naked down the aisles. As the day progressed you could see my wig slide further back on my head, haha.

Marilyn!

Formal Friday Booth Selfie!!

More Marilyn.

Our booth, looking slightly more disheveled.

After the show on Friday we went and saw the opening of Daughters of the Atom, an X-Men tribute art show at One-Shot Gallery, which is in St. Marks Comics in the East Village. I had done a Ladytron piece for this gallery over the summer for an Image Comics tribute show.

I did two pieces this go around- Illyana Rasputin, aka Magik and her best friend Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat. You can see more about my pieces (including purchasing information) and the rest of the pieces in the show at the online gallery!

Illyana

Kitty and her dragon Lockheed.

Me at the opening, I'm so tired.

We were already pretty over everything by the time Saturday rolled around. Commuting to the show was awful. The trains were all screwed up by my house so we had to take a car and it was raining like crazy. Getting in was a cattle call. I had a mild freakout. It was a rough start.

"A Joe in a Pit of SNAKES!"

Our theme today was 'Retro G.I.Joe and Cobra'! Fenny and I reprised our roles as Office Baroness and Cobra HR Manager and were joined by tablemate Maria as G.I. Jane and special guest star cosplay buddie Val as "Shirley from the Crimson Guard division".

Me and the Boss.

I was a grumpy Baroness- my hair curled up in the rain.

Maria was adorably earnest as G.I.Jane.

As far as Saturday went, it was pretty busy. By lunchtime we had all made back our table costs, so yay! Most of it was a blur. I know Fenny and I went home and stuffed delivery nachos in our faces over the stove. We were also in bed by 10:00- because we're all about that rock and roll lifestyle, amirite??

Gone without a trace.

Sunday's theme was "We're SO TIRED!" Nothing fancy, just us and our normal clothes. 

Casual Sunday!

All three of us did awesome this year! It took me about a week to recover and a day of bed rest just to catch up on sleep! I just want to say thank you to everyone who came by our table over the weekend. My body may have been chewed up and spit out, but my heart is over the moon seeing all your lovely faces. Let's do it all again next year, because it's going to take me that long to forget how bad my calves hurt at the end of the show.