Katsucon Con Report

Katsucon got me thinking about a lot of things. For one, the Friday of a con is kinda slow and I'm beginning to wonder if we wouldn't be better off with Saturday/Sunday cons like Zenkaikon in PA. I know a lot of people who have work and/or school on Fridays that they can't afford to miss.

Appa, however, had an Artist badge so he was set for the weekend

Friday was a very slow day for sales for us, but there were some great cosplays!

I am a HUGE fan of friends all cosplaying together. Also Romana is my favorite companion.

Many times, when Jenn and I are stuck at a table for too long we pretty much go cosplay and clothing shopping like the people walking by are modeling for our very own real-life catalog. This included having to see amazing Dragon Age costumes that we wanted so badly to cosplay with. We're in the middle of planning Isabella and RogueFemaleHawke costumes. When these people

came along it was hard not to just rush back home and start working on them immediately.

Katsucon had photo backdrops this year and I felt like I was the only person using them (and we were seated right next to them, so if anyone used them I'd see). There is a running joke in our house about the anime cliche where a late student runs to school with toast in his/her mouth, so when someone showed up in that cosplay I got a great shot of him in front of the high school backdrop!

And on the day of the cherry blossom festival no less...

Jenn also had a spaz attack before we even got to our table because she saw people cosplaying from the old Atari game Adventure.

Jenn: Do you not know what this is?! That's a DRAGON, Casey!

 
 Katsucon is also the most beautiful convention I have ever been to. The main area was lit up and had all sorts of fountains, rivers, plants and other amazing photo backgrounds. Those lucky enough to have hotel rooms not facing the street got ones overlooking the convention. I'd kill for one of those rooms next year. The space was especially good for Disney cosplay.

          

Jenn brought her Darkrai costume and let me shoot a few pictures of her (until the battery died -_-) so I could practice directing people in photoshoots. How nice of her, I know. Not many people would let their friends take a bunch of glamorous pictures of them. I am truly blessed.

I shot it like this because Darkrai is a ghost and I wanted it to look like you were trying to sneak past her but she discovered you.

We finally went to the hotel around 11, ordered pizza and Jenn read me Fark headlines like a bedtime story. We also worked on a Feralligator commission. Cause yeah, when I think of cute amigurumi plushies I think of a Pokemon whose name is a mix of feral and alligator, haha. But sometimes it's the ones who got no business being cute that turn out the best.

Saturday brought in better sales and more great cosplays. Because the camera died we had to use Jenn's iPhone. A GREAT Zoro kept walking by while Jenn was buying a drink or going to the bathroom. He was nice enough to keep checking in so we could get a picture.

We explained that we like photographing our chibis with other cosplayers, and the guy was so chill about the whole thing that he let us balance one on his head.

Saturday was also a great FMA cosplay day. We got our second Roy Mustang commission and after having him requested twice we're going to add him to our stock.

Yup, that seems about right size-wise...

Hughes can't even help showing pictures of his family to people made out of yarn

We are also very big fans of gijinka cosplay, and love to see how people respond to the challenge of creating 100% human (no animal parts) versions of different creatures.

    

I would have never thought to do Tonberry's eyes with giant sunglasses!

We also had about 25 people ask to buy Appa (which confuses me because Appa isn't crochet so we obviously didn't make him, but I can also understand how beloved he is as a character). We directed everyone to eBay and Amazon, in the hopes that people will buy up tons of Appas and we can have some grand flying bison army some time in the future.

Did I say army? I meant one giant flying bison group hug...

In case you haven't noticed yet, we love every era of video games and anime. From Atari to the Record of Lodoss War we've been catching what we could for years. When we started out this business we just made what we liked, and for the most part it worked. Some dolls, however, have been with us for years because no one buys them. We hold on to the hope that some day they'll find a forever home, and some, like Mion from Higurashi, sold this weekend!

Others, like this Selphie, only get visits from their pals. Some day, you spunky girl.

We debuted a whole bunch of dolls at this con too! Our new 10th and 11th Doctors and Yoko.

One of these Yokos is much rounder than the other...

We forgot to photograph a bunch of stuff, too. We have an Ezio and Kratos design now as well, so expect pictures of them soon. Actually, Kratos, Ezio and a Tonberry went to a guy dressed as Luffy. What a crew, huh? Who does Luffy need dead THAT badly?

We also didn't get any pictures of the two Michael Jackson cosplayers who began randomly dancing in the middle of the Artist's Alley. It was amazing and completely unplanned. The best part was one was black and the other was white, but they were in the same exact outfit. Then one of the artists pulled up "Thriller" on his laptop and blasted it over his speakers. And it all happened right next to our table.

Sunday was pretty uneventful cosplay-wise, but that was because people were apparently too busy buying everything! We had some commissions that day, including Perry the Platypus (again, watch out for him soon!) and Al Elric. We never thought to make Al because we thought people would want him to be shiny, but this customer said it was fine to just do regular grey yarn. He actually came out great and we plan to make him now as well!

Lookit his faaaaaaaaace

The whole con was a great time. Really the only issue we had was this run-in where Team Rocket tried to steal our Pokemon.

Arisia, the Bestest Con Ever

I hope you're prepared to hear me gush about how much I loved Arisia. I barely know where to start.

We got there Friday afternoon, as the Dealer's Room hours were 5pm-9pm that day. Things were slow, and most people were just browsing. Arisia is an all-sorts-of-nerdy con that caters to an older audience, so many of them had to get out of work and/or find a sitter and other stuff like that.

Once the con was in full swing for Saturday-Monday there were constant events. Panels, workshops, auctions and spontaneous groups of people talking about anything they wanted to. The con provided free food (REAL food, like pasta salad and artisan bread)

Also a Storm Trooper cake. NBD

and tables for people to sit and eat. The food was kept fresh, clean and constantly restocked by a team working round-the-clock. No con had ever done something so generous before, and it blew me away how hard-working and in-control the whole staff seemed all weekend. The Dealer's Room coordinator even gave us all her cell number in case we needed her.

It was like a family reunion at times, with people shouting each other's names excitedly and running into welcoming bear hugs. "How have you been? Did Joanna get that promotion?" I overheard all sorts of conversations from my table, some between longtime friends and other between people who had just met. They were about everything from books to make-up to raising kids to fabric choices. At one point I got tired and sat next to a guy dressed as Henchman 24 from The Venture Brothers. Out of nowhere I told him he sounded like Ray Romano. He laughed and we started talking.

Customers were polite and hilarious. One guy bought a Vash (new design for this year!) and surprised us the next day in costume!

We heard you like Vash so we put a Vash in the pocket of a Vash so you can D'awww while you D'awww

A Borg showed minutes after we had sold our only Borg plushie, but she looked great so we asked her to pose with our Q plushie.

In case this isn't hilarious enough, she had to go as soon as we got the shot because she had a belly dancing class to get to. She came back later with an adorable black bob haircut and a pink wrap shirt. Conclusion: belly dancing will reverse assimilation.

 Those who haven't see us at cons don't know that we've begun selling our Eds with buttons on them that say "Actual Size!" A Roy cosplayer picked one up, laughed a bit, then said "Yeah, seems about right."

Disclaimer: We at Hooked on Chibis do NOT condone lighting our chibis on fire with alchemy.

The stars of the show, as far as stock goes, were by far the Doctor Who chibis. We carry the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 11th. 

So... much... scarf...

People kept asking about 10, however, so we decided we'd try to make ONE and see how he did. He was sold before we even began designing him. In the last hour on Monday we finished him and the look on the girl's face when she came to get him was priceless. We'd been trying for a while to decide how to get his hair accurate. 

I have no words. That hair makes me laugh every time I see this picture.

In short, it was an amazing time. We met the people who run other cons, fellow artists who gave us compliments and pointers, and random people who were nothing but fun to talk to. I'm counting down the days til I get to go back. 

- Casey-chu

FREE SHIPPING

Hooked on Chibis is glad to announce FREE (first class) SHIPPING for the entire month of December. Shop for gifts or spend your holiday money any time between now and Dec 31st and your shipping is free no matter how much you order (or where you live)! Just enter the coupon code HOLIDAYFREESHIP. We're still offering free wrapping as well.

PLEASE ORDER BEFORE DECEMBER 20TH IF YOU NEED YOUR ITEM(S) BY CHRISTMAS

So what are you waiting for? Come visit our Etsy store!

Note: If you need Priority or Overnight shipping e-mail us and we'll work something out with you.

Holiday Commissions

Hey fans. It's hard to believe it but Christmas *IS* coming up. We're restocking the dolls we've already designed, but if you want a commission in time for Christmas, now is the time to tell us (since we need to design through trial and error and go color shopping). Commission cut-off will either be November 15th or once we get about 10 or so, whichever comes first.We prefer our orders come in through our Etsy store, but e-mailing us at hookedonchibis@gmail.com also works.

Also please bookmark our shop and check in often. We'll be posting new listings, including our hackey sacks and keychains.

... *thud*

So, that con season was CRAZYPANTS. Crazy. In the pants. But, we all lived, so there's that!

For those just tuning in, here is a quick breakdown of all the places that Hooked on Chibis! appeared in 2011.

The Doctors were, of course, at all of the cons concurrently.

In January, Matt and Jenn went to Arisia in Boston, MA. We're planning to return in 2012 and this time we'll be there all weekend, because it was way too awesome to only be there for one day.

In February, Matt, Jenn, and the 8-bits went to two cons: Genericon in Troy, NY and Queen City Kamikaze in Manchester, NH. We're already signed up for Genericon 2012 and as soon as we're able, we'll be signing up for QC Kamikaze again (it'll be our third year there, and their third year as a con!!).

The Black Mage had been practicing his Blizzaga, so you can thank him for all that snow this winter.

Then in March, we took most of the month off to build up for the coming con storm, but we did pay a visit to Conbust in Northampton, MA. Because this con is only a few minutes from home, the table was staffed at various times by Jenn, Casey, Liz the Random Encounter, and Matt (Biz was up at school in NH, so we couldn't complete the set). We also met our new friends and fellow-artists Sean of NickelPUNK, Matt of Mattman: Dinosaur Hunter, and Auston, game developer and the guy who brought us Bosses Forever.

April saw CHIBIS EVERYWHERE. We did four yes four cons in April. First, Jenn and Casey went to UBCon in Buffalo, NY, where we met the incomparable Nigel Sade, experienced Tim Horton's for the first time, and practiced salsa dancing in our hotel room while eating potato salad and drinking wine. Because that's how we roll. Then a week later, Jenn and Matt went to Tora-Con in Rochester, NY, which is only 30 minutes away from Buffalo and made all that driving feel very silly. Yes, we drove home from Buffalo, only to drive back out to Rochester 4 days later. Trust us, it had to be done.

Then on Easter weekend, Jenn and Casey flew to Seattle for Sakura-Con while Matt held down the fort at Anime Boston (our fourth year at AB!). We learned some valuable lessons that weekend about how to split the party, how to get all the dolls to faraway cons, and how to set up in only 4 feet of space O_o

We all needed healing by the time April was over.

May was pretty quiet while we all collapsed from April's adventures, but it got crazy again at the end, when we went to Anime Central in Chicago. Jenn took the train out, Casey flew there, and they both rode the train home again; Casey fell in love with jetBlue and Jenn spent the whole train ride (both ways) going OMG IM ON A TRAIN THIS WINS. (Also, the day they returned was Jenn's birthday, which she got to spend almost all of on the train!!) The girls debuted their Plusle and Minun gijinka at this con as well - and since Biz was visiting her brother who lives nearby, she paid us a visit as well.

Two sassy vintage stewardesses. This pic was actually taken at Otakon, by Adorkable Photography.

 Then, only two days after getting home from ACen, Jenn got on a plane and flew to California for Fanime, in San Jose. She stayed with her aunt (Jenn's from everyplace, remember?), met up with old friends, saw plenty of familiar faces among the artists - and got to meet Colette, one of our first fans ever!

Wait, we have fans?!

June was almost quiet. We knew that AX was looming on the horizon, so we tried to keep things to a minimum while we frantically made every doll ever, but over Father's Day weekend, there were two cons we just couldn't pass up - so we split the party again, sending Matt and Biz to Tampa, FL for MetroCon, and Casey with her friend Merissa to Anime Mid-Atlantic in Chesapeake, VA. (Jenn had to work, and the 8-bits were still in school, so they held down the fort at home.)

JULY WAS INSANE YOU GUYS. First, Matt and Jenn went to Anime Expo in Los Angeles, which was huge and we had such a good time that we're already booked to be there in 2012! Then after we got back from AX, we had 3 days to get everything down to Hartford for ConnectiCon, which was the only con of 2011 to feature all four of us at one point or another! Even the 8-bits were there, and they had a great time in the game room and seeing all the cosplays. Then we had two weeks to find more chibis, and then Jenn and Casey drove down to Baltimore for Otakon, where we met more fellow-artists, saw a bunch of old friends, and sweated our wigs off from the heat. (Casey actually looked, at one point, like such a tuckered-out little Plusle that I wanted to put her in a Pokeball and get her to Nurse Joy!)

Jenn got pictures of her Darkrai gijinka, by the same awesome photographer who took that Plusle and Minun picture up there.

For our last hurrah, in August we went to RamenCon, a first-year con in northwest Indiana that Jenn just couldn't miss. We stayed with family, visited with even more family, made awesome friends with the artists and con staff, and had a great time chasing the 8-bits around while they did the scavenger hunt. Jenn and her younger 8-bit played in the Chopstick Challenge, where they had to build structures using only chopsticks (Matthew had to build a Duplo pyramid; Jenn had to assemble a Bionicle), and that was a crazy time indeed. The best news was, RamenCon's first-year attendance was 1083. You read that right, ONE THOUSAND EIGHTY THREE. This is one hot, tasty con, people.

Sixteen cons later, Jenn's still alive. And she still has hands.

We're home now, putting the chibis into their homes for the winter, which is not as easy as it sounds. The black mage keeps heading to the freezer for more practice, Dr. McCoy won't stop raiding the medicine cabinets, and the electric pokemon recently found where we keep the batteries O_o But we're winding down from traveling, winding up for the holidays - and best of all, we're almost unpacked!!

And finally, if you're keeping count, that's sixteen cons we did this year, thirteen of which Jenn was personally at. Whew!

 -- Jenn

Con Calendar Updated

As promised, the Con Calendar page is updated!  And don't forget, we're going to be at Anime Central in 10 days!

-Matt

Go To ALL THE CONS!!!

What a crazy time it has been.  So, I think I'm finally ready to announce a few plans.  We will be going to the following conventions:

Fanime, May 27-30 in San Jose, CA

MetroCon, June 17-19 in Tampa, FL

Anime Mid-Atlantic, June 17-19 in Chesapeake, VA

AnimeExpo, July 1-4 in Los Angeles, CA

ConnectiCon, July 8-10 in Hartford, CT

Otakon, July 29-31 in Baltimore, MD

Phew, that's a lot.  But, it is critical to our mission of dolls all over the USA!  So come by, say hi, buy dolls.  The Con Calendar Page will be updated very soon to reflect all these conventions, plus who will be staffing them.

-Matt