Over the last two weekends, I went to two Cons: PAX (computer and tabletop games) and Madfest (anime). Despite feeling like a perpetual noob in both of those fields, I managed to have a very fun time and came away with an extensive haul from both.
At PAX I enlarged my plushie collection, with a large Jigglypuff and a Bulbasaur from Pokemon Go, a Mr. Meowgi from Neko Atsume, and a dinosaur Pusheen.
My dream is to have a Wall of Plush (well, a shelf, in reality). I'm hoping that once the shelf is full, I won't have the urge to buy more plushies. That's the theory, anyway...
I also purchased some Pokemon Go charms. I was planning to make an Ita Bag (a fan-themed bag), but the bag itself didn't arrive on time for either Con, so I wasn't able to put it together in time. At least I'll have plenty of charms for when the bag finally does arrive. There's also a Crossy Road pin. I've been enjoying playing this game for the last few months, and didn't know until the Con that it's an Australian game! So I had to buy a chicken pin. I somehow snapped up the last pieces of Stardew-Valley-themed merch from the place, too. (Another girl had picked them up, and I was standing behind her, mentally willing her to put them down. It was quite drastic.)
Here are the tabletop games that I convinced Husband to buy. Sagrada is brand new game
(well, new to Australia, anyway?) -- it only came into the booths on the last day of the event. Reviews coming soon.
I also spent some time checking out the Australian Indie games area, one of my favourite parts. I took photos of the ones that interested me most as a reminder and thought I may as well post them
on my Instagram.
One week later, I went to Madfest. It has a different vibe, but just as fun. This year the area was more spacious, which created a more relaxed atmosphere. I'd estimate that almost half of the patrons were dressed in some kind of cosplay or anime-inspired outfit, so many that I almost felt like I stood out for wearing a normal outfit! While I thought I looked pretty cute, I'm determined to step up my outfit game next year! (I forgot to take any photos of myself, but I might do a What I Wore drawing sometime soon.)
After we had sushi handrolls and matcha custard buns for breakfast in the food hall, I made straight for Artist Alley -- the part I look forward to the most. It's been re-named Creator Zone, which is more inclusive. I was mainly on the lookout for stickers for my Hobonichi, and prints for my art wall. This year there weren't as many stickers -- many of them were larger vinyl decals, which were beautiful, but I can't justify the extra cost for a more durable sticker if I'm only going to use them in my diary.
Here's a visual run-down of everything I purchased from Creator Zone -- I managed to keep track of most of the makers: their Instagrams are linked below each picture.
{Stefanie Palladino}
{Ashlin Day}
{Niipan}
{Kosmotiel}
{Koko City} // {BunnyLoz}
{CritterCat} // {Miss-a-Ree Guts Creations}
I collected cards from many more sellers whose work I loved, but wasn't able to stretch to buying on the day.
I splashed out and got a large Mystery Bag from Sugart Creations. Actually ... I asked for the largest bag, thinking the medium one was the large one. There was an even larger one hidden behind which the stallholder thought I was asking for, and I felt too bad to refuse it. The stall had many beautiful handmade things as well as commercial merch, and overall I think the bag was worth the purchase. My favourite items from it were the Vulpix wooden brooch, Charmander badge, cat-ear beanie, Lolita headbow and the Sanrio plushie.
Speaking of plush, I only bought one: a Vaporeon from a stall selling official Pokemon Go items. From the discount manga stall, I bought the first volumes of
Orange Crows and
Planet Ladder. There's the Pokemon Go cookbook for Husband to give me for Christmas, and a manga version of
Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I haven't played any of the Zelda games, but I've just started learning to play the ocarina, so it would be nice to know the story.
Sometimes when there are obstacles in life, you just
have to learn to work around them!
There were several gallery spaces showing art from the animes Attack on Titan and Cowboy Bebop, and the Studio Ghibli film Your Name. I enjoyed seeing this side of the culture, away from the fandom and commercialism. (It was literally less noisy in these spaces, which I appreciated.) Madfest is a relatively new Con, and I while last year was very good, this year was even better. I'm looking forward to going again next year.
