Weekend almost over, bought some stuff at Närcon Gävle

Yours truly trying hats...

So as mentioned before, Närcon's first convention in Gävle (where I live close by) and before hand I new that this might be in a smaller scale than other conventions. I liked it though, and I am sure that Närcon wish to continue to have this event in Gävle annually. I sure hope so, and it sure has potential to grow bigger. The estimate for the weekend was 1000 visitors and I think that is pretty good for a first time.

Unfortunately the master cosplay contest was cancelled due to last minute drop outs. Too bad, I had been looking forward to this.

Well, myself and my girlfriend did go through the vendors quite a few times. We are both suckers for collectibles and the basic nerd stuff. I got an ear infection Friday night so I wasn't really in shape for the long run so we browsed through the convention a couple of hours on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. That satisfied me enough.

Point outs of Närcon Gävle 2016

• There was a vaste number of Pokémon GO stuff available among the vendors (No shit?)
• There was a German guy selling exclusive collectible figures, oh my god the prices!
•  A Polish guy had the best merch in form of variety, anything from coasters to pillows.
• Anime prints seemed to be the best seller this weekend(I think someone bought nine of them).

We also got some Japanese candy. More on that another day...

Later, awesome nerds!

A hell of a summer....and good ending of the year 2016

In my last post I promised more to come during the summer, well I hit a wall with my studies this spring and got behind some. Been catching up since and suffered from a minor depression during the same time. So with the lack of strength I have not held up my promise. Sorry about that, but I hope I can make it up to you know when feeling better again.


I have been taking it easy during the summer not doing much but been outside fishing on the lake nearby or working a little on my next cosplay and helping my youngest son with his cosplay.

Sabine Wren helmet in the making

Curious? Well, if you follow me on twitter I revealed my cosplay there not long ago, If you missed it the costume is a Sabine Wren of Star Wars Rebels genderbend. I really like that show since it is part of the new canon and actually Sabine is my favorite character. The idea was to have it ready for Swedish cosplay convent Närcon (more about that further down) in my town last weekend of this October, but I will not be able to finish it in time...and I packed on a few so I really want to lose some weight before I make a tight outfit like that, LOL. I have begun on the helmet, armor and weapons though, and I am pretty far in the progress of that as you can se in the pictures. Hopefully I can lose some weight and be able to finish the costume for The Scandinavian Sci-Fi, Game & Film Convention in early December.

Dinner party Jason 

My 10-year old son, Mattias, has caught up with the liking of cosplay and wanted to join me at the convention in December, where they have a cosplay contest for kids. Because of the small amount of time we decided to make a mash up cosplay we call Dinner part Jason, basically it is a Jason Vorhees costume but instead of the movie G.I. Joe kind of gear we have resown an old black suit of mine, adding a white shirt and a red bow tie. Voilà! Dinner party Jason! LOL. 

Making a cast of Mattias head to build goalie mask and rotten head

I helped him ofcourse but he did do a lot himself on the head part we made from a bald cap bought from a movie make up shop. We then sculpted burnt and distorted skin on it with latex, grease make up and acrylic paint. The picture provided isn't the best but I will upload better ones. The iconic goalie mask we will make from scratch in polyester resin.


Conventions comes in three....? 

This fall and winter is heaven for a convention lover like myself. First up October 28-30, it is Närcon in my town of all! Amazing I´ll say. Närcon is the largest convention in Sweden with around 8000 visitors when they crown the Swedish champion of cosplay every year in February and The Nordic Champion in July every year. These two conventions take place in Linköping, but this year they decided to have yet another convention in another town so the luck fell on my town. Happy me! Fifteen minutes from home to the convention arena. No cosplay ready for this since they dropped the announcement as late  as June, and I was in the making of my Sabine Wren costume. Did not have the energy to start something new.

The weekend after, November 4-6, the MCM Comiccon takes place in Kista Convention Center north of Stockholm, less than 2 hours travel with train from where I live. Nothing to argue  about. Taking girlfriend (am I aloud to use that word at the age of 42?) there and staying att the Kista Victoria Tower Hotel wall to wall with the convention center. Can not be better I think. We also celebrate the first year together that particular weekend.

A little rest then for a about a month before The Scandinavian Sci-Fi, Game & Film Convention, December 10-11. Lots of vendors at this convention, hopefully for my liking a lot more Star Wars vintage than usual. Lots of cool other stuff it will be though, and cosplay competition debut for my son also. My friend Björn and my girlfriend will probably acompany us there.

A couple of days later is premier date for Rogue One - A Star Wars Story. I really usually don´t like fall and winter, hard not to like this one.

Later, awsome nerds!

Nico Svensson is the new Swedish Cosplay Champion

Photo, courtesy of Nico Svensson

Yesterday's Swedish Championship of cosplay gave the audience a very high standard, in my opinion - the highest ever in this contest. The costumes had a high level of accuracy and detail than ever before and there was no sure winner. Any of the ten finalists could have won.

Finally the jury crowned 22-year old Nico Svensson as  the winner with their cosplay of Eileen the crow from Bloodborne. 

Runners up was Beatrice Krüger with her cosplay of Lana from Hyrule Warriors, and  Linn Eriksson with Margaery Tyrell's weddingdress from Game of Thrones - the latter featured in this article.




Hello Nico, and congratulations to the victory!
—Thank you very much!

I watched the show on TV, and I must say you looked surprised when they announced you as the winner.
—Yes, I did not really expect to win. We said to each other before that this is an even race. Every one was so incredibly good.

So have things changed this week after your win? 
—It has been a little hectic. Everything happened so fast just over a night and I have got invitations to conventions and workshops. It's not a lot but I have had no experience of these sort of things before, so it's kind of a chock. It's a little different, but I'm getting used to it. I have done cosplay since I was 14-15 but I haven't been competing until a couple of years ago.

Photo, courtesy of Nico Svensson

Tell me about you process when you chose a character to cosplay. 
—First and foremost I look at design. If it's a cool one I go with it and if it's character I like, it's a bonus. I like working with designs.

How do you think the Swedish Cosplay community is?
—I think it's very nice and inviting. Everyone is very friendly and keen for everyone to have a good time and that it should be fun.

You will now represent Sweden in the Nordic Championship next year. What is your feeling about that?
—Exciting and scary at the same time. I feel some performance anxiety since I need to enter with something bigger and better than last time. But it will be fun and exciting.

Any ideas for a character?
—Yes, I have started to think about it but I will not reveal it officially until I'm absolutely certain I'm doing it. 

Finally, I would like to know if you have a dream character to cosplay?
—Yeah, I have a dream character but I'm not sure when I'm going to use it. The character is Dream, pun intended,  from Sandman. The design I'm doing is very much my own so I probably can't use it in a big contest. But it is a costume I really want to do.  

Thank you very much for the chat Nico.
—Yes, thank you. 

 Visit Nico's Facebook page.

Later awesome Nerds!

Exclusive with Linn Eriksson for upcoming Närcon Winter 2016

NärCon is Swedens largest cosplay convention with about 8000 visitors and participants every year (170 the first year, 2002) in SAAB Arena in Linköping. One of the greatest moments of the three day convention is of course the Swedish Cosplay Championhip. This is a prestigious  contest, obviously, and the cosplay quality of the finalist is always high.
NärCon is famous for its cozy, friendly atmosphere where everyone is welcome, regardless of gender, sexuality, politics or how familiar you are in the culture. The event is completely drug and alcohol free.

If you are attending NärCon Winter 2016, you will not be unoccupied. NärCon will provide you with shopping, exhibitors from all over the world and special areas for you as a visitor to entertain yourself and your friends. There will be an Arcade hall with all the classic and new arcade games, AMV(Anime Music Video)- and CMV(Cosplay Music Video)-Contest and in the Artist Alley area you can buy and get inspiration from cosplay artist showing their own work. You can also visit lectures about anything from how to be a voice actor to cartoonist or a cosplayer.

NärCon Winter 2016 is aired in its full on SVT24 in Sweden and it is the first cosplay contest in the world to be aired live on TV.
 
I have had the honor to speak with last year's winner and reigning champion of Swedish cosplay, Linn Eriksson (Mayo-chan) from Stockholm. Enjoy this warm up for the Swedish Championship 2016 this upcoming weekend!

Photo: Shila Forsman Photography

Hello there Linn, how is everything?
—It is all good!

Last year you won with a character called The Emperor from the game Final Fantasy 2. This year you will compete with Margaery Tyrell's weddingdress from Game of Thrones. A little different than what you did before, what was appealing with this character?
—I have made the character before in other versions and this costume I was of course interested in doing when it was shown in season 4, I think. When I saw it in reality in an exhibition two years ago, I became really in love with the design and the amazing detail. For example, the roses on dress is all handmade and there are about 400 of them. It takes 15-20 minutes to make a single rose. The fact that Game of Thrones is a rather new show, the material still is available get hold of and I have used the same fabric, the embroidery thread, the same beads and so on provided you spend the detective work to find them, and I have now done that for the last two years.

How many hours have you put down, and will you be ready in time?
—I'm at the "crunch time" now and I have spent at least 1,000 hours on this costume. The last few days are basically about detail work that will not affect anything in the competition itself.

You are directly qualified for the Swedish championship this year since you are the reigning champion. Do you feel pressure to deliver even this year?
—It's a little toned down because I entered several times before, even if the competition is aired live on TV now. But I feel a little bit of pressure even if I don't think I will perform better than last year.
It's really about doing something that I think is fun and something I can feel proud of and keep my own high standards and not underperform.

The pressure comes from yourself you mean?
—Yes, the only one I compete against is actually myself.

Photo: Shila Forsman Photography

 
It feels as if the armor is the hardest to do when you cosplay, what do you think is the most difficult part?
—It depends a little bit on what the design looks like. I think sewing is in many ways more difficult, even though I have been doing it all my life. Regarding armor, it's fairly easy to correct mistakes if you work in plastic. With sewing it is more how different fabrics behave and less forgiving if you cut it wrong from the start.

How do you sculpt props? I'm doing a mask that I sculpt partly in clay and then make a cast. Then I use fiberglass for the mask itself.
—Clay is usually a pretty good solution because you can quickly see how the outcome will be and it is easy to correct mistakes. I've had a lot of sculpted details of the armor and similar things. Many times I  have sculpted from different types of foam. The best thing with cosplay crafting is that you can work in a great variety of materials and everything that works is good. Fiberglass is very good.

How is the cosplay community in Sweden do you think? I get the feeling that it is very humble and everyone knows everyone. Internationally it feels like the atmosphere is a little tougher. Do you think I have the correct image?
—It's a little hard to say. Sweden is quite small and there is a tight community, and I think  it means that most behave reasonably well among others in greater extent. You have to be concerned about your reputation as well. This has probably a lot to do with the fact that Sweden has no cosplayer who is internationally known yet. It gets pretty drama-free here and everyone is a little more at the same level.

What would you say is a good beginner's tips for those who want to start with cosplay? 
—The best is always first and foremost to do something you are motivated by. Not just because something is cool, but also because it's a character you like. Motivation comes from two directions,  because it is fun to do and it will be cool. Should you not combine them, the fun is lost in a way.

 
A big good luck for Linn this Saturday the 13th in her efforts to defend the title!
Linn is also the first contestant to enter the stage.

Later, awesome nerds!