MY COSPLAYS
One of the things I always wanted to do since I was a kid, was to dress up as something from Star Trek or Star Wars. I used to see conventions on TV sometimes and thought how cool the people were who had so much fun enjoying being characters from their favourite TV shows and movies. In recent years, Manga, anime, and games have all got a lot bigger, and these days when you go to a convention and dress up, it's not called fancy dress, it's known as cosplay. Costume Play is massive now and getting bigger all over the world. It's still something that the closed minded laugh at. If anyone sees my pictures below and thinks I'm a sad individual for doing cosplay, then to me, the person laughing is extremely sad. I'm having fun, I've made a lot of new friends from going to MCM Expo's and doing what I enjoy, and I'll keep on doing it. You can see the characters I've been in the photos below. Remember, you're never too old to have fun!
Jedi Master Nightowl (Star Wars)
London MCM Expo - October 2007.
London MCM Expo - May 2008.
Midlands MCM Expo - February 2009.
Yes, that lightsabre is real. Haha. Well, it's my purple FX lightsabre which is worth too much to cosplay with these days. I cosplayed my Jedi character 3 times, and even hung around Darth Vader and some Storm Troopers for 10 minutes getting loads of photos taken.. I wish people would give out contact cards out more often at these conventions. Jedi Master Nightowl is a custom character and cost around £180 to make.
Jedi Master Nightowl's story is a simple one. A survivor of Darth Sidious' vicious attack, which killed most of the Jedi in the galaxy. Along with Darth Vader, Sidious killed my master, Mace Windu. I found his lightsabre afterwards which I used to track down Vader. But the cloaked evil one was too powerful, and obviously from watching Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi, Darth Vader and Sidious both died on the Death Star. Jedi Master Nightowl didn't die though, I lived on after my escape from Vader, and my story is to be continued.
London MCM Expo - May 2008.
Midlands MCM Expo - February 2009.
Yes, that lightsabre is real. Haha. Well, it's my purple FX lightsabre which is worth too much to cosplay with these days. I cosplayed my Jedi character 3 times, and even hung around Darth Vader and some Storm Troopers for 10 minutes getting loads of photos taken.. I wish people would give out contact cards out more often at these conventions. Jedi Master Nightowl is a custom character and cost around £180 to make.
Jedi Master Nightowl's story is a simple one. A survivor of Darth Sidious' vicious attack, which killed most of the Jedi in the galaxy. Along with Darth Vader, Sidious killed my master, Mace Windu. I found his lightsabre afterwards which I used to track down Vader. But the cloaked evil one was too powerful, and obviously from watching Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi, Darth Vader and Sidious both died on the Death Star. Jedi Master Nightowl didn't die though, I lived on after my escape from Vader, and my story is to be continued.
L (Death Note)
London MCM Expo - May 2008.
Everyone's done L from Death Note. Well, most people have. It's such an easy cosplay and altogether only cost about £25-£30.
If you haven't read the manga, then I do suggest you do. It's highly recommended by myself, even though a lot of manga fans have grown bored of the story. It's 12 volumes in manga form, but there are also 3 Death Note movies, and the anime to watched. I recommend the first two movies, the third one is just L running around saving the world, but it's more of a side story than anything. Oh, and if you buy the 13th Death Note volume.. an encyclopedia, don't open the envelope at the back, just Google L's real name!
Everyone's done L from Death Note. Well, most people have. It's such an easy cosplay and altogether only cost about £25-£30.
If you haven't read the manga, then I do suggest you do. It's highly recommended by myself, even though a lot of manga fans have grown bored of the story. It's 12 volumes in manga form, but there are also 3 Death Note movies, and the anime to watched. I recommend the first two movies, the third one is just L running around saving the world, but it's more of a side story than anything. Oh, and if you buy the 13th Death Note volume.. an encyclopedia, don't open the envelope at the back, just Google L's real name!
Santa Claus
London MCM Expo - October 2008.
I know what you're thinking.. "Tonyo cosplayed Santa Claus, is he mad?" Well yes, I am. I did this one time at the 2008 London MCM Expo. I did get asked a couple of times why I was doing it because it wasn't Christmas. The way I see it, if they're selling Christmas stuff in shops in September, then I can cosplay as Santa Claus in October. Easy.
The costume was cheap, I think it was less than a tenner? The red shirt was mine though which I don't include in that price.. but it was still cheap as chips. You can cosplay on the cheap and still have lots of fun, you don't have to be elitist to do this kind of thing you know!
One of the crazy things about doing Santa at Expo, LOADS of people were coming up to me asking for Ponies. Another crazy thing, I dressed up as Santa before Expo for Christmas YouTube videos. I make him swear a lot in a Scottish accent. Loads of fun.
I know what you're thinking.. "Tonyo cosplayed Santa Claus, is he mad?" Well yes, I am. I did this one time at the 2008 London MCM Expo. I did get asked a couple of times why I was doing it because it wasn't Christmas. The way I see it, if they're selling Christmas stuff in shops in September, then I can cosplay as Santa Claus in October. Easy.
The costume was cheap, I think it was less than a tenner? The red shirt was mine though which I don't include in that price.. but it was still cheap as chips. You can cosplay on the cheap and still have lots of fun, you don't have to be elitist to do this kind of thing you know!
One of the crazy things about doing Santa at Expo, LOADS of people were coming up to me asking for Ponies. Another crazy thing, I dressed up as Santa before Expo for Christmas YouTube videos. I make him swear a lot in a Scottish accent. Loads of fun.
Kaoru Kaidoh (The Prince Of Tennis)
Tokyopop ReCon - November 2008.
Midlands MCM Expo - February 2009.
London MCM Expo - May 2009.
I consider myself a big fan of the Prince Of Tennis manga, and Kaidoh is one awesome tennis player within that story. The costume cost £25, and I spent another £10 on the trainers. Yet another cheap cosplay, but this one does actually look really good. Oh, nearly forgot, the tennis racket cost £13. That bumps the price up a bit. OH, the bandana was about £4, and had to wear the one in this photo for Expo because the proper Kaidoh bandana hadn't arrived in time. I have the full kit though for him now.
I entered this into a Tokyopop ReCon cosplay contest once, and even though I stood in front of about 30 people and yelled "IT'S THE PRINCE OF TENNIS" as loud as I could, I still didn't win. Prince Of Tennis isn't that bad, I should have won! :D
Midlands MCM Expo - February 2009.
London MCM Expo - May 2009.
I consider myself a big fan of the Prince Of Tennis manga, and Kaidoh is one awesome tennis player within that story. The costume cost £25, and I spent another £10 on the trainers. Yet another cheap cosplay, but this one does actually look really good. Oh, nearly forgot, the tennis racket cost £13. That bumps the price up a bit. OH, the bandana was about £4, and had to wear the one in this photo for Expo because the proper Kaidoh bandana hadn't arrived in time. I have the full kit though for him now.
I entered this into a Tokyopop ReCon cosplay contest once, and even though I stood in front of about 30 people and yelled "IT'S THE PRINCE OF TENNIS" as loud as I could, I still didn't win. Prince Of Tennis isn't that bad, I should have won! :D
Professor Oak (Pokémon)
London MCM Expo - October 2009.
Midlands MCM Expo - February 2010.
London MCM Expo - May 2010.
It had to be done. I kind of inspired myself to do Professor Oak from Pokemon after making a N64 game review of Pokemon Snap. I'm not too bad at doing Oak's voice, so decided the cosplay would be a nice idea. It was so much fun, I did it at more than one event.
The costume cost around £35-£40 altogether, with doctor's coat, wig, Pokedex, Pokeball, and the shirt which I was lucky to find. I even tried to do a series on my TonyoTimes YouTube channel, but because the content was so exteme, I started losing subscribers, so I scrapped it...
My Oak character became known as Pervy Oak. If you see the Pokemon Snap video I made, you'll understand why...
Pokemon Snap (N64) - Game Corner Retro
I apologise to any Ash Ketchum cosplayers I scared at the MCM Expo's I attended. "Ohhhhh, Ash." Haha. ;)
Midlands MCM Expo - February 2010.
London MCM Expo - May 2010.
It had to be done. I kind of inspired myself to do Professor Oak from Pokemon after making a N64 game review of Pokemon Snap. I'm not too bad at doing Oak's voice, so decided the cosplay would be a nice idea. It was so much fun, I did it at more than one event.
The costume cost around £35-£40 altogether, with doctor's coat, wig, Pokedex, Pokeball, and the shirt which I was lucky to find. I even tried to do a series on my TonyoTimes YouTube channel, but because the content was so exteme, I started losing subscribers, so I scrapped it...
My Oak character became known as Pervy Oak. If you see the Pokemon Snap video I made, you'll understand why...
Pokemon Snap (N64) - Game Corner Retro
I apologise to any Ash Ketchum cosplayers I scared at the MCM Expo's I attended. "Ohhhhh, Ash." Haha. ;)
Wally (Where's Wally)
London MCM Expo - October 2011
Caroline and I were planning on cosplaying something else, but two weeks before the October 2011 London MCM Expo, we went into a costume shop and found Wally and Wenda from the Where's Wally series of books... not Where's Waldo, he's not real. So anyway, we had a great time at Expo, Caroline cosplayed for the first time, and it was my first time cosplaying for over a year.
Caroline and I were planning on cosplaying something else, but two weeks before the October 2011 London MCM Expo, we went into a costume shop and found Wally and Wenda from the Where's Wally series of books... not Where's Waldo, he's not real. So anyway, we had a great time at Expo, Caroline cosplayed for the first time, and it was my first time cosplaying for over a year.
Page updated: 29th December 2011
