About Bobbi

I've been cosplaying for eight years now. Although by number, it doesn't seem very long. But there's plenty of memories and stories to go with it! I'm mostly known for rather simple video game costumes, but the desire to make an elaborate and expensive one has been on the backburner for a long time now.

Through the years with various experiences, I've found that I really enjoy organizing and judging cosplay events the most. I get the most joy out of putting together an event and seeing everything come together on stage... seeing the audience's reactions and cheers. It means more to me than any award for my own costumes. I also admit, I'm a much better artist than I am a cosplayer. Still, I enjoy making costumes and dressing up just the same. n_n

Fandoms: Final Fantasy Series (4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12), Xeno-series, Ace Attorney, Digi Charat, Utena

Other Hobbies Webdesign, maintaining websites, art, comics, video games, pixel art, avatar sites, J-pop, Visual Kei.

Likes Cute things, pink, blue, cats, shopping, accessories, music from various cultures, sleeping in, summer, swimming, rollercoasters.

Dislikes Overly negative people, ignorant people, judgemental people, people in general, emo-ness, dark stuff, Ohio.

Cosplay History

The Beginning I started in the hobby of cosplay in late 2001 when some friends of mine mentioned going to Otakon with the anime club at my college. I was looking at pictures they sent me, and I saw people dressing up as some of my favorite Final Fantasy characters. I wasn't really into anime at the time, and I mostly knew of video games from the FF series. So that got me really excited. I heard that they were planning on going to one in Ohio in January. So I decided that I'd cosplay my favorite character, Rinoa.

Memories My first convention experience was kinda magical. I was used to being around uptight and boring people most of the time. But here, everyone was able to be themselves and have fun. I saw people dressed in amazingly elaborate costumes, despite it being a small convention. Not only that, but I made new random friends just from hanging out late at night. I left with tons of dealer's room merchandise, boxes of Pocky, and memories that would last forever. After that point, I was hooked.

Cosplay Plus Back in 2004, I started a community for plus-sized cosplayers entitled “Cosplay Plus” or “Cosplus” for short. While it was around, it prooved to be a helpful and useful resource for cosplayers who don't fit within the pigeon-hole of the typical anime or game characters. Regretfully, the community slowly fizzled out due to my waning interest in the hobby and my own confidence. The site closed it's doors in 2006, and I later re-opened it at the end of 2009. It's sort of on the backburner now due to varying projects and real-life.

Missing in Action In 2007 I began backing away from conventions and cosplay a bit. Although I did make one costume and I attended two conventions, I was pretty much absent. In 2008, I stuck around local convention, with exception to going to a convention for one day with a friend in California while I was visiting him. After having the chance to see some old friends at a smaller local convention, I decided that I wanted to get back into the cosplay scene. So, here I am now!

Cosplay-Related Achievements

Awards

Judges Award: Summoner Yuna, Ikasucon 2005
Best Master Craftsmanship: Psychicer Yuna, Youmacon 2005
Reading Rainbow Award: Yomiko Readman, Anime Punch 2009

Staff Experience

Craftsmanship Judge: Ohayocon 2006
Craftsmanship Judge: Colossalcon 2007
Craftsmanship Judge: Matsuricon 2008
Performance Judge: Colossalcon 2008
Cosplay Department Head: Harucon 2005-2006, Colossal Con 2009-2010, IchibanCon 2010

Other Departments Staffed: Security, Con Ops, Registration, Guest Realtions at various midwest region conventions since 2003.

Conventions Attended:

2002: Ohayocon, ColossalCon, Otakon, Sugoicon
2003: Ohayocon, Ikasucon, Sugoicon
2004: Ohayocon, ColossalCon, Anime Central, Ikasucon, Otakon, Sugoicon
2005: Ohayocon, Harucon, Anime Central, ColossalCon, Ikasucon, Otakon, Sugoicon, Youmacon
2006: Ohayocon, Harucon, Anime Central, ColossalCon
2007: Ohayocon, ColossalCon
2008: Sac-Anime, Shinbokucon, ColossalCon, Matsuricon
2009: Ohayocon, Anime Punch, Shinbokucon, ColossalCon, Otakon
2010: Ichibancon, Ohayocon, Shinbokucon...

2010 Schedule

Anime Central, ColossalCon, Otakon (maybe), Youmacon or Sugoicon.