Hey Kids,
I had a fun time at our local “RoberCon” convention in Binghamton NY yesterday — the first sci-fi convention of its kind at the Roberson Mansion and Planetarium. It was attended by 1000+ fans and it was especially a pleasure for me to see the universe spanning array of costumes people came in. It was like a grand ball for Geekdom, and I’m delighted to say that I pulled off finishing my T’Pau costume in time for the event!
The the hardest part of building my costume was the T’Pau’s complicated hairdo! Seriously, it’s not a hairdo, it’s an Engineering Thesis! The styling took me @ 90 minutes early yesterday morning, as I assembled six different hair pieces into my own for the multi-braid effect. Adding the ears was a little nerve-wracking too, but although it wasn’t too difficult to attach them, I felt sympathy for Mr. Nimoy and anyone who’s had to don those points. Actually, I hardly felt them at all once they were in place,and they worked quite nicely. My favorite part of the costume was the great walking stick, which I made from an $8 wooden chair from the Salvation Army. I reassembled the legs and a spindle from it, and spray painted it black. The filial on top was a door pull from Home Depot, and the big ‘bead’ was a piece of florist foam, carved and painted to look ornamental.
In addition to the costume contest, there were panels discussing costume construction, and a panel that was supposed to discuss Star Trek, but it became more centered The Twilight Zone. There might have been another Trek panel, but I missed it (for the contest) There was also a guest appearance by Annie Serling (Rod’s Daughter), but I didn’t stay that long (my two teen sons were getting hungry and we had been there for nearly 4 hours).
Here’s a gallery of characters from the con. Some of the costumes were really masterful – especially Godzilla! Now don’t be fooled, this may look like a factory manufactured rubber suit, but it was actually was hand crafted and tooled by its wearer! I could see elements of foam rubber and styrofoam in it, and the gentleman who wore it said it took over a year to create in his garage! Wow. Amazingly, he didn’t win 1st place that went to the two young girls who hand crafted their dazzlingly frightening costumes of Weeping Angels (including the masks) from Dr. Who. Other winners were The Iron Patriot, (which was also amazing), Wonder Woman, and a delightfully loony Freakazoid. There were Lots of comic book, and gaming characters represented there too, as well as Steam punk creations and many Dr. Who’s (two wearing a fez).
There were many fan groups as well, with Star Wars well represented. There was only one Star Trek group, U.S.S. Serling, whose ‘Captain’ and ‘First Officer’ I posed with (Lisa Stucky, Doc David Rasey) They liked my costume, and for me personally, it was nice to have someone there recognize my 44-year-old TV character! I admit, I got a lot of odd looks from people, with hardly anyone recognizing me as a Star Trek character. It definitely made me feel old, as a few people thought I was from Lord of the Rings, and no one said “It’s T’Pau!” To be fair, if this was a Star Trek Convention I’d be more recognized, but despite my crafted look, I did feel a bit dated here. At least I passed out a few trekkerscrapbook calling cards to anyone who had an inkling as to what the Original Series was! Maybe we’ll get a few more watchers here. Glad I went.
