C2E2 2016: Weekend to Remember

This year I decided to finally go to C2E2 2016 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo) held at McCormick Place in downtown Chicago.

It took some convincing from my good friend JDragon Cosplay but man it was so worth it.

While I’ve attended a plethora of comic conventions over the years, C2E2 2016 was an amazing experience both Cosplay wise and as a venue. In my opinion I would rate C2E2 as my second favorite con below Dragoncon...because ....well its Dragoncon lol but Were talking about C2E2 here and It is High Recommended. So lets begin.

My first impression was that it is a huge event and very well runned and crowd control friendly, Keep in mind that I have attended many huge cons before such as Megacon (Orlando, FL) Dallas Comic Con (Dallas,TX) and Dragoncon (Atlanta, GA) were the crowd control is just insane. C2E2's official attendance count in 2015 was 71,000. As they're still growing, that number is sure to have been higher this year. However, as large as it was, and as crowded as it could get, it didn’t feel as nearly as packed as some cons half their size can feel, and the crowd was overall friendly and polite.

C2E2 had a ton of stuff to offer from an expansive exhibit area that included vendors, industry booths and artists, many industry guests such as actors, comic

Exhibitors / Vendor Area

The vendor area was large and the perfect place to find whatever geeky item you were searching for (or didn’t know you wanted). There were clothing vendors, anime and action figures, tons of POP! Vinyl figures, plushies, comics, books, artwork, posters, and so much more.

I was personally excited to see my good friends at Zero Point 3D from back home in South Florida at C2E2, they are amazing at making anyone mainly cosplayers into their very own 3D printed Figurine. All you have to do is step into their photobooth at and get Scanned (Scanning is Free, but to get your figurine: Price depends on what size figurine you desire most. Check them out at their facebook page (facebook.com/zeropoint3d) to find out where they will be next. I highly recommend them!!!

Along with Zero Point 3D, my friends Andy and Morgan from Samshee had a booth as well at C2E2 where they sell the best and most genuine fan-culture products from Clothing, Accessories, Jewelry, Pins, Posters, and many more. Check out their website HERE for more info.

Lastly, The Weta Workshop was there as well where they had replica props, highly detailed sculpted figures and even a section displaying armor and props from the upcoming WarCraft movie.

Artist Alley

As an artist myself, I’ve participated in dozens of alleys over the last 5 years and the Artist Alley is usually my favorite place to be at a con especially the place where my money ends up going to.

C2E2’s Artist Alley was huge and boasted nearly 200 marvelous artists ranging from industry professionals, freelance artists, web artists, and more. It was so amazing to see so many talented artists in one place, but at the same time it was nice to meet some of them in person (Artist Abe just to name a few) as I’ve followed their work online

The one drawback of this artist alley, though, was the eye fatigue and trying to save your money. Almost artist in the alley was selling prints, which was awesome and a must buy but even with the multitude of art styles it was tiring to look at nothing but wall after wall of prints and posters. I walked the alley about 3 times and kept finding things I had missed previously.

So If you ever take a gander down artist alley prepare to spend and spend wisely.

Cosplay

Now for the main reason why I attend conventions, I do cosplay photography as a hobby along with a little cosplaying on the side and I knew cosplay at C2E2 was going to be good.

The weekend also brought many other fan gatherings centered around favorite films, shows, comics and other media as well as a huge cosplay championship contest, the C2E2 Crown Championships of Cosplay, where cosplayers competed in skill and craftsmanship, judged by industry costuming professionals. Huge Congrats to Major Sam Cosplay for winning the grand prize!!!

You can check out some of the shots from the many photoshoots I did at C2E2 this year below.

All in all C2E2 2016 was a fun experience and I highly recommend it

Many thanks to my Friends Johnnie and Susie for a great time and Huge Thanks to my great and amazing friend Gillian from CosCouture (check out her page for amazing cosplays)

BRILAN IMAGERY PHOTOSHOOTS