Animate Miami 2014

Happy Friday!

I have been MIA for a while because of the holidays, vacation, school, and Animate Miami. Phew! So about two weeks ago, a couple of friends and I vending at a local convention. We are SO excited! It was our first real BIG gig and an amazing opportunity to get some exposure! This will be a picture-heavy post. I did do a video blog, but my friends are far too camera shy to let me upload it. Hehe.

It all began Thursday night. I got to MACC around 8pm to set up. We bought some shelving and tables. We worked for a few hours to put together something that looked kinda like a legit booth. After some scar antics, standing on unstable tables, laughing our heads off, and just having some good ol' fun, we called it a night and decided to set up the rest the next morning.

Come Friday morning, we arrived around 8.30am. It was the final day to load inventory. Luckily we got everything in on time! You know what sucked though??? Even though we paid for exhibitor booths, we still had to pay for general parking! What is up with that???

We tried to organize out items nicely and put prices so that shoppers can see what we have. We had lots of fun!!! Who thought putting shelves together would be so entertaining??? We had items ranging from handmade plushies and jewelry to Alpacassos imported straight from Japan's Amuse! We also had polymer clay watches from Korea and Shingeki posters! AH!

While we managed our booth, we got to speak with LOTS of people! It was so much fun meeting everyone! We also managed to snap some pictures of awesome cosplayers. Check out this Mario group! LOVED their cosplay!!

I also brought my 3DS with me. Hehee. I met over 100 people! I finished several puzzles and the Find Mii game twice!

On our final day, Sunday, we finally got a glimpse as the famous Yaya Han. Boy, she is TINY. I think the camera adds 20lbs on her! Although we never got to talk to her...it was really cool to see her attend a small convention.

This awesome cosplayer walked by our booth the last day too! I didn't realize until later that week, post-convention, that he won the cosplay competition. Bravo! This picture does NOT do his work justice.

Sunday, I cosplayed as Caitlyn from League of Legends. I was going to wear the whole get up...but I got lazy and just wore a black dress and my trusty jacket. The only things part of the cosplay were the hat, rifle, boots, and wig. The rifle and hat were made by me. ^-^v If you are interested in getting a closer look at the rifle, leave me a comment or hit me up on Facebook. I will make a separate post with details.

Originally, I was going to sell Poro plushies at the convention. Unfortunately, I did not have time to make them. :( I was really bummed out, but I was also kind of relieved because there were not many LOL fans there. I did get some shout outs when I walked around with Poro sitting on my hat! I am open to taking orders for Poros. Leave me a comment here or on Facebook and I can let you know the details. :D Isn't he a cutie??? :P Bleeeeh

So if you guys noticed, the banner of our booth says Ruru Victoria and not Raki Suta. This is because my lovely friend Ruru Victoria actually has a full blown shop and all selling Alpacasso and other goodies! Please check her out. :D She cosplayed as Soushi from InuxBoku SS. On Friday she cosplayed as Junko from Dangang Ronpa. She was SO adorable! If she does a post, I will link y'all there. ^--^

Ruru also taught me how to put on a wig properly. Before I did not use a wig cap...and I had it too loose so it always fell off my big fat head. She bought me a wig cap AND adjusted my wig AND brushed out my hair. I love her!

I met a fellow LOL-er on the last day and had to take a picture with her! She was gorgeous and SO nice! She was with her husband and baby too. How cute!! She was Ahri. I liked the contrast with the dark and light---kekekeke.

After the convention was over (6.30pm), we packed up. Break down was quick. We noticed other booths started to pack up before the appropriated break down time. The contract clearly stated that we could not do that and we would risk being banned... However, the staff at Animate were in a hurry to clear out the exhibition hall. They scared away some of our last minute customers! :( Here are some of my spoils from the convention. We alternated shifts on the last day so that we could shop a bit.

I bought...

• 2 pairs of clip-on kitty ears (one for me and the other for my little sister) (from Zombie Love Squad)
• a furry rabbit because it was cute and soft and reminded me of my puppy (from Ruru Victoria)
• a pair of earrings from my good friend Angie--so gorgeous with an organic swirl design and amber beads
• a Korean polymer clay watch because it's adorable and I was staring at them behind our booth (from Ruru Victoria)
• 2 clip-on birdies for the hair (from Ruru Victoria)

The convention was kind of a bust...the vendors by us told us this was the worst convention they have ever been to. I'm thankful for the support and customers who bought from our booth. I managed to break even and make a small profit. In the future I would definitely look into doing this again! It was SO much fun. I think I will have to think about my inventory. What would you guys like to see? Should I make Lumas again? 

On behalf of the ladies of booth #710 at Animate Miami....THANK YOU! <3 We hope to see you at a local convention in Miami really soon!