Anime Expo 2010

We've returned from the biggest anime & manga convention of the year! Anime Expo happened just last week and we spent 4 incredibly busy days in the Artist Alley selling our plushies, caps and lots of jewelry. The convention felt even busier than last year with a lot of really amazing cosplayers roaming the area. The artist alley expanded this year with over 300 tables. We were located at Table C19 which was a nice location at the end of a row.

We arrived in the early evening on Wednesday, checked into our hotel and quickly hurried down to the convention center to pick up our badges and check in for Artist Alley. Unfortunately for us and a few hundred other people, there was a massive line for registration that moved at a snails pace. Considering all you need to do to pick up your badge is scan a barcode, confirm your name and then get your badge, there was no excuse for badge pick up to take so long. Long story short, we got our badges but were too late for Artist Alley check-in. We spent the rest of the night preparing for our first day in the alley.

Day 1
We got up early that morning and gathered most but not all of our stuff. Our plan was to only stay until 4pm because that evening we were attending a few events happening over at Club Nokia. (More on that here) We arrived at Artist Alley check-in and it only took a few minutes before we were let in to start setting up. The doors officially opened at noon and it didn't take long before there were crowds of people streaming through the rows of the alley.

We brought some new items to artist alley this year which included Caps with Faces, Super Soft Onigiri & Kitty plushies, and our brand new Resin Jewelry. Our Mortified Foods buttons returned with a few new designs as well. It was a busy first day and we didn't want to pack up early but a once in a lifetime experience was waiting for us so by 4pm, we were on our way back to our hotel to change.

Read all about our experience at the Club 2 the MAX Event with X Japan in our previous blog post here: http://bit.ly/cxfBtU

Day 2

After getting only 4 hours of sleep, we dragged ourselves out of bed and got ready for our first full day. With the help of our friends, we carried all our things to the convention center including our overhead display. We arrived a bit late but got set up and settled in for the long day. Cute food cell phone charms were another item we were introducing this year. We've had some of these in the past but never this much variety.

Friday was spent almost entirely at the table with a very constant crowd coming and going. Everyone was very nice and we got a lot of compliments on our things. There were quite a lot of amazing cosplayers about on friday and the nice thing about being in artist alleys is that the cosplayers come to you. :D

Day 3
Saturday we decided it was our turn to dress up so Cindy wore her Baby the Stars Shine Bright bunny-themed outfit and I cosplayed as Ginko from Mushi-shi. The crowds from Friday carried over into Saturday which continued the trend of us not being able to leave the table. It wasn't until the last hour where we got to take turns wandering. As Ginko, I got stopped several times for pictures which is always a nice compliment. I haven't cosplayed since AX 2007 so it was nice to step back into that world.

After packing up from artist alley, we wandered the convention center for the first time since pre-registration day. We walked through the arcade briefly to check it out, looked at the menus of the many food trucks parked across the street, and eventually made our way over to the Nokia Plaza for the Laser Show. When we arrived, there was a taiko drum performance going on that was very good. We hung out near the back of the crowd to observe and as the sun started to set, glowsticks were being distributed to the crowd.

While waiting for the show, our friend from the X Japan event showed up in his hide cosplay. We had been searching for him earlier to give him our new hide fanart button. Luckily, we brought one with us for just such an opportunity and finally gave it to him. The hilarious part of this encounter was that Cindy was in her full lolita outfit while our friend had only seen her dressed as a male japanese rock star. She had to first explain who she was and a surprised look came over him when he realized who she was. XD The laser show was only 30 minutes long and wasn't that impressive but worth going to. You got a free glowstick and got to take part in a big, glowing dance routine.

Day 4

The last day of cons always begin with packing things up and checking out of our hotel. After two trips to the car, we got everything packed and headed to the convention center. Sunday was the first slow day and we didn't have a lot left by this point. We were nearing the end of our adventure which we had spent months preparing for and we were tired. The day flew by and as is tradition for us, we packed up an hour early so that we could finally wander the exhibit hall together. As much as we'd love to be at the table 100% of the time, we want to have a little fun too!

So for the last hour, we shopped the exhibit hall until it closed and then made our way back to artist alley to say hello/goodbye to a few of our artist friends. Our few purchases from the con were some art prints, Pon & Zi buttons, Pon & Zi shirt, a few Nanospore vinyl figures and a couple Tokidoki cell phone charms. Not a lot but we never got the chance to do any serious shopping. After exiting the exhibit hall for the last time, we hung out with our friend Spoon until finally leaving to get dinner in Little Tokyo and then go home.

As it's always been, AX is different every year with whole new experiences and we had a great time again this year. We hope next year is just as good and that we have more opportunities to get away from the table to run around and play. :)

Thank you to everyone who visited us and we hope you'll check out our website and Etsy shop (when it's back up). We look forward to making next year even better and hope to see you all again soon! Thank you!!! 

For more of our pictures from Anime Expo 2010, visit our Flickr gallery.