Fan Expo: Cosplay is serious business
Posted September 2, 2018 11:42 am.
Last Updated September 2, 2018 1:31 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Fan Expo Canada brings together people from fandoms of all stripes — from gamers and comic book collectors to sci-fi lovers and horror enthusiasts.
Many take it to the next level, dedicating tons of time dressing up as their favourite characters.
But these aren’t just your garden variety halloween costumes. Many of them are painstakingly hand made with meticulous attention to detail.
Cosplayers often spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars perfecting their costumes. Along with being expensive, cosplay takes a fair bit of commitment, with cosplayers often staying in hot, heavy outfits for all four days of Fan Expo weekend.
While many do it just for fun, some have garnered huge fan bases of their own and make paid appearances at events.
Scroll through some of the impressive efforts by cosplayers at Fan Expo Canada 2018 below:
No collection of cosplay all-stars would be complete without mentioning the 501st Legion: Canadian Garrison.
The 501st is a costuming fan club 10,000 members strong that cosplays as members of the Galactic Empire — the bad guys of the Star Wars universe.
They are famously known as “baddies doing good” for their charity work raising money for Make-A-Wish and other organizations. All members volunteer their time to attend events in costume and instead of payment, people are asked to donate to a list of charities on their website or a cause of their own choosing.
The group prides itself on being movie accurate, so much so, that they are the only group officially recognized by Lucasfilm and Disney in Star Wars materials like books and video games.
Watch the video below for more information about the 501st Canadian Garrison:
