Cosplay Competition
Welcome! We’re glad to see you here for our first event! We’re always saying we need more opportunities to dress up, and what’s better than cosplay?
Judging Categories
We want everybody to have a good time, at all different levels. So we are going in a different direction from typical cosplay judging. Instead of having 1st, 2nd, etc winners in different skill categories, we are establishing five areas of judging:
Master of Reconstruction - If you up-cycled your cosplay, this is for you. If you have amazing hot glue skills, we are cheering you on! You made something new and amazing! Show it off.
Special Judging Criteria - creativity with use of recycled/upcycled materials, dedication to creating something new from old materials, time spent making/improving costume
Prizes - $50 Poindexter’s Lab Gift Card, Simple Bragging Rights
Master of Art - If you crafted your cosplay from scratch, we want to see it. Show off those sewing and sculpting skills, tell us about your process. We love the details and we want to see it!
Special Judging Criteria - quality of materials, techniques and skill level used in foam crafting/sewing/sculpting/etc, handmade percentage
Prizes - $50 Poindexter’s Lab Gift Card, Simple Bragging Rights
Master of Expression - If you are more into your makeup and how you bring out the attitude and personality of your cosplay, we want to see you SLAY!
Special Judging Criteria - character embodiment, use of poses/stunts/monologues, stage expression, quality of makeup/prosthetics usage
Prizes - $50 Poindexter’s Lab Gift Card, Simple Bragging Rights
Master of Innovation - Did you flip the script? Tear out the pages? Make a mash up that’s turning heads? Or otherwise defy our conventional geek standards? Then you belong here.
Special Judging Criteria - costume originality while still remaining recognizable, Innovation of building techniques
Prizes - $50 Poindexter’s Lab Gift Card, Simple Bragging Rights
Fan Favorite - After all contestants have shown off their work, there will be a popular vote. Fans will choose one special person to take a people’s choice award.
Prize - $100, Absolute Bragging Rights
Each judging category needs at least 3 people to compete. If your category, has less than 3 people, we will need to place you elsewhere. We will be as fair as possible if this happens.
By having these 5 different categories, we hope to encourage all levels to make something and wear it proudly. All ages are encouraged to compete. If you like to be technical, go ham! If you like every color of the rainbow, go wild! We want to see all that you can do.
Rules
When registering please choose the category that you would like to enter. If you are competing for the Master of Art title, 75% of your cosplay must be hand made. You also don’t need to choose the Fan Favorite category. That will happen naturally out in the wild. After registering, look for a welcome email. It will have more instructions for the day of the competition.
On competition day, please arrive at 11 am for pre judging. This is when you will able to show the judges any techniques you would like them to consider so they can see everything up close and personal. You can also show judges examples of your character and mention anything you might consider good for them to know.
You will have 30 seconds on stage to show off. Demand that runway! Be confident!
Because this is our first event we do not have any restrictions on source material. However, there are two big areas we want to avoid at all costs:
If it looks like a firearm, please don’t. If it fires projectiles like a firearm, please don’t. If it has a laser, please don’t.
For similar reasons, please don’t wear any uniforms worn by law enforcement, government agencies, or military personnel. If the uniform is fictional and will not be confused with an existing agency, it can be worn.
We love Cosplay, you love cosplay, or at least you want to try it because you want to love it. So please be considerate of everyone around you. It takes guts to compete regardless of level, and we want to encourage and support all of our Cosplayers. Be Kind. Be considerate. Have fun.
To see a copy of the Judging Form, click here.