It was Sunday now, and I was exhausted. Truthfully I really didn’t want to go back. But I still had to go pick up my artwork, and my brother and friend also had to go to the live auction. Thinking back this was my first time in a live auction.

So we headed back downtown at around 11 in the morning, truthfully I was really worried about the outcome of my artwork, did I sell anything at all, did people even like my artwork, did people take any business cards? hhfffuuuu…

Whatever the case, I would find out soon enough.

But before that, here are the last pictures of cosplayers I took for this year.

Definitely one of he best Final Fantasy X-II Rikku cosplayers I’ve seen live. And it’s pretty rare to see an Akemi Homura from her initial state as a magical girl before she became so jaded.

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Let me see, the one on the left is from Black Lagoon right (haven’t seen it, is any good?)? The one on the right is obviously San from the amazing Mononoke Hime film by Ghibli. And for the one in the middle, well actually she was cosplayer that really caught my attention. She’s cosplaying Ryoga from Ranma 1/2, an anime that is rather rare to see cosplayed these days. Although I saw various Ryogas this year, is Ranma 1/2 making a comeback with the newer generations?

Before I forget, there is a story to this one (I wonder if you will find it interesting though?). So I was really looking forward to take a picture of Ryoga. But I noticed that all three of them were friends. And as I asked Ryoga for a picture I noticed that they all started to part out of the way. San really looked a bit bummed, so I asked her if she wanted to get in the photo as well and also took that opportunity to ask if Revy (I think that’s her character?) if she also wanted to be in the picture. I’m really glad I asked them because the photo came out better that way. They all look happier together, but also gives a good contrast between all three. I really like the pose of Ryoga who is most likely lost as usual.

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Steins Gate

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So… this picture was taken while me, my brother and friend were waiting in line for the live auction. I noticed that this really cute cosplayer was in front of us also waiting for the auction. So I of course went to ask for a photo. I believe she and her younger sister are cosplaying Black Butler right? Is the younger sister as well? Anyway, looking at the photo the sister is really not pleased is she? She does not aprove. ffhmmm… Oh well, the cosplay was really good so I had to ask.

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Haven’t yet seen Gravity Falls (ridiculous huh, I should get on it). But I know I will soon and will most likely like it judging by what I’ve heard. So I took this opportunity to ask for a photo since they looked the part quite well. I really like this photo.

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Last cosplayers I took a picture of. I wonder from what series?

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So that’s all the cosplayers.

Also, here are some pictures of the convention on it’s last hours. On Sunday, things really die down compared to Friday and Saturday huh?

Line for the live auction. If you can see at the far left you can see a Krillin cosplayer. That’s actually a girl who went all in to make a great Krillin cosplay. Was planning to take her picture but lost sight of her after the auction (there was also a really good Android 17 who talked to her at one point, truly an opportunity lost).

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And to think these lines were at one point all packed, sometime all the way to the 7th row. These lines are for he Dealers Room by the way.

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Last one. That lady looks as though she is coming for me, in an aggressive way, hahahaha.

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Now then, before I get into the live auction and the picking up of my artwork, there is one more story I would like to tell.

So the day before (on Saturday) we had the AMV Contest, as we do every year. We go in after being in line for about an hour. We manage to get seats, but somewhere in the middle sections. We set our bags, prints and a Gun Buster action figure my brother bought from the Dealers Room. After a couple of minutes where people got situated, the room becomes dark and the show begins.

But sadly this year was rather disappointing compared to previous years. If anything most of it was rather basic and truthfully a little dull. But there were a couple of exceptions. The Evangelion one for the category x (which means it couldn’t fit in any other category like comedy, action, drama etc.) was really good. It was this rather stylized video that looked like it was from the 50s-60s? It was like a propaganda film for the communists except Evangelion themed. There was actually a reaction from the crowd for this one. Did I even mention the AMV Contest last time (on the post for Saturday)?

Wait… I got sidetracked. Back to the original story. So this was the longest run of AMV since this was their

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During the showing, I had the unfortunate luck of sitting behind a couple who decided to keep their tall hats/caps on. This meant I couldn’t see the screen completely or sometimes at all. Man was that irritating, I was actually surprised by how much of an impact this was having on me. But anyway I had to put up with that for almost all the duration of the contest. But suddenly one of them decided to leave and I could finally see the last five videos without obstruction?

By the end me and my brother had completely forgotten about what we brought with us. But I made sure to make them noticeable so that I would just pick them up as we headed out. My brother grabbed his backpack and we headed out. Fast forward a couple of hours and we are already getting back to the parking lot to go back home for the day, we are now far from the convention. That’s when my brother remembers. He doesn’t have his Gun Buster action figure with him. It’s not in his backpack. He starts panicking and realizes that he left it somewhere in the convention. We try to think of places we went to, trying to figure out when was the last time we saw that figure. That’s when we figure it out, we had it last in the AMV contest. My brother by this point was fuming and was rightly disappointed in having lost it so quickly.

I tried reassuring him that someone probably took it to lost and found. He on the other hand had already given it up as lost. But I had hope that since convention goers know about the hardships of getting money saved up for this one time in the year, that they would value morality and take it to lost and found.

Ok, so now we are back to Sunday. We are lined up for the auction, I take a picture of that cute Black Butler cosplayer and then I remember about going to lost and found. About half an hour is still left before the auction, so I convince my brother into going to lost and found to get that Gun Buster. He really didn’t want to go…

So we go to lost and found and he asks the staff if they were given an item on Saturday. He describes how it looked but the lady we were talking to was not reassuring us. In fact she said she was almost sure that there was nothing back there. But said that she would check anyway.

My brother wasn’t really expecting anything by this point. But after a couple of minutes the lady came back with the bag and box that contained the Gun Buster. My brother by this point was surprised and overjoyed. As was I. It was a NanDesuKan miracle!… Now that we had the Gun Buster we could finally head back to the line and await the auction.

So finally it was time for the auction. While we were waiting the staff was getting artwork into the room that would be used (it was right next to the Art Show room). I didn’t see any of my artwork in the piles being brought into the room while I was in line. I was hopeful that some artwork was taken inside while I went to the lost and found. But I quickly found out as I entered the room that surely enough I didn’t manage to get any of my artwork into the auction. My heart sunk at that moment. I can’t deny that I was really disappointed. I felt as though I had failed…

But such is life.

A couple of minutes in after everyone had settled in, the auction finally started. And truthfully I had a lot of fun seeing people try to outbid each other or seeing some apprehension to bidding at all (for some artwork, the bidder/s were not present). I won’t deny that some artwork I could not find the appeal, but despite that, many of them could even make it all the way to the low 100s’.

The auction made it very clear what kind of likes and dislikes certain bidders had. Heck, there was this piece with a girl that had a tattoo on her back and right after the auction started a guy made the bid go from around $25? all the way to $100 right out of the gate. Other pieces had long bidding wars that eventually reached the 100$ mark that kept going slowly till one or the other folded.

My friend went to a bidding war on two pieces, a Dratini scarf and a Sailor Moon scarf from the creator of the Mimikyu plushy he bought on the first day. Sadly he dropped out as soon as they each reached the 50$ range.

My brother also went to a bidding war for a Raven in a cat costume digital print but lost that one. He also bid on a Madoka art piece (the original art piece) that was drawn and colored with color pencils. It is a really beautiful piece and it also pops out giving it a really cool aesthetic.

This is the Madoka drawing my brother won. I really like it. The artist is really good. His control of color and color pencils is definitely at a high level. Sadly I don’t know his name, otherwise I would let you guys know so you could check him out.

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He had originally planned to just go for 50$ but it eventually surpassed that. Then my friend offered to help him out up to a 100$. But again it eventually went over. I was actually surprised my brother decided to go even further. I forget how high it got, but it was over 125$. My brother had won it. He seemed to have a bit of buyers remorse for a while. Bidding can be quite scary…

Now, one of the pieces that went to the live auction was a Mass Effect piece done by the artist that makes the artwork for the convention. I believe her name is Stephanie Kao. Anyway remember that cute Black Butler cosplayer? Well this was the piece she wanted. But as expected it started rising quickly. She started getting flustered until it eventually went too high for her. I felt really bad seeing her face turn from worry to eventually defeat when she had no choice but to give up. I noticed that a guy sitting next to her started who was bidding on the print was trying too console her. I wondered…

After a couple more pieces it all ended. This meant that the winners of the bids had to go back into the art show room to pick up their art and pay for it. Since my brother won one piece, I decided to tag along to see if my artwork got any changes.

This is what I saw first.

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All the artwork was moved, walls and all. Three of my pieces that were in the bottom right were missing and replaced with 4 other pieces of some other artist. On top of that there was also a ribbon and certificate right in the middle. I took a photo (the one you see above) and approached to see what happened. The ribbon and certificate said I won 1st place in the 3-D artwork category. Although I thought that was cool, I was really more amazed that I sold three pieces.

But that joy didn’t really last long. One of the staff members kicked us (me and my friend) out since we weren’t there to pay for artwork. So we had no choice but to step out and wait for my brother (this was the moment I took a photo of the Madoka art piece and of the Gravity Falls cosplayers.

It was also during this time that I once again saw that cute black butler cosplayer coming out of the Art Show room, holding very appreciatively and caringly the Mass Effect print from the auction. She seemed really happy. It was another NanDesuKan miracle!…

Okay, I’ll stop now.

After my brother paid, he finally popped out of the room and told us that there was veteran that was in the auction who bought the Mass Effect piece for that Black Butler cosplayer. What a cool guy huh? I’m guessing it was probably that guy that I mentioned before.

At this point we really didn’t know what else to do. In fact we felt like going back home by this point. But we had no choice but to wait till 4 pm, the time artist were allowed to pick up their artwork.

By this point it was around 2:45 so I had to wait a little over an hour. After thinking about it for a bit we decided to head over to the dealers room and see if we could get some last minute deals on some of their items. Now that I think about it, was it on Sunday or Saturday that I got that artbook? Hmmm… Anyway, either on Saturday on Sunday I did buy one item from the dealers room. And that is this:

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My brother bought the other two books that go along with this one. It not only contains all the amazingly beautiful artwork from Evangelion but also artwork from other series as well. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is a genius, his works are so amazing. I wonder if I could even catch up to him? I’m really glad I got this book, not only can I just enjoy looking at the artwork but I can try to reproduce them so that I can learn from them (this is how I learned when I was younger). I’m really looking forward to it.

Anyway, after a while I got tired and bored so just sat down for the duration of the time remaining outside on the hall. Eventually my brother and then even later my friend popped out. My friend went to pick up these statue sets of I believe 3 ot 4 that were all about Rurouni Kenshin. He had bought them the day before but only got to pick them up on Sunday.

It wasn’t long till I would be allowed to go in and pick up my art at the art show room so we headed down and waited once more till I was allowed inside.

After a couple of minutes we were allowed to enter. I noticed a table in front of the entrance with artwork. But I ignored it and went straight for my section. All the walls were moved once more and were pushed to the back of the wall. I went ahead and made sure I really was missing three pieces. After taking all the pieces down and tying them up so that we could carry them without problems. I also looked at the card holders to see if I had people take any of them. After packing them up in the box I did notice a bit of a dent, so at least a couple of people took some. But not anywhere near as I hoped. Was it because of my artwork, the prices or did they just not know they could take any. I really didn’t know. I’ll have to make it a bit clearer (by adding a sign that says “please take one”) next time and see if it changes anything.

With that done I went to the table that was in front of the entrance. And sure enough two of my art pieces were there. The Godzilla one and the Alice one. This meant that I sold three. My artwork was good enough that people bought three pieces! I felt that it was a good accomplishment.

I grinned a little and felt it was now time to go and collect my money from the staff. They had a table right next to the entrance. A line of artist collecting their pay waited patiently for their turn. It was eventually my turn. And it was at this moment that the situation went from heaven to hell. Apparently I only sold one…

Eh?…

But, three pieces had either bids on them or a sold marked on them. No, even as I asked to make sure, I was told that I only sold that one piece. The Alice piece was not paid for so it was left behind, and apparently the Godzilla piece that had the tag with bold letters that said sold was also not sold. So I was given my money, I guess I only sold that Samus piece which was missing…

By this point I wasn’t really paying much attention, I was frozen and was just going with the flow. All I could think was, I failed… When I was handed the money I was about to go away and pick up my artwork. But I was stopped and told that that there was something else they had to give me. It was about the first place certificate and ribbon. Aside from just getting some recognition for my Oathkeeper piece apparently I also got a free weekend pass for next years NanDesuKan. And as amazing as that is, I was so numb that I didn’t feel anything. I just faked a smile and said thank you.

After all that I went to pick up the other artwork at the table and added them to the piles I already tied. I’m sure my brother and friend could see my displeased and disappointed face but said nothing (which I am thankful for). We distributed the frame piles amongst each other and I carried both Keyblades. The day was over and we could finally head home.

The End.

Or was it?

As it turns out, the next day I received a text from a number I didn’t know. It turned out to be one of the staff from the art show. Apparently one of the staff members friends had bought the Godzilla piece but didn’t get the chance to pick it up. There was two problems. I was told I had to take it with me, and I was only paid for one piece. After counting the money I noticed that I was only somewhat paid for the Godzilla piece and not the Samus one. And even then, I wasn’t paid the full amount.

So all that information was disclosed as we went back and forth. That’s when the staff member started noticing all their mistakes. So as it turns out I managed to sell two pieces (the Alice one was bid on, but since the bidder didn’t pay for it, it wasn’t sold). So after the staff member checking with the higher ups and checking the paperwork, we made an arrangement for me to get the rest of my money and the member would also pick up the Godzilla piece that the friend had bought.

So I may not have sold as many pieces as I had wanted, but hey, it’s two more than zero. And I got a pass for next year.

So what did I learn? I probably won’t be taking many of the originals anymore, most people probably won’t care unless you are giving them away at ridiculously low prices. This means that I will be taking prints and back them with foam board to save on cost, that way I can also start the bid at low prices. I’ll also take some decorations to announce that it is my section and to make it stand out. I’ll also add some signs to let people know to take a business card.

This was a rather painful experience, but was also very informative. Hopefully the choices I make for next year bear some fruit, otherwise I will have to rethink some more things. Of course aside from those changes I mentioned, I will also make even better art. Art that will surpass the hesitations people might have had due to the prices.

Hasta la próxima,

Oh wait, it’s the 16th of September.

Viva Mexico!

Next time I will show you guys the next project that I’ve been working on.

-Nube