My First Convention - PAX East 2015
Sara Croft |
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Everyone thinks it's absolutely ludicrous that someone who runs a website like
mine has never been to a convention. Before PAX east 2015, I'd never
known the joy of being in a place where everyone was like minded, was there to
express love for games, costuming, and general nerding out. I won't bore you with the details, but there
has always been some kind of obstacle in my way, so after a few times of trying,
I gave up.
So you can only imagine my excitement when I was able to make it to PAX. I had
the opportunity to meet up with Senior Communications and Community Manager
Meagan Marie and Cosplay Veteran Jenn Croft, and i was not about to let it pass me by.
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During the convention, every day from 10am to 2pm,
Xbox hosted an event in honor of the brand new game
Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Altogether, they gave out around 600 Limited edition (PAX exclusive) posters, to
anyone who snapped a photo with Jenn Croft in her costume.
The outfit looked like it was extracted directly
from the
concept art Game Informer published last month.
Saturday afternoon, we had a Tomb Raider Cosplay meet-up, it was so
lovely to see so many Laras from all different incarnations. We even had two cosplayers dressed as Alex
Weiss. |
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The Tomb Raider Cosplay Meetup |
The turn out was so impressive, we even had a few more Laras show up at the end that are not
pictured here. |
Group Selfie!
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An awesome Alex Weiss Cosplayer
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Me as Lara from Tomb Raider Legend in my Tokyo dress |
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Annie Roig was able to make it to the cosplay meet
up too! She is the one in the Classic Tomb Raider costume. It was such an awesome thing to have the first and latest Lara there.
She was very well received during and after the meet-up and had dozens of people take her photo. It is truly awesome to have her come back to us after such a long break! |
Tomb Raider Vs Star Wars! There was a group of Star Wars cosplayers in the
same area, so we posed for a showdown. |
Two Tokyo Laras!
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Meeting Meagan Marie |
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Meagan, as you may know, is our community manager at
Crystal Dynamics and a darn fine one at that. I had the pleasure of hanging out
with her and I have to say, as lovely as she is online, you won't truly know how
phenomenal she is, until you are in her presence.
She exuded beauty, intellect, elegance and
grace. She was so kind to everyone at the convention and I can honestly
say that my life is now complete for meeting her. |
Josh, Monique, Jenn, Meagan and myself |
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Meeting Jenn Croft |
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Jenn has been a Lara Croft cosplayer for 15 years.
She's a pillar in the Tomb Raider community and the Cosplay Community.
We first met about 7 years ago, and have been close friends ever since. I really would not be where I am without her
constant support.
I was so thrilled to finally meet her in person.
She embodies Lara in looks and essence.
So for me, there wouldn't have been anybody better for the ROTTR Event. She
maintained unfaltering professionalism that can only be admired , because of
this, in many ways Jenn Croft is far more than your average cosplayer. |
Jenn's completed Rise of the Tomb Raider Costume! |
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Walking with Giants... |
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In addition to Meagan Marie and Jenn Croft, I also
met some of the most well known cosplayers in the hobby and Malik Forte! |
I was fortunate enough to meet the lovely and talented
Monika
Lee.
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My Unbiological sister,
Annie Roig aka The Cosplay Mom!
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I was extremely lucky to have also snapped a photo with
Malik Forte from The
Nerdist |
The lovely
NadyaSonika was there too! she was such a delight ! |
I also had the privilege of meeting the incredible
Amie Lynn |
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Other Awesome Cosplayers |
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Everyone from the booth owners to the cosplayers to
attendees were beyond courteous , I couldn't resist asking a few people for
photos and they happily obliged. |
Tyrese from the Walking dead |
Jon Snow from Game of Thrones |
Samus Aran Zero Suit |
Master Chief |
Infamous: Fetch and Delsin |
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt General Eredin |
Although I did walk around with the girls and
saw lots of booths, I didn't really check out any other
games in the event, I wanted to spend as much time as humanly possible with
Meagan and Jenn, since this was the first time I met them. I also did not vlog
because I
wanted to enjoy myself and not worry about documenting everything and miss out
on a lot in the process.
I still am digesting everything that happened
that weekend, I had a lot of fun and I feel very lucky to have seen and done the
things I mentioned. I am also very grateful that my first experience was very
positive and I am forever thankful for the beautiful memories. |
More PAX East Photos here
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Jenn Croft's Costume build available here |
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