ColossalCon East 2018 Cosplay Gallery Part 1

“Are you going to ColossalCon East?” This is a question I personally asked many people over the course of the past year, perhaps ad nauseam to some of my close friends in the cosplay community. ColossalCon East’s first convention last year was my first time ever attending a ColossalCon convention, and it instantly became one of my favorite conventions of the year.

However, as I sit down to write this article, I feel it is time to take off the rose-colored glasses I wore throughout much of the past year, through which I honestly failed to see anything but the swimsuit-styled cosplay at the water park which I was (and still am) so enamored with. I will do my very best to give an impartial review of the con, which personal feelings aside, is already a somewhat difficult convention to review, due to that fact that there is a bit of a blurry line in between what is, and isn’t, part of ColossalCon East.

ColossalCon East is billed as “an anime, gaming, and Japanese culture convention.” The convention returned to the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center in Pocono Mtns, Penn., for its second annual convention on September 7-9 this year.

ColossalCon East features the sort of programming and activities typical for a convention of this genre. There was a lineup of panels covering a variety of topics held throughout five separate rooms in the convention center, which were run all the way up until 2 a.m. on the first two days of the convention.

A handful of voice actors were in attendance at the event for attendees to meet and greet, including Todd Haberkorn, Morgan Berry, Xanthe Huynh, and Michele Kontz. Musical guests The Super Guitar Bros. and Professor Shyguy entertained fans with performances on both Friday and Saturday of the convention.

Tokyo Attack! provided a nice selection of arcade games for the gaming area, which included unique titles including Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity, Dance Dance Revolution, Pump It Up Prime 2, and Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.

ColossalCon East also featured a dealer’s room and artist alley, both of which I found to be surprisingly small for a convention of its size. A cosplay contest, cosplay masquerade, and formal ball were among the other activities available at the convention.

What I have listed so far covers the majority of what attendees get with their ColossalCon East badge. Admission to Kalahari’s vaunted indoor water park, which is considered the main attraction of the event to many, is not included with a badge.

Guests staying at Kalahari’s rather expensive hotel are provided with passes to the water park at no extra charge, but those staying elsewhere had to pony up a whopping $109 for a day pass to the water park, and there was no discount whatsoever offered to convention attendees. However, there was an after-hours event at the water park offered only to convention attendees, at the cost of $25 for one night or $40 for two.

While I am discussing the water park, I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the incident that occurred on toward the end of the convention. Some time shortly after noon on Sunday, Kalahari security went around informing people that there had been a “policy change” at the water park. All photography was immediately prohibited inside the water park, and cosplay props of any sort were no longer allowed. This was a huge disappointment to many ColossalCon East attendees, as cosplay photography at the water park is the main reason many people attend the event.

To their credit, ColossalCon East management addressed the situation on social media soon after the event. It was stated that information was being gathered prior to confronting Kalahari management regarding what occurred. I am not certain if that meeting has taken place yet, and there are still questions left unanswered regarding why this happened, and what the policy will be during next year’s event.

Overall I would consider the entire “ColosssalCon East experience” to be a rather enjoyable, but quite expensive one. It has become clear that the relationship between ColossalCon management and Kalahari’s Pocono location is still not as good as they one they have with Kalahari’s Ohio location. I hope that this relationship improves quickly, for the sake of the enjoyment of all attendees of this growing convention.

Cosplayers in this first of three galleries include Avarent Cosplay, LinRei Cosplay, Minjee Kay Cosplay, SecretKitten Cosplay, Iri Corpse Cosplay, PirouEtte Cosplay, MementoCosplay, imoutofever, sleepyclaudie, lacee_girl, sakurablossoms92, milkpinkk, _lovebiites, kairichristian, babykitty18, and many more.

Photo gallery tips: Once the page loads the images, you will see the Forward and Back navigation arrows above the image, in case you want to scroll faster than the preset. And to see the entire gallery as thumbnails, click on the gray four-box square next to the navigation arrows.

If you are pictured in any of our galleries, feel free to download the images and use them non-commercially on social media, with appropriate credit.