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eBay Wig Review: koreahomme

26 Monday Sep 2011

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I was originally planning on cosplaying Lightning from the new Final Fantasy XIII-2 for.. AnimeNEXT(?) and then for Otakon, but those plans fell through. Anyways, I purchased her wig back in April 20th.

I paid on April 20th, and they didn’t ship it out until a week later. I received the wig on May 6th (approximately 16 days) and it turns out that they mailed me a Serah wig instead. So I promptly e-mailed them back telling me they gave me the wrong wig. It was very back and forth which annoyed me a bit. They wanted to resolve the issue because they didn’t want me to give them bad feedback. In the end they sent me a new wig. But this time they didn’t send me a tracking number.

18 DAYS LATER. I still had not received my wig, so I e-mailed them again. They replied with some crackpot excuse about how because of the volcano in Iceland delaying/losing the shipment. Then had the audacity to offer 20$ as compensation FOR NOW, and if I received the wig to give it back. How about you give me my wig in the first place, I live in the US, under no circumstances would the wig be shipped anywhere near Iceland to begin with. Besides, I paid nearly 40$ for this wig, I was getting this wig. So I angrily responded back because I had begun to wonder if they were coming up with a ridiculous excuse to not send me this wig.

Anyways, they apologized saying they thought I was from the UK, because someone in the UK ordered the same wig, and said they sent me my wig 2 weeks ago. Then they kept e-mailing me about how if I don’t get it in the next week, that they’ll send me a new one by EMS, and how they are an honest seller, even going and sending me a picture of the wig they supposedly shipped. A day later I calmed down and told them I still wanted the wig. They said they would send one again with a tracking number. Although they sent it to me the first time with a tracking number, so I was a little confused as to why they didn’t send one to me the second time (unless they didn’t send it to begin with).

In the end I did get that wig within 8 days. It was pretty, but looked absolutely nothing like the reference picture. But you know, I got the wig and I didn’t want to even bother arguing with them anymore. The image on the right is what I was SUPPOSED to get. The picture at the bottom is a more accurate shot of what I received.

Pro:
– Tracking number given.
– Mailed out new wig.
– Good quality wigs.

Con:
– Wrong wig entirely.
– Looked nothing like the reference image.
– Had to sign for it.

Price: $37.99 + free shipping.
Item Location: Hong Kong.
Time for Arrival: 8 days. (After re-mailing)

Would I order from them again? Very debatable. The wig was good quality, but it was such a hassle trying to get the right wig. Although if you get the right wig to begin with, I think you’re set! If you wish to purchase this wig, search “Final Fantasy 13 LIGHTNING Pink wavy wig cosplay wigs” in the eBay search bar or look through koreahomme’s ebay profile.

eBay Wig Review: ecmonster

23 Friday Sep 2011

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New York Comic Con is coming up and I needed a wig for Alisa Bosconovitch from
 Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. Her hair is two different colors, one side is light pink and the other side is more of a magenta color. My plan was to buy a light pink wig, one that was slightly longer, cut the length, make that into wefts, and then sew them into the wig so there is that part in the hair. For the magenta color, instead of buying magenta colored wefts, I decided to custom color it. There will be a tutorial on that later on.

After receiving the wig and upon further inspection, I realized the quality of the wig isn’t that great. You could see the netting through the hair and near the bangs there was glue in the fibers (?). I’m hoping it won’t be AS BAD after I weft the excess and style it.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆/ 2 out of 5.

Pros:
– Fast shipping.
– Super soft fibers.

Cons:
– No tracking number.
– Netting can be seen.
– Poor quality, fibers fall out.

Price: $16.99 + Free Shipping.
Item Location: Hong Kong
Time for Arrival: 11 days.

Would I purchase from them again? Probably not.

eBay Wig Review: zhoujuntao2010

17 Saturday Sep 2011

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For New York Comic Con, l’ll be cosplaying as Kneesocks from Panty & Stocking with Garderbelt. Her hair is essentially in a high ponytail, so my options were to buy an actually Kneesocks wig, or try to find one in her shade of blue, and make the ponytail myself. I opted not to custom color her hair because of time restraints.

Her wig was actually a bit tough to find because of the shade. It’s like a light aqua blue. I found this wig and initially liked it. It was long enough for me to chop up and make into a ponytail. Upon actually getting the wig. It was OKAY. You can see how its mixed in the image, I didn’t realize that the mix would be blue/blonde. So now I’m opting to lightly dye it so the blonde parts are light blue. I don’t want to make it too dark.

Rating: ★★★☆☆/ 3 out of 5.

Pros:
– Free wig cap.
– Soft good quality wig.

Cons:
– No tracking number.
– Not what I intended on purchasing.

Price: $26.39 + free shipping.
Item Location: Beijing, China.
Time for Arrival: 13 days.

Would I purchase from them again? Yes, their wigs are good quality. If you would like to purchase this wig, search “COS WIGS Long ICE Blue Mix Cosplay Straight Wigs 100cm” or search through zhoujuntao2010’s eBay profile.

eBay Wig Review: cosplaydna2009

05 Monday Sep 2011

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Overdue review.. For AnimeNEXT, I was supposed to cosplay Princess Serenity from Sailor Moon, but those plans fell through.

Regardless, the method I was planning to use for Serenity was to use a short wig and a long wig (I bought a 100 cm wig). Now my one issue with buying the two wigs from eBay is that some sellers, especially the Asian ones, don’t have a prearranged set of colors. If you look on some wig websites such as Arda, they have a color chart for their wigs. Many eBay sellers don’t do that.

So if you plan on buying two wigs of the same color, but are different lengths, I would recommend sending the eBay seller a note to check. I was originally going to buy the wigs from another seller, but they couldn’t reassure that the wigs would be the same color, so I decided to buy from cosplaydna2009.

When you check out the item, you are allowed to leave a note to the seller; I just wrote a note saying I bought another wig and the item number (after I purchased the first wig) so they could ship it together.

The fibers were very soft so I am satisfied with my purchase. The only negative I can think of is that you can see the netting a bit through the wig, but that also happens when the fibers are super light.

Rating: ★★★★☆/ 4 out of 5.

Pros:
– Good quality wigs.
– Seller was quick and helpful when I asked questions.

Cons:
– No tracking number.
– Can see the betting through the wig a bit.

Price: $27.20 (Long wig) + $23.40 (Short wig) + free shipping = $50.60
Item Location: China
Time for Arrival: 11 days.

Would I purchase from them again? Yes.

If you wish to purchase this wig, search “1011 New long Silver White Cosplay Party Wig 100cm” in the eBay search bar for the long wig, “138 New Short Silver White Cosplay Party Wig” for the short wig, or look through cosplaydna2009’s ebay profile.

eBay Wig Review: greatarchy09

04 Sunday Sep 2011

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So. I can’t give a completely accurate time as to how many days it took because I had it EMS’d at the last minute because the cosplay itself as a last minute decision.

Anyone who’s ordered from greatarchy09 will know that they generally sell Ayanamisatoru wigs, a professional cosplay wig brand. It’s higher quality and is made with heat resistant fibers.

I purchased this wig as a last minute cosplay as Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier. It is a short green wig with two ponytail clips. Overall I do like the wig. The quality isn’t as great as I thought it would be, but I still like it.

Rating: ★★★★☆/ 4.5 out of 5.

Pros
– Quick EMS shipping
– Soft fibers.
– Multicolored fibers.

Cons
– No shipping number.

Price: 37.99$ + 18$ = 55.99$
Location:
Time for Arrival: 4 days.

If you wish to purchase this wig, search “Macross frontier Ranka Lee cosplay wig” in the eBay search bar for the long wig or look through greatarchy09’s ebay profile.

eBay Wig Review: lliying123

23 Tuesday Aug 2011

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One of my friends wanted to shoot Rei Ayanami for AnimeNEXT so I bumped her up on my list. And since the date is rapidly approaching, I bought her wig yesterday. Out of all the wigs I saw, this one was the best one I found that actually resembled the character’s hair. Now, when I originally purchased from this seller, I saw that they had 10,000+ good feedback and they’ve been selling for 3 years. So I decided to order it, and it was also pretty cheap.

I bought this wig on April 3rd. Two days later, I received an e-mail from the eBay Loss Prevention Department. Apparently, the seller got shut down! I have to admit, I’m pretty peeved, since I ordered this wig at the same time I ordered my FFX-2 Yuna wig, and that wig arrived yesterday. Nevertheless, I’m going to try to keep an open mind on this.

I e-mailed the user and they said eBay shut them down for suspicious activities. Anyways, they said they are still shipping my wig and I should have received a tracking number, which I did, which I received when I asked for it. As of now, (4/13/11), the USPS says “Origin Post is Preparing Shipment.”

4/20/11: So I received the wig today. The quality is not bad. The seller delivered as promised, so I’m not angry about eBay shutting them down. I’m still a little peeved about it, but I got my wig so I have no complaints. The wig itself, like I said, is okay. The fibers actually fell everywhere. So it’s not the best quality, but the wig fits, the color is good.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆/ 2.5 out of 5.

Pros:
–  Tracking number included.

Cons:
– Long shipping.
– Fibers are very loose, poor quality.

Price: 13.99$ + free shipping.
Item Location: China.
Time for Arrival: 17 days!

The wig is called, “New Evangelion light blue Short Cosplay Hair Wig CW183.”

But would I order from them again? Considering they’re now closed on eBay and the quality of the wig, probably not.

Otakon Report

29 Friday Jul 2011

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I realized I never wrote an Otakon report! Not that I don’t want to, more so that I’ve really just been procrastinating it. But I do want to take my blogging more seriously and update more, so I’ll try my best.

Before I begin, I’ll talk about what even allowed me to go to Otakon. Going to Otakon has been a dream since I started cosplaying. Afterall, it is one of the biggest cosplay events on the East Coast. But Otakon is in Maryland, while that isn’t TOO far from where I live, you know how Asian parents are. Or maybe you don’t. But I knew my dad wouldn’t be too keen on the idea of me going to another state for a convention. (He isn’t too keen about me cosplaying in general.)

But the biggest factor financial-wise for me, in terms of going to a convention, is how much transportation, hotel, and partially badge will cost me. The badge is only a partial concern because the prices aren’t TOO outrageous, compared to how much transportation or hotel COULD cost. Although, if transportation isn’t an issue, then hotel and badge become more of an issue.

Anyhow. what made Otakon possible? I was a judge in the Hall Costume Contest, which meant, well besides that I was judging(?!?!!), free badge. Yayy that was one thing taken care of. The hotel, my friend’s friend was letting us stay in the hotel for free, another thing taken care of. Transportation.. Probably cost me the most. I carpooled with my friend Euphoria and we split the costs. Splitting it between the two of us wasn’t too bad, but still. Money is money. Now onto the con report!

Thursday
Euphoria and I left her house in the afternoon and we drove to Baltimore. The drive wasn’t too bad. By the time we arrived to Baltimore, it was around 5 o’clock so there was rush hour. Unbeknownst to us, driving in Baltimore was like driving in the city. Not only is it crazy, but there were a ton of one way streets. It wasn’t too bad, but it threw me off guard. Not to mention I’ve never driven in the city because of that very reason. (My parents are afraid I’ll get into an accident or something.) Luckily no such thing happened! But we were driving around for an hour before finding our hotel. We were able to check in our things and head to the convention center to get our badges, and judge’s meeting. After our meeting, we met up with Joseph Chi and did a photoshoot. I was wearing Euphie’s Princess Garnet from Final Fantasy IX, and she was wearing my Yuna from Final Fantasy X. After we finished, it was 11 pm, so we headed back and went to sleep.

Friday
Friday we were still wearing each other’s costume. Judging was fantastic. It is definitely a rewarding experience. I’ve only been cosplaying for little over a year, so seeing elaborate costumes puts me in awe. I met BalthierFlare 8D After judging, we went to the dealer’s room and wandered around. We met Ejen from CosplayInAmerica, and Yaya Han. I was so nervous to approach her at first haha. She really is a sweetheart. I hope to see her again in the future. Anyways, enough fangirling. We didn’t stay out too long and went back to the room afterwards.

Saturday
Saturday, Euphie was wearing her Princess Garnet and I was wearing my Yuna. Still had an excellent time judging. Except that we were an hour behind in our schedule, which really threw us off. Normally we had a break on the top of every hour, but today we didn’t get that chance. It was unfortunate because normally each person gets 5 minutes to talk about their costume and get it judge. And we had to rush a bit and cut it down to 3 minutes, or at least try to, because being an hour behind would cut into the rehearsal for the cosplay “fashion show” at the Masquerade. So if you felt that you were rushed, we’re sorry! But it was good seeing some familiar faces from my friends who entered the hall cos contest. Afterwards, I met up with my friend, Touelle, and we hung out for a bit. Then Euphie and I had to rush backstage to the Masquerade because we had to present our Judge’s Award. Got scolded at a bit for being super late xD But we presented our awards and helped hand out the other awards. Afterwards I hung out with Touelle a bit again before she had to leave, met up with Euphie, and then went back to our room.

Sunday
So I didn’t sleep all night on Sunday. Because, I was sewing a cape for my friend. I just had to lengthen it, so it wasn’t that hard, just took time xD I was hanging out with a friend while I was working so it wasn’t too bad. Then I wore Euphie’s Rikku from Final Fantasy X-2 costume. We had the Q&A for Judging, which was basically for the people who entered the contest, if they wanted to hear critique

s of what they did and such. Afterwards, we just roamed the Artist Alley and the Dealer’s room, saw some more friends and talked for a bit, then ate some food with

TheBigTog. I was so tired, I kept dozing off waiting for the food to arrive xD Then afterwards, we went home. We got to Euphie’s hourse around midnight and I slept over.

Overall I had a wonderful experience! When people complain about the Otakon weather, they are not kidding. It was 90 something degrees and it didn’t help that most of the costumes I wore were pretty warm.

Sakura Matsuri Report.

03 Tuesday May 2011

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Saturday

I went to Sakura Matsuri this weekend! I went Saturday after my drawing class. I wore a 90% completed Rei Ayanami in her school uniform. The only things that weren’t finished were the buttons and collar.

The highlight was that we went to “Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles” in Chinatown. It was featured on ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate’ on Food Network. That and I was really craving fresh noodles. The place was cheap (price-wise) and delicious! I will definitely have to go back there again in the future.

Sunday

Sunday was tons more fun. I decided to wear Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho before the fashion show because after having a conversation about it with Keith, we decided on him since I partially wanted to test shoot my new contact lens. Tifa with blue or green eyes doesn’t make sense, nor does Rei with blue or green eyes (and I would’ve wanted to fix the skirt..)

To quickly cap my day: I didn’t sleep all night because I was finishing up Yuna. The El Dorado staff came out pretty good but pretty rickety. Went to the festival with Kevin and Keith. Wore Kurama. Shot with Keith for the lenses test. Forgot craft foam/poster board for Yuna’s obi. My friend, Kadishu, ended up buying some for me♥. Met up with Philip. Hung out with them.

Shot for a bit. Shot FOR Keith for a bit. Made a “We love Mario Bueno” sign for Mario Bueno. “Embarrassed” the poor kid. Embarrassed myself by attracting much attention to myself with said sign. Went to get ready for the fashion show at 2:30. Changed into Yuna. Waited backstage at 3:45 to go up. Hung out with all teh models until the show.

Modeling in the Cosplay Fashion show. Got bombarded by people photographing me as Yuna and Mario Bueno as Tidus. Got kicked out xD Shot a bit more, went home.

All in all, this is going to sound a bit cheesy, but I feel really blessed. I’m glad that I could’ve met so many great friends through cosplaying. Being at the fashion show today and meeting so many talented people is truly inspiring. Everyone was so sweet and nice!

Being around other cosplayers who share the same passion as you and are about the same level is just.. amazing. It makes me want to push myself harder and challenge myself to become better. I saw a lot of friends and made some new ones!

Photography by Knightmare6 and Merlin Tong Photography.

ebay Wig Review: peaceofworld2010

13 Wednesday Apr 2011

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So AnimeNEXT is coming up very soon! I recently ordered my FFX-2 Gunner Yuna. I intentionally wanted the wig to be different from my FFX Yuna wig. So I opted for a darker brown.

The wig ended up being slightly darker than the image. But you can tell it’s not black and under the  light, it’s lighter. It has nice highlights like my FFX Yuna wig, which I did enjoy.

And it was a lot longer than I thought it would be, which isn’t that big of an issue.

I’ll take another picture when it’s less icky/rainy outside.

Rating: ★★★★☆/ 4.5 out of 5.

Pros:
– Very fast shipping.
– Soft fibers.

Cons:
–  No tracking number.
– Not heat resistent.

Price: 22.99$ + free shipping.
Item Location: China.
Time for Arrival: 9 days.

Would I order from them again? Yes.

If you wish to purchase this wig, search “J·C New Fashion Dark Brown Staright Women’s Full WIG,” or search in peaceoftheworld2010’s ebay profile.

eBay Wig Review: rixinyueyi9898

07 Monday Mar 2011

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As you know, or don’t know, I’ll be cosplaying Final Fantasy X Yuna (summoner) this year! I planned on debuting her earlier at SpringFest this Saturday, so last week I ordered her wig.

The wig came out a lot curlier than the image (which isn’t an issue). The fibers were really soft. The wig is a bit darker than I had anticipated and wanted for Yuna, but in the light it looks lighter.

The only possible issue I could have with it, is that on the website, it says the fibers were Kanekalon, but then on the tag the wig came with, it says it was synthetic fibers. Not that it mattered either way for me because the fibers were super soft. I’m not sure if it was because it wasn’t as thick as my other wigs, but it hardly tangled. There was virtually no tangle with this wig.

What I liked about this wig, and the reason I chose it is that the color looks very natural that it has highlights and such. Nothing too noticeable, but you can tell it’s not just one straight color.

Rating: ★★★★☆/ 4.5 out of 5.

Pro:
– Great quality.
– Quick shipping.
– Came with a free wig cap.
– Soft fibers.

Con:
– No tracking number.
– Not heat resistant.
– Fibers were teased under the bangs so it got itchy after wearing for a while.

Price: 24.30$ + free shipping. (It was 10% off.)
Item Location: China.
Time for Arrival: 10 days.

Would I order from them again? Yes.

If you wish to purchase this wig, search “1813 New long Light Brown Fashion Wavy Wig” in the eBay search bar or look through rixinyueyi9898’s ebay profile.