convention report
Califur 2015 was full of new beginnings for the Lemonbrat team! For the first time, we unveiled con-exclusive items; two kigurumi fitting the kemono theme for that year. Our “Kawaiizilla” and “Maneki Neko” kigus were a bit hit online, and the Kawaiizilla was given a great home to our Hyena Agenda friends before the dealer’s room even opened Friday morning! Thanks guys! <3
We also picked up a few cute goodies from our new friends Kilcodo and Onelani! Kilcodo had adorable fursuit prop doughnuts on her table this year, as well as these little batties! We couldn’t resist. And we had been after a plush from Onelani for some time, and finally got one! An adorable manatee, straight from the sea. 
Another kickoff for us was the start of our premade fursuit partials! We created 2 fursuit heads, with paws and tails to sell at Califur. To our surprise, they also sold before the dealer’s room opened! The couple who purchased them were so excited to put them on, and immediately commissioned art of their new characters, Viral and Hana! <3 We had a small photo-shoot later that day with them and got some great pics!
You can follow them on twitter here!: https://twitter.com/Viral_Hana
It’s sad that the convention will no longer be held at the beautiful Irvine Marriott, but there’s an excitement in our team to see the location for next year. Goodbye, yummy melon-infused water!
I’m going to be honest with you guys – I can barely lift my arms to type this con report. Anime Milwaukee was so much fun that I’m still exhausted. We were lucky enough to score a great spot in the dealer’s room this year and we had non-stop traffic from beginning to end. On top of that, AMKE really pulled out all the stops to make sure that the Lemonbrat crew had plenty to do after hours! It’s hard to believe that we were only up in Milwaukee for 3 days, but what a great 3 days they were…
Anime Milwaukee was hosted in the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee and Wisconsin Center. The venue is top notch with great decor, friendly staff and skyways to help bridge the gap between the convention center and the hotel ( a must for winter cons). This was Lemonbrat’s 2nd year at AMKE, but the clean layout and helpful signage made it feel like a con we’ve been attending for twice as long.
The Lemonbrat booth was a behemoth this year, encompassing a whole corner of the dealer’s room. We had all of our classic hoodies on display as well as a few newbies to the line-up. The Good Sheep and Baaad Sheep hoodies were hung up across from a bright pink squid hoodie that featured deluxe tentacle sleeves. And ghese weren’t the only new thing in town – we also had all new banners and signage to showcase the hoodies, The Little Woods, the Fruit Bats and the grand return of our dress-style hoodies!
There were a lot of other great sites to see in the dealer’s room, too. Barb spent a disturbing (yet understandable) amount of time hanging out at the Feral Works table. We currently have one of their velociraptor busts hanging in the bathroom. Jeanette got some cute new red panda earrings from Sorbet Jungle and I began building my dream backpack with the guys from Equilibrium. The AMKE staff should be commended for keeping the traffic flowing smoothly through both the dealer’s room and the artist alley areas. And speaking of staff, how cute are the Hyatt staff in their very own AMKE colored furry ears! We whipped these up for them before the con and it was a delight to them being worn all weekend long!
It should come as no surprise that we love Anime Milwaukee. Even if you look past the fact that it’s close to home, AMKE is a party con of the very best quality and we’re already looking forward to 2015!
Despite a harrowing journey home through 50mph winds and snow so thick they couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of them, Mike and Ryan had a fantastic time at this year’s Ohayocon! In a rare turn of events, the duo was actually split between two booths that were on opposite ends of the dealer’s room. Mike manned the rave gear and accessories booth while Ryan had the lion’s share of the hoodies and paws.
This split lead to some hilarious double takes from people who would stop in front of one booth and wonder if they’d just gone around in a circle. Overall though, folks were happy to see us spread out and the two had no trouble directing customers to and from each other’s booths to make sure they found exactly what they were looking for.
Ohayocon 2014 marked the very first con that we brought merchandise featuring both the Fruit Bats and the Little Woods. Both lines were a huge hit with pencil cases, satchel bags and button sets selling out from both booths! On more than one occasion, Ryan noted people stopping by the booth and asking if he was the one selling the adorable fox buttons. Meanwhile Mike had to steal all of the Fruit Bat button sets from the other booth in order to keep himself stocked.
The con itself was a ton of fun. Ryan was able to get himself the latest volume of the Ohio-born webcomic, Spinnerette while Mike chatted up cosplayers and fellow vendors all weekend long. Besides having a great line up of guests and panels, Columbus itself is home to some amazing restaurants, cafes and attractions. Mike and Ryan got the chance to grab dinner with the folks at Aardvark Tees at Barleys wherein many burgers were consumed and good times had. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream was also on the menu and Lemonbrat would like to (completely unofficially) profess their love for their Dark Chocolate flavor. It was heavenly!
Ohayocon was a great show for us and we were happy to see so many Lemonfans there. Thank you all so much for making the show a real hit and we look forward to doing it again next year!
.
.
What a wonderful weekend Corey and Lucie had at Anime Apocalypse this year!
.
The convention was held at the wonderful Clock Tower Resort in Rockford, IL . Corey and Lucie enjoyed the growth of the convention which rounded out the year on an excellent convention! Corey managed to talk to every vendors possible during the weekend (chatter box he is!) while Lucie enjoyed the Friday and Saturday evening programming, none other than the raves! We can’t thank all of you enough for stopping by that weekend, making it a huge success for Lemonbrat!
.
.
.
.
The theme of the weekend was discount central! We had all of our new long dog scarves, and tassel hats at this show, on top of a huge touchable discount wall of merchandise for everyone to feast their eyes on! (And hands too since you could touch it all!). Anime Apocalypse attendees really enjoyed the touch wall, and seemed to spend every last penny of their Holiday money with us at the Lemonbrat Booth =D
The convention would not have been as smooth if it wasn’t for the help of the con staff helping us move in our massive booth and get everything set-up to enjoy the show! Props to Anime Apocalypse for their increase in attendance and excellent programming that made this convention enjoyable from every aspect.
The Lemonbrat Team is excited to come back for Anime Apocalypse 2014 and we hope to see you all there!
.
.
Matt and Ryan hit the road again this past weekend (January 3rd-5th) for Anime-ZAP in Peoria, IL! The convention was held at the delightful Embassy Suites Hotel and their adjoining conference center.
While small, the con had plenty of opportunities for our boys to chat with attendees and make some new friends. Even when the weather turned south and the power went out (seriously!) there was a great sense of solidarity and camaraderie that permeated this show!
As you can see, we pulled out all the stops on our winter wear and Lemon Squeezies! With the snow, people were looking to bundle up and the new corgi and wiener dog scarves were irresistible. Our rave hoodies were also a popular item and we had several other vendors and artists come up and buy some before the dealer’s room had officially opened on Friday! Speaking of fellow vendors, the folks at Lilly Inverse Designs and Little House of Crafting deserve a shout out for being rad neighbors (and because Ryan accidentally pulled all their grid wall down on his own head).
After the dealer’s room closed, Ryan and Matt spent time teaching folks how to play the My Little Pony collectible card game from Enterplay. Right now the whole Lemonbrat office is caught in the death grip of MLP card game fever, but Ryan at least found time to geek out about kaiju movies with a few attendees while Matt broke away to host some very excellent games of Ultimate Werewolf. It was all fun and games until the snow rolled in Saturday evening. With over 3 inches falling on an already snow-laden con and a cold snap bringing temperatures down to -20 with the windchill, Anime-ZAP unfortunately ended on a somber note.
Despite weather woes, however, the show was a lot of fun and we will very likely be back next year! Thanks to all of you who stopped by!
Matt and Ryan were out in Indianapolis for Anime Crossroads this past weekend. The convention was held at the Wyndham Indianapolis West and was an absolute blast according to the dynamic duo. While Ryan got to talking with our good friends over at OTP over all things Kamen Rider, Matt spent his spare time ogling the Tabletop Gaming area and all the rich, board gamey goodness it contained. Of course, the real stars of the show were all the Lemonbrat fans and customers that stopped by!
This was our first anime con to feature our new long dog scarves and tassel hats and we’re very happy to report that they were a huge success! The booth also had all our classic rave gear and animal hoodies, but the biggest hit had to be our Lemon Squeezies. Seems like the folks in Indy really loved the massive variety of animals that we had available and the booth was a constant chorus of happy squeaking sounds (though a lot of that can probably be attributed to Ryan). Anime Crossroads’ attendees also really enjoyed just hanging out at the booth and chatting, which we always enjoy!
Special thanks should be given to the hotel and it’s staff, too. This was their first year hosting Anime Crossroads and they were incredibly helpful and courteous. Setting up was a breeze with their help (and the booth looked great with the extra tables they provided). Matt was a particular fan of the Wyndham’s concession stand – they had chili, burgers, and even freshly made stir fry all weekend long! As if that wasn’t good enough, the con staff were all very cool and dedicated to making Anime Crossroads the best show it could be. They had lively programming going on all weekend – fan panels, arcade games outside the dealer’s room and an Artist Alley that was always jumping with activity.
For everyone who stopped by to say hello, thank you so much! Matt and Ryan are already chomping at the bit to visit Anime Crossroads next year!
Matt and Ryan were out in Indianapolis for Anime Crossroads this past weekend. The convention was held at the Wyndham Indianapolis West and was an absolute blast according to the dynamic duo. While Ryan got to talking with our good friends over at OTP over all things Kamen Rider, Matt spent his spare time ogling the Tabletop Gaming area and all the rich, board gamey goodness it contained. Of course, the real stars of the show were all the Lemonbrat fans and customers that stopped by!
This was our first anime con to feature our new long dog scarves and tassel hats and we’re very happy to report that they were a huge success! The booth also had all our classic rave gear and animal hoodies, but the biggest hit had to be our Lemon Squeezies. Seems like the folks in Indy really loved the massive variety of animals that we had available and the booth was a constant chorus of happy squeaking sounds (though a lot of that can probably be attributed to Ryan). Anime Crossroads’ attendees also really enjoyed just hanging out at the booth and chatting, which we always enjoy!
Special thanks should be given to the hotel and it’s staff, too. This was their first year hosting Anime Crossroads and they were incredibly helpful and courteous. Setting up was a breeze with their help (and the booth looked great with the extra tables they provided). Matt was a particular fan of the Wyndham’s concession stand – they had chili, burgers, and even freshly made stir fry all weekend long! As if that wasn’t good enough, the con staff were all very cool and dedicated to making Anime Crossroads the best show it could be. They had lively programming going on all weekend – fan panels, arcade games outside the dealer’s room and an Artist Alley that was always jumping with activity.
For everyone who stopped by to say hello, thank you so much! Matt and Ryan are already chomping at the bit to visit Anime Crossroads next year!
