Good news! And more questions...

Yes, it's $40 per person. But that's for the entire weekend!

The dates for the convention are in the upper-left corner of your screen. June 26-29, 2008.

I'll let more experienced people answer the fursuiting questions. As for having weak ankles, how are you at walking? It's a good distance from one end of the convention to the other (about a quarter mile at max).

Most of the panels and such events that i recall had chairs, but the distance from one end of the conspace, where the dealers' room and the art show are, to the other side (for all intents and purposes), where many of the panels are, is something of a hike, and there isn't much in the way of chairs along the way. I think it runs about a 15 minute walk either way, which isn't much on its own, but all day for 3 or 4 days...

If sitting on the floor for a little bit is something you can do, that may take care of a lot of the problem. If you can't, or if you think you might spend a lot of time someplace like the dealers' room that doesn't have much of anything in the way of unoccupied chairs, you might consider a folding camp stool that you can sling over a shoulder. I've seen some older folks carry them when they ride the train so that they can rest on their walk to and from the station. I did a quick google, and it looks like some have prices in the 30s or lower. I have no earthly idea how the art show might deal with such a thing, but i daresay their veteran staff will have their own wisdom. Certainly we'd want to afford you every possible opportunity to come and admire (and bid on) the work.

Great to hear that you'll get to go. I do so love supercool parents. *grin*

Ah I'm good for walking long distances, as long as I don't have to go real fast. !

Basically, your ability to walk and stand will not be affected by a fursuit, although you will probably be warmer. A partial suit is even less of an interference. Mostly, you need to worry about sitting in it. Make sure that you can do that comfortably for when you do get tired.

As for cost of a partial suit, that can be anything, depending on how fancy you want to get. Partial can be anything from facial prosthetics and makeup with gloves, up to full head, paws and arms, feet and legs, and a tail. A head can be built for less than $100 worth of materials if you do your own work, and fur can be had on sale for under $20 a yard. As for the long hair you can put it into a wig cap to make things easier and as to how hard a head is to get on and off, that is wholly up to the design. I just made a new head for my suit and total materials were probably in the $75 range and it took about six days. Here is how it turned out:

My suit at MFF2007

I hope to post some pictures of the process soon.

NEW! I have finished updating the furry section of my site and you can now see pictures of furry projects here: projects section of my site

There are also pictures in there of Anthrocon and Midwest Furfest from 2006 and 2007.

Jovina

There are lots of chairs and benches around various places, but there's also lots of competition for them.

A fursuit both complicates and eases that situation. Almost everyone will give priority to a fursuiters needs, but make sure your suit is such that you can sit down in it.

Hello, their is a book out called Critter Costuming: Making Mascots and Fabricating Fursuits by Adam Riggs. I couldn't find it at the local library and Barns and Nobles don't have it in there computer system to order it. Amazon.com Has it for about $35.00.

Maj,

Welcome to Anthrocon

You'll find that most of the convention attendees are quite friendly and very accomodating. If you are at a panel that's really full and can't find a seat, ask the panel lead if someone can move a chair in for you or if someone would be willing to let you have their seat due to a medical condition. I think you'll find that many folks will readily help you out.

Also, as a fursuiter, I can tell you that many folks have longer hair and still suit. There are head wraps/skullcaps that help with this problem easily. You may want to attend some of the fursuit realted panels and the Fursuiter Meet and Greet to get to know others and ask questions. Difficulty in getting the head on/off would be how the head was constructed.

Also you may want to look at attending the "So This is Your First Convnetion" panel. It's a lot of fun and gives great advice for new congoers. Hope that helps!

KP
Programming Director

My knees are unhappy about standing for long periods of time, too. I found that there are plenty of benches in the convention center but sometimes you have to walk a little further away from the action to get a seat. Some of the function space is in the hotel and there are often empty places to sit but they tend to be on the second or third floor and, once again, further from the function space. Because of the use of the knees, getting up from sitting on the floor can be a problem for me so I don't usually do that. As others have said, people are willing to help or get up and let you have a seat if you ask them or explain that you have a medical condition.

>>Problem (more like question) #2. I've never worn a mask like the fursuit heads before. I'm just wondering how easy is it to get on/off? I have semi-long hair (a little past my shoulders) would that be a problem?

If I attempted to make a partial suit, how hard would it be? How much money would I probably need?
If I wanted to buy a decent looking partial, how much would it be/any recommendations?

They're how you build them. Some are super easy(Pull on/pull off), some have zippers.. if you're planning to build it, then its as easy as you want it to be to take off. And no, I have mid-back long hair, I just tie it up in a bun and stick it in my heads. No problem.
Partial suits are SUPER easy. You'd probobly blow 60 bucks on fur.. check out these guys(Look under bears>Bearsupplies>Syntheticfurs)
www.crscrafts.com
And maybe.. 25 bucks on other materials, so like 100 bucksish. If you wanted to BUY a partial, a decent looking one would run about 500 minimum from someone with lots of experience. You can get it cheaper from one of the newer fursuit manufacturers, but theres no guarantee of quality if they haven't done very many. Check out the LiveJournal community "Fursuit" for more information.

Lucario I believe is one fursuiter who doesn't walk well, but he does an awesome job performing. He led the parade last year. Very inspiring.

Fursuiters generally don't spend a great deal of time in-suit. I never spent more than a half-hour, had frequent breaks, and drank a lot of water. Then I spent a good 15 minutes lying down in front of a fan... oooh yeah, that felt good. XD

I do see some suiters that have a seemingly endless amount of endurance. If fursuiting sudddenly becomes uncomfortable in any way, it's time to take a break.