What city are you based in?

I am based in Acushnet, Massachusetts. 

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am 35 years old. My main job is breeding reptiles. I own a store called Cold Blooded Pets in Acushnet. I am new to the cosplay world and up until 3 years ago I had never even been to a con. 

How did you get into cosplay? 

My amazing wife got me into the cosplay world. About 3 years ago she had made a Flame Princess cosplay and asked if I would cosplay with her. I had never been to any con at this point and did not even realize cosplay is as big of a community as it is. So I went to Hot Topic and picked out some Adventure Time gear (hat, backpack, fake plastic sword) and went to my first con as Fin from Adventure Time.

Do you have a cosplay piece that you are most proud of?

I am generally very proud of my suit as a whole but if I had to choose a specific part I would say it would have to be the feet/legs. The main reason being that most of the big builds I have seen online tend to be very bulky and hard to walk in. With my suit however the movement is very fluid and even my feet bend where they should so its almost no different then walking without the suit on. 

Your cosplay was amazing! How did that come about?

I love all things Blizzard! I have played WoW since Burning Crusade and had really gotten into Overwatch at the time I decided to make a real attempt at cosplay. I loved seeing all the big builds online like the Hulkbuster and Warhammer 40k suits and thought that Reinhardt would make a great big build. It didn't hurt that at this time Overwatch League had started and Boston got our own team!

After deciding what I wanted to build it was time to learn how to build. I did a lot of research online and asked a lot of questions in cosplay Facebook groups as well as actually speaking with people who had experience with building big cosplays. I had to learn how to use programs to pull game models, watch online classes about building and modeling 3d models, as well as basic foamsmithing techniques.

What was it like winning Best in Show at FAN EXPO Boston?

It was an absolutely amazing experience. Having something I had spent 2 years building and researching be recognized was surreal. There were so many amazing cosplayers and everyone was so nice. I love this community and everyone I have met through it. I can't wait until next year!