Emma Coursin
Mr. Reuter
Economics
1 November 2016
Cosplay and the Economy
Costume play, or cosplay as it’s fondly known, is the practice of creating costumes and dressing up as characters from any media. Characters from video games, books, and movies are commonly chosen for the cool designs and recognition that they get. Recently, the hobby has been getting more media coverage, partly in thanks to the show “Heroes of Cosplay” on the SyFy channel, which premiered in 2013. Another boost to the hobby’s popularity is the rise of “professional cosplayers,” people who make a living dressing up and doing what they love.
Professional cosplayer Amie Lynn as Guan Yinping from Dynasty Warriors (Meet the Girls)
Now more than ever, people are creating their own costumes or buying from those with the skills to make them, increasing the demand for products like fabric, craft foam, and sewing notions.
Most often, those who cosplay will take their new costumes to a convention. As an example, there is one down in Milwaukee in February called Anime Milwaukee, and that weekend is one of the busiest in the city. The price of hotels goes down to draw more customers, and the quantity demanded for rooms reached huge numbers, with multiple hotels selling out within the first weeks of the prices being released.
“In 2016, the convention was expected to bring in upwards of $2.2 million to the local economy (Wikipedia),” and this number doesn’t include costs like gas or plane tickets for those traveling aways to come to this event, nor the amount of money the attendees spend on their costumes. And this number of course can’t cover the opportunity cost of the time and effort put into the experience. Some people put weeks into a costume, using every second of their free time to work on the project. It may sound insane, but it’s no different than any other hobby.
The rise of cosplay has also shone some light on the industries that the costumes are pulled from. Many companies will hire professional cosplayers to display their cosplay at their booth, drawing attention to the game or book they’re supporting. The arrangement is a win win for both sides. The cosplayer gets to show off their hard work and get paid for it, recouping some of the costs of the costume, and the developers have someone excited to be wearing and promoting their material.
Despite the bad rep cosplayers sometimes get, that they are all 30 something year olds who live in their parents basement, cosplaying is an extremely diverse hobby that anyone can get into, and those who love to do it continue to fund the economy.
Works Cited
"Anime Milwaukee." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.
@almostzara. "Meet the Girls Making a Living From Cosplay." The Hustle. N.p., 2016. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.
The money cos-players get from being hired by companies is usually a lot less than what it took to get to the convention and the amount of time and effort to create the costume. However even though they are getting payed less than that I have to applaud them for being dedicated.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that Cosplay is getting bigger and bigger. And it is great to see that someone has actually put in time to research a bit about cosplay too. But I think you could have added that Anime Milwaukee almost tripled their profits this year instead of the 2.2 million. So if you did, it would show that the people going to a convention like this is also growing in popularity. Now as someone who actually went to Anime Milwaukee, I saw hundreds of people in cosplays where they had to spend over 100 dollars quite easily. So with showing off with photos and gatherings, you see that things like that might lead to them making group cosplays which in turn means more money spent on learning how to craft many things and making the hobby/career grow exponentially.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that the money that cos-players get from the companies that are hiring them to show up isn't enough to live off of but you also have to put into consideration of how much money their making for themselves during the conventions. Such as sell autographs and pictures to fans of the character that their cos playing as. Some cos-players like Yaya Han say they make up to $130,000 a year if they attend 26 different conventions ever year.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how cosplay greatly affects economy, and it can go in so many ways. It's also a plus for companies if professional cosplayers are hired to show off their products, which is easily a great idea for more demand. Cosplay sure is getting more popular, and it's causing a great impact on the economy. Because of its popularity, people demand more of the products and companies are getting quite a good fortune from it. I think that it's a different way economy is being impacted and it's interesting how it took place, especially what many people think about it.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I do not know much about cosplay besides some friends that dreamed of going to ComicCon in San Diego, California. Although, truthfully I have probably bashed the hobby than really learned about it-I found it so interesting to how it ties to the economy. I realize that some of the legit costumes that some cosplayers dress in can be extremely expensive. I would like to maybe see some more research on how much money is spent on these costumes, and if a person has multiple costumes, how expensive can it become? I also found it interesting that even in our local big city, Milwaukee, how much revenue it has brought to the city. Thank you for sharing this, because it’s a very unique topic that many people don’t think about!
ReplyDeleteCosplay has definitely increased in popularity and therefore increased the quantity demanded for supplies to make the costumes. This is a plus for companies who supplied the materials for those cosplayers since they earned a lot of money due to it. I find it crazy how much time and money cosplayers put into making their costumes knowing they'll only get paid a little bit of money. It just proves how much those cosplayers love doing what they do.
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ReplyDeleteI like the idea behind this post because it is different than what other people would have come up with. Besides the fact that all the materials cost money and how that adds to the economy, how does Cosplay as a whole affect the economy? The hotels and the tickets cost money, but I’m not sure how a bunch of people dressing up and meeting each other affects the economy. On the other hand, with all the unique ways that people spend their money on Cosplay, that does add money to the economy which is good.
This is a fascinating take on what is still a rather “taboo” topic. What used to be such a small subsection of “fandoms” now creates a ripple effect for economies that play host to conventions. Not only does this benefit the economy as a whole, I can see it greatly benefiting small businesses. While this remains a rather “niche” topic, small businesses will be the biggest caterers to cosplayers. The industry more or less relies on hand made, high quality products to portray the characters in the best possible way. It just goes to show that you can’t underestimate people with these niche interests. They’re often the best at being a rallying force, bringing an immense amount of support to surrounding economies.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this I never really knew much about Cosplay and how popular it was. I had no idea it was so popular in Milwaukee either. I think it's super cool that this Anime Convention is so huge that even hotels are on board with it, dropping their prices to accommodate and also gain customers. I also think it's cool that there's actually a show for this hobby now, helping to motivate people to dress up more and inspire new costumes. Overall I really liked this topic and I learned a lot while reading this post, considering I've never really heard of Cosplay before.
ReplyDeleteIt's no secret that cosplay is looked on awkwardly by many, but it's also no secret that it is becoming increasingly popular. It is really a good thing to see simply because we know that we aren't losing the skills like sewing that are required to make these costumes. There is no reason events like the one in Milwaukee shouldn't be going on because everyone seems to benefit. Cosplayer get paid, have fun, and gain skill, while the local economy reaps the rewards of a population influx.
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