Happy Mask Salesman from Legend of Zelda // Cosplayer : Mio.gg // Photo : Cosplay____Anime
It was about a month out from the convention and a Black Rock Shooter group I was going to be a part of ended up not happening so last minute, I had to decide on a different cosplay. I figured that the best way to choose a cosplay is to think of a character from my favorite games or anime so I decided on the Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. The most notable character from that game is Skull Kid but I didn’t feel like I could manage that at the moment nor do proper justice to the character especially when so many have already done an amazing job at it. I personally love to make props and the Happy Mask Salesman seemed to have lots of things to make but not too difficult, he was still an iconic but fairly underappreciated character, and I felt that it would be hilariously fun to try to pull this off. The masks were all made with this method: Shape the base with aluminum foil and masking tape, paper mache the mask, smooth out all the bumps with a foam filler called “Smooth On”, sand it and repeat till smooth, unify the surface texture with a layer of wood glue, and then paint. Some of the masks were actually recycled cosplay parts from previous cosplays such as the blue spirit mask and princess mononoke’s mask.The bag was completely improvised with trial and error but was one of my favorite parts to make. It is entirely stuffed with plushy stuffing so it’s very light! The outfit is modified sewing patterns and the armor pieces are all made from craft foam!
Oh gosh, I got a ton of smiles, “WOAH!”, and fearful stares! It was actually quite cool to see how enthusiastic people were to see the Happy Mask Salesman. I’ve had people tell me that “Your cosplay is the best at this con!” to “Omg, did you hop out of the game?!”
(photo source)
I started cosplaying back in 2012-2013 and Sakura Con 2013 (Seattle, WA) was my very first con. I wanted to go to a con only because I saw pictures of some facebook friends taking photos with other cosplayers and I thought making a costume beyond the standard of Halloween costumes was amazing! After some research and time, I made a Link cosplay for myself and Princess Mononoke and Kiki from Kiki’s delivery service for my 2 sisters. I didn’t want to cosplay at the con alone haha. After we all fell in love with the whole con atmosphere and experience that year, we started planning future cosplays, watching more anime, and learned more about the craft. Cosplay has impacted my life more than just learning how to sew and sculpt though. It opened the world of convention and nerd culture to me. I am now a frequent con go-er because I have started to sell my art at various artist alleys which have helped me to push my art to be better, made friends within the community which we now follow traditions for each con we go to and has really helped with making social connections.
With each cosplay that I’ve made, I try to make the level and quality higher with each one I finish. However, with the Happy Mask Salesman, I don’t personally feel like I’ve done anything better or worse in comparison to my latest cosplays. It all feels as though it was skills I have experience with and was comfortable doing. In the end, I feel like the passion for the character was what really shined through. It reminds me that I have the most fun when cosplaying from the series I really love or stuck with me rather than cosplaying “trending” characters. I really appreciate all of the love that was expressed for the Happy Mask Salesman on social media and at the con. I’m very excited to put in the same passion in my future cosplays! ___________________
Check out Legend of Zelda merchanise on RightStufAnime, Fun.com and RedBubble
