Happy Birthday, Florida Supercon: 10 Years of the Best Cosplay in Miami

By Admin

It is never too early to look forward to something, and even though it is the middle of April, we—along with South Florida’s fanboys and fangirls— are looking excitedly toward July.  Why?  Because we can’t wait to see Florida Supercon’s amazing cosplay costumes this year.  The biggest comic con in Florida is coming once again to the Miami Beach Convention Center and it is celebrating 10 years of the best cosplay in Miami!  The Florida Supercon is to Miami’s cosplay costume geeks what the Ultra Fest is to ravers.  Like Ultra, the Supercon keeps growing and growing every year.  In 2006, Mike Broder (the founder) hosted the first Florida Supercon with a humble attendance of 1,500 guests at the Hollywood Beach Resort.  Today, more than 50K comic fans, cosplayers and outright proud geeks in South Florida—and from all over the country—come to see the best cosplay costumes in Miami Beach. 

This is a story of triumph as Broder embraced the challenge of single handedly creating, developing and nurturing a geek culture scene in South Florida.  “The only comic-con type event at the time was in Orlando. People were saying it had to be in Central Florida, South Florida was a pit, there's no culture here,” Broder told the Miami New Times in an interview.  Against all odds, he proved that the will of a geek supersedes the naysayers’ doubt.  It’s like revenge of the nerds with a comic convention instead of a frathouse, and no bullying.   Still, it was just as satisfying for South Florida’s geeks to have a real place to congregate with likeminded individuals with the same passion for comics, anime, movies, sci-fi and cosplay costumes.  Being a costume store in South Florida, we get to interact with the cosplay community on a regular basis and we have seen it grow significantly over the years, since we have been in business just one year longer than the Supercon. 

Aside from the Florida Supercon  Mike Broder also added Animate! Miami and the Magic City Comic-con to his ring of events to keep the community active all year.  This is the smartest move that the founder of the Supercon has made in order to guarantee success in the sizzling summer at the Supercon.  Animate Miami is held every year in January and Magic City Comic-con is held in September; both dates are strategically timed around the beginning and the end of the year to maintain continuity before and after the Supercon, which happens to land mid-year.  Though it is hard to out-do the (King) Florida Supercon, the two (little) sister conventions have managed to keep the flame alive.

We have had the privilege of attending the Florida SuperCon and Animate! Miami in the past and they are definitely surreal kick-ass experiences.  It’s magical to see how a person can transform—in real life—into a character that is only fathomable in fiction.  Needless to say, Broder’s conventions are a costume lover’s dream.  It is one thing to see a cosplayer coming into our store to buy our cosplay costumes and accessories, but reality is blurred when you see the products actually being used for the Supercon’s over-the-top ensembles.  Just as the event has grown over the years, the skills of Supercon cosplayers in SoFla have evolved.  We took pics of the event (see to your left) in 2011 and 2012 when it was still held at the Miami Airport Convention Center. 

Fast Forward, four years later, we attended the Florida Supercon again as a vendor (see pics below) at the Miami Beach Convention Center and the detail and quality of the costumes had taken a Quantum Leap.  It felt like we were on the set of a Sci-Fi thriller, the pages of a comic book, and a Manga animation at the same time, and it was up to us to reconcile reality with fiction from our humble little booth—where we interacted with geeks from all walks of fandom.  It was a refreshing experience. 

At Wonder Costumes, we are very fond of the Florida Supercon because we sort of grew up together.  It’s like that family friend that you call your cousin or brother though you are not blood related.  We started our business in 2005, Supercon started in 2006.  They hold a convention, and customers contact us to outfit them for the event.  They evolve and expand their list of events, and our business grows locally and online.  Their cosplaying guests push the limits of what they could do with costumes and we supply the products to help them achieve their goals.

Bottom line, Wonder Costumes is the best place for South Florida cosplayers to find theatrical quality cosplay costumes and the Florida Supercon is the best place to wear them to.  See you at this year’s Supercon as we wish Mr. Broder and his successes a happy 10th birthday!    

If you are in Miami or anywhere in South Florida and are in need of a costume store that has it all, contact us at 305-253-5380 or e-mail info@wondercostumes.com.  We love serving South Florida cosplayers!