Steampunk Alphonse: Full Metal Alchemist Cosplay

Hello and welcome back to The Steampunk Review!  After my short hiatus, I am back, and reviewing this wonderful piece of anime cosplay.

Etsy User VanguardSmithing has created this amazing piece of work.  I've posted their description of the piece below:

"This is a cosplay and costume piece from the anime Full Metal Alchemist made by hand with over 65 square feet of metal, around 300 rivets, 12 feet of leather, and 600 hours of combined labor and love. It weighs in at under 30 pounds but the metal is strong and it is built solid. It has won a judge craftsmanship award at Anime Expo Los Angeles and it is my shops biggest and best build thus far"

It's a 9-piece set that requires help to get in and out of it.  The quality of the detail appears quite good, like it should last for decades of Comic-Cons and Anime Expos.  At $10,000 this piece is hardly for the casual cosplayer, but an avid collector might find the price just right.  This blogger would be in for about $500, so it looks like I'll probably be sticking to cardboard if I want to cosplay Alphonse.  Sigh.

Trevor's Rating of the Alphonse Real Metal Armor: 95% (For a sick hunk of metal I want to walk around in but won't ever have enough money to actually buy so I will continue to window shop and drool at for the foreseeable future).

Steampunk Lightsaber Review

I couldn't pass this one up.  The Etsy vendor SynnSilver has created a work of art in his rendition of the classic lightsaber, with a steampunk twist.  The vendor is a Special FX artist, which explains the craftsmanship in the design.

Unfortunately, according to the vendor, it will not kill clones or toast your bread as you slice it.  Therefore, my rating of this product will reflect that inadequacy...

I think this would be a great cosplay item for conventions.  While at Comic-Con 2013 I saw several handmade lightsaber hilts, and this one ranks up there with some of the best.  If anyone has made one of their own, I'd love to see it!  Please post a link to a picture in the comments and I'll feature it in my next post.

Trevor's Rating of the Steampunk Lightsaber: 80% (For a good effort that would look good in cosplay, but one that will not kill clones...wtf?).