cardboard Archives » Drewprops Blog

5 Years of Cardboard*Con

Cardboard*Con has been featured in the March 2014 issue of Atlanta Magazine. Pick up a copy today!!

It was a crazy idea to put on cardboard boxes and run around a sci-fi convention back in 2004. It was a crazier idea to do it again in 2005 as ghetto stormtroopers and to crash so many long-cherished costume contests with our whacky brand of earnest all-cardboard dedication. It was yet a crazier idea to found an all-cardboard science fiction convention back in 2010 but look at us… it’s been 5 years of Cardboard*Con and we’re on the path to legitimacy, what with a mention in the “Must-Do South” March issue of Atlanta Magazine and inquiries from other media outlets. Am I proud? Absolutely! But better than that I’m glad to have met so many of you imaginative people who have picked Cardboard*Con as one of your creative outlets. I look forward to seeing you folks on Saturday night!!

Where Is Dragon*Con?

I understand that my pals The Cardboard Troopers had a wild time this past weekend. They arrived in Atlanta for the 2009 edition of Dragon*Con, but they couldn’t actually seem to find a trace of the convention and the hotel people kept looking at them funny. I sure hope that they come back for the 10:00am parade on Saturday, they always seem to enjoy that.

Which reminds me that last month the Fall issue of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine hit the stands and I was simultaneously delighted (97%) and mortified (3%) to read the article about me that staff writer Van Jensen composed after we met prior to my surgery this summer. Entitled “How Did That NERD on the Left Become That PIRATE on the Right?“, the article does a really nice job of catching people up with the kid who won the Batman contest back in the 80s… and the second page features a certain cardboard trooper standing in front of a line of “real” troopers at Dragon*Con.

Cardboard Dawn

So, like, last year we (the cardboard troopers) discussed something “new” (and socially disruptive) that we could do at Dragon*Con. The activity that rose to the top of our pile at this year’s Dragon*Don was to crash the Dawn Look-a-like competition, a costume contest devoted to one comic book entitled “Dawn”… a dramatic series about a “goddess” who dresses in lace and armor, which we all know to be important elements in any elemental struggle between good and sexy. Always a T&A show, the Dawn competition is the brainchild of a fellow named Joseph Michael Linsner, and was rife for a raid by those merry pranksters of merriment, whose only goal at Dragon*Con is to make people smile and remember that the weekend is supposed to be about genuine fun. While Dawn may come in every shape and color, we knew that our Dawn would be BIG, BOXY and far too unwieldy to manage lingerie… chiefly, that cardboard trooper known as “Gallo Whirlpool”… with big pink balloons taped onto his chestplate… but then, I explain too much… take a look at the video!!

Let the Sun Soak Through

Here’s a wonderful short film shot and edited by our pal and sci-fi fan/collector “SexyBeast“, documenting the misadventures of the cardboard troopers at Dragon*Con in downtown Atlanta, from sexy girls to maddening fights over our cardboard Dawn costume. The whole time he was shooting this video SexyBeast kept telling everyone “Hey, have fun!!”. Looking back at it, maybe we did. I especially like his choice of Human Highway’s song “All Day” playing in the background… and after reading the review of it Continue reading Let the Sun Soak Through

Hellooooo Science Fiction!!

My Mom is a sport. Seriously. How many of YOUR Moms would do this?

My Cardboard Man Purse

If you read through my blog you’ll see that I have a creative affection for that most malleable of forestry products: cardboard. From cardboard stormtroopers to cardboard panties, I continue to discover an ever-increasing array of uses for the stuff and have found that other people share the same delight with it as me. So today, I’m happy to announce my newest invention: the cardboard briefcase.

Inexpensive (free, actually), lightweight and easy to carry, this simple paper storage unit will change your life… or perhaps it already has?!! Continue reading My Cardboard Man Purse

Chewboxxa

I’m undeniably proud of the Cardboard Craze that I started at Dragon*Con back in 2005, especially of the guys who have been such dedicated cardboard costumers along with me since that time! After our great success as cardboard troopers last year, a lot of people have expressed their desire to join us in at the upcoming convention in September. Several folks have expressed that, while they have the desire, they just don’t have any good ideas on exactly how to build a good costume out of cardboard. So, as a service to those people, I’m going to begin a series of posts that will continue up until September, designed to provide you some design ideas and construction techniques. First out of the blocks is my design for Chewboxxa, a “Booxiee” from the planet BoxxaHarveyKorman.
Continue reading Chewboxxa

Cardboard Stormtroopers 2006

Update: Now there are videos about us on YouTube! Take a look at us in the DragonCon Parade, here’s a closer angle and here’s the news report where Alfeo and I are interviewed. Track all the new photos of our costumes on Flickr! If you’ve missed earlier posts about my cardboard robots don’t miss reading about how it all started, our 2005 box costumes, the cardboard underwear I made for a friend, and the challenge that led to this year’s hijincks.

DAY ONE
Alfeo, Elliott and I suited up in the parking garage of the downtown Atlanta Hilton on Saturday morning and headed upstairs to begin walking down to Woodruff Park. I was bitching everyone out, telling them to hurry up. That went over famously.

Exiting the elevator, I figured that the first 20 people we ran into would provide us with a good idea of how we’d be received elsewhere for the rest of the day. We were particularly worried that the “real” stormtroopers would take demonstrable umbrage at our cardboard costumes, which was never my intent.
Continue reading Cardboard Stormtroopers 2006

Box Robots 2 : The Floppy 503rd

Note: Due to schedule problems several of us have already built our box robots. Also Note that there has been a change from Sunday to Saturday.
It’s nearly that time again kids, Dragon*Con is only a fortnight away! If you’re planning to be in attendance at this year’s convention and you want to do something that’s indescribably fun then pay attention: I am hereby issuing my 2nd Annual Box Robot Flashmob Challenge, this time with a twist. This year I am challenging people to meet me on Sunday, September 3rd, strike that, on Saturday, September 2nd, at 1:30pm, on or near the exterior balcony of the Hyatt’s lobby bar, to build robot suits from cardboard boxes. To participate in this event you must provide your own cardboard boxes (if possible try to collect white boxes), enough of them to make a suit that will cover your torso, your head, your arms and legs. You are also going to need to bring a cardboard tube.
Continue reading Box Robots 2 : The Floppy 503rd

Box Robot : Full Report

Well what do you know, the whole box robot thing actually happened. Back when I was finishing my first screenplay in 2003 I added a bit about a guy wandering around the background of a scene in a badly made cardboard robot costume… who knew it might be funnier in real life? Heck, we even won a prize. But I’m getting ahead of myself. If you don’t know what I’m talking about click over and read the article “Box Robot Flashmob Challenge” first. The rest of you who are up to speed can do a slam cut to: The Marriott Marquis, downtown Atlanta, Labor Day Weekend, Dragon*Con. I found myself sitting on the Garden Level lobby of the remarkable Marriott Marquis hotel…
Continue reading Box Robot : Full Report