Meet Jacob LaRocca, your new con essential.
He’s a one man fixing crew, walking the floor of NYCC 2015 festooned with batteries, super glue and a wide assortment of tape. He bills himself as the “Emergency Cosplay Technician,” ready and able to help fix your costume malfunctions and get you back out on the show floor and in line for the Firefly Reunion.
Jacob got the idea at DragonCon, when he took a day off from wearing his costume. He’d brought his supplies with him, and decided to offer repair services for those in need.
On Friday, he’d already helped repair at least 50 costumes by 4pm. The hottest commodities were hot glue and super glue, followed closely by the all-important duct tape. The most repaired is EVA foam, used in many armor costumes, which has a tendency to rip and peel.
His strangest costume fix? A 6′ tall Rocky Horror Picture Show cosplayer at DragonCon with a tear in his thigh high boots.
He’s not hard to find, sporting a backpack sign high enough to see across the Javits Center lobby. This is his first con going “all out,” and he hopes to recruit a few con-going friends and expand the repairs.
How much does Jacob charge for these con-saving services? Nada. While he won’t turn his nose up at tips, he boasts “I just really love doing it. It’s really fun, you meet a lot of cool people.”
When he’s not repairing, he’s a prop engineer for his business, Rocket Props. You can get in touch with him on Twitter: @jacoblarockr / @RocketProps, or his site.
If you see him, at least give him a high five. In a room full of Thors, Green Arrows and Jon Snows, he’s the real hero.
