anyone lost any lolita or cosplay items and got it back? never seen again? or discovered something?
some basic questions here to get started:
what did you lose?
where did you lose it?
did you get it back?
and for success stories...
what did you find?
where did you find it?
accidently left an AP parasol in a waiting room once
it was gone by the time I realized I didn't have it :(
I lost my camera flash earlier this year after a cosplay contest. I still live in hope it will turn up but... Yeah, it's probably gone.
>leave brand parasol behind after a meetup
>it's gone by the time i come back for it
>o-oh well, i was going to sell it anyway
>some guy posts on 4chan looking for the parasol's owner
>"This is an expensive item, I am keeping it safe for you!"
>wants me to meet him in person to get it back
>says he's a big fan of lolita
>lolno, not meeting up with a stranger for a fucking umbrella
>consult with friends to see how i should respond
>meanwhile, he makes an ass of himself on /cgl/
>is discovered to be a sex worker on top of having a shitty, narcissistic attitude
>/cgl/ eventually convinces him to leave it at the meetup location's lost and found
>someone else retrieves it, i don't want anything this weirdo's hands touched
>thereafter, comm does an "inventory check" any time a meet ends or we change location
>no one misplaces anything for months
>>8906998
holy crap that was you anon? I'm so sorry. that whole thread was a mess
>>8906977
At A-kon last year. My mom goes with me every con and has a lot of fun (she's my best friend). It was Thursday picking up badge (so not very crowded) I was cosplaying from Yugioh.
>Ask my mom to take some pics and I bring out my deck (fairly expensive cards in it to be in the pics)
>set down my other cards
>mom tells me to move cuz lighting sucks (I do not move very far from my stuff)
>mom starts taking pictures
>stop taking pics because a friendly looking group of people were walking by
>continue taking the pics
>when I was done I went to get my stuff but my deck was missing.
>freak out start looking everywhere
>was convinced it fell or was misplaced because we were in an open area and That group of people went by fast
>a staff and his friend help me and my mom look for it
>can't find it, now convinced it was stolen and gone forever
>pretty much a nervous wreck and almost in tears obviously flustered.(never had anything like that happen to me and had that mindset that it would never happen to me)
>staff suggests i head to lost and found
>I think it's pointless cuz it was stolen, but go anyway to file it mising
>As I'm leaving the lady comes and asks if these are my cards
>It was I'm crying at this point because I was really happy
Since this all happened very fast, I assume the thief saw me freaking out and felt guilty and instead of giving it back to me just gave it to the lost and found.
>someone nicked my charger from the wall within 30 seconds of me not looking at it.
I had to move my stuff because the line was moving, and no joke 30 seconds and less later it was gone.
>my hair bun from my wig fell off
Probably got kicked around and lost in vendors.
A friend of mine lost an AP headbow and a pair of AP teaparties at a con, she has no idea how or when they vanished but she was pretty drunk the whole time. When she was unpacking she realized she'd taken someone's Creamy Mami compact and a BTSSB necklace. She thinks she swapped them at some point but her other roommates had shit go missing too and none of them had any replacements.
The worst that happened to me so far was losing a BTSSB headbow and finding it after a frantic search tucked just under the windowsill on the outside of the hotel, fuck if I know how it got there.
One time I lost a really nice Arda wig at a con. I know it's not as much a loss as everyone else's losses in this thread but it was my first cosplay wig that I actually cut and styled and didn't buy from eBay so I was really proud of it. I thought i had somehow left it in the hotel but about a year later my sister found it in her apartment. I guess she must have accidentally picked it up or something who knows. I was kinda glad I didn't bother buying a replacement once she found it
Left my whole Death cosplay at my parent's house in a trash bag because after the con I was so tired of it. Had wires in the skirt and everything. Came back home and it was gone. Never put cosplays in trash bags, guys. Or any bags because my Columbia from Rocky Horror cosplay also poofed too. My parents are awful.
Dropped my phone in the parking garage at my first con. I just thought I left it in the car. Later, my dad's phone rings. Someone found my phone and called my last number dialed so we could recover it. It was really awesome and made my first con experience a good one.
>>8907266
That fucking sucks. Some parents are just shit at noticing the obvious. One of my friends at school had to get the teachers to call her dad and explain that he needed to be less enthusiastic about recycling because he had recycled three textbooks and five or six notebooks in a single term. My parents tried to give away my first cosplay seifuku at a car boot sale because nobody was buying it (no fucking shit, it was terrible and looked like a fetish outfit to normies), I was so pissed because it had been neatly packed away at the bottom of my wardrobe and the only way they could have found it was by methodically taking my stuff out and deciding what to get rid of. I ended up keeping it, but holy shit, some people are so thick you need an oil drill to get through to them.
I had a $60 petticoat stolen by a roommate. Didn't even notice until after I moved out. I never got it back either. She isn't even into lolita so they had no purpose for it. Pisses me off to this day.
Rooming with friends, but spit up into two rooms because of the number of people. Over the course of the weekend, one girl who I was friends with needed bobby pins and another girl is cold and I lend her my sweatshirt. Sweatshirt never gets returned and the girl refuses to take responsibility for it. Friend girl grabs bobby pin bag (has some other things in it too, hairclips with sentimental value, etc...), but before she can give it back to me, her mom takes and makes it hers, a common occurrence with this friend, I came to find out. I don't lend stuff at cons anymore.
>acquire BtSSB Claudia OP set from one of the re-releases
>super fucking excited and fawn over it for days
>convention comes up
>decide to wear different JSK because of weather, borrow Claudia's rose corsage for coordinate
>go out and have a great day
>come home and look at photos taken
>notice the corsage vanishes halfway through the day
>corsage is not on JSK
>corsage is gone
... and of course I'll never find a replacement, because who the fuck would break up the set? I kept praying it had fallen off when I went to the car to put some purchases away, but no dice.
My friend went to LCS this past year and lost a couple figures, Riot found them and sent them back (or maybe just replaced them)
>>8907009
People are really nice in the South. At A-Kon last year, I lost my brand new iPhone with a brand new case (prime pawning material). I had someone call the phone, and a really nice lady answered and said she found it and was waiting for me to call. I really, REALLY did not expect to actually get it back.
I had a beret fly off my head in the wind when I was out getting groceries once. Thank goodness it was just a cheap Taobao one but it still was upsetting.
>>8906977
Not cosplay/lolita, but I found a Koujaku button at a con, I tell people about the buttons I find at cons just in case I ever find out who lost it, turns out it was a friend of a friend's button and I gave it to them. They were pretty bummed about losing the button since they had a whole set and was glad to get it back
I had a good friend blame me for her misplacement for $120. didn't take the money, but it didn't stop from from trying to slander me as a thief for 4 years
>>8907771
I always figured this was just common decency. I've returned three phones at cons so far. Teens tend to leave them behind while shopping in AA and dealers. Two of them didn't have any passwords so I just called the "mom" or "home" listing and explained I was giving it to the lost and found at the convention center or front desk.
one was locked, but before I could turn it in to lost and found the owner activated a trace and I was able to text the mom from my phone and the girl came and got it.
>>8907826
I try to do the same whenever I find lost phones at cons. It's only happened a couple times and normally it's a younger person that seemed a little bit absentminded. Though one time I did catch someone's phone while riding a roller coaster. When I saw it in the air I thought it was mine so I immediately grabbed it only to find out that it belonged to someone sitting a couple cars in front of me.
> wandering through AA
> friend had pulled out wallet to buy something and then sat it on the table next to her
> she wasn't paying attention
> notices the wallet gone a few minutes later
> is upset because it was a special wallet
> continues to wander through AA
> heads to ladies' room at con
> returns and tells me her wallet was on the counter
> the $20 that was in it before was still there
> she joked that the thief must have thought it wasn't enough to steal
She hadn't been in that restroom before, so we know she just didn't drop it while in there. We wonder if someone took it and felt guilty, since we think it would have been pretty hard to take by mistake.
>>8907904
Maybe some child took it and their parents made them put it back?
>>8907758
I read that as "lost a couple fingers" at first and I was like "holy fuck why is your post so chill, you literally lost body parts"
>>8907835
That is pretty badass
Was tabling at a small local con once and after the con had closed, everyone in artist alley was packing up. There was a few peoples friends helping them take down tables, but i had a few friends with me too so i didn't think much of it. Set my purse with all the days profits on the table while taking down my print stand, and while we were struggling with the high pieces someone swiped my whole purse.
Later found it in the womens bathroom, all cash, including everything down to nickles and dimes were gone.
They had the decency to leave my cards and transit pass... but god, I was upset over it for weeks.
The Toronto community wasn't very big at the time, and I probably knew half of the people at the con personally. So many friends and acquaintances were keeping an ear out for a good month of so after, just trying to find out who did it. ): Never did though.
>>8907835
>Though one time I did catch someone's phone while riding a roller coaster. When I saw it in the air I thought it was mine so I immediately grabbed it only to find out that it belonged to someone sitting a couple cars in front of me.
noice
>>8906998
What's creepier to me is he probably stalks cgl, and had been stalking it for months, with full knowledge that there was lolita meetups being held in his area. All he needed was an opportune moment and an "in" to corner one of you in a situation where you'd be accessible. All he'd have to do is just ask here pretending to be a lolita, "Hey, where is _____ comm meeting and around what time again?"
Creeeeep.
>>8907009
It could be since one of those passersby saw a card deck left unattended, they'd take it to lost and found just in case.
I left my phone in a con bathroom once, was gone for like 5 minutes before I noticed it was missing, and when I went back for my phone it wasn't there. However someone had just turned it into lost and found. A good samaritan isn't going to wait around for someone shittier to steal the items, it's safer to let lost and found handle it.
Thieves won't return shit. Ever.
>AWA 2015
>get up the nerve to go say hello to Reika
>she's super sweet, compliments my lolita dress
>I buy her $20 Touken Ranbu photobook and get it signed
>book is too big to fit in my purse, have to carry it
>friend and I sit down in a window sill to relax
>few minutes later we get up and head towards badge check
>I walk not even ten steps away, realize I don't have my book and left it in the window
>run back in heels to get it
>book is gone
>check every window, check the floors, even check the trashcan
>autographed photobook got snatched up the moment I turned my back
>was so sad the entire weekend about it
I even went to lost and found hoping that someone would be nice enough to turn it in since it was autographed and obviously cost money but nope. Someone literally snatched it the moment we got up and turned our backs.
>>8915119
But do people post meet details on cgl? I've not really seen that outside of specifically cgl con meets, or "We went to ___" after the fact.
Not saying he's not creepy, but I don't think most of us are dumb enough to say where we're going to be for a meet outside of our comm pages.
>FanExpo waybackwhen
>end of day can't find phone, usually I'm really careful with these things
>phone tracker isn't working, meltdown of worry
>leave information with con and building security, pretty sad, am poorfag and can't replace
>next morning get a 'ping' from phone
>is fucking four hour drive away from con, 6 hour drive from my home
>obviously has been stolen
>can't find phone number for house that it's located at, but call house next door
>sweet nice lady asks her neighbor about my phone, they know nothing about it, but gives me their phone number
>call them and ask about phone, they sound sketchy af and hang up
>dad says fuck this and we pack into the car and drive all the way there
>bless him
>he's a huge burly guy, we call and say we're on our way
>get there with dad behind me
>sketchy ass teen answers door and says "oh yeah, I found this at a McDonalds or something" and give me my phone
>has 200+ unlock attempts
>whatever
>go to neighbour next door and thank her profusely for her help, she tells me she'd tell the teens parents when they get home
>alls well that ends well
>First con I ever went to
>It's 2011 and 13 year old me is way too excited for this tiny local con
>Lend a friend a really poorly made Haruhi Suzumiya cosplay of mine
>End of the first day
>See her around the con wearing her street clothes
>She somehow managed to lose my whole cosplay?
>Two weeks later
>Looking through photos from con on facebook
>Find a picture of some guy wearing the headband from my cosplay
>Too scared to say anything and just keep scrolling
Sometimes I wonder where my god awful Haruhi cosplay ended up after the fact, it was really bad though so I'm kind of glad it's gone now.
>>8915124
You're probably right, I need to stop expecting the worst in people.
Thank you so much whoever returned it
>>8907826
I've tried to call a family member on a phone while walking to turn it in to the lost and found. Somehow the girl found me before I got to the booth and started accusing me of stealing it from her purse. She left it on the sink in the bathroom...girl tried to get me kicked out of con. Thankfully she was "reporting" me to an old friend.
Ever since then, I don't bother with phones.
>used to work at a really small local convention
>someone turns in a Nintendo DSi
>it's been a few hours, no one has come looking for it
>one guy on staff decides let's look through the pictures
>"it's a small con of about 1k people or less maybe we will recognize them"
>also that way we can verify who tries to claim it
>guy opens ds
>goes into pictures
>suddenly get pale
>"what's wrong?"
>nude pictures of owner
>an underage girl
>literally a landwhale-in-training
>when the girl finally shows up to claim it we hand it over immediately
>guys face was green for the rest of the day
>>8918721
It's the Sisterhood of the Travelling Cosplay.
>>8917875
Kek, one of my friends had something similar happen to her, the guy had the nerve to ask her for the password when she was at the door because it must be super strong if he couldn't crack it.
>>8918721
Reminds me of when two of my friends 'borrowed' my first ever cosplay my grandmother made herself (from Sailor Moon) to fit some tiny anorexic girl they took to the con with them and I never saw my costume again. Each friend claimed the other friend had it and said anorexic girl was too little to even wear the costume anyway (I was a stick thin Size 2 and even then the skirt was too small for me by then) so I think it was just an excuse.
Not con related, but my fiance and I were moving out of old apartment and moving 15 hours away. Day before the move, we packed up the car with everything that wasn't in the van and tossed all the trash and whatnot.
All my wigs and cosplays where stuffed in a big bag. Couldn't find it when we got to new place. It was probably mistakenly thrown away since it was in a large bag and not a box. I'm still sad.
>Pay $10 for a cute Korasami print signed by Korra voice actress, not a lot but I think it was at the end of her stay so it was good timing
>She's super nice, writes an adorable lovey note on print, give it to bf to carry as we wander around the dealers room
>20 minutes later, I ask him where the print is
>He looks for it in the bags he's holding, it's gone
>We run around to every booth we've stopped at
>See if sitting juuuust out of reach behind a figure booth we'd bought from earlier, reach over and grab it (it has our names on it so we weren't worried about being accused of stealing) and shout a thanks to the booth owner who I don't think even realized what had happened
>Alls well that ends well
>>8907002
This here >>8906998 isn't me.
Some details of the story seem to have changed a bit... dramatically.
The other possibility is that yet another creeper decided to pull the exact same tactic on another lolita. I guess this new story can be called Umbrella-chan 2.0.
As for the original thread, I didn't even see it while it was live. I only figured it out a full week after, when someone mentioned the story of the lost umbrella. I checked the archives, and what do you know.
>>8920425
I was gonna say...
I remember no mention of a meet-up or having lost the umbrella at the meet. I thought you noticed that you'd misplaced it after some guys approached you in a shop or something.
>>8920429
The three dudes didn't approach me specifically. It was noon at a food court on a Saturday, so table-sharing was mandatory for anybody eating lunch. I was the one who initiated the small talk with the three, and honestly they were polite in return, too. At no point in the conversation did I feel uncomfortable with them. Then I left for a pre-scheduled engagement with a friend. The rest of the story is in the archives.
I lost my old umbrella, but my new one arrived in the mail two weeks ago. So all is well.
>Momocon 2015
>leave constipation medicine at the Simpsons panel
>don't shit all weekend
I'll look for it again at Momocon 2016.
I've lost:
A boot to a costume. I never found out exactly where it was lost. I had to throw the other one away. I really liked those boots.
A pair of brand new gray contacts. Someone was sent to pack up our room while we were busy running the con and somehow they were never seen again.
A camera battery. Lost it on the DragonCon floor. I wrote to the con's lost & found afterwards and someone had turned it in! They mailed it back to me for free within a week. I was so pleased.
>>8909921
That's so sad, anon. I'm sorry.
>>8909921
>>Later found it in the womens bathroom, all cash, including everything down to nickles and dimes were gone.
Aww man anon. That bites. I would be suspicious of everyone ever after that.
>>8917875
holy shit anon. That's badass. Bad ASS.
>>8920601
to add to my post here.
I've found:
A phone on the DragonCon floor. It looked like a big expensive model. It was locked so I couldn't call anyone on it. So I took it to lost and found within 5 minutes of seeing it.
The DS version of Myst on the airport floor. I didn't find this. My SO did. He couldn't find the lost & found so I still have it.
>tfw lost my favorite button because I got rushed out of the con
;_;
> Buy L plushie at my first anime convention
> Have a pretty full carrier bag with all my purchases
> head of the plushie is slightly sticking out of the bag but I make sure the body is tucked in so tight that it couldn't fall out
> still check my bag every 10 seconds just to be sure
> bump into a friend and start to chat for a minute tops
> look down at my bag after conversation ended
> plushie is gone
Was pretty bumbed out about it. I immediately knew someone had grabbed the plushie from my bag because there was no way it could've fallen. Tried lost and found but ofcourse it was never returned. Now I always make sure I place a small jacket over my bag with purchases so nobody can grab something from it.
>>8920761
>found it in my car this morning
There is a God.
>>8920563
I feel stupid for laughing at this.
Here's a dumb story from Otakon 2015
>Bought lunch at indoor food stand with debit card
>Way out of state and in unfamiliar territory so the confusion is great
>Sit down and eat
>Walk around for a little while
>Look in bag for a water
>Fresh out
>Need to buy one because the summer heat is killing me and my coat is massive
>Look for my debit card
>missing
>There's a hole in my pocket
>Can't pay for shit since all my money is on the card
>Run around the con frantically for my card
>Tracing steps, yet I haven't been able to find it
>Panic and transfer all funds available from checking to savings
>Go to lost and found, panic stricken
>No sign of it
>Panic for a little while longer
>Go back again in hopes its there
>Find it with a receipt wrapped around it
>Receipt was from the food stand I bought from
>Must've fell out of my pocket as I was eating
>Sign the fan of shame reluctantly while my friend giggles at my dramatically shifting luck
I'm eternally grateful to the kind soul that turned it in. I would have had a lot of problems if they had not turned it in.
How about some tips to prevent theft and/or losing things in general?
>Bring a bag that zips or closes for your purchases. I use a zippable canvas bag. You can't see into it, so no one knows what I bought. You also can't just reach in and grab anything since it zips.
>If you're wearing a backpack, don't keep the important shit in there. Someone can and will steal from you. Get a cross-body bag that can hold your wallet, cash, phone, etc. and keep things like food, a change of clothes, deodorant, and other easily replaced things in the backpack.
>If you like having your buttons displayed, check the ita bag thread for links to bags, backpacks, and purses with clear coverings that act as nets in case a pin breaks/falls loose or something.
>Trust no bitch.
>>8922030
This is mostly for lolita, but some if it can translate I think...
> Put your phone/small valuables in your JSK/OP's bodice if the bust is gathered into a fitted underbust/waist. It's harder to pickpocket you if they have to seriously cop a feel to do so.
>Wear a fanny pack under your petticoat for valuables that you won't be taking out regularly.
>Never bring more than 2 handheld items, especially if you're going to be traveling a lot.
>Bring a bag that zips close, and only buy things if they're small enough to fit into your bag with your other stuff.
>Unless you have a close friend that you trust with you, bring everything with you to the washroom
>Make a list of everything you are wearing/holding. Every time you are about to switch locations, go through that list to make sure you don't leave something behind by accident.
>Be wary of anyone who is close enough to touch you. Especially if you're wearing a lot of accessories/detachable pieces.
Anime con 2 years ago after taking a small break and walking to next panel with my friend she asks where my bag is
>big pink bag with art supplies, game boy and con merch
>freak out because with my bag is my Angelic Pretty winter coat
>run back to the spot I had been sitting in
>everything sitting there untouched
Tears were almost shed my friends
