Cosplay is the performance art of dressing as a character from a film, television series, video game, comic, novel or other source media, typically at a fan convention. The word combines “costume” and “play” and originated in Japanese fan culture in the 1980s before being widely adopted internationally during the 1990s convention boom.

Cosplay overlaps with the collectibles community at conventions like San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con and the Pokémon World Championships, where cosplay competitions, themed photoshoots and dedicated cosplay alleys run alongside the dealer hall and the panel programming. Many cosplayers also collect convention-exclusive merchandise tied to the characters they portray, and convention-exclusive figures often feature designs popular among the cosplay community.

Within collector culture, cosplay’s relevance extends beyond performance: cosplayers are often deeply invested collectors of the source material their costumes reference, and the overlap between costuming communities and collectible-card, comic, and prop-replica communities is substantial. Conventions that host costume contests are also the conventions where collectors gather, trade, and meet artists. See our convention exclusive entry for the related concept of convention-only collectibles.