Over the weekend the spectacle of cosplayers, comic book creators, artisans, and vendors of vintage toys all descended on the Cradle of Aviation Museum for Cradle-Con, the zenith in fan conventions on Long Island, which took place Saturday and Sunday, May 17th and 18th. The halls and antechambers of the convention center and museum were bustling with fans and heroes, villains and magicians, younglings and the young at heart gathering to share their inner and outer geekdom.
The Force Was With Cradle-Con
A section of the con again was dedicated to Star Wars, with the Empire Garrison of the 501st Legion and the Endor Temple of The Saber Guild engaging once again in saber training and giving kids an opportunity to shoot nerf lasers at stormtroopers. This year, annual Sci-Fi Mini Convention organizer, Chris Feehan (aka TK-6744) was saddled up on a speeder bike in his Scout Trooper armor and Lilipopecosplay, famous for her female protagonists (and sometimes antagonists) from Star Wars, debuted a new costume: Clone Wars Padme.
Macsrebo, who can usually be seen playing Rebels hero Hera Syndulla also unveiled a new character: Darth Mufasa, a tribute to James Earl Jones, the beloved actor who voiced both Darth Vader and Mufasa, the benevolent father of Simba in The Lion King.
Photo: @lilipope in her new Clone Wars Padme cosplay at Cradle-Con.
The Empire Garrison of the 501st also held a fundraiser drawing for a Scout Trooper helmet to support ALS United Greater New York Chapter in memory of a relative of member Shadow Trooper TX-91734.
Ron Worth aka Lex Lutheir was one of the more surprising vendors at the show, displaying his custom made, pop-culture inspired working electric guitars. Worth, a woodworker, artist, and self-professed Star Wars, Star Trek, and aviation geek, is also a Beatles fan and showed off his amazing two-sided Yellow Submarine themed guitar. Click here to see our interview with Lex Luthier.
NY Avengers were on hand again this year, hosting a Marvel trivia panel and a raffle to support their own charity endeavors.
Watch our Cradle-Con Recap video below!
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Vendors at Cradle-Con
Seth Buckley, who is famous for his extensive vintage toy collection called Toyland, has opened up shop and in his booth you could buy figures and toys from almost every era dating back to the 1970s in too many genres to even list (Star Wars and Star Trek were well represented at his booth.) Buckley’s collection was featured on television when host of Collector’s Call on MeTV, actress Lisa Whelchel–known for her role as Blair on the 70s sitcom The Facts of Life–visited his home. Read all about Buckley’s collection and the TV episode here.
Photo: SciFiSland.com editor and publisher Lon Cohen (left) with Seth Buckley, Toyland owner and classic toy collector, at his Cradle-Con booth.
So many local comic shops were also in house including Kyle’s Comics, Long Island Comic Shop, and the monthly comic book show, Route 110 Comics. For our ultimate list of comic book stores across Long Island, click here.
Cradle-Con Fallout
While the cosplay was off the hook this year, the big splash was made by the cosplay collective Pros and Cons Industries with their Fallout Vault 5 ensemble. The Ghoul from the series led a number of custom automatron characters that had all the bells and whistles, including air conditioning systems to keep the human players inside nice and comfortable. The hulking-and sometimes ginormous tall-armored cosplayers paraded around the show unintentionally intimidating and purposely delighting fans. The constructions showed off the members’ skill and creativity as well as their dedication to the craft.
Photo: Pros and Cons Industries in Fallout cosplay at Cradle-Con.
Cradle-Con’s packed weekend is one of the premier pop culture events on Long Island but by no means is it the end of the fun. If you still want to keep the party going throughout the year, don’t worry, there are so many more cons still to go on Long Island. Trek Long Island, Long Island Doctor Who, and Tropic Con were all at the show letting fans know when they could attend.
Our full checklist of cons on Long Island in 2025 with all the info is available here.
