Lord Voldemort (Potter Puppet Pals)

At MISTI-Con 2013, two intrepid cosplayers debuted a pair of Potter Puppet Pals costumes, Voldy and Snape.  At MISTI-Con 2017, they were put on sale, and Irvin decided that the Voldy costume would be a worthwhile investment.  And while it was delightful to have the Voldemort head staring at Irvin's bed at home, he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to wear it.  That opportunity presented itself at CONjuration 2017, which did not have much overlap with MISTI-Con, allowing for congoers to be surprised by the costume.

So Irvin flew down to Atlanta with the costume.  He set up the Voldy head in his hotel room, but one night his roommates turned it around so Voldy was staring at the wall, finding him creepy rather than cute.  When Irvin finally donned the costume, it was nice and toasty.  He had a ball hugging everyone at the ball, to very different reactions, ranging from delight to terror.  Little kids absolutely adored the costume, and kept stroking it and hugging him - a far cry from the norm, where Irvin's costumes usually make them cry.

Irvin even attended an in-depth discussion panel as Puppet!Voldy, which was a hilarious experience.  He had to ham it up purely through physical comedy, without saying anything, and found it a really enjoyable exercise.  The only issue with the costume was the airflow, which seemed to fade out after about two hours, requiring a costume change.  Still, the costume was a fabulous investment!

Six years later, Irvin brought Puppet!Voldy back to CONjuration 2023 because he was doing a panel about Voldemort (Too Horrible for Print) and thought that Puppet!Voldy would make quite the impression.  Because of the aforementioned airflow issues, after introducing himself in the costume he took it off to reveal Tom Riddle underneath, which was much more conducive to presenting.  The Voldy head came in handy at the end of the panel, as the prize in a contest - whoever found the baby in the cake won the opportunity to "experience life as one with Voldemort" by putting on the head for a photo op.  (It made sense in context!)