-E6000 Glue

Just make sure it’ll hold everything you’re buying, of course.

-Cheap Paintbrushes

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-Emergency Sewing Kit

Feel free to toss a few personal things in there, such as figurines of characters they like, hair bows, candy... you name it! Have fun with it! This small list is just a few items I know almost all cosplayers use or have used at some point, so it’s a great starting point. Go out there and make someone a gift they’ll love!

What’s a gun without the sticks to go with it? Make sure you buy sticks that go with your gun! I suggest multi-temp miniature glue sticks. These things come in fancy colours, too, but just stick with the clear. The fancy ones are used for some specific (but cool!) purposes.

Okay, taking random out of it, there are a lot of useful items you could buy for a cosplayer and turn into a cute little ‘gift basket’ of sorts. 

-The Gift Card (Or Cash)

-Hot Glue Gun

-Glue Sticks

While not the quickest drying glue (at all) the little tubes are perfect for gluing foam to fabric, and not having to worry about the heat melting it like hot glue. Buy the mini tubes so they don’t have to worry about using all of the giant tube before it dries up!

If you’re feeling particularly festive, find a cute basket or tin to put your supplies in!

The point of this gift is to provide some of the stuff we cosplayers easily forget to buy, run out of, or lose. Here’s a list of stuff I can think of that almost any cosplayer could use!

Last but not least, the ultimate cosplayer gift...

I know this seems a little lame, but I find myself buying cheap paintbrushes all the time for cosplay! Whether it’s to spread glue, or add texture to a piece, it’s never something I need quality brushes for. I buy the ‘bargain’ brushes because I’m about to completely ruin them!

Or can you?

Cosplayers tend to be the worst at keeping essentials around. I don’t even have an emergency sewing kit, and I should! While you could buy the components individually, it’s way easier to just purchase one of these. They can be as simple or as elaborate as you like, but I’d suggest buying one small enough to easily carry with a cosplay. Even if it turns out they already have one of these, I’m sure your friend will appreciate it!

Wrapped in a gorgeous card, perhaps with a heartfelt message, the gift of money can still be awesome! If you know your friend’s preferred store, a gift card can show you pay attention to things like that. If you’re not sure, the equivalent in cash works too! Gift cards are always appreciated. Sometimes if money is tight, it can help more than you’d expect!

I have several of these because they get lost so often, or I forget to bring one on trips. If I realize that I’m halfway to a convention and don’t have my gun, I’ll stop and buy a new one. The minis are so cheap it’s easy to do. It never hurts to have more than one in case one dies, too! I generally use a hi-temp glue gun.

So, you’ve got that friend that’s into cosplay, and you’re really wanting to buy them something you know they’ll like? This can be tricky. We all want to help in the cosplay process, but you can’t just decide to buy a bunch of random supplies for someone!