This was my second cosplay, and the first time I joined a group of other cosplayers for a photo shoot at Comic Con 07. It was so much fun I decided to go full into cosplay and added the wig.
I made the shikai out of wood in a one bedroom apartment without power tools, and managed not to do anything that would prevent me from getting my security deposit back.
For 2008, I also made the normal zanpakutou version, too.