yeah, my friends and I are working on a hollow fiberglass or carbon fiber design (using a wax base that can be melted and removed). Light weight and strong.
If I could find a pair of dwarves that'd let me dress them as little lord Fauntleroy, I'd soooo do it.
I'm going as Otacon from MGS4 for Dragon*Con. That's probably the only costume I'll be doing this year (Unless my friends and I actually get motivated to build those Proton Packs for a Ghostbusters cosplay).