Thursday, June 20, 2019

Pac Man Fever

Halloween is still 133 days away, but that's not stopping me from planning out my costume, as well as my awesome All Hallows Eve moves ahead of time, cuz man oh man, I'm seriously ready to wokka wokka wokkaround all night, avoid the ghosts, and eat... those... power... pills. Okay, sorry about that. I seem to have come down with a summer fever-- Pac Man Fever, that is! Yeah, look what I found for $5 today: A Ben Cooper Pac Man costume from 1980. No kiddin'! The box ain't the greatest, but it's all here-- the mask, the frock, and both those things are in very good condition too. Yep, my retro video game collection (of related items) definitely just got a little bit cooler.









PS: No it doesn't fit, and yes, I tried...
at

11 comments:

  1. JMR777June 20, 2019

    Now you can go out trick or treating as Pac man, then do a quick change and go out as the Spook Town Devil, then Spiderman, and then finish off All Hallows as the Shogun Warrior. There won't be a bit of candy in town when you're done!

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  2. Mr. CavinJune 20, 2019

    Gotta be the only costume in history based solely on arcade cabinet art. I'd love to see a version that was based on the actual graphic, maybe with a pixilated 8-bit side-on view mask (you'd look like a sucker!) and modern, hidden eye holes. That would really look quite fetching in a tux, I think.

    Not that I don't love this as is, of course. Your "Early Arcade Age" power bar is really maxing out!

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  3. MikeJune 21, 2019

    Very neat! I think the coolest retro costume I have is a Ben Cooper "Chattermouth" Secret Agent. According to the box it's: "The costume with the moving mouth mask. It Opens! It Closes! It Moves! It's Fun."

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  4. Mr. KarswellJune 22, 2019

    Haha, great idea JMR! :)

    Mike: I know the exact costume you're talking about... there's one for sale (though unfortunately way overpriced) at a local antique mall. It's been sitting in the guy's booth forever. If he'd lower the price I'd totally get it too

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  5. MikeJune 22, 2019

    I was lucky: I got mine for free when we were cleaning my mother-in-law's house. I also picked up a Collegeville "Beautiful Bride", the Phantom, and a Pirate, along with a few other masks. They were going to throw them out, so I rescued them just before they went to the dumpster.

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  6. Mr. KarswellJune 22, 2019

    @Mr C: it's not a video game, but have you seen that crazy Ben Cooper Rubik's Cube costume? haha

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  7. Mr. CavinJune 23, 2019

    Oh absolutely. It's a great one--primarily because it's the costume that tells everybody, in no uncertain terms, that there's really no way to parody Ben Cooper. The real thing is always gonna be one step ahead of any possible satire. I love it because it's just so surreal, like a Doom Patrol villain. It's always made me want to see all kinds of other inanimate pop culture tchotchkes surreally translated into official holiday garb: vinyl lava lamp costume? Easy Bake Oven vacuum plastic mask? Or Magic Eightball? Or a Big Wheel?

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  8. TomJune 23, 2019

    I love this costume and the fact you can open your eyes nearly as large as the openings is horrifying.

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  9. Mr. KarswellJune 23, 2019

    @Mike: Lucky!!

    @Mr C: How was there never a Ben Cooper Pet Rock costume? Or maybe there was!

    @Tom: haha

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  10. Mr. CavinJune 23, 2019

    @Karswell: Ha! A Ben Cooper Chia Pet mask would make a credible swamp monster.

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  11. Mr. KarswellJune 24, 2019

    Lol!

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