With October quickly approaching, it becomes increasingly easier to find vintage Halloween items popping up around town at the 'ol antique malls. This 80's Masters of the Universe Skeletor costume and mask isn't quite as "vintage" as I normally collect when it comes to Ben Cooper stuff, but for the giveaway price (and the fact that it appears to have never been worn), I couldn't pass it up, even with that gnarly bite taken out of the bottom corner of the box. Colors are still bright on both the mask and the costume, with only a few noticeable defects aside from the aforementioned box. It even still has the original paper insert. Any He-Man fans out there? I've never watched it...
Just looking at this and I can hear the Skeletor voice in my head!
ReplyDeleteI like the money saving art here -- both legs are the same piece of art just flipped! That said, it's an actual costume this time, and not the face and logo like a lot of Ben Cooper costumes. It still has Skeletor written on it, but it's pretty small and under what seems to be a Hordak symbol so ... close enough!
I'd proudly wear this today, though I don't think I'd fit!
While this might not be a 'vintage' Halloween costume, surviving forty-two years relatively intact, with the box, is a rarity in its own right.
ReplyDeleteIf you wanted to, you could use the mask in a Grim Reaper display with one of your mannequins for a one-of-a-kind Halloween decoration.
I really dig it. I have always liked the Skeletor design, but this costume version works it better than I thought it might. There's something about cartoon characters that often translates really well into vacuum form plastic, regardless of how dedicated Ben Cooper, etc., was to the official model. This one is closer than most, but they all work well for me.
ReplyDeleteThis here mask would look so extra badass with a hoodie.
Masters of the Universe was an inspired toy line and HE-MAN a campy afternoon TV show with arch, tongue-in-cheek material that often felt like it was slipped-in under the radar to me (when I was fifteen or so). I always thought it was a hoot. Compare with Ralph Bakshi's SPIDER-MAN.