Awesome Costumes

NECA continues to expand its line of action figures based on retro Ben Cooper Halloween costumes from the 1970s and 1980s. The latest series features pint-sized, poseable figures dressed up like members of the Justice League… and one baddie: Batman, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Joker. Price shown is for the set of five 6-inch figures.

Don’t have crafting skills but have the cash? Jazwares has quite the package for you. Their officially licensed Darth Vader Primalux costume lets you become Star Wars‘ antihero with just a swipe of your card. Its belt and chest box light up and emit sound effects, including Vader’s iconic breathing. The set is packed in a sweet Vader-themed hard case.

Ryan Nagode is the Head of Interior Design for automaker Stellantis’ RAM, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, and Wagoneer brands. In his spare time, he applies his design and fabrication skills to making epic Halloween costumes. He’s created costumes based on Big Bird, Animal, Edward Scissorhands, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and more. For 2024, he returned to Sesame Street.

Today, you can find Halloween costumes that actually look like the character you’re trying to be. But in the 1980s and earlier, kids were limited to stuff like Ben Cooper’s plastic masks and logo coveralls. NECA’s action figures shrink down these classics. Series 3 includes kids wearing Alien, Gizmo, Stripe, and Beetlejuice, each with a treat bag or candy bucket.

Photographer Patrick Goelz headed to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con on a mission to capture the coolest costumes and other highlights of the show. His colorful 4K cosplay reel is crystal clear and makes it feel like we’re right there on the show floor among the cosplayers and other show attendees. Which was your favorite costume?

Resident Alien is one of our current must-watch TV series. The science fiction comedy features wonderful performances, lots of laughs, and some great visual effects. This behind-the-scenes footage from season three gives us a look at the costumes, makeup, props, and digital VFX that help bring the show to life.

This talented street performer was spotted at an intersection in Mexico, entertaining passersby by dancing in a costume made from three large, flexible duct tubes. The more you watch it, the more you wonder which limbs are in which section.

To celebrate Chinese New Year, Handy Geng wanted a special good-luck outfit. After explaining the Chinese Zodiac, Geng put dozens of grommets into a sweater and filled each with a red LED light reminiscent of Rudolph’s nose. To complete the party effect, he scattered laser diodes between the bulbs. Turn captions on, and be sure to watch til the end.

Aluminum cans are highly recyclable, with their metal finding its way into everything from cars to appliances to more cans. But after watching this short video, we realize they can also be recycled into costumes. These two were spotted wearing outfits fabricated from recycled cans. Not only do they look cool, they sound fantastic too.

There’s much more to acting in a full-body puppet than just wearing a costume. During a visit to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, Adam Savage met with creative supervisor Peter Brooke and performer Morgana Ignis for a look at what’s involved in bringing one of these jumbo-sized characters to life.

New Zealand’s Wētā Workshop takes us behind the scenes to look at the incredible costume work that went into Avatar: The Way of Water. The outfits took an average of 200 hours each to create, and artists applied over a million beads. Each real-world costume was then digitized for use on CGI character models.

A Brazilian soccer fan turned up at World Cup 2022 wearing one of the coolest costumes we’ve ever seen. The entire outfit is covered with colorful mirrored tiles cut into triangles, making him look like a shiny, low-poly, cel-shaded version of himself. He looks like a real-time CGI effect. Turns out he has a friend.

JLaserVideo has been trying for years to build a version of Iron Man’s armor that could actually fly. After a major failure, he’s finally achieved that dream. He started out with a pair of custom electric jets but settled on a ridiculous number of smaller electric motors. And when the suit isn’t being worn, its parts fly to him.

It’s been a while since Sneaky Zebra have attended New York Comic-Con, but they made it this year and shot this great video featuring some of the best cosplayers strutting their stuff. It’s one of the few spots where you can catch She-Hulk, Din Djarin, Doctor Strange, and Buzz Lightyear in the same place… except Disney+.

Cosplayer and Disney fan Tina Elliott stole the show at the 2022 D23Expo with an outfit based on the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride at Disneyland. The costume surrounded Tina with a motorized mini version of the classic amusement park ride, and won her top prize for her category and the Fan Favorite award.

Some of the most creative costumes are made from unusual materials. Take, for instance, this crazy armor that kitbash artist Kami Robo Yasui crafted from a 24 traffic cones. The red thermoplastic material is unlikely to protect him from weapons, but it should keep cars from running him over.