Details of your costumed character experience and pictures if you got em'!
Alas, I was not. But I'm looking forward to seeing who was!!
No ..
Many years ago I would visit video stores in costume to promote video tapes for the distributor.
Because I'm 6 ft tall I was the taller characters, I've done Gumby, Dino (from the Flintstones), Robo Cop (best suit ever!), a Thanksgiving Turkey, and Frankenstein.
Ma has pix, I don't.
I do however have pix of me marching in costume for TRU holding a banner for He Man and Skeletor.
(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy16/2260841/pHM2.jpg)
(http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy16/2260841/pHM1.jpg)
What was interesting about wearing the character costumes is that
1) They are seldom washed and often stink inside. Oh how I was there was Fabreeze back then. If I had access the day before I would sprinkle baking powder inside and let it sit overnight.
2) Often we would wear what is called a chill vest under the costume, the vest itself had a liquid inside and, like those pillows in the infomercial, used thermodynamics to keep you cooler. Occasionally you work with someone who didn't understand the concept and they would freeze their vest thinking that was what you were supposed to do (despite the very clear warning printed on the front of the vest) and they would be in pain after wearing it for just a few minutes.
3) With most costumes it is hard to see and hear. When you see a costume character at Disney and they have a "human" escort, it isn't so much to guard the character as it is to make sure they don't step on or bump into the kids.
Awesome Gillfan! I would love to see taht Robocop costume!! And Dino? We must be related! My C-Rex costume consisted of a 20 lb. backpack that also harnessed around the waist. It had a small battery ( which had to be charged every 4 hours), and a fan that inflated the suit. Then there was a set of pvc tubes that supported the head by forming a u-shape structure that made me 7 feet of cheesy dino! I'm only 5'7", so it was really cool to be tall. And I had a "handler" (usually someone from the store) that zippe/velcroed me in and thankfully got me out. And every few days I would roll the trunk over to a costume shop for cleaning. It was the best of times and I was young and crazy, and when the tour was over, it was hard to be human again.......all right I'm just kidding about that last part. :) Now Gillfan- That Skeletor looks pretty good, but I would have cracked up if I saw that He-Man! He looks like he's 15 years old!!
I don't have a photo of me in it, but years ago, one of my friends worked for Domino's Pizza and while I was visiting, I wore their 'Noid costume for a while waving at passing cars and acting crazy.
Here's what the costume looked like.
(http://www.mydisguises.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/noid-costume.JPG)
My daughter had a tacher that used to work at Disney in Florida and had played about 7-8 characters.
Rob
Go monsterphile!! I remember the Noid all too well...... I believe he messed up your pizzas with careless shenanigans! But I did NOT know that he hung out by the pool. You look like you were asking for it- to be pushed into the pool by anngry pizza customers! Cool picture nonetheless, evil doer :)
:( I was never in a Theme Park as a character and in a parade, it was only when very young, I was in the annual Halloween Parade! :-[ However, after my children were born, ;D I impersonated Santa Claus many times! Not only for my children but for many of my friends children ;D and even for some strangers that had heard about me! 8) Of course, I did the same for many years for the children of our church! ::) thrhrt There are some pictures of me as Santa and I'll post them when I can did them up. thrhrt thrhrt thrhrt
Quote from: charp13 on January 29, 2011, 11:28:30 AM
Go monsterphile!! I remember the Noid all too well...... I believe he messed up your pizzas with careless shenanigans! But I did NOT know that he hung out by the pool. You look like you were asking for it- to be pushed into the pool by angry pizza customers! Cool picture nonetheless, evil doer :)
The 'Noid by the pool isn't me. I had no picture of myself in costume, but I wanted to find an image of the costume online. As I recall, the 'Noid was from the days when Domino's still had their "30 minutes or less" guarantee. When you got a bad pizza from another pizza place, you got "A 'Noid" ( = annoyed) and that was where the character's name came from.
Don, I played the Santa role a couple of times in years past. I should get do that again especially since I now have the right "build" for the role...no padding necessary. lol
Rob
Quote from: monsterphile on January 30, 2011, 07:32:33 AM
The 'Noid by the pool isn't me. I had no picture of myself in costume, but I wanted to find an image of the costume online. As I recall, the 'Noid was from the days when Domino's still had their "30 minutes or less" guarantee. When you got a bad pizza from another pizza place, you got "A 'Noid" ( = annoyed) and that was where the character's name came from.
Don, I played the Santa role a couple of times in years past. I should get do that again especially since I now have the right "build" for the role...no padding necessary. lol
Rob
Rob, I used to have to pad my costume. ;D Now I can't even fit into it without padding!!! :-[ :o thrhrt
I still have my Santa costume that I wore every year for Jordan............which is good because I guess next year I'll start wearing it for Jonah!!
Quote from: Scatter on January 30, 2011, 05:06:51 PM
I still have my Santa costume that I wore every year for Jordan............which is good because I guess next year I'll start wearing it for Jonah!!
That's really cool, man! Did Jordan ever catch on?
I was " The World's Largest Leprechaun " one year in a St. Patrick's Day Parade. Not much of a costume - just a green derby, green t-shirt, green sweatpants & a shillelagh. Rode in the back of a tavern owner's truck. Might have a pic somewhere!
On a related note, I took my kids, ages 4 & 10, to see a Barney "knock-off" at a Hill's Dept. Store in '95. Children were flocked around this fake Barney, and as I took my little Caitlin up close to see him, a muffled voice came out of the purple dinosaur's enormous head and said, " Hey, Stamper! " Talk about impressing my kids! They were like, " Wow! Barney knows my Dad! "
I never did find out who was in that costume!
Quote from: Unknown Primate on January 30, 2011, 10:09:11 PM
I was " The World's Largest Leprechaun " one year in a St. Patrick's Day Parade. Not much of a costume - just a green derby, green t-shirt, green sweatpants & a shillelagh. Rode in the back of a tavern owner's truck. Might have a pic somewhere!
On a related note, I took my kids, ages 4 & 10, to see a Barney "knock-off" at a Hill's Dept. Store in '95. Children were flocked around this fake Barney, and as I took my little Caitlin up close to see him, a muffled voice came out of the purple dinosaur's enormous head and said, " Hey, Stamper! " Talk about impressing my kids! They were like, " Wow! Barney knows my Dad! "
I never did find out who was in that costume!
8) Now
That would be something to find out :-\ and let them know how great It made your kids feel! ;D thrhrt
Only in school. I was Dracula in a school play. Fake mustache, fangs, and went for the Lee Dracula look from Jess Franco's version. I also played the "good guy" (Maybe it was Kemp in the novel?) who led the Invisible Man into an ambush and had to fake being strangled on stage while a kid playing the Invisible Man (off stage) read his lines into a microphone. It was fun...I liked playing Dracula better though. ;D
I worked for Wild & Woolly Video, one of the best movie lover/cult video stores in the country, for six years. Our mascot, Woolly, was a guy in a gorilla suit (not a gorilla, technically, but a guy wearing a gorilla suit) carrying an old tube TV with a rabbit ears antenna. Every October our neighborhood holds an annual Halloween parade. You can find it on YouTube under Caufields Halloween Parade. One year, I was chosen to walk the parade route in the Woolly suit.
Now, this parade route is about 2 and 1/2 to 3 miles long. This particular day it was unseasonably warm at 85 degrees. I got suited up and realized my tennis shoes wouldn't fit in the gorilla feet, so having no experience walking this distance in a gorilla suit, I chose to just walk in my socks on top of the rubber gorilla feet. Halfway into the parade, I was sweating so badly that when I tried to throw candy to some kids on the sidewalk my whole gorilla glove came flying off! By the time I reached the end, I could pour a bucket of sweat from the gorilla mask. The next day, my feet blistered up like I've never seen anything like before. Learn from my mistakes, kids, if you're going to wear rubber monster feet, make sure you've got moccasins or something on your feet.
I never wore a costume like that, but have a cool story about one. Well, to me it's cool...
A friend of our family's was the store manager at Elder-Beerman's a big department store chain here in Ohio. This was in the late 60's early 70's. I was a total Banana Splits freak at the time. When I heard one of the Splits was going to appear at EB I went berserk!! The night before his appearance we visited that manager's house, and he showed me the Drooper costume that the guy would wear tomorrow. How cool!!! Even though I saw the costume, the next day I had "Drooper" sign my Banana Splits record album jacket. True testimony to the power of a kid's imagination.
I've played the Grinch for the last few years for local Christmas parades and festivals. Not really because I enjoy running around in costume (because it can be, and usually is, extremely difficult work), but because I enjoy the process of putting on the costume and doing the make-up. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the Celebrate Santa convention held in Gatlinburg, Tn in March, 2010.
(http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo309/Sleepyhollowstudios86/Grinch1.jpg)
(http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo309/Sleepyhollowstudios86/Grinch2.jpg)
I was also a walkaround Li'l Abner during the summer of 2007 for a local theatrical company.
(http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo309/Sleepyhollowstudios86/LilAbner.jpg)
-Andy
Once, I was a character from the 1936 film Things to Come in a Hampton (Virginia) Bay Days parade. I rode in the top of a friend's hatchback car. My sister Pam sewed the outfit for me. I assisted her here and there although I am NOT a seamstress. That same costume ended up in Famous Monsters of Filmland # 209, 1995. Well, from the shoulders up, at least. Unfortunately one could not tell what the costume was from that photo. I was wearing a tiara and that huge, wide white collar.
Have been Darth Vader, Chewbacca and Boba Fett in local hometown parades and events--even twice won a trophy! No idea where the pictures are
Quote from: Unknown Primate on January 30, 2011, 09:53:26 PM
That's really cool, man! Did Jordan ever catch on?
Sadly, yes. ;D
Quote from: Unknown Primate on January 30, 2011, 10:09:11 PM
I was " The World's Largest Leprechaun " one year in a St. Patrick's Day Parade. Not much of a costume - just a green derby, green t-shirt, green sweatpants & a shillelagh. Rode in the back of a tavern owner's truck. Might have a pic somewhere!
On a related note, I took my kids, ages 4 & 10, to see a Barney "knock-off" at a Hill's Dept. Store in '95. Children were flocked around this fake Barney, and as I took my little Caitlin up close to see him, a muffled voice came out of the purple dinosaur's enormous head and said, " Hey, Stamper! " Talk about impressing my kids! They were like, " Wow! Barney knows my Dad! "
I never did find out who was in that costume!
I would presume someone in law enforcement.
No, but I went Trick or Treating as Bugs Bunny once.
Quote from: Scatter on February 05, 2011, 11:18:53 PM
I would presume someone in law enforcement.
I never thought about that :-X ...
I got hired once to perform in costume with three other monsters at a movie screening >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q90/923/gNAGHH.jpg)
Quote from: Sir Masksalot on August 31, 2022, 12:05:54 PM
I got hired once to perform in costume with three other monsters at a movie screening >
So, which one are you?
And who's the girl?
???
I spy two Don Post masks.
I dunno how I forgot this, and not sure it qualifies per se....but I volunteered in the local Haunted House to benefit kids charity for three years when I was but a teenager. One year I was Nate from creepshow, Two years with a Don Post myers mask.
Besides volunteer stuff for Hallowe'en related events , In the early 90s I worked for a DJ that ran parties with walkaround characters. Batman , TMNT, Sesame Street characters etc...
The costumes smelled, the pay was bad.....but the worst part were the kids. They'd beat the crap out of me. Got punched in the nuts as Batman and my head knocked off as TMNT. It was so bad at one party I refused to go back out after my break.
At an outdoor picnic in nearly 100 degree heat.I was Papa Smurf and had to sit in an ambulance because I nearly passed out. DJ fired me because of it🤷♂️.
Long story short, it was not fun and the DJ.....who's stage name was The Candyman......got busted years later for running an underage sex chat hotline.😕.
Holy nutcracker Batman. It is a shame you had such a bad experience when you just wanted to entertain people and create memories.