Ben Cooper, Collegeville or...? Whose Halloween costumes do you like the best?

[horror1o1]

I believe most of mine were BC but I do love Collegeville. They are both great companies and Halloween hasn't been the same with out them in my opinion. I mean to me they were ways us poor kids could wear something cool for cheap. Kids today don't really have that option.

[marsattacks666]

I believe most of mine were BC but I do love Collegeville. They are both great companies and Halloween hasn't been the same with out them in my opinion. I mean to me they were ways us poor kids could wear something cool for cheap. Kids today don't really have that option.

I agree.

[Radioactive Rod Whitenack]

Man, that's a tough call. When I was much younger I would have probably said Ben Cooper because their licensed Spider-man and Batman costumes are absolutely iconic. They had all the big licenses. But as I get older, I appreciate the classic images created by Collegeville without using licensed characters. The licensed characters that Collegville did acquire were ones I actually wore as a child, including my very first Halloween costume, H R Pufnstuf, and Ultraman. Then there's my latest acquisition, the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad costume, that I wrote about here:

http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/halloween-in-a-box-the-store-bought-costumes-of-all-our-yesteryears/

[Ghost]

I voted Collegeville but it was a tough call. As a child I wore a Collegeville Werewolf with my twin in the Collegeville Skeleton in 1979. In 1980 I was a Ben Cooper Chewbacca from The Empire Strikes Back and my brother was Yoda. I was a Ben Cooper Hairy & Scary Dracula with my twin in a Hairy & Scary Mr. Skeleton in 1983.
I currently have:

Ben Cooper

Frankenstein Spook Town 60s



Phantom of the Opera Masquerade 60s



Dracula 80s



Hairy & Scary Dracula 80s



Hairy & Scary Mr. Skeleton 80s



Collegeville

Pumpkin with top hat Masquerade 50s



Skeleton 60s



Frankenstein Spooky Spooks 70s



Skeleton 70s



Werewolf 70s



Wolf Man Spooky Spooks 80s



Wolf Man Universal Monsters 80s



Dracula Universal Monsters 80s



Frankenstein Universal Monsters 80s



I don't have any Halcos or Kusan, or Grants. These aren't photos of my collection just off the web. Something is wrong with my photo hosting site.

[Hepcat]

Nice collection!

[marsattacks666]

Wow, wow!.Some incredible collections

[Hepcat]

But as I get older, I appreciate the classic images created by Collegeville without using licensed characters.

I agree. That's why I too went with Collegeville.

[Hepcat]

Here are a couple very cool Ben Cooper costumes though, a Creature and a Aquaman:

[Hepcat]

So who messed up the poll displays? Was this part and parcel of the recent changes made on this board? If indeed it was, so much for doing polls since the results can't be deciphered.

[Hepcat]

They are both great companies and Halloween hasn't been the same with out them in my opinion. I mean to me they were ways us poor kids could wear something cool for cheap. Kids today don't really have that option.

Sad but true. Of course the downtown Kresge, Woolworth, Grants, Zellers and Metropolitan stores in which many of us would have got these costumes are gone as well.



Very sad.

[Ghost]

The Ben Cooper Hairy and Scary Vampire and Hairy and Scary Mr. Skeleton rooted hair costumes are from 1983 from my childhood.



The Ben Cooper purple Hairy and Scary Vampire with rooted hair costume and the white face vampire (Dracula) costume are also from the early 1980s.

The Collegeville Werewolf and Skeleton with a clown on the box costumes are from 1979 from my childhood. They were available late 70s to early 80s.



The Collegeville Skull costume with a six legged spider on the forehead and an owl on the box is from the 1960s. The design ran into the late 1970s.

The Collegeville Pumpkin with a tophat is the Scarecrow or Harvest Harvey masquerade costume and comes either with a Trick or Treat costume or a scarecrow one and is from the late 1950s.

The Collegeville Frankenstein with the teeth visible and headclamps all the way across is from the 1960s this however is the reflective version with reflecta-light safety spots reissued in 1973. The design was available from the 1960s to the early 80s.

The Ben Cooper  Spook Town Costume Frankenstein with the large forehead scar and the v shaped jaw/cheek scar is from the 1960s.

The Collegeville Frankenstein with rooted hair is from the 1983s Universal Monsters line.

The Collegeville Dracula with rooted hair is from the 1983s Universal Monsters line.

The Collegeville Spooky Spooks Wolf Man is from 1983.

The Ben Cooper Masquerade Costume Phantom of the Opera is from 1969 based on the James Cagney portrayal of Lon Chaney in Man of a Thousand Faces.

[Mord]

 Love those photos!!! They really take me back a bit.

[WnewCreatureFeatures]

Love all the pics, Its hard to say what maker I like the best , I have more Ben Cooper costumes but Collegeville seem to be better made and little more detailed so I would vote for them.

[WnewCreatureFeatures]

Here's a couple of cool costumes

Three Stooges Moe (A monster to the other Stooges)



And Spook Town Skeleton Pirate?

[Hepcat]

I like the owl in Ben Cooper's Spook Town brand logo!

Spook Town is of course not to be confused with Lemax's present day Spooky Town Halloween collection:

Lemax Spooky Town