Halloween is upon us, and if there's one thing Comic Vine has never failed to do, it's making fun of Halloween costumes each year... for the past three years. Last year, we split it into three categories: The Good, The Bad, and The Baby. This year, we'll be doing it pretty much the same, except replace "The Baby" with "The Lady." As always, we try to find the newest Halloween costumes to talk about each year, and this year we have some really cool/terrible/sexy ones for you guys.
Halloween is one of the few times a year where you can dress up like whatever you want, and it's socially acceptable. Have you ever wanted to look like one of those cool cos-players at SDCC, but you're like me and incredibly lazy to put the time and effort into a costume? Well, if you got a fat wallet, you can do well for yourself on the costume-front. This week, let's take a look at some of the best costumes new for 2011 we found on the web. We'll also take a look at the price and how awesome, overall the costume is for the look and price.
5. "Authentic" Darth Vader Costume
Define "authentic." Is George Lucas standing over each costume, and when it's completed, he bows his head to the seamstress while whispering, "Excellent. More money for the great Lucas?" Well, that's what I assume happens. He probably has no hand in any process other than collecting his checks.
Onto the actual costume. Do you have $794? Well, I hope so, since this sweet puppy will cost exactly that much. In the defense of of this costume, it's really cool looking. It matches the original costume pretty darn good as well. But more than anything else, here's one of the features I'm MOST excited about... "Zipper in the crotch." This costume knows I'm going to partaking in 21+ (19+ in Canada) activities, and I'll have to pee a lot. Finally, a costume that cares about my bladder.
This costume also features "Mask and helmet set made of heavy injection molded ABS material, cast from the original Lucas Studios molds." This isn't some flimsy piece of plastic for $10 at your local Walmart. This is the real deal and molded from the original. You may be wondering, "does the chest light up-" YES! The belt does too.
This costume doesn't seem to come with a a lightsaber though, and replicas can run you an extra $100. To avoid that fee, I suggest telling everyone that you're the Darth Vader from a New Hope who chokes people out for questioning his authority and you don't need and stinkin' lightsaber to get your point across!
"Authenticness" (Awesomeness)-10/10
Price- 1/10
Overall- 7/10 (And you thought I was going to say "5," right?)
4. Loki Costume
Well, with Thor coming out over the summer, you knew there was going to be a slew of Thor-related costumes. I've searched through them all, and without a doubt, this is the best of the line. If I were using Thor-speak, I would say "Thy thou art doth betwixed greatness and eternity!" Or something like that. Anyway, this costume has a lot of cool things going for it, including the price.
On average, this little beauty will set you back $60. That's one of the cheaper costumes we've seen on any of the "good" lists I've had over the years. $60 is not hard to come up with. All you have to do is convince the girlfriend to stay home one weekend and watch movies on the couch instead of going out to eat and... SHAZAM... You have yourself one tricky TRICKY costume.
Everything you see in the picture is what you get, except for the shoes. You don't have to go and buy a helmet or a cape for this one. $60 gets you the whole kitten-caboodle. Then you can do super-tough poses with your fists closed and make "pooping" faces because we all know Loki can't stop making that face.
The only real downside to this costume is that you'll find yourself explaining to a lot of people who you are, unless you happen to be at a party filled with Thor fans. However, when in doubt, you can just say you're a character from Lord of the Rings. That may relieve some of the more awkward moments.
Awesomeness - 7/10
Price - 9/10
Overall - 8/10
3. Cobra Commander Costume
You were onsse a man... onssse a man... onsssse a man, and you can prove it this year by dressing up as the most important member of the Cobra-La race, Cobra Commander. I've seen some terrible and I'm mean TERRIBLE Cobra Commander costumes in the past, and this one is a breath of fresh air, under and extremely hot helmet and mask.
Yet again, we have another costume coming in at the $60 mark. Now, in order to get this and the Loki costume, you'll have to spend two weekends at home with the girlfriend; she will not be happy, but it certainly will be worth it.
Almost everything you see in the picture is what you'll get with the costume. However, you get boot covers, not the boots, and you'll have to get the knife and holster on your own. I have no idea why that isn't included. It's not like knives and holsters are a hot commodity. I've never seen a holster for a toy knife at a Halloween store.
Is it just me, or is this another pooping pose? The only real downside to this puppy is that the faceplate isn't shiny enough, and you'll have to talk in that high pitch, raspy voice all night.
Awesomeness - 8/10
Price - 9/10
Overall - 8/10
2. Chun-Li Costume
Normally, we only see women costumes on "the lady" version or many times, "the bad" version, but for once, a woman's costume really his its mark. It's Chun-Li from the Street Fight video game series and the man comic book series. Finally, you can practice your spinning bird kicks the way they were meant to be practiced, with giant spiky bracelets.
It doesn't take a Lightning Kick to realize that what we have on our hands is a sweet, sweet deal. This costume is going to set you back $34. Ladies, what that means is you don't have to go halfsies with your boyfriend on Street Fighter x Tekken because, let's face it, he wasn't taking you out two weekends in a row so he could buy that Loki and Cobra Commander costume.
Once again, you get almost everything in this picture, except the stockings and the boots. As a man who has spent numerous hours holding a purse (aside from my own) while shopping with my lady, I've learned that shoes and boots are super expensive, so unless you already own white stripper boots, prepare to spend more money than you spent on the costume. More than twice as much.
Every site I saw that has this costume has this printed below the price: "Chun-Li's backstory centers on her quest to avenge her father's death, an undercover police agent who disappeared while investigating M. Bsion's organization..." Not only did they spell "Bison" wrong, but the seller's of this fine costume don't realize that no one cares about her back-story.
Awesomeness - 8/10
Price - 10/10
Overall - 8/10 (Lack of boots bring it down a tad)
1. Archie Costume
This brings us to my personal favorite for the year. I looked at around 100 costumes new for 2011, and this one made me very happy. Finally, costume makers are listening to what the kids have been saying for years: "Why can't I be Archie for Halloween?" Not a day goes by that I don't think that. And it's not just Halloween. I want to dress as Archie when I go to work, lounge at home, even funerals. It really is the perfect attire, and now my, and your, dream has come true.
You're probably thinking this has to be an expensive costume. Well, you're wrong. For the low, LOW price of $30, you can look like Archie for Halloween. The price of ten comic books.
What's the catch? Well, other than the fact the shoes don't come with the costume, there is no catch. Seriously though, I love the fact that there's a break from the super-hero costumes, yet you can still dress up as a comic book character, and there's non-super hero character more iconic in American culture than Archie.
The only bad thing about the costume as a whole is that from behind, you look like a golfer, which isn't technically bad. If you take up golfing, then you can wear this year round, even the plastic wig. No one is allowed to judge you on the golf course... You're Archie.
There you have it folks! We'll see you next week when we discuss the worst of the new costumes for 2011, and in two weeks, we'll discuss the sexiest lady costumes, all of which I plan on modeling for you! (just kidding, or am I?) Which of these costumes would you like to wear? Any others on the net for sale you think should have made this list?
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