DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

Members' Mausoleum => Calendar Events / Announcements Archive => Calendar Events / Announcements '25 I => Calendar Events / Announcements '03 II => Topic started by: Gothick on November 05, 2003, 09:36:19 PM

Title: Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Gothick on November 05, 2003, 09:36:19 PM
A friend sent me this link, and I noticed that on the far left of row 2 on this page, there is a small photo of the Barnabas Collins Halloween costume:

http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2003/costumes/tv.html

I seem to recall reading about this costume years ago, and how impossible it is to find.  I would think that the cheap, rapidly deteriorating materials these costumes were made of would put a fairly low ceiling on their market value, but apparently that is not the case.

There are some weird and tacky attempts at costumes here, including several from other TV shows that I know are popular among DS fans, such as Samantha from Bewitched, Morticia from The Addams Family, the Groovy Ghoulies (shown on another page,) etc.  Everyone will have their "most bizarre" item--I think my choice is for the truly frightening Laura Ingalls Wilder costume.  The weird "Greg Brady" outfit is a close runner-up, I have to say.

G.
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on November 05, 2003, 09:46:14 PM
Oh, that is wild.  ;)

I remember hunting all over for that costume when I was twelve or thirteen. Not that I wanted to wear it for Halloween - I just wanted it as part of my DS collection. But I never found it.  :(

Thanks so much for posting this!

(The Kate Jackson/Sabrina costume from Charlie's Angels is wild too.  :))
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: CastleBee on November 05, 2003, 11:12:52 PM
What a trip down Halloween memory lane. With all due respect to the Barn costume it reminded me of how much I hated those kinds of costumes. I wanted to look like the real thing - not like that person wearing a signboard with an ad for their TV show  ::) - LOL! Still, it would have been a pretty cool collectible item.
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Cassandra Blair on November 06, 2003, 12:31:48 AM
A friend of mine emailed me a link to one of those costumes being sold on Ebay.  IIRC, it went for close to $1600!

And Gothick, I'm with you on the Laura Ingalls and Greg Brady costumes - super freaky!  I feel unclean just for having seen them.  :o
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Birdie on November 06, 2003, 03:24:04 AM
So glad you gave us the link Steve.  My Mother claimed only last week that when I was a child they never had store bought costumes.  I reminded her very tactfully, that oh yes they did, very cheesy ones, we were told to go find a costume in the dress up box.  A box full of old prom dresses and odd pieces of clothing.  And yes, it is genetic that is exactly what I told my kids to do.

Birdie
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: ClaudeNorth on November 06, 2003, 05:41:05 AM
Well, this site certainly brings back memories.  I had the Hair Bear, Batman, and Shazam costumes!

That Jackie Kennedy mask (under "Real People") looks a bit like Michael Jackson...

Thanks Steve!!!

John
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Gerard on November 06, 2003, 01:14:05 PM
Can you imagine the fun of mixing-and-matching those costumes?  Like putting Barnabas together with the Flying Nun?  Instead of going through the trouble of turning into a bat, Barnabas could just position his cornette into the wind and take off, or Sr. Bertrille, rather than using the ruler on some unruly kid's knuckles could just bite him on the neck and make him behave under her power.

Gerard
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Gothick on November 06, 2003, 04:10:39 PM
Gerard, you have a fiercely ruling, gloriously twisted sense of humor!

thanks for the Thursday morning chuckle.  It was sorely needed.

Steve
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Gerard on November 06, 2003, 06:38:58 PM
Glad I could make ya chuckle, Steve!  Hey, take a look at the "Father Murphy" costume.  Doesn't he look like Garth Blackwood, right down to the hat, or even King Johnny Romano?

Gerard
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on November 06, 2003, 06:46:50 PM
Quote from: Gothick on November 06, 2003, 04:10:39 PM
Gerard, you have a fiercely ruling, gloriously twisted sense of humor!

Definitely! Not only will the image of Barnabas flying around Collinsport wearing Sister Bertrille's cornette have me laughing hysterically for days - but I think just picturing him wearing it in all of his scenes is probably even funnier.  [lghy]
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: CastleBee on November 06, 2003, 09:03:32 PM
Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on November 06, 2003, 06:46:50 PM
Not only will the image of Barnabas flying around Collinsport wearing Sister Bertrille's cornette have me laughing hysterically for days - but I think just picturing him wearing it in all of his scenes is probably even funnier.  [lghy]

Please don't smack me...I couldn't resist.

How I visualized it... (http://castlebee.bravepages.com/FlyingVampire.jpg)

~CastleBee...hee hee  ;D
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on November 06, 2003, 09:19:53 PM
Quote from: CastleBee on November 06, 2003, 09:03:32 PM
How I visualized it...

ROTFLMAOPIMP!!!!

Oh, that's insanely funny! Can't you just picture that arriving at the door in 1967?! And what about his portrait?!  [lol3]
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Patti Feinberg on November 06, 2003, 11:29:15 PM
Castlebee....LAUGH OUT LOUD!!

How funny and talented!!

Patti
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: CastleBee on November 06, 2003, 11:36:31 PM
Glad you guys enjoyed it. My heart belongs to PhotoShop! [luv]
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Mark Rainey on November 07, 2003, 12:26:04 AM
That was not funny, not funny at all.


<snort>



Okay, it was funny. Really,really funny!

;D

--Mark
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: CastleBee on November 07, 2003, 01:06:32 AM
Actually, I think Gerard deserves the most credit - he was the creative comic genius [lol3] - I just illustrated.

Thank you for being so wonderfully wacky Gerard!
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Josette on November 07, 2003, 04:56:22 AM
 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
To both of you!
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: grayson67 on November 07, 2003, 05:58:56 AM
That may be the most horrifyingly nunny... I mean funny thing I've seen.

[lol3] [lol3] [lol3]

grayson67 (Melissa)
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Birdie on November 07, 2003, 01:26:45 PM
OMG, that was too funny!  Thanks both of you for starting my day on the right track with a good laugh.

Birdie
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Craig_Slocum on November 08, 2003, 12:11:28 AM
I have the Ben Cooper 1968 Barnabas Collins Halloween costume, complete and in the original box, size medium (8-10). I won it on ebay. It was expensive, and a fight to the finish to get it, an exciting auction! In the Dark Shadows Collectibles Book by Craig Hamrick, it says the whole suit is extremely rare today and only one copy is known to be in the hands of a collector. I didn't think I would ever find one! I have a huge Dark Shadows collection with other rare items.     
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on November 08, 2003, 12:27:57 AM
Quote from: Craig_Slocum on November 08, 2003, 12:11:28 AM
I have a huge Dark Shadows collection with other rare items.

Like the Harry Johnson Halloween costume? Or is it Noah Gifford? That would probably be a better one - particularly if it's Noah as The Collinsport Strangler.  [wink2]
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Gerard on November 08, 2003, 04:10:16 AM
Castlebee, it was a good thing I was drinking a Friday evening Vanilla Black Russian when I looked at that pic!  I think that was the only thing that kept me from having a heart attack from laughing!  You're a genius!

Gerard
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: CyrusL on November 10, 2003, 09:40:34 PM
Okay, with all respect, I suppose there may now be two of these costumes known to exist. If our Craig_Slocum has a complete one, I don't think its the same as the one on this costume page, as the website implies this is a private collection with all costumes on sale. Nonetheless, whether there are 1 or 2 known to exist, I suspect this is the rarest Dark Shadows officially licensed item. (Not that there are that many "Horror Heads" around either.) I don't think many were ever produced, and these old rayon/polyester/paper thin whatevers tore so easily.  :'(  If we didn't have these pistures, we might wonder whether they even existed. Kind of like the "Green Hornet" outfit for "Captain Action." Anyway, its very cool despite how ugly the design is. Its beautiful for the fact it IS.   

Mark my words, one day I WILL Have Gerard's suit on Halloween.

CyrusL aka Michael
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Craig_Slocum on November 11, 2003, 04:58:58 AM
Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on November 08, 2003, 12:27:57 AM

Like the Harry Johnson Halloween costume? Or is it Noah Gifford? That would probably be a better one - particularly if it's Noah as The Collinsport Strangler.

That's a cool idea for a costume in the contest at the Dark Shadows Festival, someone could be Noah Gifford as the Collinsport Strangler. Not me, I'm a fuddy duddy, I don't get involved in those things, lol! Also, my 7 year old has 12 month school, so I can't go anyway. I wonder if anyone else ever thought of that costume?     
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: LorraineAAB on November 13, 2003, 02:50:36 PM
Quote from: CastleBee on November 06, 2003, 11:36:31 PM
Glad you guys enjoyed it. My heart belongs to PhotoShop! [luv]

Barn looks so...so... PERKY !!!!

"You like me, you REALLY like me!
But if you DON'T--"  (lifts cane menacingly)

Can you imagine him...
---putting the bite on hyper Sister Sixto (THAT would quiet her down!)
---Getting into a glaring contest with Mother Superior (" 'Sister' Barntrille, Postulants can have their bangs showing, but lose the Dippity-Do!"
"Mother, look into my eyes...")
---Biting Carlos on the--- WRIST?---Stealing all his hot girlfriends from him, and hypnotizing him to give ALL his fortune to San Tanco convent. ("Coming soon--- San Tanco Cloisters'n'Casino")

L.
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Bobubas on November 14, 2003, 02:29:26 PM
Quote from: Craig_Slocum on November 08, 2003, 12:11:28 AM
I have the Ben Cooper 1968 Barnabas Collins Halloween costume, complete and in the original box, size medium (8-10). I won it on ebay. It was expensive, and a fight to the finish to get it, an exciting auction! In the Dark Shadows Collectibles Book by Craig Hamrick, it says the whole suit is extremely rare today and only one copy is known to be in the hands of a collector. I didn't think I would ever find one! I have a huge Dark Shadows collection with other rare items.

Congrats on your newest DS collectable Cheryl!! The Barnabas costume is indeed one of the more rare pieces of memorabilia associated with the show. I was lucky enough to acquire one in 1995 after a local paper ran a two page feature on my DS collection. A day or two after the article had run in the paper I received a message on my answering machine from a woman in a nearby town who mentioned she had seen the article and asked me if I knew of anyone who might be interested in buying a Barnabas Collins Halloween costume.
I had mentoned in the article how rare the costume was, so I initally thought one of my friends had read the article and was playing a joke on me. I called the number she had left on my machine and got her husband, who said she would be home from work in an hour. She called me later that day and described the costume. We arranged to meet at her place the next day. When I arrived at her home she immdiately went over to a closet and pulled a box down from the top shelf.I nearly fainted when I saw the words 'Barnabas Collins' on the side of the box.NOTE:The box my costume came in was one of the old Ben Cooper spooky town boxes with the cobwebs and spiders on the box.At that point I knew I wasn't leaving that house without the costume, regardless of what she wanted for it.NOTE:In the newspaper article I had mentioned how valuable the costume was, so I knew she would want a premium price.When I asked her how much she wanted for the costume, at first she was hesitant, saying she was having second thoughts about selling it. I thought to myself, "please don't change your mind".NOTE:About a year earlier, a friend of mine who had the only Barnabas costume that I had known to exist at that time, had sent me a photo of his costume. From that photo I burned a screen of the design and made adult size t-shirts of it. I had one of those costume design t-shirts with me, and told the woman I would include it in with whatever price she wanted for the costume. This way she would still have something with the design on it. Well, she agreed and told me what she wanted, and I was surprised that it was far less then I had expected to pay.
When I got home I couldn't wait to contact my closest DS friends and tell them about my wonderful discovery. It wasn't long till my good luck had spread to some of the more serious collectors of DS memorabilia, and I started receiving queries as to whether or not I would be interested in selling it.
This was pre-internet days for myself and many other fans, so I decided to hold a phone auction, where whomever wanted to bid on the costume could call between a certain time frame and the highest offer would get the costume. NOTE: Cheryl, what I eventually got for my costume makes what you paid for yours seem like a blue light special at K-Mart, as mine sold for around 6 times what you paid for yours.:)
Before parting with it, I took it to a Halloween shop in my area and had a mold made of the plastic mask. From that mold I had replica masks made of rubber, which is much more durable then the old plastic masks. I then had those rubber masks hand painted to look exactly like the original. I also updated my t-shirt design by screening the actual costume and capturing every detail of the design, something I wasn't able to do from the earlier  photograph. From there I had an adult version of the costume made, and with mask, wore it to the 1996 Collins Associations Halloween party at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk,Conn.
The original Ben Cooper costume design 'glows in the dark' so I decided to have the design on my shirts and costume glow as well.I purchased a pint of white screening glow paint(for $100.00 at the time OUCH) to complete that process.
Below is a photo of myself with the original costume & mask, as well as photos of myself with Sharon Smyth and Charles Randolph Grean at the 1996 Halloween party.
For those not familiar with Mr. Grean, he recorded: Quentin's Theme, #1 at the Blue Whale, Josette's Music Box, and Back at the Blue Whale on 45 RPM records, amongst many other t.v. related themes in his illustrious career.

[attachment deleted by admin]
Title: Re:Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: Craig_Slocum on November 16, 2003, 07:44:50 AM
Quote from: Bobubas on November 14, 2003, 02:29:26 PM

Congrats on your newest DS collectable Cheryl!! The Barnabas costume is indeed one of the more rare pieces of memorabilia associated with the show.

Thanks Bobubas! It's great that you also acquired a Barnabas costume then later made a fortune off of it! The box my costume is in is different. It has super heroes on it and says Ben Cooper Saturday's Heroes Favorite TV Character Costume, Barnabas, Dan Curtis Prod., Inc. As Seen On TV. The price is written on the box in black marker, $1.98 (a real blue light special, lol!)

I have a couple of those adult size shirts of the costume that you mentioned. One is like the T-Shirt you're wearing in the photos, the other is a long sleeve Sweat Shirt. It says on both of them in small print, Dan Curtis Productions 1968 Replica 1996.

I went to the 2000 Collins Association Halloween party at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk, Conn. I'm glad I got there at least once. The Barnabas costume I have doesn't glow in the dark anymore, but the T-Shirt and Sweat Shirt do. That white screening glow paint for $100.00 is still working, good job, lol!

Thanks for sharing your photos! Your costume was in better condition than the one I have. The mask is in pretty good condition, but the apron is torn in several places. Can't be too choosy with an item so rare.

I met Sharon Smyth at the Dark Shadows Festival 1999 in New York. I have an unopened record album of Charles Randolph Grean. It has the original hit Quentin's Theme, also, #1 At The "Blue Whale", Serenade To Summertime, On The Trail, La Golandrina, Forgotten Dreams, The Perfect Song, Sunset, Shadows Of The Night, Manolito, and Deep Purple.

I remember hearing Quentin's Theme on the radio when I was a little girl during Dark Shadows original run. I was younger than my little girl then! My Mom just arrived today from CA, is here visiting for a week. Her and my daughter were playing the Barnabas Collins Dark Shadows Game earlier. They play that every time my Mom comes over. I have another game in my DS collection, it has the fangs with it, gave my daughter the one without the fangs, lol!
Title: Re: Barnabas Collins Halloween costume
Post by: The Doctor and K9 on January 24, 2009, 05:50:58 PM
Quote from: CastleBee on November 05, 2003, 11:12:52 PM
I wanted to look like the real thing - not like that person wearing a signboard with an ad for their TV show

I always wanted to go out as a gorilla from Planet of the Apes, but I rejected the costume that was sold in stores.  It had the usual flimsy mask and a cheap outfit complete with PLANET OF THE APES on the front!  Find me one frame of POTA where we see an ape bearing the movie logo on it!  I later found a much better mask that came with a toy rifle.  The mask was made of a flexible, durable plastic and was designed for playing outdoors as opposed to being worn a time or two for trick or treating.  I made my own gorilla tunic from a brown shopping bag.  It probably looked silly.  I slit the sides open, cut a hole for my head and painted the front purple, with black stripes.  It looked OK to me and had the virtue of being FREE and had no logo.  The rest of the year, my best friend and I used the masks and guns playing POTA.  Ummmm this is really not something I'm proud of, but my mask and gun got confiscated by my mom for quite a while.   You see, we were chasing down and rounding up "humans".  And then for no reason at all my mom took the mask away when the "humans" tattled on us!!   LOL Don't feel too sorry for the "humans" ie our younger brothers.  They did their share of unprovoked mischief on us too.  Like "borrowing" our walkie talkies on the previous day and draining the batteries.  Batteries were not cheap when your allowance was only a dollar and could not prove that your brother "borrowed them used them, and deliberately (I suspect so at least) left both of them on ALL NIGHT.