The Ben Cooper Halloween Costumes Story 

These costumes are really sentimental for me. My dad took me downtown when I was a little kid on October 30 and I picked out a Boba Fett costume. We got it home and out of the box and I looked at the blurry picture of Boba Fett on the chest, I liked it, but my dad shook his head and said it was a disappointment. My dad was a brooks brothers tailor (he once made a suit for Harrison Ford), so that night, my dad sat my 12” boba Fett next to his sewing machine as a reference model, and while I slept he made me a PERFECT kid-sized costume. Grey jumpsuit, yellow shoulders, green chest, every detail was there. When I got up to go to school the next day, I put on the costume and the Ben cooper mask and went to school. That’s my best Halloween memory, hats off to you, dad.

id always cut my tongue sticking through the slot. I knew it was gonna end bad, but I did it anyway

I had the Spider-Man costume in 1976

Kids today don't know how lucky Halloween costumes are so detailed and made of better quality than the junk vinyl us kids suffered through in the 80's and 90's.

I had the Ben Cooper Darth Vader costume. Well, we went trick or treating on the rich side of town when suddenly I seen a kid with a full head Darth Vader helmet. He had a black outfit with a long flowing cape. He had a realistic chest plate & lightsaber covered in aluminum foil. Homemade but super cool like cosplay today. I was emotionally blown out of the water & could never shake that awful feeling away. Until I met Darth Vader at Gottschalks & received an autographed black & white pic of him!

I had a homemade costume of superman that my mom made me that I traded to my cousin fer his ben cooper batman costume......she dang near tanned my hide.....lol

I had Casper the friendly ghost one year and the following year I had Frankenstein 1971-1972 .I remember the mask smelled funny.

I had Luke Skywalker's Ben Cooper costume. Of course my little brother HAD to have the sam one. Stupid kid brothers. Lol

mom would never let me wear that "cheap junk" My costumes were usually DIY because she could sew/

When I was young I use to live in my Star Wars costumes, Now sitting around in a Boba Fett Helmet and t-shirt and some cute jammies is just as satisfying.

The stare on the boba fett costume and googly eyes on vader is hilarious.

I never wore the plastic smocks, I instead wore the mask with my old Sunday school choir robes. My mom would paint a clown face in case I lost the mask, she would give the old plastic smocks to the kids who didn't have one and she'd paint them too

I definitely remember having one of these... my parents forced me to be a hand me down Mickey Mouse coustume year after year... not because they were poor, because they weren't... my parents were dicks. Anyway... interesting video.. well done.

I had the Luke Skywalker A New Hope one...I remember getting it because it was the only one that had a detailed costume and not a picture of who you were supposed to be on the front. I always thought, even as a young kid that the pictures on the costumes were usually super lame.

I had a few, then we started making our own costumes.

Great video!! My parents bought that clown costume in the first photo- my older brother wore it, then I did. I had a Blackstar one as well (I wanted He-Man, but my mom couldn't find one)

So cool thanks junkman for this history lesson

I don't know if I ever had an actual Ben Cooper costume, because I'm from the UK and I'm not sure if they were ever sold in my country. At least during my childlike, which was around the late 80s early to mid 90s. However I can remember having a few masks that were just like the ones that are in your video and while I never had any issues with the band snapping, I can clearly remember finding it hard to see though the eye holes and, because I have always had thick curly hair, that the elastic band used to always tug and pull at my (ever popular with the girl's in primary school) curly locks, hence I never really wore the few that I ever had. I don't know if I ever had any store bought costumes, as I was always somewhat tall for my age and I found that a lot of costumes that were out there were too small for me, if they were aimed at kid's or too big for me, if they were aimed at adult cosplayers thus I missed out a lot on dressing up as superheroes and various Gerry Anderson characters (as a kid there was a big revival of his work for a number of years that was also popular with my generation, but my parents could never find any costumes that fitted me) although I did use home made costumes which used various garments, and sometimes store bought props, to make up a costume for the school fun run, and yes I did have a hand made Dennis the Menace (not the American version, of which I also liked as a kid, but the British one) red and black striped jumper. But aside from a dinosaur outfit and some Robin Hood gear, both of which were home made, and a scarf that my mum had which I used to wear when I was pretending to be a Pirate (the Lego type to be exact, now that really was my big childlike toy line....) and a whole ton of bits and bobs that I'd use I don't think that I really had all that much experience (in my childhood) dressing up as my favourite characters. I did, when I was a young adult and also due to my Aspergers/Autism (I have no issue with one label or the other provided that it is an accurate one) get it into my head to go round in my everyday life dressed like the Doctor ('Doctor Who') while at one point I did use a home made scalf mostly I tended to use garments that my late grandad used to have and other items, where by I'd make up much own outfit of my own version of the Doctor. Whenever I look at out photos of myself dressed up I must admit that I looked rather dashing in it. If any fellow fans what to know what I looked like, my outfit was somewhat of a cross between the First Doctor's outfit (to be honest it was chiefly based on that outfit) and bits and bobs of the Eighth Doctor plus a pair of smart black trousers just like the Third Doctor's ones, lastly I did also own at one point a pair of Doc Martin's just like the Fourth Doctor did, and yes they did indeed fit perfectly... Happy Times and Places

Omg I had the blonde haired princess mask., The Fred Flintstone mask 😆 back in the late 70's. And princess Leia in the 80s.

Been collecting Ben Cooper for many years, was born in 1966. I've amassed quite a collection and enjoy adding rare ones when ever I get the chance.

There is a documentary on ben cooper , college ville etc. Halloween in a Box I watched it a month ago. I alway looked through the boxes to find costumes where the smock had the characters body rather than a picture of the character

I still have my Star Wars ones After forty years it still smells like chemicals from the factory Eye holes to small to see and mouth whole so small you’d suffocate Gotta love it

I remember getting a Charlie Brown costume one year, I also remember making my own a bunch of times, and asking my grandmother to sew me a cowboy vest when I was only a few years old.

I was a clown one year and ET another year. Strangely, I never got a Star Wars costume even though I was obsessed with Star Wars.

Loved the history lesson.

I had that Superman costume in the 70s. I loved it.

I still have my 1979 Darth Vader costume I had as a kid. Still complete and in the box.

I had R2 D2, Boba Fett, King Kong and Frankenstein. Great costumes but man were they hard to breathe in!

I remember having the Bo Duke costume when I was real little. I also had a Batman one year. The costumes were terrible, but I love them now. Seeing those boxes really takes me back. I can practically smell them. They wreaked.

I had the he man one and the Spiderman. I wore Spiderman off season like some kind of weirdo! LOL those were the days

I wore my Darth Vader costume like 3 years in a row. The mask cut the hell out of my face! Great memories. ☺️

The man, the myth, the living legend, Junkman!!!!

The JFK mask looked pretty fricking cool...👍🏼💯✔

I believe I had a clown, devil, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Boss Hogg, Darth Vader, and at least a couple more. Memory escapes me on those. Probably one of the MOTU characters.

I remember a Tron costume vividly from my youth

Yep, i was a kid in the 60s n sure enough i had several Ben Cooper costumes over the years.....good memories

I had so many I don’t really remember all the ones I had. I dressed up from 75 to 85. I know Shazam for sure! Currently I have a 1975 Spiderman in the box, Voltron in the box and the 1976 King Kong in the box. KK is a Ben Cooper but it’s a police suit. A cotton version of the plastic smock that came in the Halloween version.

My 1st halloween costume was the Ben Cooper Big Bird costume from 1979.

Always wondered. Oh yeah, had superman and batman. Had an epic Evel Keneval with actual full cloth jumpsuit

As a shock to nobody, i had Stripe the Gremlin! I actually still got it. Its in near perfect condition too, which is actually shocking!

Excellent video. I remember I had Batman, Superman, Robin, Casper, C3PO and the Skeleton ones during my childhood days. They were so cool.

I had The Wolfman and The Incredible Hulk...and a Clown I think.

I still have a very few of the masks , including the ALIEN 1 one from when I was a kid , I am 50 nowadays.

This was neat to learn about. A bit before my time, but growing up, I used to look at our family photo album all the time and I remember there being a photo of my brother at Halloween wearing the Voltron costume.

Obi Wan Cooper ... Do you know him ? Well of course I do. It is me.

I remember having Vader, Yoda, Ponch from CHiPs. Wanted a batman but Kmart was sold out so my mom bought a batgirl mask instead and cut the red hair. It still didn't look right with the eyelashes and red lips. Lol

I loved those in the 70s! I can still smell them.

I wore the Darth Vader costume in 78 or 79, hell maybe both. I was a Star Wars kid in the late 70s. Good times, good times!

Darths eyes @5:25 LOL Googly eyed Darth

Spider man, Darth Vader, and Yoda were my favorites. Wanted the Boba Fett, but couldn’t find him. Started buying some off eBay about ten years ago. Think I have about five left somewhere in a box in the attic. Good times.

The first I heard of Helloween was when I watched E.T. Those costumes should have been available all year round.

Hey look it's the Senate from Episode I.... what a great group costume idea!! 2:28

Around the mid 70's preschool me had something that could only be described as the Easter Bunny. It was all I wanted to wear until I outgrew it.

I want that ALIEN suit for my collection

We had many of these when I was a kid. I remember my Darth Vader and my C-3PO costumes very well. My sister was Tweety Bird and my brother was R2-D2. He used to be a little punk by putting his tongue through that little hole in the mask.

Spider-Man was the earliest I remember. Some years my mom made my costume- like Luke Skywalker and Hulk. By the way- green food coloring is not easy to wash off. I remember having the Stormtrooper mask by itself, and I just dressed in all white otherwise. My friend Buzzy and I actually got mugged for candy that year. Bastards. The last one I looked at was She-Hulk. Not to wear, but I collected every appearance of the character, and almost got it for that reason.

Mid 70s I had a superman. And a Frankenstein. Hard to recall. Those masks hurt. And I hated when the smock would just put a picture or the name on it instead of the proper body details. As a rug rat even I knew that was bogus. Lol

i had the Spiderman , the Yoda, the ET, the Admiral Ackbar and maybe a Superman one too

Great video. Thanks for the history on this iconic company and these iconic costumes. I think I had a Wonder Woman costume that was Ben Cooper.

Love this!!!! It so takes me back 👍👍👍👍😎🍍🤙🏽

Its worth noting the MASK costume at 1:57 actually appeared in a Halloween movie, Halloween 4

I still have a bo duke costume!

I had the Evel Knievel costume.

Remember having that Yoda & C3PO but we’re is Beast Man?

I had a clown. The suit lasted longer than the mask and I even wore real face paint with it a few years.

Just think one day this will be the good old days .what a journey 50s till now .like high speed film .was born thinking about women haven t forgot yet .the worst I ever had was wonderful

I had Batman, C-3PO and Yogi Bear, my sister had a witch costume.

I had a Ben Cooper Yoda costume

I had the Darth Vader costume since they first came out, and wore it for years. Finally, when I was 11, I was able to afford an actual Darth Vader two-piece helmet (It said Lucasfilm inside, but I think Don Post made it). However, at that point, I was going out as Michael Myers, Jason, and the Joker, so Darth's head wound on my shelf with my comic book collection. Still loved it, but it was more like a trophy to me at that point because that's the mask I always wanted in the first place 😁👍

i had that devil costume with the yellow red & green flames you closed the video with, i'm guessing '74-'75-ish? 😄

I had Darth Vader, Han Solo (from the original Star Wars), Batman, Spiderman, and C-3PO. I always wanted Boba Fett but could never find it in my size.

I live in a suburb of Greensboro, NC and had no idea Ben Cooper was HQ'd here. Of course, I didn't live here as a kid. Interesting though. I know I had a Superman costume circa 1979.

Awesome Thxs for the good memories junk man.

Kids of today aren't really missing out on anything in this case. They only need to know about this because it was once referenced in a Simpsons episode. Milhouse has a Ben Cooper style Radioactive Man costume, and Lisa makes fun of it saying that Radioactive Man doesn't wear a plastic smock with a picture of his own face on it.

In the 60,s ,we had tons of these costumes ,but i was fat ,too big for those papery suits and WAY more into latex masks,such as Toppstone, & Don Post.Those suits & masks were too lame to have.Only babies & girls really wore them.Hell ,my Dad WAS A REAL junkman ,& always seemed to salvage up some masks for us.After all ,thats my REAL last name.This was a really good post ,lots of photos! nice work.keep that up ,i may re-sub.

I still have some of my masks. But not the rest of the costume. I had the Spider-Man outfit and mask in the late 70s.

LMAO at your pronunciation of Zorro!

The Ben Cooper Costume's I Had Were Stromtrooper, Yoda And Buck Rodgers.

Cool video Junkster. Just the other day I was wondering what happened to those cheap costumes. I hadn't seen them in years. The stores here in my town just skipped Halloween and went right to Christmas this year. Little to no Halloween stuff. I remember I had a Wolfman, Batman, and Speed Racer Ben Cooper costume back in the day. It aggravated my parents that I didn't get more than one use out of them. They always ripped somewhere or the rubber band would break. lol The good old days

Spider man, Batman, Darth Vader. I may have had one more but I can’t remember. Some of the costumes were like Underroos, instead of the plastic costume resembling the character, there was a picture of the character on your chest along with your mask, in the video, the Alien costume was a pretty good representation of this, althougbI saw one Spider-Man in the beginning that was similar to that.

Great video. I still have the E.T. costume but the mask is a little bent. Cheap stuff but great memories. Take care Junkman.

My favorite Ben Cooper costume was Peter Criss!

I had Batman and Superman back in 1976 (Brooklyn, NY)

I had the Snoopy, Darth Vader, ET, and Gizmo from Gremlins, my brother had, Casper, SpiderMan, Batman, and a HeMan one I think he found in someone's trash can, he wore it with a football helmet as a football player costume one halloween.

KISS!

Nice memories of dressing up especially Halloween in grade school, I was Superman in Kindergarten Luke X-Wing Gear in 1st grade Admiral Ackbar in 2nd grade Megatron in 3rd grade By the 4th grade it wasnt considered cool dressing up in cheap vinyl costumes that I simply dressed up as an army soldier as G.I.Joe was popular.

i had a frankenstein monster when i was about 3..then a hulk in the early 80s

I had Snoopy.

I have the green Fett one on my shelf right here beside me!

Definitely had a Gumby costume that we played with all year round. Also I remember Donald Duck. Even as a kid, I hated the picture of the character on the front smock. Who wears a shirt with their own picture on it, especially when they had a known costume. That was pretty lazy of the designers.

I heard something about them being really flammable

LURCH in 1966

Batman, hulk, stormtrooper, yoda, Batman , transformers, the stand alone masks.

I had Superman, Darth Vader. Chewbacca, He- Man, Underdog,

👍! Love your Junk!!

I had the KISS peter criss costume

I had that creepy looking clown. I always wanted Ultraman but my parents didn’t know who he was...

Had Spidey

Do you have any insight as to how these Ben Cooper masks were painted? Was it a stencil? This was a huge production job.

Very well researched video. Can you give a little more information on the technologies involved for example I know they had cloth masks to start with and then they moved to plastic. What year did this take place?I'd also like to know what the price tag was in the '40s then in the '50s then in the 60s etc. Continuity issues make these costumes problematic to collect because they would stop using a box design and then come back to a years later and these were not dated.