Muppet Halloween Costume Spooktacular 2010, Part 2

Ryan Dosier - It's almost Halloween, Muppet fans! Do you have your candy and your Bean Bunny costume ready to go? Did you finally convince your wife to go as Spamella/your husband to go as a Pa and Ma Gorg couple? ...Good luck with either of those things.

Today we return with another review of some more hideous Muppet-related costumes! This time we look at the new Fraggle Rock costumes that were, shockingly, approved and released by The Jim Henson Company. I'm sure the suspense is killing you... which is awesome, because I could use an army of zombies for Halloween this year.

Anyway... here are the "Fraggle" (you'll see why I used the parentheses in a second) costumes.

GOBO FRAGGLE COSTUME - $110

LIKENESS - It's everyone's favorite Fraggle: Hobo! (Not a typo.) Good grief, what the WHAT?! I don't even know where to begin... for starters, $110 for this? Really? Really? I'd be extremely interested to know how many of these get sold. What is that hair made of? Cheerleader pom-poms? Did Gobo mug a cheerleader when he entered male pattern baldness--which he obviously inherited from Uncle Traveling Matt? Hmm... I smell a fan-fic! 2 STARS
FUN FACTOR - At this point I'd like to measure Fun Factor against Price... just to make it clear that it's highly difficult to have enough fun with this costume to make it worth $110. In fact, I would argue that staging a live-action remake of a Fraggle Rock episode would be one of the only ways to have $110 worth of fun with this costume. 2 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - Well... I'm certainly freaked out. No amount of dancing my cares away could save this worry for another day. This looks like something that would be hanging in the Gorgs' pantry in the Henson Haunted House. I really think it's the head that scares the most on this thing... there's just so much wrong with it. 4 STARS

RED FRAGGLE COSTUME - $110 (now $59.99)

LIKENESS - Yay! It's everybody's favorite Fraggle Rock character, Red Platypus! Don't you just loved her webbed feet and her off-colored skin-tight legging legs? My favorite Red Platypus aspect is the bulky orange short shorts. Remember her trademark purple hair ribbons and her "AHHHH!!! A dingo!!" facial and body expression? Ah, such fond memories... (By the way, who knew Red had such a curvaceous mid-section?) 2 STARS
FUN FACTOR - No one who shows up to a highly populated Halloween party wearing this is going to have fun. Imagine everyone tugging your tail and your pigtails and laughing at your horribly disfigured head and pointing out that your wearing this is probably single-handedly delaying production on the Fraggle Rock Movie. (Kudos to said makers of fun if they've actually heard of the Fraggle Rock Movie.) 2 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - If this doesn't say "run and hide," I don't know what would. Well... maybe ToughPigs' Joe Hennes wearing this--that would certainly say "run and hide." (Woot! I've made fun of Joe twice this week. Three more times and I get a free sub-sandwich at any participating Quiznos.) 4 STARS

WEMBLEY FRAGGLE COSTUME - $110 (now $59.99)

LIKENESS - Oh no!! Oh no, no, no! It's happened! Someone has poisoned the Fraggle Rock water supply! Look what they've done to poor, poor Wembley!! Oh gosh, it's gotten so bad that his brains have literally exploded out of his head. Worst. Halloween. Special. EVER. I like the banana tree shirt though--I'd like to just own that. 1 STAR
FUN FACTOR - Not even Wembley would wemble about whether or not this thing is fun to wear. What on earth might compel someone to put this on and go out in public? Certainly not a fan of Wembley--because they'd be disgracing themselves. I'm trying to come up with some sort of creature to compare this heap to... but I've got absolutely nothing. It's a brand new homunculus mass of bad designing. 2 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - Fraggle Zombies are always scary--and Wembley Fraggle Zombie is the scariest of them all. This wins the Scare Factor award for the 2010 Muppet Halloween Costume season... Poor Wembley. The one time he wins... 5 STARS

MOKEY FRAGGLE COSTUME - $110 (now $59.99)

LIKENESS - This must be Mokey... the only time she gets merchandise is when it's absolutely hideous. Mokey looks like that blue haired great aunt that your parents always invite to your birthdays that gives you a check for ten dollars then steals all of your Fig Newtons and smells like cats. ...Psychotherapy, here I come! What on earth were they thinking when they saw this costume's head? "Oh, yes, delightful. My favorite character from Farggle Lock, Monkey!" 1 STAR
FUN FACTOR - Mokey's idea of fun is writing bad poetry... imagine all the awful poetry you could write about this thing. Here's a sample--run with it. "There once was a costume of Mokey/That made me want to choke-y/Her head gave me nightmares/I want to maul it with bears/And put it out of its misery." 1 STAR
SCARE FACTOR - The aunt image I put in my head in the Likeness section has freaked me out enough already. But I dare you to try to go to sleep while thinking about this costume's head portion. And you thought Freddy Krueger was scary! 4 STARS

Well... there you have it, Muppet fans. Sorry to spoil any ideas you ever had about how awesome Fraggle costumes could be... because as these have certainly proved, it's a lot easier to imagine than to actually create. Yeesh. Until next year... this has been The Muppet Mindset's Muppet Halloween Costume Spooktacular!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppet Halloween Costume Spooktacular 2010, Part 1

Ryan Dosier - Greetings, Muppet fans! It's that time of year again--Halloween is coming, and coming fast. Yes, it's time for dentists to break out the new drills and put a down-payment on that brand new yacht, time for girls to wear an outfit in public that consists of less than they wear to bed, and time for small children to dress up as their favorite cartoons, super heroes, and teenage pop stars!

But what is an adult Muppet fan like you (or I) to do at this festive time of year when everywhere we see Darth Vader costumes or his-and-her electrical outlet and plug costumes? How do we, the Muppet fans, show our love for Muppets, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock on Halloween? Well, lucky for you, we here at The Muppet Mindset have a look into some of the new, official Muppet costumes available through Sesame Workshop and The Jim Henson Company this year.

As you surely recall, last year we featured a similar two-part series of articles looking at the Muppet costumes from The Muppets Studio and the Sesame Street costumes from Sesame Workshop. These costumes were ranked in three categories: Character Likeness, Fun Factor, and Scare Factor. Each factor will receive a rating of up to five stars to help you determine whether it's worth your purchasing.

Today we're looking at costumes from Sesame Workshop as we see their attempts to appeal to college-aged girls (which is exactly who I'm trying to appeal to). Let's get started, shall we?

SEXY COOKIE MONSTER COSTUME - $50.00

LIKENESS - Ah, yes, everyone's favorite Sesame Street character: Sexy Cookie Monster. Riddle me this, Sesame Workshop, what on earth makes a preschool character with googly eyes who spends all of his time eating sexy? I mean, besides the girl in the costume... But honestly, is it really a good idea to produce costumes of your characters that encourage girls to dress like this? Isn't that kind of the opposite of your curriculum? Just wondering. Get back to me on that. The worst part is, it looks nothing like Cookie Monster! Kudos on the cookie-shaped belt buckle, though. 1 STAR
FUN FACTOR - I guess this depends on what sort of fun you want to have. 3 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - The only thing scary about this costume, to me, is the fact that someone at Sesame Workshop approved this and thought it was a good idea. "Yes, yes! Let's whore out our beloved children's characters for 'sexy' costumes. What could parent groups possibly have against that?" However, there is nothing scary about the girl within the costume. Call me, Sexy Cookie Monster girl! 3 STARS

SEXY ELMO COSTUME - $39.99

LIKENESS - Umm... likeness of what? Elmo? A girl wrapped in a red towel and wearing red stockings? Someone with an Elmo-looking alien eating through their skull from the inside out? Honestly... with the right amount of orange ribbon and a fluffy enough red towel, you could probably make this costume for about $10. Incidentally, about $10 is probably all this girl plans to spend on Halloween--guys like me will be buying her all the drinks she wants. 1 STAR
FUN FACTOR - Who wouldn't want to tickle that Elmo? 3 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - Once again... frightening that this was allowed to happen, but I certainly wouldn't mind being in Elmo's World for awhile. And really, there are so many other sexy Sesame costumes they would be much scarier to parental groups... 2 STARS

SEXY BIG BIRD COSTUME - $39.99

LIKENESS - Well... it is feathery... sort of. And I rather like what they did with the legs--they should've done that for the adult Big Bird Costume from last year! I cant' see the weird Big Bird thing on her head... but I just have to assume that it doesn't look anything like Big Bird. However... it's a cute blonde in a Big Bird costume. Isn't that the dream, fellas? 2 STARS
FUN FACTOR - Just tune me out for a minute here, ladies... Think of the possibilities, guys! She goes as Big Bird, you go as Snuffy--"Don't worry baby, I'm not imaginary." So many great pick up lines too... "Hey, can I buy you a bird seed milkshake?" "What say you and me go say the Alphabet later? Maybe we can put U and I together." ...And I wonder why I can't pick up girls. Okay girls, you're welcome to tune in again. 4 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - Big Bird... the face of Sesame Street for 41 years... reduced to a cute blonde girl in a frilly yellow towel with orange and pink striped leggings. Well... if she's giving me her phone number I guess that's okay. 2 STARS

BIG BIRD TODDLER COSTUME - $39.99
 

LIKENESS - See! SEE?! Now THIS is a costume! Adorable, acceptable, and well done. Some great Big Bird-like pants--even better with the orange sneakers--a fantastic Big Bird hat... now see, this is a costume I can support. I guess it just shows that Sesame Street costumes always work better on kids. Even the likeness of Big Bird is good enough that I can't really even complain! 4 STARS
FUN FACTOR - What kid doesn't want to be Big Bird for a day? Bonus points for parents who put their kids on stilts to make them as tall as Big Bird. Less bonus points if said parents end up with kids in the hospital on Halloween due to falling from stilts. 3 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - There is absolutely nothing scary about this costume. Wait... I take that back. It's scary to think that one day this little girl might wear the Sexy Big Bird costume. *shudder* 1 STAR

ABBY CADABBY DELUXE COSTUME - $44.99

LIKENESS - Everybody say it with me now... "Awww!!!" Alright, now that we have that out of our systems... How great is this costume? It even comes with Abby hair! This is adorable and I can't imagine any little girl not wanting to be Abby Cadabby for Halloween. They get to carry a wand, they get to have wings, they get to have awesome Abby hair, they get to turn things into pumpkins... Win! 5 STARS
FUN FACTOR - To quote Abby... "[This costume] is so magic!" Look at that! The girl in the picture is already having fun--and she's not even trick or treating yet (presumably)! If you can figure out a way to rig your little fairy-godchild on some sort of rope or other hanging object so that she could actually fly like Abby, more power to you! (Please don't do that.) 4 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - The only way for this Abby costume to be scary is if someone other than a little girl was wearing it. Yes, I'm looking at you Joe Hennes from ToughPigs! Don't get any ideas! 1 STAR

And with that, I bid you farewell until Part 2 of our Muppet costume spotlight. Next time we'll look at too-hideous-to-be-real Fraggle costumes. Trust me... you won't want to miss this. Look for it on Tuesday!

To see all of the Sesame Street costumes and merchandise available for Halloween this year, be sure to check out the online Sesame Street store!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppet Halloween Costume Spooktacular, Pt. 2

View Part 1 of our review here!

Welcome back to The Muppet Mindset for Muppet Halloween Costume Spooktacular (great name, eh?) Part 2, where we review Muppet and Sesame Street Halloween costumes released for this fright season. We judge each costume on their Likeness, Fun Factor, and Scare Factor. Each factor receives a score of up to 5 points. Let's get started, shall we?

INFANT ELMO COSTUME - $32.95

LIKENESS:  Well... it's red, and there's an orange nose in there somewhere. The costume on its own does indeed look like Elmo, but once you put a chubby toddler in it you can say hello to distortion. Quite frankly this looks like an unaired episode of Elmo's World. "And now, Elmo will ask a BABY! Hi, baby!" *ELMO EATS BABY* 3 STARS
FUN FACTOR: I don't know about you, but I think it would be a delight to dress my unknowing toddler in an Elmo costume. Look how cute that pudgy-faced kid in the picture is--don't you want that to be your pudgy faced kid? I think it would be fun to do a whole family of Sesame Street costumes. Dad can go as Big Bird, mom can go as Susan... 4 STARS
SCARE FACTOR: C'mon... this isn't scary. It's a baby dressed up like Elmo! It's one of the top five cutest things in the world! (Right behind Grover, the real Elmo, Robin the Frog, and this.) 2 STARS

BIG BIRD ADULT COSTUME - $49.99

LIKENESS - So THIS is what Big Bird looks like without any feathers. Can you imagine how it would've sounded hearing the bird get plucked? Good thing the only curse word he knows is ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ... But seriously, I like the eyes and the feathers atop the head, but are some yellow gloves and orange and pinked striped pants too much to ask for? 3 STARS
FUN FACTOR - Well... the dude in he picture looks like he's having fun--but if Big Bird actually stood like that, wouldn't he topple over from being too top-heavy? Just an observation. This just doesn't seem like an adult costume. I love Big Bird, but I just don't see any self-respecting adult parading around in this--even if your wife agreed to go as Cookie Monster! 2 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - Odd looking? Yes. Poorly made? Yes. Scary? ...Not so much. The scariest part about this is that it looks like the world's tallest man attempted to don the Bird and his head just poked out of Big Bird's mouth. *shudder* 1 STAR

COOKIE MONSTER ADULT COSTUME - $49.99

LIKENESS - Umm... well the head kind of looks like the Cookie Monster Collect-a-Pal toy. There's more stuffing in that head than in Grandma's Thanksgiving turkey! Look at that thing! You could go bungee jumping and use this costume as your helmet! (Please don't do that--and if you do, don't sue me.) But obviously the most disturbing part here is the man's head coming through Cookie's mouth. I never thought I'd say this... but the Miss Piggy mask is starting to look like a better solution! Well... at least it's blue. 2 STARS
FUN FACTOR - Don't you want to be the life of every party you attend by wearing this costume? You could run up to all of the tables filled with pumpkin and ghost shaped cookies and shout, "ARRRUMM NUM NUM NUM!" as you just crumble them up in your hands and toss them everywhere. And if someone punches you in the head, you won't feel it! 3 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - The Sesame Street monsters have the distinction of being some of the only non-scary monsters in pop culture (yes, the ones in Monsters vs. Aliens are scary--Seth Rogen is ALWAYS scary!) (Hey! I mentioned him in both posts. Go me!). Even Cookie Monster, though he may eat your laptop, is adorable. I guess this costume is huggable... but I'd still be concerned that if I hugged it my fate would be the same as the guy already in Cookie's mouth. 2 STARS

THE COUNT ADULT COSTUME - $49.99

LIKENESS - This is probably my favorite of the Sesame Street costumes. Although the head is gargantuan and bulbous, how can you not want to wear a Count cape and suit? The beauty of this costume is that even if you ditch the head, you can just paint your face purple, slick back your hair, toss on a monocle and some vampire teeth and you've got a perfect costume. But I don't want to know what you would do with the remaining Count head. 4 STARS
FUN FACTOR - The Count is one of the most fun Sesame Street personalities. You could drive kids nuts by asking to count how many pieces of candy they have in their buckets. Or, by counting the number of Hannah Montana and Spider-Man costumes--"That's one! One little girl who probably wears that costume every day! Ah ah ah!" Extra points if you get accompanying thunder and lightning! 5 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - While The Count is a vampire (much better than Edward Cullen, thank you very much), he doesn't have the lust for blood like his cousin Dracula. The only reason The Count would crave blood is to count the white blood cell count. So, yeah, this costume isn't terribly scary--again, the scariest part is the dude's head poking through the mouth. ...Hey! I think they use the same guy for all of these! 2 STARS

OSCAR THE GROUCH ADULT COSTUME - $85.00

LIKENESS - Look, kids! It's everyone's favorite infomercially advertised character, Oscar the Snuggie TM! Wear Oscar the Snuggie TM anywhere you might be cold and might want to make a fool of yourself--your child's soccer game, the homecoming football game, Antarctica! Our new Oscar the Snuggie.2 TM model comes with a protective head cover for all of your head protecting needs. Oscar the Snuggie TM even comes with a fake looking trash can so people aren't tempted to throw away candy wrappers inside of you! 2 STARS
FUN FACTOR -This costume should be fun... emphasis on should (hence the underlining), but it's just... weird. No one in their right mind would want to stand around looking like this. I can only assume it's hot as Hades within that costume and Hades is never fun (unless when voiced by James Woods in a Disney movie). I'm sure people will also make fun of you constantly for wearing this thing. 2 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - The scariest thing about this is the $85 price tag. Who wants to pay $85 to look like this for one night out of the year? Not I, said the obsessed Muppet fan. The eyebrow is also sort of scary... but in a "that thing might jump off of his face and eat me" sort of way. 2 STARS

ERNIE ADULT COSTUME - $49.99

LIKENESS - It's basketball head Ernie! Watch him dribble in his sleep! (Get it?) I like the shirt, even though the stripes are WAY too wide, and the facial region isn't horrible (albeit grossly over-sized), but what I can't get past is that creepy smile. They really couldn't make a somewhat see-through black fabric to put there instead of white? That just looks scary. Even eye-holes would've been welcome over that mess! 3 STARS
FUN FACTOR - This costume would only be fun if you got someone to go with you as Bert. Imagine the hi-jinks you could get into on Halloween night! Building a statue of Bert and stealing the nose off of your friend's costume, watching your friend play checkers with a pigeon, building a snowman using all of Bert's clothes... well, okay, maybe not that last one. 4 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - The scariest part about this costume is the fact that the costume description says "pants not included." Granted, Ernie blue jeans are easy to come by, but for $50 you think they'd at least throw you a pair of pants. I know Ernie likes to take baths, but this is ridiculous! 2 STARS

BERT ADULT COSTUME - $49.99

LIKENESS - Does it look like Bert? Yes. Again, the stripes on the shirt are way too wide and more could've been added, but it looks fine. My only other gripe is that the human hands. Would it kill 'em to toss a few yellow gloves our way? I don't think so. I also don't like the eyebrow, but it's not a big deal. Kudos to the photographer for including Bert's loafers! 4 STARS
FUN FACTOR - When paired with Ernie, this costume could be a lot of fun. Going fishing, collecting bottle caps, praising the letter W--you can do it all in your very own Bert costume! Why does Bert, the most boring of all Sesame Street characters, have one of the most fun costumes? I guess Bert has always been a mystery wrapped in an enigma! 4 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - Bert sort of has a naturally scary air to him, doesn't he? I think it's the pigeons. This costume isn't all that scary. Though it does suffer from the same white mouth malfunction as the Ernie costume, it's not worthy of calling this costume "scary." 1 STAR

SUPER GROVER ADULT COSTUME - $90.00

LIKENESS - Well... it does look like Super Grover, you can't deny that. But it also looks like someone trying to escape from Super Grover's stomach. I really like the cape and the helmet though. The face would be nice too, if it wasn't all bulbous and distorted. Wouldn't it be funny to see Super Grover wearing this costume as a disguise to outwit a bad guy? 4 STARS
FUN FACTOR - This costume looks like it would be really, really fun. I know that I would love to traipse around the streets shouting, "It is I, your furry neighborhood super monster here to save you!" and then stealing their candy and running away. Ahh... good times. 5 STARS
SCARE FACTOR - Again, the only scary part here is the $90 price. My goodness! Who are they expecting to buy this costume? Donald Trump? ...How funny would that be?! I'll be severely disappointed if Mr. Trump doesn't go as Super Grover now. I just hope he reads the Mindset... 1 STAR

Well, that's all I've got. I hope you've enjoyed this look at some Muppet Halloween costumes this year--even though they're not all fantastic, how awesome is it that there are Muppet Halloween costumes out there? Now if only Sesame Workshop would learn that giant character hoods are not the way to go...

Muppet Halloween Costume Spooktacular, Part 1

News and Goings On - October 6, 2009

BOOM! Studios has announced that their next Muppet fairy-tale comic book series will be Muppet King Arthur. Written by Johanna Stokes, the comic will feature Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, and the gang as they embark on an adventure chronicling the heroic tale of King Arthur. An interior artist is yet to be announced, but cover artists include friend of the blog Amy Mebberson and Muppet Central Forum's Dave Alvarez (MUPPETMONKEY). Be on the lookout for more exciting news about Muppet King Arthur as it surfaces! The first issue is slated for release on December 23, 2009.

Kermit apparently appeared on Good Morning America yesterday morning to promote the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" promotion. No video of this appearance has surfaced, so if anyone has any information regarding the appearance, please let us know!

Australian puppeteer and friend of the blog, Jarrod Fairclough has started his own blog! It's called Sesame Street or Bust and he hopes that it will help propel him into a job as a puppeteer for Sesame Street or The Jim Henson Company. It looks pretty cool so far, so check it out!

Today on The Muppet Mindset, we look at some of the new Muppet and Sesame Street Halloween costumes being produced for this year's fright season. I'll be reviewing each costume based on three factors, character likeness, fun factor, and scare factor. Each factor will have a rating of up to 5 stars.

Let's start off with everyone's favorite amphibian (apologies to the Geico Gecko), Kermit!

KERMIT THE FROG COSTUME - $50.00

LIKENESS: Umm... do I really even need to comment on this? The face mask looks decent, but the rest is just frightening. Never before has our frog looked so... bulky. However, if you'd like to go out as Fake Kermit, this is a fantastic likeness. 3 STARS

FUN FACTOR: I suppose this costume could be fun. I think it would be a lot of fun to have Kermit flippers to walk around in. And the mask isn't half bad, and would make a fun costume on its own. However I see no practical applications for a stuffed-looking tuxedo such as that. Although... at only $50 it would make a rather cheap prom outfit! 3 STARS

SCARE FACTOR: Halloween is all about scaring people, right? Well... if someone snuck up on me while wearing this Kermit mask, I would indeed freak out. Imagine that pudgy green hand slowly slipping over your shoulder and I dare you to tell me you wouldn't shudder! 4 STARS

MISS PIGGY COSTUME - $55.00

LIKENESS: Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's finally here! The coveted red dress, white glove, shoeless Miss Piggy costume! Kids of all ages will be rushing the costume shops just to dress as their favorite pig with paper cut out ears! Kudos to the designers for having what looks like a man dress as the pig. Frank Oz would be disturbed! 2 STARS
FUN FACTOR: The only fun I could have with this costume is the pig nose. The rest is just boring and easily bought at a store. The costume description says, "Be the apple of Kermit's eye when you dress in his Miss Piggy costume!" In that red dress... apple indeed! 1 STAR
SCARE FACTOR: This one isn't nearly as scary as Kermit... but it's still kind of creepy. Imagine some guy with a deep, Seth Rogen (imagine Rowlf, for those Muppet fans with no connection to the entertainment industry) voice coming up to you with this snout, wig, ears, and dress and belching out, "Hey bub, where's the bathroom?" Scary? Well... not so much scary as it is positively freaky. So... 2 STARS

MISS PIGGY LATEX MASK - $50.00

LIKENESS: First of all... if you're still looking at your screen after that freaky turn-around, I commend you. Second... AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Sorry... had to get that out. Anyway! The likeness of this? Umm... I don't know which Miss Piggy puppet they were using as a model, but I'm glad it was never used in production. Cheese and crackers... It looks like the pig mask they wear in the Saw movies! 1 STAR
FUN FACTOR: The only fun you could possibly have with this thing is the thrill of throwing it off a cliff and panting, "You won't... hurt anyone... anymore..." I guess you could put on a nice performance of Muppet Saw VI with this mask... why you would want to is beyond me, but you certainly could. 2 STARS
SCARE FACTOR: This is by far the scariest Muppet costume this year--perhaps ever! Sheesh. Whoever designed this better hope Piggy doesn't see this... or she'll give them a fat cheek like they gave her with this mask! 5 STARS

ANIMAL COSTUME - $50.00

LIKENESS: Finally! A costume that somewhat looks like the Muppet it's supposed to! I actually really like this one. The mask is very Animal-like (despite suffering from the pink Animal head curse) and fun. I don't really know why an adult (who this costume is made for) would want to wear a mask like that, but it's still nice. I would say the jeans are good too, but apparently it doesn't come with them. What's up with that shirt? 4 STARS
FUN FACTOR: Now, see, this is a fun costume! I would love to go as Animal for Halloween. It would be fun to run rampant up and down the streets shouting "TRICK-OR-TREAT! TRICK-OR-TREAT! GIMME CANDY!!" Well... fun until the cops showed up. 5 STARS
SCARE FACTOR: Animal is usually a naturally frightening character (except when around bunny rabbits), but here he just seems like a fun loving dude. This costume isn't really scary at all--although the eye-hole placement directly in his mouth is kind of an interesting choice. I'll just jot that one up to aesthetics. 2 STARS


THE GREAT GONZO COSTUME - $50.00

LIKENESS: YAY! It's everyone's favorite Muppet character, Steroid Gonzo! Isn't he fantastic folks? Look at those biceps! Look at that huge head that simply screams his catchphrase, "I eat chickens for breakfast AND take them out to dinner, wanna fight about it?" But seriously... proof that this Gonzo is on steroids... look at what they did to his nose. At least he retains his three fingers... 3 STARS

FUN FACTOR: Again... the only fun I could have with this costume is shooting it out of a canon. I guess the cape/outfit is fun... and a Gonzo costume could be customized from the blue furry arm and leg things. But... good grief, that mask! 3 STARS

SCARE FACTOR: The eyes and mouth of this Gonzo mask are just hideous... and the pose of his fist make him look like an old guy sitting on his porch shouting, "You kids get off my lawn!" So... if you're scared of old guys or bad Gonzo masks, this thing is like The Ring to you! 2 STARS

FOZZIE BEAR COSTUME - $50.00

LIKENESS: YES! Perfect! See? THIS is a good costume! This one just says "Wocka! Wocka! Wocka!" right off the bat. I'm a big fan of the very nice looking mask, the four-fingered hands, the bow-tie, and the furry costume. Brilliant likeness of everyone's favorite furry funny man! 5 STARS

FUN FACTOR: This costume is a lot of fun! I could see dads of all sorts taking their kids trick-or-treating while wearing this and just having a blast, telling bad puns the whole time. "Say, where does a vampire store his dinner? The blood bank! Ahhh!" 5 STARS

SCARE FACTOR: This costume isn't scary... I mean, c'mon! It's Fozzie! How can Fozzie be scary? ...Well, okay, I guess if the guy inside it creepily sidles up to you and grunts, "Give Fozzie a hug" it would be scary. ...Great, I just scared myself. 3 STARS

STATLER AND WALDORF MASKS - $52.99 (each)

LIKENESS: These are AWESOME. The likeness is spot-on. I mean... how can you look at these and NOT think Statler and Waldorf? I would love to go as these two old coots for Halloween! If... I had the money for the masks and someone willing to go with me wearing one of them. 5 STARS

FUN FACTOR: These are probably the most fun costumes here. Heckling every costume that comes your way? Heck yes. Heckling every little Hannah Montana or Spider-Man that comes to your door for candy? Heck yes! 5 STARS

SCARE FACTOR: The beautiful thing about Statler and Waldorf masks is that you can be fun, and scary, AND funny all at the same time! "Hey lady, nice mask!" "She's not wearing a mask!" "Do ho ho ho!" 5 STARS

And that's all we have time for today! Check back on Thursday when we'll review some Sesame Street costumes! Have you ever wondered what you'd look like inside Super Grover? Well... you'll find out!