by: -RoG-

So I had another nice surprise arrive at my door just the other day. The kind folks at TV Store Online sent me not one, but three brand new pop culture Halloween costumes to try out. They know I love this sort of thing and decided to let me try out costumes based on Marty McFly from Back to the Future, Scott Howard from Teen Wolf, and Domo from Domo-Kun's Angry Smashfest (hey, I gotta plug my own projects when the opportunity strikes).

Quite an interesting costume trio, I must say. We have a double-dose of famous Michael J. Fox film roles, and then we top 'em off with one of the greatest monster characters to ever emerge from Japan. I could easily see myself dressing as any of these three for Halloween, so trying on these costumes and reviewing each of them should be a blast. Let's start things off right with time traveler extraordinaire, Marty McFly!

The Marty McFly Back to the Future Halloween costume!

I think it's safe to say what the winning piece of this costume is before even removing it from the bag - an officially licensed Back to the Future: Part II color-changing hat! I've been meaning to pick up one of these for quite some time now, so this is definitely a welcome sight. It's just so damn mesmerizing. They need to make wallpaper based on this hat. You also have his classic red vest (or "life preserver" as Lou Caruthers would describe it) from the original Back to the Future film. Lastly, there's a digital calculator watch. Now I would've preferred a hoverboard, the Nike powerlacing shoes, or a DeLorean instead of the watch, but we can't have everything in life now can we?

Even if you don't have Marty's button-down shirt, Walkman, and other accessories, I'm pretty sure most people would know who you were dressed up as. Sure, it'd be a little weird holding up the watch all the time since it's such a small prop, but what can ya do. My only gripe is that the hat was smooshed in the package and it took quite a while to get it looking good again. Seems like it could be packed in something sturdier, but I guess this is how they save you some extra cash on shipping fees.

I think the strangest thing about the costume is that it's a combination of the first two movies. The vest is from the original film, but in the sequel he wears that auto-drying jacket instead, so to see the vest combined with the futuristic hat is a bit of an anachronistic error on their part. Then again, I suppose you could just tell everybody you're a Marty McFly who got lost in the space-time continuum. It'd really work well if you had a pair of cowboy boots so you could represent all three movies.

Alright, now let's move onto the other Michael J. Fox costume - Teen Wolf!

The Scott Howard Teen Wolf costume!

Now if this costume turns out to be anything like it looks on the bag, it should be pretty fantastic. If nothing else, we should all be happy that it's not Scott Howard before he wolfed out. That'd probably make for a pretty boring costume. Alright, let's try this thing on.

You know something? I'm really liking this costume. I added in the glasses, cuz we all remember Teen Wolf walking through the high school halls with his cool dude shades on. They really should include a pair of them, along with some novelty fangs, to complete the look. I really, really love the wig and beard with this costume. The hair is just ridiculous, and without the shades on, you're walking a very thin line between Teen Wolf and some kind of Grizzly Adams / psycho hobo hybrid. Fantastic.

The hairy hands are a nice touch too, but one of the gloves didn't fit as well as the other, and I have very large hands. It would've been nice if they weren't white on the underside too, but that's a very minor gripe. At least they gave him bright yellow nails to slash assholes like Mick McAllister with. The Beavers jacket and basketball team jersey are definitely nice components too. The jacket is super thin, but it accomplishes exactly what it needs to, so no complaints here. I didn't have a basketball handy, so my jack-o-lantern dodgeball will have to do.

There were a few things missing with this costume. According to their site, the Teen Wolf costume set includes "Jacket, Shorts, Socks, Vest, Gloves, Wig and Beard", so maybe there was an error and the shorts 'n socks weren't included. Either way, consider it a good thing, because at least you didn't have to stare at my pasty-white legs with knee-high socks. Given the tremendous amount of writing I do on this site, I make it a point not to blind my audience.

Now it's time to leave the eighties movies behind and become everybody's favorite brown monster: Domo-Kun!

The Domo costume!

So here we have the Domo deluxe adult costume, and it's basically a one-piece that drapes over your body. Sure, you could probably buy a few brown bath towels and sew them together with a cardboard box to achieve a similar effect, but I'm gonna give 'em the benefit of the doubt and assume this thing looks slightly better. Here goes nothin':

Yes! I absolutely LOVE this costume. Domo looks fantastic and it's great that you can barely see my face inside his gaping maw, as if he just recently devoured me in a fit of rage. Plus, the costume comes with built-in mittens that you can easily flip up if you want to give your hands some air. Would be nice if there were some brown pants and shoe covers included as well, but it's a minor issue.

There's no surprise that Domo has a giant head, and it looks like it would be hard to keep it balanced on your own at first glance. Fortunately, they actually took the time to sew a hat into the inside of it so you don't have to worry about it at all. Considering you'll be running around and eating helpless victims whenever you put the Domo costume on, the last thing you need to worry about is it slipping off your head.

It's hard to say which costume is my favorite, but it would probably be between Domo-Kun and Teen Wolf. On one hand, you have a Japanese monster that I have a long history with; on the other, you have a costume that can make you look like an 80s icon or a lunatic hair-growing contest winner. Tough call. Maybe you can help me decide which of the three costumes reigns supreme. Which costume is your favorite and why? Lemme know by dropping a note in the comments section below!

Big thanks again to TV Store Online for sending me these Halloween costumes!

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