These days, many decorate their homes and offices with theme-park-level decorations for Halloween. But the folks at Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm’s legendary special effects department, decided not to be so cutting-edge in decorating their front office. This year, they decided to go full old school. ILM adorned its lobby with many vintage Star Wars Halloween costumes from the Ben Cooper company. And these should make fans of a certain age feel all kinds of nostalgia. These inexpensive plastic costumes were all the rage from the ’50s to the ’90s. And Star Wars was an especially popular choice back then. You can watch a brief tour via Lucasfilm Story Group’s Matt Martin’s Instagram below:
So many of the classic Ben Cooper Star Wars costumes from the ’70s and ’80s pop up here. You’ve got your main heroes, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, Yoda, Chewie, and even an Ewok. On the dark side, you of course have Darth Vader, a stormtrooper, and Boba Fett. The most charming aspect of these old Ben Cooper costumes is the weird choice to put the character’s face and logo on the torso, just in case the adult passing out candy needed actual signage when asking a trick-or-treater, “Now, who are you supposed to be?” It made every costume feel less like a way of being the character, and more like representing them like a sports team.
Nerdist’s Take: Seeing these Ben Cooper Costumes Is a Reminder of an Era When Star Wars Ruled Pop Culture
Another fun detail in this display is all the vintage newspaper clippings, talking about how Star Wars costumes were now dominating Halloween costume sales. If you were around back in the day, then you know that Star Wars characters pretty much ruled October 31, along with ghosts, witches, and monsters. These days, Star Wars costumes are still ubiquitous at Halloween, only now they’re a tad more sophisticated. And they have to compete with Marvel, anime characters, and dozens more. But seeing these costumes again is a fun reminder of the era when the Force ruled the world.