Review: Trick or Treat Studios’ Michael Myers Mask from Halloween 2

This week I take a critical look at the new Myers mask from Trick or Treat Studios. Will it be good enough to replace the repaint I did to the 2006 Don Post version? Watch the video and see!

37 Responses to "Review: Trick or Treat Studios’ Michael Myers Mask from Halloween 2"

Ade says:

January 26, 2015 at 5:39 am

I have to say you have done a great job with the mask ,ive seen a lot of masks where they have been butchered .The hair looks brilliant ,so well done to you .The best improved h2 mask i have seen.
Ade says:

January 26, 2015 at 5:33 am

The tot studios mask is great for the price,but if you want a marquee mask your going to have to pay at least 250 quid .I purchased the fear mask fom cgp and i have to say its sublime .
Tom says:

November 27, 2014 at 4:12 pm

Looks great, Christian! Thanks for sharing.
Christian Marra says:

November 26, 2014 at 7:40 pm

Hey Tom I realized its been so long since I last commented on this forum and wanted to give a little update to my TOTS H2 copy. Over the past year I sent my copy to a guy who is very good at converting myers masks.

So I made a video showing me wearing the result and keep in mind this is still a tots h2 after a repaint and rehair
Tom says:

November 19, 2014 at 11:04 am

Looking good, James. Thanks for the observations. It’s much easier to find a “good” one in person. When ordering online, it’s a roll of the dice.
James O'Blivion says:

November 18, 2014 at 6:23 pm

In going around the Halloween stores this year, I’ve noticed two varieties of TOTS H2 masks. The “knitting needle hole” is slightly different between versions, and the pull on one of them was MUCH thinner. I pre-ordered mine back in 2012, so I got one from the first batch. It is nice and thick. The one with the thinner pull seems to be a later development, though I still see thicker ones in the stores, as well.

It’s sad that these seem to be hit-or-miss (or that perhaps the quality is going down over time, in an attempt to stretch the latex further)…I’m just glad I got a good one. Which looks even better since my conversion…

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b390/jamesoblivion/Myers-Full-7_zpsd068a5ef.jpg
Tom says:

November 18, 2014 at 10:24 am

Lloyde, that doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. I’ve had none of those issues with my mask, BTW. I’d chalk it up to mass production being inconsistent, though TOTS spent tons on the license and is probably trying to cut costs where they can. It’s also possible that different runs were produced at different factories. There are several tutorials out there on re-hairing these masks if you decide to go that route. Here’s one: http://www.michael-myers.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=101923&p=963830 . Repairing the split is easy if you have the materials. The best way would be to patch it from the inside with another piece of latex similar to what the mask is made of. You could pour some liquid latex out and let it cure, then cut it to size, or you could cut a piece off of an old mask. Use rubber cement to glue it into place from the inside. Best wishes, -Tom
Lloyde Gray says:

November 17, 2014 at 1:55 pm

I got my Tots H2 mask with the blood tears last year around Christmas time and was happy but began to notice things such as just how thin the pull was which now after a year of being on a mannequin head on my bedroom shelf has actually managed to split all the way up to the way up to the hair line on the rear of the mask and of coarse as everyone sais the nose as mine has a very dark grey which seems to actually go over onto the tip of the nose also after just a year the hair has become incredibly thinned as clumps have come away from the glued down tracks. This I personally think its really bad quality and would love any tips on how to rectify these issues and repair the split in the back because ide rather not spend another £60 on a mask that could have exactly the same issues as ive heard that some of the paint ups etc. have actually got worse as times gone on
James O'Blivion says:

September 25, 2014 at 5:30 pm

I’ve recently converted my TOTS H2 mask to more closely resemble the H1 look. Darkened the hair and completely repainted it. I also trimmed about half an inch from the neck and gave the hair a bit of trimming on the sides and in back. Pretty happy with the results.
Tom says:

September 25, 2014 at 10:28 am

Luke, it’s good to hear that the paint work on the H2 masks is getting better. Mine was part of the very first run so it only makes sense that TOTS would give the factory feedback and make changes. As to the mods to the mask, I have to be honest and tell you that I probably won’t get to it very soon, but I’d like to do a video at some point. I really do think that removing paint would be a better way to go instead of adding more but I won’t know until I actually try it.
Luke says:

September 24, 2014 at 6:10 pm

My mask seems to be far better off than others. It doesn’t have the severe colour variation between the bright grey, white and skin tone which is nice because I wont need to do as much with it. Will you ever post a video of you modifying the mask to be more accurate? I think a lot of people would appreciate that because I think we all want to do it, we just need some tips.
Luke says:

November 19, 2013 at 12:39 pm

Yep, that paint job and hair is why I got the economy version with the molded hair instead. The bald spot is atrocious also, and the one I saw had an afro. Not a bad sculpt though. But the economy version is a better deal if you are looking for a cheap mask that looks like the Shape from the first two movies. If money isn’t an issue then get one of the independent-made masks.
James O'Blivion says:

June 14, 2013 at 2:53 pm

Totally agreed. I think if most fans could see the real thing face-to-face…even BEFORE it rotted away to its current state…they would be shocked. The effectiveness of the original mask was not a matter of strong construction, but great lighting.

It always puzzled me that with an original mask that was really just a conversion of a mass-produced Halloween mask, no one was ever able to give us a mass-produced replica of it that actually LOOKED RIGHT. Which is why I’m so happy with my TOTS mask. It’s not only a better-constructed mask than the original hero, it’s also quite an accurate replication of the authentic article. For the going price, it absolutely can’t be beat.

I was skeptical when I first saw the promo pics for the TOTS H2 mask (many a time have I seen great prototypes turn to awful finished pieces), but they made a believer out of me.
Tom says:

June 14, 2013 at 9:10 am

Nice costume, James. *thumbs up* I think some people truly underestimate just how bad the original mask was. They seem to think this TOTS mask should be what they thought they saw on screen through the illusion of cinema. This mask, even a “bad” one, is better than the original in many ways. Just look at how thin the original is in the H1 scene where Michael takes it off. I find the same thing happening with Star Wars helmets all the time. People simply don’t appreciate how slapped together things can get when working on a feature.
James O'Blivion says:

June 14, 2013 at 3:23 am

I guess I really got lucky with my TOTS mask. The paint job on it is fantastic. No “bunny nose” or severe coloring of the mouth. I reckon it would be best to get these in a brick & mortar store, where you could compare multiples, but I pre-ordered and must’ve simply lucked out.

My mask (and full costume), which I wore for Halloween last year, can be seen here:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b390/jamesoblivion/Myers-Knife.jpg
Christian says:

May 30, 2013 at 4:55 pm

Hey Tom very good news!! I called trick or treat studios ad told them all about my copy of the mask and exactly all the things that were wrong and they actually agreed to sending me another copy of the mask and all I have to do is send my mask back in the same box I got it in with everything that was included with the mask and pay for the shipping so hopefully they send me a good copy:)
Christian says:

May 25, 2013 at 7:30 pm

Well I was able to get the rubber cement all off but the mouth still has the bad paint job and also got a bad cut when it was made meaning the mouth was badly cut open when made
Christian says:

May 25, 2013 at 12:25 pm

Well then I have three choices: 1. Wait and watch your video when you upload it so I can repaint and fix the lips and also remove more of the rubber cement. 2.where it like it is on Halloween night. Or 3. (which im leaning more to do) buy a CGP warlock which is $235 but I think it might be my only choice of all else fails!
Tom says:

May 24, 2013 at 9:18 pm

Yeah, most businesses won’t accept a return after 30 days unless it’s a warranty situation.
Christian says:

May 21, 2013 at 11:50 am

So it’s too late to call them and tell them about my mask because it has been such a Long time since they would ask: “well why didn’t call in February?”
Tom says:

May 21, 2013 at 9:45 am

Hi Christian. Thanks for your comments. I certainly would have returned that mask if I were you. Manufacturers need to know when they’ve screwed up. I expect that as production continues the assembly line work will get sloppier and sloppier in an effort to speed up the production. It happens all the time. Good luck with getting it all straightened out. I would like to do a repaint of mine but I’m not sure when I’ll get around to it. When I do, you know there’ll be a video! 🙂
Christian says:

May 21, 2013 at 5:44 am

Hello Tom I bought this mask early February and over time I realized that tots messed up some things on my copy very badly and there really is no excuse for it. Here are the things they messed up: The paint job on my copy is very good except for the mouth meaning they missed the lips of the mold of the mask and painted outside the lines so to speak so one side of the upper lip is unevenly painted from the other so that bothers me, the next and last thing they messed up that I saw no one else had was when
I got the mask in the mail the mask had a bunch of rubber cement all over the center part of the mask meaning the nose,mouth, and a little on the chin!!! So that really ticked me off and there was really no excuse for all this. Now I have gotten most of the cement off except for some on the nose and chin that I will have to sit down and remove soon! So in your review you said you could remove some of the excess paint with a magic eraser so hopefully you see this and upload a video showing how to do this so maybe I can reshape the paint in the lips to how it was actually supposed to be like it is on everyone elses mask with the eraser.
Tom says:

April 29, 2013 at 9:28 am

Thanks, Donnie. The template is still available. I link to it in the original post here http://costumebot.com/archives/31 .
Donnie says:

April 28, 2013 at 9:50 pm

Glad to see someone with as much love for the first two movies enjoys this, I really love your tutorials of the original costume as well. You still have the template of the lamson?
Tom says:

January 28, 2013 at 11:05 am

It’s definitely on my to do list. Maybe I’ll find more time to work on costumes now that football season’s winding down. 🙂
SkulCrusher657 says:

January 28, 2013 at 11:01 am

Tom you should do a repaint tutorial for the TOTS mask. I would really love a video like that
Tom says:

December 21, 2012 at 1:06 pm

Yes, Chris, a lot of folks have been rehairing these with great success.
chris says:

December 20, 2012 at 10:39 pm

hair has been a problem if you get a trick or treat mask they are better he is right the hair is layed doe in rows not all is covered but my mask is good if the hair is straight down you can find matching hair online thanks
Drew says:

November 7, 2012 at 10:57 am

Tom, I appreciate your response and trust me, I know that this is a mass produced mask and it’s going to have faults. My issues with the TOTS mask were about hair and paint…the sculpt if fine but that just shows you how a bad paint job and hair can ruin a great sculpt. Those shortcomings were enough for me to go ahead and purchase a CGP Warlock. It costs way more but I am much happier with it. Terry from CGP was great to deal with…I’m planning getting the FEAR mask next year.

thanks
Tom says:

November 7, 2012 at 10:32 am

Drew, you’re obviously entitled to your opinion. I happen to disagree but I do see the shortcomings. Yes, the hair and paint could use some work but I’m evaluating this as a mass produced mask because that’s what it is. This isn’t a boutique mask. If you want something better, be prepared to spend more than twice as much. I spent $60 on the 2006 Don Post I modded, and while it’s a better build, it looks nothing like Myers’ mask.
Drew says:

November 7, 2012 at 9:19 am

I got mine and was very disappointed…there are 2 huge bald spots and the paint job is like a clown. The owner of TOTS heard me say this on a forum and totally freaked out on me. The guy can’t take criticism at all and quite frankly is a jerk. I will never buy anything from his company ever again. I spent $70 on this mask and it looked NOTHING like this pictures that I researched. I realize that it is a mass produced mask but that is no excuse for the piss poor hair and paint job and attitude that I got from TOTS.

BTW, the hair falls out in clumps…
Tom says:

October 28, 2012 at 7:20 pm

Also do some reading on michael-myers.net and therpf.com. The search box is your friend.
Josh Begandy says:

October 28, 2012 at 6:58 pm

How could I rehair it, and where?
Tom says:

October 28, 2012 at 11:12 am

Josh, as I said before it’s not a bald spot. You can’t see it with the hair dressed normally. If you want a mask with punched down hair, you can expect to pay several times what this one costs. I think this looks just fine but many fans are rehairing theirs. It’s still very much worth the price IMHO.
Josh Begandy says:

October 28, 2012 at 10:52 am

But why have that?! Why didnt they just cover it all so there is no bald spot?
Tom says:

October 28, 2012 at 9:30 am

Josh, there isn’t a visible bald spot unless you stroke his fur the wrong way. It’s just how the hair is laid down onto the mask in layers. Not uncommon in a mask of this sort.
Josh Begandy says:

October 28, 2012 at 9:19 am

Hey there, umm ok why is there a huge baldspot in the hair?! I ordered mine a few days ago and I hope mine doesnt have that at all, I want my money’s worth.

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