It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The Fall/Halloween 2018 season is HERE and it is proving to be one of the best in recent memory. Not only do we have a new HALLOWEEN MOVIE but it is one of the best of the entire franchise. To make things even sweeter we have an affordable and accurate version of the mask created from the screen used silicone master. It’s a very good time to be a Halloween fan. To help celebrate the Myers mask collecting hobby we do an annual countdown of the ten best Michael Myers mask replicas as voted by our community. This year makes the sixth one. Welcome back to all of you who have made this part of your annual tradition. Welcome aboard to those of you who are becoming part of this tradition for the first time. And now…on to this year’s countdown!
This Year’s NUMBER TEN (last year at five) is Cemetery Gate Productions’ WARLOCK. The Warlock (named after Dick Warlock, who portrayed Michael Myers in Halloween II) was designed to give the appearance of what the Myers mask looked like when worn by Warlock. Different versions have been made over the years but the earlier copies are still the most favored by collectors. Commonly believed to have been created from a recast of Nightowl’s Nightmare Man ’78, the Warlock is one of the best selling masks this hobby has seen. A good example of the mask is member SpaceBass’ copy:
We have a new entry at NUMBER NINE this year, the “KHU” (KEN HERTLEIN ULTIMATE) mask. Ken Hertlein is responsible for (arguably) the most sought after Michael Myers replica mask in the hobby, the beloved KH/DW. He is also known for his successor to the KHDW, the KHSLE. In July 2017 it was announced that Ken thought he could improve on his first two H2 efforts and bring us the “ultimate” H2 mask. From this the fittingly titled Ken Hertlein Ultimate (“KHU” for short) mask was born. At the time of this blog Ken is finishing up the limited run of these masks so not many people have them in their hands as of yet. Expect this mask to be significantly higher on next year’s countdown. Below is a beautiful copy (complete with custom bust made by Kelly Mann) belonging to member MJ_23:
This year’s NUMBER EIGHT (also number eight last year), the legendary KHDW (Ken Hertlein/Dick Warlock) mask. After Dick Warlock portrayed Michael Myers in 1981’s Halloween II, he kept the mask he wore in the movie along with the knife, boots and coveralls. Sometime in the year 2000 he commissioned the very talented artist Ken Hertlein to try and recreate this iconic mask. The look of the mask’s paint, texture of the hair, eye cuts, spatial relations of the features, mask size and all other little nuances of the hero mask were all taken into account. The result is one of the best replicas the hobby has seen to date. Below is the #14 copy of this beautiful mask:
This year’s NUMBER SEVEN spot was last year’s number six, N.A.G.’s 75K (or 75 Kirk) mask. In 1998 Don Post Studios laser scanned a production pull 1975 Kirk mask in order to make a new Kirk offering. The resulting mask was the 98 Shatner. Two versions of this William Shatner mask were released, one a more expensive and detailed mask, and the other a more mass produced mask. There was also a 98 Shatner proto mask that was discovered which was an exceptional copy, retaining all of the details of this sculpt very nicely. It was from this Don Post 98 Shatner proto mask that the N.A.G. 75k was derived. An example of this very popular mask is represented here with Slasher75’s copy:
This year’s NUMBER SIX is a new entry to the countdown, Handiboy Studios’ DEAD RINGER. Nick Mulpagano (owner/operator of Handiboy studios) decided to take another crack at a Myers mask using the Kirk life cast again. He had used a life cast the year before but realized he had obtained the wrong life cast (“like when Igor grabbed the wrong brain for Dr. Frankenstein.” – Nick M.). So, he tried it again with the correct life cast and better references. Nick released the Dead Ringer on the most appropriate day of 2017… Halloween! The mask released to very favorable response. In Nick’s own words, “It’s becoming my most popular mask [and has] been picked to be the official mask of 2018 Las Vegas’ Halloween celebration, “The Night HE Came to Vegas” and John Carpenter Day.” Below is the Dead Ringer in action courtesy of Nick wishing everyone a Happy Halloween!
This concludes part one of the count down, stay tuned for part two which will cover masks five to number one!