Is it real, or is it Memorex?

screengrabs via CuteVN Animals Read the rest

"What's even the point of having an Internet if I can't buy a replica kid's plastic Santa Claus mask from 'It's a Wonderful Life'?" That's the question my friend Evan Prodromou recently posed on Facebook. He then tagged me in the comments, "I'm pretty sure Rusty Blazenhoff could find these if I asked her."

Well, I don't anything about them or where to find them but I'm always up for a challenge. So, I went to my expert-in-all-things-novelty friend David Wahl, the Director of Awesome for Archie McPhee, and asked if he knew anything about the masks. I figured if anyone would know, it would be him. His response made me chuckle. He told me it's something he and Shana Iverson, the company's High Priestess of Rubber Chickens have already discussed. Because, of course they have!

This is what he knows:

"It’s papier mâché, so it probably wouldn’t have survived unless someone took special care of it. We haven’t seen them anywhere in any catalog or weird show. I think it was made just for the movie. It also could just be a local item to LA during Christmas that year. There were tons of small companies doing stuff like that."

Sounds right. Just to see, I searched on the internet for any mention of the masks.

In a Movieweb interview from 2006, Jimmy Hawkins, the child actor who played Tommy Bailey in the 1946 film, recalls the masks being uncomfortable:

"...I also remember sitting on Jimmy Stewart's lap.

Bow down before the one you serve... breakfast to!

There's never been a doubt that the folks at Archie McPhee have a weird sense of humor. In fact, we count on it. Case in point, their latest offering: the Pagan Breakfast God Mask ($17.95). Bacon, check. Eggs, check. Toast with butter, check. Weird as all get out, CHECK.

Yours truly, this past summer when I was at the Archie McPhee HQ recording a podcast (and rocking the Pagan Breakfast God-dess Mask which I've had to keep hush-hush until now!).

photos by Archie McPhee and David Wahl Read the rest

The fine folks who created the world's blackest black now have a sprayable version that adheres to most stable surfaces. To demonstrate, they sprayed two bronze masks, one on the inside and one on the outside, producing an interesting optical illusion. Read the rest

Paolo del Toro makes delightful and otherworldly sculptures from felt, most recently working in pastel palettes. Read the rest

Landon Meier of Hyperflesh unveiled some crazy new masks at Monsterpalooza 2017: Trump, Putin, and Kim Jong-un masks that are so lifelike people do a double-take. Read the rest

Björk has become known for rocking some stunning embroidered masks. Hint published a nice overview of her longtime collaboration with maskmaker James Merry. Read the rest

The latest from steampunk/fetish maskmaker Bob Basset is the "Insect Inspector": "Leather, Brass, Glass, soviet gas mask parts."

Insect Inspector. Steampunk art Leather Gas mask. Read the rest

The wonderful Ukrainian horror/fetish/steampunk mask maker Bob Basset has produced a two-faced Cthulhu mask; on one side, the betentacled visage; on the other, a lecterine horror.

Call of Cthulhu. One mask 2 faces. Read the rest

New from Ukrainian fetish/steampunk mask makers Bob Basset, the "60 monstr" -- a little bit Creature from the Black Lagoon, a little bit steampunk, and a whole lot of happy mutation.

"60 monstr" Art leather mask Read the rest

~AfterlightRob's Frankenthulu mask makes me yearn for a whole series of Famous Monsters of Filmland/Cthulhu mask-mashups -- the mummy, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon... The same artist has a sweet Nosferatu mask.

Frankenthulhu mask

(via JWZ) Read the rest

DeviantArt member Tom Banwell made this "fire breather" mask; it's just one example of the many wonderful pieces in his DeviantArt gallery.

Fire Breather mask front view

(via Super Punch) Read the rest

From Ukrainian steampunk/fetish mask maker Bob Baset, the Hugger Head mask, "Slightly reinterpreted Giger monster. It now manages the object. Or maybe it’s a happy symbiosis?"

Hugger head Leather Mask Read the rest