Ultimate Edition Darth Vader Costume

23-Aug-2015

Overall good costume. I have had it for about 2 months.

-It really looks amazing. I wore it to a comic con and really had a blast.

-This costume is mostly an accurate vaders costume from episode 4, a new hope.

-Halloweencostumes.com honestly has the best price of the supreme edition darth vader costume I have found online. They always have a discount going so you get the best price.

-chest and belt lights work good and last a long time

-It does have a fly so you can use the bathroom. You just need to remove the cod piece.

-Armor and helmet are thick plastic. It is very durable.

-padding inside the helmet makes it comfortable and it doesn’t echo inside.

-It also comes with a small speaker that plays vader breathing

-helmet is big enough to slip it right on without having to take it apart every time.

neutral issues

-very warm to wear. Get a mini fan for inside the helmet and wear and ice vest. Take brakes and drink water. For the first time I wore it I wore a black morph suit instead of the pleather body suit that came with it to help me stay cool. I plan on cutting the back out of the pleather and at the shoulders so I don’t get as hot. The inner cape will hide these alterations.

-large costume in size. I am 6ft4in (193cm) and the cape just touches the ground, its perfect for me. Anyone under 6ft might look odd with a helmet and shoulders this big.

-the gloves are a one size fits most, so you might need to get a different pair. They were a bit small on me but this wasn’t a surprise.

-fabric head cover is really small at the neck. I know I am big but this would be small/tight on most people. No big deal, I didn’t really expect it to fit anyway. I just got some fabric from a black t-shirt and wear it like a turtle neck.

-fabric of the cape is a bit thin and you can slightly see through it. However this helps with the weight so it isn’t an issue to me.

Cons

-Lenses are very distorted. I had read about this issue before I bought this costume. They can be popped out and easily replaced. I got a cheap motorcycle helmet lens and using the original helmet lenses as a template I cut new lenses and it fit good. Use a dermal to cut out the new lens from the motorcycle helmet lens as it is a thick plastic. I put in mirrored lenses as it creates more contrast and in my opinion photographs better, despite it not being movie accurate.

-belt is very flimsy. I wore it once and it kept loosening and then falling down. You can stitch the clip in place to fix this but I just replaced it with a leather dress belt. The items on the belt supplied easily come off and can be put on a better belt.

-“voice module” doesn’t alter your voice, it is a vader breathing simulator. It uses a speaker velcrowed in the helmet with a long cord so you can hide the button on you, it’s a neat feature. The issue with it is the breathing only works as long as you hold in the button. It is a bit difficult to hold in the button on and keep it concealed. It would be much better if it was an on/off button.

Tips

-new lenses

-new leather belt

-store the helmet in a pillow case to prevent scratches

-I wear a pouch on the back of the belt to hold my keys/ID/money, the cape hides this.

-trim the cape to your height so you don’t step on it and rip it off the armor.

-fan and ice vest

-a good lightsaber ;)

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First thing I'll say is that HalloweenCostumes.com has been an absolute delight to work with. I kept messing up my order, and they were happy to help me correct it and get better savings. When I had a question about the costume several months after I bought it, they cheerfully and proactively went above and beyond to help me out, and I was blown away by how invested they were in making sure I was satisfied. The support staff is absolutely great!

Second thing I'll say is to read Vader Jason's review about this costume from this page- he was invaluable for giving me tips and tricks to maximize enjoyment and usability.

Alright, now my experience with the costume. Overall, I've had a great time with this costume - I've worn it to two Star Wars events so far, with a third coming up this weekend, and both times it's been an outstanding hit. It has taken a bit of work to get it really functional though.

This costume is not for the faint of heart. It's hot, cumbersome, and exhausting after just a few hours, and it takes a lot of effort to get into it properly - I always need a second, and sometimes third, person to help me. I mean, it's worth it to me, because for that time I AM Darth Vader, but you should just know what you're getting into. I have had some flexibility problems given that I am a pretty large guy, so the first time I wore it the jumpsuit was stiff and did not lend itself to bending over or sitting (though that did turn out to be possible, fortunately). I have the xl instead of the plus size though since it was first bought for another member of my family who is smaller than I am, so I'm sure if you're in a jumpsuit that fits you, you'll have a more workable amount of flexibility - but still, I imagine, far less than you are used to. In my case, after gaining a few pounds and adding an ice vest, I lost whatever amount of flexibility I had and ended up having to wear the costume without the back zipper done up so that I could sit down at all. Fortunately, this turned out to provide much more maneuverability than I had ever had before, and was unnoticeable because of the robe. Keep that in mind if you ever need more flexibility while wearing this costume - the only downside is that it means the chest box sits an inch or two lower than where I like it to be. I personally am just going to take out the zipper entirely and replace it with a series of tie strings, but again, I have a size smaller than I probably should, so I'm something of a special case.

As Vader Jason said, if you want to have clear vision, you'll likely need to take out the lenses that come with it. I got large replacement lenses for ski goggles and cut those out, then super glued tabs out of the same material to make them fit in the mask, and those work pretty well. Even once the lenses allow clear vision though, your visibility is still pretty awful given that you have no peripheral vision - to walk down stairs safely, I often have to look down through the mouth piece.

If you read the product info carefully, you'll notice that it comes without any footwear. This turned out to be a much smaller deal that I thought it would be, because the shin gaurds go down to your ankle and attach by wrapping around your entire leg, so between that and the two capes you're wearing, there's little put your actual feet that isn't covered. I ended up buying a set of black boots that I felt fit the costume well, but in retrospect it probably makes more sense to just buy some cheap, unassuming black slip on shoes, like one might wear to an office. I say this because between my large legs and the fact that they have to go around the boots, the shin guards barely fit and are difficult to zip on (but at least they're tight and secure once they do get zipped on).

The cod piece is, for some reason that escapes me, is showing some sort of splotchy white areas. It's not a huge deal to me, I just can't figure out why it's happening. Either way, I ordered some sort of rubber dye that I can use to hopefully get it to a solid, uniform black again. I don't imagine it will be a tough fix.

Again, as Vader Jason suggested, it's worth getting a cheap, black, plain dress belt to replace the flimsy clip on style it comes with (I got one online for like $5). You'll need to screw the center plat on through the belt, but that's no problem - all you need is to punch through the belt material so you can get the Philips screws through. If you don't have a chance to replace the belt though, try tightening the strap and the having someone tie it off so it is less likely to get loose and start falling.

I also had pockets sewn into the inside of the robe to carry essentials like phone, wallet and keys. I have been able to attach a fanny pack such that it's hidden under the robe and cod piece, but I found it difficult to access.

The head/neck cover (designed to ensure that no part of the neck becomes visible between the helmet and cape/armor) is too small for me, so the velco can be a little biting, but it gets the job done. Still, I'm thinking of just making my own - there's no reason it needs to be so tight, so long as it doesn't fall off entirely.

I like to avoid showing any sort of skin whenever possible, but the gloves (while I like the fit) do reduce dexterity for finer actions like working on a keyboard or phone. For that reason, I wear black nitrile medical gloves under them, so even if I need to take them off the illusion isn't totally broken, and it allows you to use touch screens because of the nature of the gloves.

As mentioned before, I do have an ice vest. While this caused problems with fitting into the already-too-small jumpsuit, if you have a roomy enough fit in the jumpsuit it's definitely a good idea, especially if you're wearing it for long periods of time or at any temperature above that of an average room. This thing gets HOT. I have yet to add any way to cool down the helmet, but I need to figure it out soon.

The improvement I'm most proud of is adding a voice modifier system. The costume comes with a breathing sound effects box attached under the helmet, but I never ended up using it (it just attaches with Velcro, so it's a breeze to take in and out). Instead, I developed a system using an Apple iPad mini (which I keep in a pocket sewn onto the front of my undershirt), a Rode SC6 input/output Splitter, a mini speaker and aux cable, Apple Ear Pods, and an app called VoiceMod which allows for real time voice modification (and they have a setting modeled after Darth Vader, complete with continuous breathing). I use the aux cable to plug the speaker into the output jack, and I plug the Apple Ear pods into the input jack (so only the microphone is used). I put the iPad in Airplane mode and lower the screen brightness as much as possible to preserve battery, then I turn auto-lock off, open the app and start the voice mode, then use Apple's Guided Access mode to disable all inputs. By taping the speaker under the shoulder armor and placing the mic inside the helmet about an inch away from my mouth, I can speak softly and deeply and all people will hear is the deep, robotic voice mod coming out of the speaker. It's not perfect, of course, and if you're not careful it can be difficult for others to understand you, but I love the effect.

Per Vader Jason's suggestion I also keep all of the hard plastic elements (the shoulder armor, the belt, the shin guards and of course the helmet) wrapped in fabric, such as pillow cases or the robes of the costume itself. If you take those kinds of precautions though, you're unlikely to encounter any serious problems with getting scratches or scuffs - it's all pretty durable. Sadly, mine shipped with a small scuff on one of the shoulder pieces, but I've never found it to be noticeable when the costume is on.

So I've certainly put my hours into improving it, and just wearing it is a chore, but I still love every chance I get to put it on and hang out with other fans. It lost a star just because of the mods I had to make to get the usability to a reasonable level, like replacing the distored lenses or getting a belt that doesn't easily fall off, but as someone who enjoys those sorts of fun little projects it doesn't bother me much. When it all comes together, it really looks amazing - I feel like I just stepped out of the movie itself. So if you're willing to invest the time and effort to take on the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, I highly suggest this costume - and I especially suggest getting it through HalloweenCostumes.com!

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I'm 6'3 and im about 230 pounds everything looked great i just wish I got a bigger size but the helmet was warped had to get a new one from somewhere else

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The costume is fabulous, but does require some adjustments. The belt piece doesn't stay on your waist and the belt units have to be locked in place with - my choice - Velcro straps to keep them from sliding around. You also have to add a strap around the back of the shoulder straps that hold the chest plate on because it won't adjust down enough to keep the straps from sliding down your arms.

The biggest issue - and this would be a deal breaker if I didn't already have a Black Series Vader helmet - is that the breathing mechanism sounds absolutely nothing like the actual Vader breathing effect. When you spend the money on a costume, it seems like these issues should not be issues.

But hey, if you're willing to tinker with it, do some problem solving and get creative, it can be part of an amazing costume.

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I took Kylo Ren with me to the Kent State Halloween night and had a great time with this costume. We were bugged all night long to take photo's and had many make comments how awesome the Vader costume looked. Being 6 foot tall, the size of the helmet made me about 6'-5" and imposing. The cape flowing in the wind added to the impact. I would say this costume was worth the ooo's and ahhhs and how excited people got see it.

The issues I had wearing it was it was extremely hot. The outside temp was 60 degrees and it was brutal. I had to take breaks and take off the helmet to get a breather because it would fog up and sweat would drip in my eyes and I'm not a sweater either. When I took off the costume, I was completely soaked like I had been in the pool with a t shirt on. I can't imagine how someone at Disney World wearing this could last very long. I would say a few hours of use would be the max. I find it interesting the body suit is insulated which would be perfect in sub degree temps. I did find moving around helped get some breeze in the mask. Another issue was the chestplate control box was too low. I actually taped it up higher with double sided tape so it would be in the correct position. I ordered the extra large, maybe I should have just gotten the large since the body suit seemed a little big. Overall, the suit is pretty awesome, but beware it's hard to wear. Poor Vader.

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