Robots have been around in one way or another even before 50’s sci-fi movies made them popular. Since then robots have been evil villains in movies, lovable characters in TV shows, and even wise cracking comic relief in cartoons. The timeless robot costume is always a good choice whether you spend a day before Halloween spray painting cardboard boxes, or 5 months creating a giant handmade costume. We’ve gathered some awesome robot costume ideas to get your creative circuits flowing.

Make blogged about a giant robot costume that took 5 months to build and cost over $900 in parts and research. It looks pretty awesome at a towering 9’2″ tall (costumer wears stilts) and even has some good detail with a little bug that seems to control the robot.

Over at Instructables you can view how to make another giant robot costume, but this one is made of recycled materials. He built this one out of laundry detergent bottles, crutches, football shoulder pads, and lots of hot glue. This style is our favorite because it really lets you flex your creativity to come up with your own ideas. You can recycle, paint, or glue on anything that feels robot-y to you.

If you are more of a square and boxy type robot fan, then cardboard boxes are a good and inexpensive choice for a robot costume. I found a page where a group of college kids show us how they made their robot costumes. You can get some more great ideas for cardboard built robots from flickr. This one uses the standard boxes, duct tape, foil, and throws in some fake gauges and warning symbols for an overall robotic effect. This one added used CDs for eyes and added eyebrows to get a more evil robot look. This one used reflectors for eyes, and what appears to be an off the shelf tap light and lots ‘o’ foil. A good amount of DIY robot costumes have some type of dryer vent tubing or similar material for arms. These are a simple and easy choice because they are inexpensive, easy to find (local home improvement store), and already a shiny metal looking color. Another good and easy accessory is tubes or wires going from one spot on your costume to another. You could even try integrating some old circuit boards from broken electronics onto your box to go for the exposed innards look.

Here is a list of what’s most common for building your very own inexpensive robot costume:

• Cardboard Box
• Silver Paint
• Foil
• Shiny Objects (CDs, reflectors, LEDs, etc.)
• Gauges and Meters
• Dryer Vent Hose
• Some type of Claws (for robot hands)

A lot of the items listed above can be found in your own neighborhood on trash day. Or if you are in a populous city you can check out the free section on your local Craigslist for some costume materials.

Of course we encourage you to get creative and try different colors, shapes, and sizes. Feel free to paint your face silver instead of putting a box over your head all night, or wearing gloves so you can carry around your drink at the Halloween party. Make it your own, with your own style and remember to think about what you’ll be doing while you are in the costume.

And don’t forget to brush up on your robot dancing skills.

Did you make a robot costume? Did you find useful pictures or tutorials online? Please contribute your findings in the comment section below.

I’m not going to mention anything worn in the movie Dodgeball. Jerseys and tracksuits aren’t funny, and a dodgeball costume is built for laughs. This style of retro attire is more akin to the late 70’s, early 80’s rollerskater. For both men and women it’s going to be about the same:

For the best shirt possible, put your fake team’s name on there with a marker or using iron-on paper and your printer. If you’re going as a group of dodgeballers, opt for printed shirts from services like Spreadshirt (who offers glow in the dark ink). Plain t-shirts are good, and raglan sleeve shirts are better. For shorts, don’t be afraid of spandex if you’ve got it! This is a free wheeling kind of costume that improves in proportion to how ridiculous you’re willing to make it. It’s a scientific fact, so go nuts with this costume. Optionally, you can add a windbreaker (which is a good idea since this costume can be chilly in late October), fake mustache for the guys and a high sideways ponytail for the gals. Dodgeball can be a dangerous sport, so why not add an oozing wound or black eye? (Just get an “injury stack” makeup kit or a general makeup kit that contains one.)

Did you make a dodgeball costume? Did you find useful pictures or tutorials online? Please contribute your findings in the comment section below.

BONUS: Throughout October use coupon code FALL18 to get 20% off your order at Spreadshirt.

October 15, 2006: This contest is over. Thank you to everyone who participated! Cub from Georgia is our lucky winner. Congrats, Cub!

We’ve teamed up with the fine folks at Spirit Halloween to offer you a great contest. You can win any Halloween costume of your choice from Spirit’s website, and all you have to do is link to 365 Halloween. It doesn’t have to be an awesome site or get tons of traffic, it just has to be a website (personal or business site, blog, MySpace page, LiveJournal, etc). If you have multiple sites then you can enter the contest multiple times just by placing a link on each site. The winner will be picked at random and will be announced on October 15, 2006. Your costume of choice will then be shipped to you by October 18th, just in time for Halloween.

DETAILS:
All you have to do is link to 365Halloween.com with this banner:

As long as the banner is clicked just once, your site will be entered in the contest. This information comes from our web stats program; there is no need to notify us when you put up a banner. We will narrow down all of the entries to 10 random websites as well as the 10 websites that produce the most incoming traffic. We will then randomly draw from those 20 people to determine the winner. If your website produces a lot of traffic then you will have the opportunity for multiple entries, as you may be included in both the “10 random websites” and “10 top incoming traffic websites”. Winner may choose from any of the Halloween costumes available on the Spirit Halloween website, including “Theatrical Quality” costumes that retail for $100+. Winner may also choose from a child costume or baby costume. Some costumes may be sold out by October 15th, so be sure to pick your favorite now and a 2nd choice as well.

RULES:
–Link to 365Halloween.com from your website using the provided banner above. Multiple websites will be considered multiple entries.
–Be sure to include easy to locate contact information on your website. If we are unable to locate your contact information, or you take longer than 24 hours to respond to the winning announcement e-mail, then we will randomly select another winner from the remaining 19 entries.
-Only legitimate websites and incoming traffic will be counted. No bot-generated websites or traffic sent through illegal means (e.g. a script or bot). Violators will be disqualified.
-Contest open to US residents only.

For questions please contact 365 Halloween.

Here are just some of the Theatrical Quality Costumes available to choose from:

View all Theatrical Quality Costumes available from Spirit Halloween.

This article idea has been simmering in my brain for nearly 13 years, since my first viewing of Point Break and subsequent infatuation with the bank robbing Ex-Presidents it featured. I’ve always been a little fascinated by real ex-presidents, and when adding dated suits, guns, and a commanding presence into the mix, I was drooling to recreate their costumes for Halloween. As time went on I noticed lots more films that featured badass main characters that simply wore a suit and a few equally easy to obtain accessories, and realized that a suit is a very versatile Halloween costume item. These are also office-friendly, which is cool since finding an appropriate yet fun costume for work can be daunting. Since many people already have one on-hand, and adults are notorious for last-minute costumes, I knew this post could help inspire some quick, sleek, group costumes.

So we’ll start with the Ex-Presidents from Point Break. This might be the hardest set of costumes to recreate due to the diversity of the suits and the chosen presidents, but it’s definitely going to look the coolest. (To give you a point of reference for their styles of suits, and as an excuse to brush up on your history, I’ll also be listing their years of presidency.) On the far left we have Richard Nixon (37th prez from 69-74) wearing black pants, a gray jacket, red tie, and Nixon mask. Next is Jimmy Carter (39th prez from 77-81) wearing head to toe brown (jacket, pants & tie) and Carter mask. Ronald Reagan (40th prez from 81-89) is the best dressed of the bunch in tuxedo, black bow tie, and Reagan mask. Although, note that the style of mask worn in the movie isn’t in production anymore, so if you find an old one be sure to snatch it up. Finally there’s good old Lyndon B. Johnson (36th prez from 63-69) wearing a light gray jacket, light brown pants, black tie and LBJ mask. I’ve seen Johnson masks available at sporadic times in the last 13 years, but currently there are none available that I can find. (If anyone finds a supplier, please leave the info in the comments!) Everyone should be wearing a white button-up shirt (except for Reagan who wears a dressier tux-friendly shirt) and white gloves. If anyone wants to identify the different guns they’re carrying, that would be a big help. (UPDATE: See comments for gun info.) There’s not much online in the way of reference photos, but Infinite Coolness has the biggest gallery. A dressed-down version of the Ex-Presidents costume can be seen on Flickr.

If you’ve got a simple black suit, white button-up shirt, black tie, and black sunglasses, you’ve got several easy movie character costume options. For a group of people, Reservoir Dogs makes an impressive and simple group costume. Just make sure the ties are skinny, the glasses are Ray Ban (except for Mr. Orange), and that you each pick your moniker: Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, Mr. Brown, or Mr. Blue. But don’t just settle for the look; if you’re going to wear the costume you’re going to need the attitude and some quotes. Delivery is of the utmost importance in any costume, but it is crucial when your outfit and accessories are simple and could be easily confused for “some dudes in suits”.

Same thing goes for Men In Black costumes. Just change the black tie to a wider width, get a pair of Ray Ban Predator sunglasses (Predator 2 for Agent J and Pedator 8 for Kay) and get your quotes & delivery down. The replica guns are no longer in production, but you can often find them on ebay. New Eye Studio makes a replica Neuralizer that can be ordered over the phone. And here’s a closer look at the actual suit.

While a defined jaw isn’t going to hurt, what you really need for an Agent Smith costume is the black suit, black tie, silver bar tie clip, earpiece, slicked hair, and sunglasses. You’ll have to run through the revelation monologue at least once while you’re in this costume, and it never hurts to memorize a few fight scene poses in case you encounter another Matrix character. For a more innovative take on Agent Smith, check out this costume from ComiCon. But please, don’t even think about wearing facial hair with this costume. You have to make sacrifices for a great costume, and sometimes shaving is one of them.

The final suit costume requires the right hair for both people, but this one is always a cult favorite. Yep, Vincent and Jules from Pulp Fiction. There’s a new wig out this year that is perfect for Jules’ mini-fro. He sports some crazy facial hair so either grow your own or you’ll need huge sideburns, goatee & moustache, and soul patch. Vincent’s hair is a very simple style (long, straight, with slightly shorter layers in the front), but there’s no perfect wig available. I think the best bet would be the High Society wig due to the layers in front and the ends that flip slightly outward, but that side part looks like it might be trouble to change. The next best thing is the Unisex Pageboy wig, and if you straightened out the ends so they didn’t flip under and cut some layers around the front, then you’d be all set. John Travolta has a signature widow’s peak so unless you were born with one, you need to fake it with a bit of black eyeliner. Bonus points if you have a cleft in your chin! If you opt for a Vincent & Mia couples costume then swap out the black tie for a bolero and add some cowboy boots. (Try post-overdose Mia to shake things up!) If you haven’t already memorized all the best monologues and one-liners from Pulp Fiction, be sure to do so before Halloween. For an alternate version, add some faux brain/skull splatter on your suit!

There’s probably tons of great pop culture characters that I’m missing here, so please leave your suggestions for suited costume ideas below. If you’ve recreated any of these costumes (or have found some online) you know we want to see pictures, so send them our way. Good luck with your costuming!

If you’ve ever been searching for costumes online you’ve most likely come across BuyCostumes before. Being big fans of zombies in general I went searching for some new releases from BuyCostumes. I was pleasantly surprised to find more zombie costumes new for 2006.

Hospitals are a likely place for a zombie outbreak to begin so it is fitting I start with a Zombie Doctor costume. This particular one looks like a good all inclusive costume. With full doctor outfit and rotting parts showing through in the right places, this costume will make dressing up easy this Halloween.

After further searching I was surprised to find a mask for FlyBoy, from the original Dawn of the Dead, one our favorite zombies ever. The product page says it is an official George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Deadâ„¢ product, so I’m holding out hope for more from this line. Although this is only a mask, it seems easy enough to find a white button up shirt and some brown pants. Then throw some fake blood on yourself and you’re all set. Don’t forget to stagger and limp!

As much as we like our zombies here at Mable’s we also can’t get enough of pirates, and when there are zombie pirates I can’t let this post end without mentioning them. Buy Costumes calls this a High Seas Pirate. There is another that isn’t new for 2006, but it still fits the bill. It is simply called Zombie Pirate Walk-Around, which looks more like a Scooby Doo type dead pirate than a dead pirate Captain Jack Sparrow might run into.

RELATED: Pirate Costumes, Zombie Costumes.