We’ve had a number of requests for Crypto-Man Halloween costumes.  Unfortunately, and not surprisingly given the newness of our franchise, none of the costume makers have picked up on the idea as of yet.

But, never fear!  Crypto-Man comes to the rescue with instructions on how to craft one of his costumes from easy to obtain materials that won’t set you back an arm and a leg.

Here’s what you do:

For the under-suit, you can use camouflage sweat pants and a long sleeve Camouflage T-Shirt (be sure to select the “Woodland Camo” pattern).  We obtained these items from Uncle Sam’s Army Navy Outfitters.  They have locations in New York City, Buffalo and Toronto, Canada, but also do much of their business online mail order.  (We’re putting hotlink to the retailer websites up in the “Links” area for your convenience in contacting the suppliers).

We have seen the under-suit garments at Wal-Mart and K-Mart from time to time in the sporting goods section, but these are not always available or may not be the correct camouflage pattern.

You can also contact All Tech Stitching here in Central Florida to obtain the under-suit components.  They also have the artwork to add the breast insignia for Crypto-Man so that you won’t have to hand apply the iron-on T-Shirt transfer yourself.  Ask for Frank Tilley who will assist you with your selections.  He is aware of the proper pattern and materials.

The above instructions work great for teen and adult size costumes.  For younger children, we found camo suits for kids at Wal-Mart that work perfectly – these include both the long sleeve T-Shirt and the sweat pants as one outfit.

If you decide to “rough it” and make an iron-on transfer of the breast insignia, you can download the artwork here:

Breast Insignia Artwork

You’ll need a package of Avery Ink Jet Dark T-Shirt Tranfers from your office supply store to make the breast insignia.  Just print the downloaded artwork onto the transfer sheet as per the instructions that come with the transfer package.

Remember, that these transfers, while they state that they are machine washable, do fade out quickly, do if you’re planning to re-use the costume, you’ll be better off having All Tech Stitching or another similar outfit make the under-suit for you.

Since the breast insignia is black, you’ll want to cut out the insignia (the dark transfers are printed on a white background) leaving about a ¼ inch white margin around the insignia so that it stands out against the camouflage pattern of the under-suit.  If you’re making a suit for a child, remember to reduce the printed size of the breast insignia using the printer set up when you print the image so that it will be appropriate to the size of the T-Shirt it will be transferred to.

Then simply center the transfer and iron on the insignia as directed on the Avery package.

For the orange briefs, you can use a hunter orange of tangerine classic brief style Speedo bathing suit or, for larger sizes, we adapted the Merona seamless, European style briefs we bought at Target Stores.  These are not available in orange, but we purchased white ones and dyed them with Rit tangerine dye from the supermarket.  Since these briefs are made of nylon and spandex, you may have to repeat the dying process a couple of times to achieve the dark tangerine coloration needed.

For the cape, we chose a solid Hunter’s Orange/Tangerine cotton blend fabric from Wal-Mart and the McCall’s costume cape sewing pattern #2853 (Pattern G shown on the front of the package).  The amount of cape material you’ll need is indicated on the back of the pattern package – generally about 4 yards.  You’ll be able to make a simple bandana mask out of the excess cape material.

Be sure that the colors of the briefs, cape and mask match each other – so start shopping for fabric with the briefs already in hand.

Socks and Boots are easy.  Just wear dark green socks that match well with the camouflage pattern and a pear of dark black or green hunting boots.

The final touch is the Crypto-Man gadget watch.  We picked the Eddie Bauer Digital Trail Compass (model #EB9980CP), which not only looks cool, but is useful for outdoors folks who like to hike even when it’s not Halloween.  We bought this item at Target Stores in their camping/sporting goods section.

For younger children, you may want to get a watch prop that is more suited to their age.

We hope that these ideas help you and yours to have a Happy Halloween!