This is just the coolest thing!

This Halloween costume is based upon the imagery from the Ralph Bakshi film The Lord of the Rings, which came out in November 1978 and this costume went on sale in the fall of 1979 as part of the merchandising for the film.

“Very nice Precious… very nice!”

This collection images of a Lord of the Rings Gollum Halloween costume and a Lord of the Rings Frodo box were up for auction HERE on the Savacool & Sons.

A series of Halloween costumes came out in 1979, following the release of the Ralph Bakshi film The Lord of the Rings in 1978. I doubt the there are more then a handful of these left in the world. If you look closely at the images below, you can just make out the Tolkien Enterprises copyright, which of course is now Middle-earth Enterprises a subsidiary of the Saul Zaentz Company, which holds the film rights to both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

The costumes were  designed by Ben Cooper Inc, who manufactured Halloween costumes from the late 1930s to the late 1980s. It was one of the three largest Halloween costume manufacturers in the U.S. from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. The company’s inexpensive plastic masks and vinyl smocks were an iconic American symbol of Halloween for decades. Cooper has been called the “Halston of Halloween” and the “High Priest” of Halloween. Go HERE to see the Ben Cooper concept art for Gollum’s Mask.

The costume was printed by Collegeville out of Collegeville, PA which was know for their Halloween costumes from that era! Go HERE to see a sampling of their other vintage costumes.