Transformable Transformer, Halloween 2007, The One That Started it All

At the time, my Halloween costumes were usually store bought and relatively simple, although my first five Halloween costumes were homemade by my mother. When I thought of what I had been the year before, an army man consisting of camo patterned long sleeves and cargo pants, I wanted to be something better but nothing on the shelves were worth buying. Transformers had just come out the Summer before, and that's when it clicked for me. I didn't need to buy costumes, I was completely capable of making it (with the help of my dad). I didn't have the time nor any idea how to make it more complex, so I went with a simple shell design to keep it all together (even now I'm trying to think of how I could make it better).



Putting this together is simpler than it looks, to see how I did it, keep reading.


I decided the back end of the car would be attached to my feet, and the cheapest way to do that is glue some cheap flip flops to it. I think we ended up using half a tube of caulking making sure it stuck on. Bracers were put on either side so the sides of the car didn't flop out.



The front half of the car would be attached to my arms with my hands gripping the front loops. We thought velcro would be the best way to keep my arms in when really anything in a loop would have worked just as well. Once I held on it wasn't going anywhere.



The windowed section of the car, spoiler (gotta have a spoiler on a race car), and hood are all connected here, with the hood being a separate flap to follow the angles of the side. Not a lot of thought went into how this would strap onto me and how it all worked; we ended up hooking it together with two arm straps like a backpack and a third strap holding those two close.


Here's the full car in all its glory. There's plenty of gap issues about it, but it got the job done.


And the finished project. This was done with plain old Rustoleum spray paint and stickers for most of the details. Bumpers, wheels, and door handles were added to help break the flat sides of it. If I remember right, the window edging was done with electrical tape. Hey, if it works, it works.



The helmet was the only store bought part of this; with the deadline of Halloween getting too close, I just didn't have time nor did I plan to make a different head.



And then there's the video I have of this costume with over one million views. I have no idea why so many people have watched me curl up on the ground for two minutes, but hey I'm not complaining.

(Only SD video)

Notes for next time:

• Take the time to sketch out a complex transformation. While the shell worked, to me it felt lacking in its "robot" mode. By keeping it a shell it left more to be desired, it ended up making look like exactly what it was: a bunch of cardboard strapped to me.
• Have a system in place to reduce gaps. Small lips on each side would help prevent overlapping (which became a problem later on) and keep the overall look clean. With the use of magnets and lips a cohesive "vehicle" mode could be made.
• Plan for the unexpected. The hood would get caught up, bent back against the windshield leaving my head out in the open. The spoiler broke off halfway through getting it on (solved with a bolt straight through the piece).
• Be ambitious, but not too ambitious. I had planned on the back being able to hold the night's trick-or-treating haul, but there's no way it could have supported that, not with where it is right now. A better idea would have been to attach a backpack onto the inside of the back to keep it secured higher on me and have it at least partly functional.

This is just the first of many to come...