Before

This is Cooper. He’s a funny guy. He has a great laugh, and has frequently been described by others as ‘silly’. He’s too little to understand it, just yet, but as it turns out… his parents are insane. They are the type of folks that would set out on a mission to “out-do” the surprisingly popular Halloween costume that made little Cooper the Absolute Best Kid of 2012 in just TWO WEEKS!

FI1C0164

While the cardboard DeLorean all started with Coop’s red puffy vest and a side comment from his dad, this year’s costume started a bit more deliberately with a brainstorming session between his parents as they recalled things they loved as children of the 80s. Both software engineers by day, they are creative tinkerers by night, and when they have an idea they can become fully consumed by it. His mom, an artist, and his dad, a photographer\videographer; they figured they MUST combine their forces to conquer Cooper's second Halloween and with nothing more appropriate than the beloved Ghostbusters!!!!

Ecto-1 Park

Armed with a hand-me-down Step2 push car, cardboard boxes repurposed from their recent move, spare electronics from an old vehicle, salsa cups from Mexican take-out, empty pop bottles, LEDs from the local electronics store, and some paint and tape they were well equipped. Coop’s costume wouldn’t be as easy as buying a red vest from Old Navy; his mom searched for help among like-minded geek artists and collided with Etsy seller JezebelRose. Two weeks of late nights and long weekends and Cooper’s parents saw their vision come to life. They had the GB theme stuck in their heads countless times, their little Cooper can now answer the question “Who you gonna call?!?!” with an enthusiastic “Ghostbusters!!!”, and they managed to build a pretty legit Ecto-1 and fully armed mini-Ghostbuster to scare any right-minded ghosts immediately into submission.

y u no call

Contributors

Cory Newton-Smith (mom): Cardboard Ecto-1 construction and painting; Ecto Goggle construction; Costume assembly;

Jeremy Newton-Smith (dad): Ecto-1 electronics (head\tail\accessory lights, Bluetooth audio driven by Windows Phone app playing Ghostbuster’s theme and Ghostbusters’ sound effects)

JezebelRose (TheSubtleGeek): Amazing Felt Proton Pack and Ghost Trap