Does it come in black? Part 2

"And then, quite separately, we place another order to a Chinese company for these."
"Put it together ourselves."
"Precisely."  – Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne

 

Recently I have lamented quite a little bit about my attention being split from side projects, and some of them having caused significant delays in creating the batsuit, but these things are not altogether without their own merits.



Things being what they are, and crazy being crazy, they are still moments in my impossible schedule where I manage to derive great pleasure from my somewhat less-than-philanthropic efforts.  Besides working on my very first commissioned costume piece, which was already featured in the previous posts, I've also found some time to help build a Halloween party location in Campbellville, as well as a haunted Halloween maze at the PhatBoys Halloween Bootique in Mississauga (pictures forthwith).



Secret Wishes Thigh-High Boot Tops



The flipside of course, is that the clock is still ticking, and I have only 15 days left to finish all the work necessary.  That is an extremely uncomfortable timeline, and I am immensely grateful for anything that would help speed up for simplify the work at this point.



So naturally when I saw that PhatBoys carries boot tops, I couldn't resist picking a pair up for myself. Afterall as great as my boots are, they are only 10 inches tall, and by no means do they cover my calf to the knee (as would be accurate to the Nolan costume).  So, these Secret Wishes "Thigh-High Boot Tops" seemed like a great idea at the time.

Comparision - Stock boot top vs. bare 10" boot

Little did I remember in my excitement at the time, that Secret Wishes is in fact a Rubie's Costumes brand, and well, I've already had to repair one item of theirs (namely the cowl) stemming from faulty manufacturing.

First of all, credit where credit is due:  PhatBoys carries a lot of amazing products, and, had I purchased these boot tops to be used for their original purpose (which is to turn a pair of ladies shoes into thigh-high boots for a day), I'm sure they would look great.  Not so much, when I'm trying to hack a single-purpose product for unintended use.



Modified boot tops - side view

Put side-by-side with the original boot, the general sentiment was, that "it looked like an old man's booties from the hospital".  I'm sure even Bruce in his old age would find this wholly unacceptable, not to mention the hordes of Batman fantatics out there that would run screaming like little girls.

So the wheels of deliberation, enginuity, and reverse engineering spins.  I present modification plans to my mother, and we spend a couple of hours hacking the piece to specifications, chopping off the top and bottom, and seaming the trunk back together, all the while complaining about the bad workmanship of "Made in China".

And voila.  No more old man's booties, the full glory of the 10 inch combat boots (or at least the shoe part of it), and the now- knee-high boot tops blend in exactly the way they should, looking like they could even pass for part of the shoe itself.  All I have to do is replace those scrapped inner gauntlet pieces for a stock sheet of 6mm EVA.

Hack win.



Modified boot tops - front view

An Airdrop

"It's a problem with the graphite, sir. The next 10,000 will be up to specifications."
"At least they gave us a discount."
"Quite. In the, uh, meantime, Sir, may I suggest you try to avoid landing on your head?" – Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne

While work is ongoing to help bring the armor templating back on course, a care package came through across the border via a friend's planned visit, on relatively short notice, which deserves a rather gigantic personal thank you.



Adult Batman Full Mask



Even through a bout of baggage loss and holds, my friends find a way to pull through, which is absolutely amazing.

So for your visual pleasure, I present to you the Adult Batman Full Mask, Adult Batman Utility Belt, and the River Road Pecos Mesh Gloves.

For being the most expensive item on this particular trip, I'm thoroughly disappointed with the Adult Batman Full Mask.  While I completely understand that this is supposed to be a one-size-fit-all kind of item, and that I was probably going to have to make do with some foam lining on the inside, there were a number of manufacturer's imperfections on the item, the least of which being frequent bumps, scuffs and discoloration on the mask's exterior, no doubt due to a bad molding or mold release.

Aside from that, the nose sockets were uneven AND misaligned, and the eye sockets have imperfections in the edges.

A rip above the closure

The worst was the velcro on the back.  Not only did the terrible sewing job start to tear as soon as I tried to undo the velcro to inspect the closure, there was a gigantic dollop of a bump right at the top of the closure, which led the back of the mask to rip as soon as I tried it on for fitting.  Huge disappointment.

And this is supposed to be an officially licensed product.  For $34.99, us amateurs could've done better.  DC, it's time to stop outsourcing your manufacturing to China.  That said, I'm hoping with some work I could still recover this mask and be able to get some amount of use out of it.

River Road Pecos Mesh Gloves

On the bright side of course, the other two items were absolutely spectacular.  The River Road Pecos Mesh Gloves were exactly how I imagined for them to be, and because of the good tailoring, I am almost afraid of ruining it by adding any more features to them.

If I do, it'll be only to add some knuckle guards, and maybe a little bit of resistive thread on the fingertips for the touch phones.

I really can't say enough about these gloves.  They're comfortable, they're an absolute perfect fit (Thanks to the amazing online help at Motorcycle Superstore), not to mention the quality is just superb.  Very cool.

Adult Batman Utility Belt

Last but not least, the Adult Batman Utility Belt.  Overall, no complaints about the item.  The quality of the item is good, and it is exactly as ordered.  Plastic, which is a bit of a shame, as it will probably see less years than it should, but then again, the detail on this thing is just gorgeous.

While I'm probably going to do some work on this item, namely replace the velcro closure at the back with a plastic buckle, and add a foam and velcro lining in the front to accomodate an inner belt, I'm glad this item came as ordered, and will accomodate various standard-sized holsters with little difficulty.

Does it come in black?

There's never been a huge amount of talk about Batman's boots.  Yet another little-attended part of the costume, Batman's boots has always been regarded as simply a part, or an extension of the suit itself.

Batman's Boots are essential to crime-fighting

That having been said, Batman's boots are an essential part of his crime-fighting outfit.  As the caped crusader swings through Gotham's treacherous terrain, dodging gunfire, knife cuts and various types of assault, the boots must be durable and comfortable.  Not to mention that the recent animated and Nolan film incarnations have begun to add various hidden gadgets inside and as part of the boots themselves.

This had me thinking quite a long time about the boots.  The original intent was to have a durable, stylish pair of boots that would fit both the bill and the budget.

Unfortunately, the process for tracking down the RedHead Front Zip 10" Waterproof Lined Rubber Boots had been notoriously difficult.  In fact, it was excrutiating to the point of absolute ridicule.

As an internet marketer myself, I must say that Bass Pro Shops has majorly failed in delivering in customer experience, satisfaction, and product availability.  The boots currently appear as a clearance item online, but every size is out of stock online, and the product is indicated to be available in stores only.

So I decided to visit my only local Bass Pro Shop to find the product.  After searching through the footwear section, and consulting two associates and a customer service representative, I was told that not only does the Vaughan Canada store not stock the product in question, but that they simply do not follow their own corporate website at all.

My friend in Mesa Arizona had pretty much a similar experience at his local store, finding nothing in either the footwear nor clearance sections, and was told that the product was not in stock when he called a day later.

Edit (18-Jun):  From an online support ticket...

Response (Debbie)06/15/2012 06:39 AM
Derek,
Thank you for contacting basspro.com. Your business is truly appreciated.I am sorry, however, this boot has been discontinued and is no longer available.
Best regards,
Debbie
Bass Pro Shops
2500 E Kearney
Springfield, MO 65898
1-800-BASS-PRO

All that trouble for one simple, lousy pair of rubber boots.



Bat Boots... Begins

After a few more searches and generally disappointing results, I ran into some dumb luck.  A local shoe store was holding a closing sale, and they carried a 10" nondiscript pair of black leather boots, allegedly made by a local footwear company.

I ended up bagging these at 50% off for $45 + tax, which is a little bit more than the cost of the RedHeads, but the fact that they are genuine leather, is more than worth that price.  It will probably need some kind of sleeve to extend the length of the boot, but they will do nicely I think.

Bat-Gadgets: The Bat-Phone

"It's the Bat-Phone." – Alfred Pennyworth

Although probably not one of the more exciting Bat-Gadgets of all time, the Bat-Phone has always been an essential tool in Batman's arsenal, helping to relay critical information to Batman and his aides in a timely manner for the purposes of crimefighting.

The Bat-Phone has evolved much over the decades, starting from the big red pulse-dial clunker in 1966, to the more recent incarnations of a high-tech mobile cellular device in the Nolan films, capable of performing many cool detective tricks like sonar imaging and all kinds of smart phone stuff.

Be it as it may, the TV and film incarnations of the Bat-Phone have always seemed to focus on the tactile, handheld device.  With technology the way it is these days, you'd think that Batman would simply hide a bluetooth earpiece inside his headset, and set a speed dial on his oh-so-trusty iPh... erm...  I mean Bat-Phone, so that he could call Alfred when he's in serious trouble.

Plantronics Explorer 210 Bluetooth Headset

Which, is why I've secured myself a new Plantronics Explorer 210 Bluetooth headset, to hide under the cowl.  A very ridgid body with a slim profile, comfortable in-ear speaker with a contoured ear-tip delivers decent enough sound (you have to turn it all the way up if there's a lot of road noise, but otherwise it's fine on medium), and I'd say decent battery life (8 hours talk time, 8 days standby), all packaged in only 11.5 grams of weight.

Cool part is, it only cost me $21.99, and I earned $0.44 maCashback for getting it through SHOP.COM.  Hey Nolan, time to get Christian Bale one of these, don't you think?