1963 AMAZING SPIDERMAN BEN COOPER HALLOWEEN COSTUME * Pre-MMMS / Pre-Marvelmania

$

996

This auction is for an impossibly-rare "SPIDER-MAN" Halloween costume manufactured by Ben Cooper, Inc. in 1963.  This costume appeared in stores just one year after Marvel's now-famous Spider-Man made his first appearance in AMAZING FANTASY #15 in 1962.  Only three known complete examples of this set are publicly known to exist, and one can be seen on the Hero Envy web site for anyone wishing to compare this set, and by "complete" that means the box, the mask, and the costume are all present and together.

The costume, box, and mask are all 100% original and authentic.  This set has been meticulously compared to two other sets and the details of the three costumes, masks, and boxes each match 100% to be certain that this is the real deal and authentic.  

A clear "1963" date appears on both the box and the costume.  A complete history of this costume is documented in THE FULL-COLOR GUIDE TO MARVEL SILVER AGE COLLECTIBLES (published in 2014), where it is credited as being both the first piece of licensed Marvel merchandise of the Silver Age and the first piece of licensed Spider-Man merchandise, arriving on the scene over a full year before the Merry Marvel Marching Society (MMMS) kicked off in late 1964.  

The box with the 1963 copyright turns up every once in a while, with maybe ten examples that are known to exist, and that box was used to sell the costumes up until 1965, but the costume with the 1963 copyright is even rarer, turning up for sale maybe three times (?).  Between its rarity and its historical importance, this auction offers what may be a once or twice in a lifetime opportunity to own one of the most historic grails of Marvel collecting.  

Condition of Mask:  Mask has very light surface wear to it, and the fragile string remains supple and firmly attached to the mask.  These 1963 masks have "USA" imprinted in them, and this one has the same factory imprint.  

Condition of Box:  Box presents well but has some flaws.   "SPIDERMAN" and the "1963" copyright are clear but there is some residue in the area.  Cellophane has no tears and is still attached to the box lid, but there is some separation.  Someone in the distant past attempted to reinforce the cellophane with some pieces of tape, but fortunately the pieces of tape aged to the point where they just flaked off and left light residual marks that can be seen by only a collector looking for such tiny kinds of flaws.  There are two small tears on the inside of the die-cut cardboard window that, again, someone attempted to repair by putting tape under the side of the cellophane; one piece is gone but another remains.  On the lid, there is a partial split to one corner (about halfway).  Graphics present well with just some surface wear and small imperfections that are visible in the scans.  Some warping to the bottom box but no splits.  See pictures for details.  

Condition of Costume:  Costume is very well preserved but shows signs of wear and that it has been worn.  Costume is distinguished by a soft cotton, felt-like front on the top and blue rayon for the rest of the suit.  The yellow cotton portion presents beautifully and appears remarkably clean with a very readable "1963" copyright, and there is no separation of the tie strings from the suit.  The blue rayon portion is very wrinkled from decades of storage and shows some dark portions from light exposure issues.  There is a large split in the crotch area.  Certainly a good ironing and some gentle cleaning could improve the rayon portion of the costume's appearance, but no attempt has been made to do that to prevent any possible damage to the suit.  

Shipping: This will be shipped USPS priority in a box with tracking for a flat $7.95.

Outside the U.S.:  If you live outside the U.S., this will ship  for  $28.   Payments from outside the U.S. MUST use paypal. 

Combined shipping: Each additional item you purchase will be shipped for free.  For example, if you buy one item or one hundred items within the space of 6 days, the shipping price will be the same:  $7.95.  The same rule applies to international shipping to customers outside of the U.S. except that the price is $28.