Thread: Spirit Store Disappointment

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Ok, yesterday my Mrs. and i went to our local Spirit store set up (here in Mississauga located at the Dixie outlet mall). Well, in a word.....disappointed.....yes i was truly saddened by what i saw. The selection isn't as good as i remember last year. The costumes and some of the smaller static props are pretty much what was offered last year but a lot of the larger stationary props and animatronics seemed to be "made in China knock off's". The quality is not there like i have seen previously. I told my Mrs. "well, you could buy one of these and take it home and add more detail and fix it up" to which she replied "but why would you pay $200-$300 and then have to fix it up more?" and i understood her point. They didn't have the Michael Myers or Jason props in store yet but most of the props they had, wouldn't scare a pre-schooler.

It seems that, with these stores lately, they have all discovered that Halloween is now a "big ticket item" and there are profits to be made so they seem to be cranking out tons and tons of cheaply made Chinese tripe to seel quickly and appease the masses, sort of like our Christmasses are nowadays, a big, commercial money maker.

This site seems to be about hand made and quality of craftsmanship and from what i have seen on some of the profiles here that seems to hold true. It's too bad that these companies aren't buying Halloween crafts and props from the persons on this forum because if they did, the shelves would be cleared in no time.

I guess the point i am trying to make is that Halloween has also moved into the realm of being another commercial big deal and, if you want something really cool but can't make it yourself and have the money, you can buy it (Skulltronix Skulls). If you can't afford it then you are stuck with the cheap knock off's available out there in just about every other store. I guess i'm glad to be a part of a forum like this where people strive to make this holiday a little better with craftmanship and uniqueness which sets us all apart from the masses.....

Well, nothing new here. That has, unfortunately, been the way it has been for as long as I can remember. The local Halloween stores around where I live all charge outrageous prices for low quality products. In most cases, you can turn around and buy the same stuff on-line for a third of the cost.

So I do most of my shopping on-line or at K-Mart where I know I am buying junk, but at least I don't pay much. I do visit the local Hallowen stores for fun. There is one in my area called The Halloween Outlet that is over 30,000 square feet of halloween goodies and done up with high end props and even a haunted house walk through. I will usually pick up something cheap like some stage blood, but the prices are INSANE. The mark ups are just ridiculous.

Here is the place if you want to take a peek.

Welcome to Halloween Outlet

Another option is buying from sellers on on-line. There are some great artists that make hand made Halloween decorations and stuff for good prices. Here is one of my favorites:

MySpace - Halloween Artist Heather Gleason - 32 - Female - BLOOMINGTON, New York - myspace.com/halloweenheather

I agree, I'm never impressed with store bought props but I do still enjoy going to look. If nothing else sometimes I can get some good ideas.

I agree. Most of the stuff at Spirit this year seemed to be very cheaply made and poor quality. Same thing with the other Halloween store I went to, Halloween USA but they were like that last year too so I expected it from them. Sad.

Well, Spirit sucks as far as I am concerned. In my neck of the woods I guess Spirit has not been selling very well, so this year they decided to only open (1) small store. This store only sells costumes. I believe they are trying to get more people to start ordering online. Well that is not going to fly with me because I am tooooo picky. I am not going to buy something that I can't try the mechanics out first. I used to just buy my Lemax and take it home only to find out something was wrong with it. Now, I open and plug in my Lemax at the store before I leave. I don't care how much of a pain in the butt I am, I am just sick of it.

I too, agree. With the popularity of Halloween booming, companies are mass producing this cheap crap all the time. The homemade stuff is still the best!

Spirit isn't even open here yet...I hope that doesn't mean it's not coming at all. No signage whatsoever. Last year they had a sign up for a month or so prior to opening...

Originally Posted by Scruffywolf

Ok, yesterday my Mrs. and i went to our local Spirit store set up (here in Mississauga located at the Dixie outlet mall). Well, in a word.....disappointed.....yes i was truly saddened by what i saw. The selection isn't as good as i remember last year. The costumes and some of the smaller static props are pretty much what was offered last year but a lot of the larger stationary props and animatronics seemed to be "made in China knock off's". The quality is not there like i have seen previously. I told my Mrs. "well, you could buy one of these and take it home and add more detail and fix it up" to which she replied "but why would you pay $200-$300 and then have to fix it up more?" and i understood her point. They didn't have the Michael Myers or Jason props in store yet but most of the props they had, wouldn't scare a pre-schooler.

It seems that, with these stores lately, they have all discovered that Halloween is now a "big ticket item" and there are profits to be made so they seem to be cranking out tons and tons of cheaply made Chinese tripe to seel quickly and appease the masses, sort of like our Christmasses are nowadays, a big, commercial money maker.

This site seems to be about hand made and quality of craftsmanship and from what i have seen on some of the profiles here that seems to hold true. It's too bad that these companies aren't buying Halloween crafts and props from the persons on this forum because if they did, the shelves would be cleared in no time.

I guess the point i am trying to make is that Halloween has also moved into the realm of being another commercial big deal and, if you want something really cool but can't make it yourself and have the money, you can buy it (Skulltronix Skulls). If you can't afford it then you are stuck with the cheap knock off's available out there in just about every other store. I guess i'm glad to be a part of a forum like this where people strive to make this holiday a little better with craftmanship and uniqueness which sets us all apart from the masses.....

Hey that isn't good lol..I am learning that we just had one open up here (not sure when it opened but I'm assuming within the last year) and hopefully it has some stuff I want..I live 40 minutes from Sauga and was going to make a trip to the store when I found out through their website they have one in my city..is there not a "huge" Halloween store there in the GTA?

Hurricanegame, there is a fantastic Halloween store in the GTA located minutes from Mississauga. It's called Aamazing (yes 2 a's) Costume and supply...Amazing Party Store - Home and they have always had the BEST selection for miles. I swear by them!!! They are located at the QEW and Kipling Ave. on the way to Toronto. They don't show a lot of stuff on the website but they have just about everything from props to Animatronics to costumes to masks.

These are my favourite Halloween stores that i frequent yearly....
Amazing Party Store - Home
CREEPERS - Canada's Creepiest Hallowe'en Superstores
Halloween Costumes - Childrens & Adult Halloween costume ideas available online on SpiritHalloween
Boneyardbargains
and for dry ice......
Dry Ice - Toronto - Fog Effects for Halloween

If i'm lyin' i'm dyin'

I ordered online a couple items from Spirit Halloween. Since then I have gotten no less then two emails a day. Of the things I ordered I was pleased with about half. The items I was disappointed with too cheap, in price, to return.