This should have been a Halloween post, but as most of my friends and family will tell you, I am late for everything anyway. So, no reason why this should be any different.
In post trick-or-treat years, I didn’t have much occasion to dress up in costume again and most of the time whenever I did, it wasn’t Halloween. One of my batches of friends from college (hello, Swams!) had a habit of throwing costume and theme parties year ’round, not just Halloween. Beach parties in the middle of February, that kind of thing. My costume for most of these events was usually that of Drunk Blonde Chick. For the beach party, it was Drunk Blonde Chick with Red Ray-Bans, Sandals, & a Lei. You get the general idea.
The one time I did actually go in costume at Halloween was a Halloween party one of the school clubs was having my senior year in high school, fall of 1983, and that was my favorite costume ever. I wish I had an picture of me dressed up, but for some reason nobody took any photos that night, so you’ll just have to use your imagination. I borrowed an old baseball uniform and bat that had once belonged to my then-boyfriend’s older brother and went as this guy you see here.
Actually, I didn’t go as this one, I went as one of his comrades – the blue-faced Fury, to be specific. The purple-faced action figure was just the only one I could find a decent picture of. Anyway, this is pretty much what I looked like, except instead of purple and black, blue and black, with some subtle differences. And I am not made out of plastic. But I was pretty scary looking as a Fury, or at least as scary-looking as a 5’2″ Baseball Fury could be.
So, if “The Baseball Furies” means nothing to you, I’m not sure we can be friends anymore. Well, OK, I guess we can. But you’re on probation now. I’m just sayin’. Unless you’re under 30-35 and then I guess to be fair I’m forced to cut you some slack, I s’pose.
When I was zipping around looking for photos, I must have come across a bazillion pics of folks dressed up as the Furies – including one of my fellow NIT bloggers who’s done the Fury thing before (and also Luther!) – so that kinda tickled me to find the Furies continue to be a popular costume. For those of you who don’t know (and that are now on probation, heh), the Baseball Furies were one of the many gangs who tried to stop the Warriors from getting back home to Coney Island in the 1979 film of the same name (The Warriors, duh).
Unfortunately, the Furies were also probably the biggest pussies of all the gangs that came across the Warriors’ path, but they had the coolest costumes. (And a bit of Warriors trivia – rather than other actors, the Furies were all stunt men who were working on the set.)
There was no film more revered in Camden, Tennessee in the early to mid-Eighties. There are probably about 116 Camden natives of a certain age (mine) that have the dubious ability, still to this day, 25-ish years later, to be able to quote that movie from start to finish, because we all watched it forty hundred and eleven times. Around 1982-83, not too many people had VCRs yet (I know that’s incomprehensible to some these days) – I had one at my house, a few of my friends had them at theirs. It just became a ritual. Too boring uptown? Let’s all go to JBird’s and watch The Warriors. Too hot and tired of swimming at Lynnster’s? Let’s go inside and put The Warriors in. Snow and ice falling everywhere and they’ve canceled school tomorrow? Let’s all go out to Ang’s and watch The Warriors. Twice. And spend the night (girls upstairs, boys in the basement) and all get up in the morning and watch it AGAIN.
So, the action figures! If I had a lot of cash to blow, I’d be tempted to buy ‘em all. They have them at ToyWiz.com. The original series all came in dirty (bloody) and clean versions. The Ajax one is quite rare and priced high. They also have the blue Fury (MY Fury) priced at $749.99 but I suspect that’s an error. And here’s the funny thing… they all come with several little accessories. For instance, the Luther action figure comes with a tiny broken bottle, so you can re-enact the whole “Warriors… come out to pla-ay…” scene perfectly. If you do that kind of thing. Which I would never do. (ahem)
I was a big Twin Peaks fan back in the day and it just pleased me to no end when David Patrick Kelly, who was Luther in The Warriors, showed up in Twin Peaks as Jerry Horne. But I digress yet again…
Anyway, back to my Halloween costume as the blue Baseball Fury. There was one really bad thing about that costume that was an unpleasant surprise. About two hours into the party, that makeup started itching like hell. By the time I left the party, I’d scratched a good bit of it off, and what didn’t come off was a bitch to get off later. And my face looked like a tomato for the next week, it was so red and swollen from all the itching and scratching.
But still, it was worth it. Best costume EVER.
If there’s a next time, tho, I think I’ll just dye my hair black and go as Mercy. Much, much easier, and for anyone who doesn’t get the in-joke, they’ll just think I’m dressed as a hooker anyway.
