Massive costume collection highlights 44th annual toy show

A display of one of the Midwest's largest vintage, boxed Halloween costume collections was among the highlights Sunday at the Fall Chicago Toy Show in St. Charles.

The massive assortment of some 400 costumes is the culmination of more than 30 years of collecting by South Elgin resident Chris Ecker, who began accumulating them in 1985 with a 1959 Superman costume made by Ben Cooper, Inc.

"I recall going into the Ben Franklin store with my dad every fall and being mesmerized by the shelves of brightly colored boxes and hanging displays of monstrous and heroic costumes made by Ben Cooper and Collegeville costumes", Ecker said in an announcement that his collection was going on display. "The 60s and 70s were a great time to be a kid at Halloween if you were into pop culture and superheroes."

Ecker was among about 600 exhibitors of toys and dolls at the show, held at the Kane County Fairgrounds.

Others included Bob Pettoruto, a master puppeteer and ventriloquist who specializes in ventriloquist dolls and repairs at his Geppettos Workshop in Naperville. Among his prized ventriloquist dolls is a vintage Howdy Doody doll, along with a Laurel and Hardy pair.

If Teenage Ninja Turtles were your thing, Ray Punzalan of Carol Stream had dozens of NY Comic Con Funko Exclusives available from Hotsauce Games in Westmont.