Squid Game costumes: Where to buy (or go DIY) for Halloween

For once, the hot Halloween costume of the year isn’t an improbably sexualized version of a beloved character who seemed impossible to sexualize, or a real-life person turned popular meme. According to Google and retailers, this year’s most popular costumes are from Squid Game, the Korean battle royale series that’s become an international Netflix sensation

It’s no wonder people are excited by the idea of Squid GameCostumes: It is now a major cultural icon, often featured on the news or in social media memes. This series features vivid color and memorable, instantly recognisable costume designs. It lends itself easily to group costumes.

For people concerned about COVID transmission at Halloween parties, parades, or other big gatherings, there’s even a noticeable bonus — the guards and high-rollers wear masks. So does the games’ mysterious Front Man, for those who’d rather go the solo costume route.

However, anyone searching for an easy and fast Halloween solution should pay attention to where and what they choose. Online retailers are flooded with options to purchase impulse items due to the popularity of a popular Halloween show. However, most options will disappoint customers and could lead to them not having costumes for Halloween.

Amazon listing details: Read carefully

A display of Squid Game costumes and masks in a shop at Yiwu Wholesale Market, Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China

Photo: Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images

A quick search for “Squid Game costume” on Amazon turns up hundreds of options — but virtually none of them are available through the site’s premium shipping service. Unbelievably high proportions of these listings came from suppliers who are based in China and ship from China. It might be fun to outwit the mobs.Squid Game soldier cosplayers by instead dressing up as the series’ creepy giant Red Light, Green Light robot girl, it’s important to check not just the proposed delivery date, but where the costume is actually shipping from. In the case of this particular costume, the “fastest delivery” option still might not arrive until Nov. 2. And a huge percentage of Amazon’s Squid GameCostume listings indicate November and December arrival dates. Due to the huge shipping delays currently impacting industries around the world, there is little chance of a costume arriving in time for Halloween.

There are important things to remember, even if your costume arrives on-time from an overseas shipper. China’s clothing tends to be very small according to American and European standards. Therefore, even XL orXXL listed costumes may not suit people who are used. You should also consider the following: Squid Game only premiered worldwide in late September, so there hasn’t been much time for clothing and costume companies to put legitimate options together — even the kind of hilariously cheap knockoff costumesThese images are shared on social media every Halloween. Chinese factories have raced to satisfy the demand worldwide. Squid Game tie-ins (even though the show isn’t legally available in China!). However, the quality of any show produced so quickly will be poor.

There’s also the high probability that many of these listings are outright scams. Most of them don’t have photos of the actual product — they’re either using PR stills from the series, or copy-pasting the text and the same few images from other listings. Some listings might have been stolen by scammers. This listing is an example. Squid Game tracksuits claims to be from a Michigan-based seller with a 100% review rating — but if you check the reviews, they’re for vitamin supplements, not clothing.

The fact that most of the listing companies are new and have no user ratings yet means you can’t count on any of them having successfully shipped product to anyone yet. One or two listings that Polygon began tracking just two weeks ago are gone. Be aware that the company promising to make you an impulse buy today might not be around tomorrow.

Netflix isn’t playing the game

An “official Squid Game outlet” website

Photo via Polygon

The problem isn’t limited to Amazon. A number of sites have sprung up purporting to be “official Squid Game” or “original Squid Game” shops. But these outlets notably lack any Netflix-related branding or integration, which suggests they’re pirate sites, either selling counterfeit merchandise, or not delivering merchandise at all. They have the same problems as the vendors operating through Amazon — few if any pictures of the actual products, unlikely turnaround promises, delivery dates that often fall after Halloween.

Walmart has announced an enormous new online buying hub for Netflix-affiliated products. This includes licensed merchandise. The WitcherAnd Stranger ThingsAlso, Squid Game. But while a perusal of Walmart’s Squid Game merch does include some fun stuff — like a pretty cute knockoff Squid Game Lego-people style playsets and an assortment of Squid Game plushies — the costumes have the same problem as the ones on Amazon. Watch out for costume offers that only use photos from the show, products where the “arrives by” arrival date is after Halloween (sometimes four months after Halloween!Non-returnable costumes. A lot of these options look legitimate and sanctioned, until you start looking at the details — or until the host sites abruptly yank the listings.

This happened when one Walmart pet listing was made. Squid Game Costumes. This listing originally appeared on Etsy. The images were duplicated many times. But, Walmart put them up for a few more days before they were removed. Again, before punching that “buy” button, it’s worth checking the listing history and ratings — and with something unique, Googling it to see where else it’s turned up.

Two cats and a dog in green Squid Game tracksuits from a defunct online listing

Image: Walmart.com

In fact, there are only a few listings out there that don’t feel like a guess and a gamble. Amazon Prime offers Front Man masks or soldiers from one seller. The item is listed as “in-stock” and will be delivered by the 27th of October at latest. Another seller is offering “premium T-shirt” options, which feature the competitor numbers of series protagonist Seong Gi-hun, first player Oh Il-nam, or Gi-hun’s old friend and bitter rival Cho Sang-woo. These shirts can be purchased as official Squid Game tie-in merch, but they aren’t much of a costume on their own, unless you’re going for the low-key “suggestion of a costume without getting crazy about it” look. But add the masks to the right color of pink or black hoodie, and people will at least know what you’re going for.

Or if you’re feeling lucky, you can always spin the roulette wheel on the many, many other listings out there. You can be sure that there are plenty of sellers eager to make a profit from the high temporary demand. It is important to understand the risks involved and which games others are playing, as well, like with the squid-game.

#Squid #Game #costumes#buy #DIY#Halloween