Help Identifying a Batman Cowl

I got this Cowl back in 2004 at a yard sale, in magnificent condition, over the years i have treated it very gingerly. It originally had the "footed" symbol attached to the neck, which i removed, so i know its from 1989 as they changed the symbol after that and removed the "feet" from it.

I wanted to refurbish it but latex wont stick to it. I gently washed it and still no dice. Maybe i didnt wash it right but these pics were taken after it dried, as you can see it is in very nice condition.

It is dry to the touch, not sticky like latex, it is dull almost on all parts even the inside except for a few spots on the ears, soft flexible foamed material. The only part that resembles a latex "feel" is in the nose area on the inside.

The inside is a lighter shade and almost yellowish but still black in color and the obviousness of its foam nature is seen easily.

Does anyone know what material this was made from? I remember seeing similar ones halloween 1990s on the shelves of Spencer's and some other halloween shops.


Untitled by nachtinis, on Flickr

Untitled by nachtinis, on Flickr

Untitled by nachtinis, on Flickr

It looks like the Morris Bat Cowl. If it's from 1989 then I think they are the only ones that had the DC licence for costumes back then. I always thought they were latex but not sure. Sorry I can't be more help.

Well that is more info than i had before, so, Thanks!

You could try black Plasti-Dip spray to refinish it.

Yes, it's the Morris '89 cowl. It was made of Latex, and it could be rotting. It's lost it's shape at the bottom, do you have a bust you can put it on to lift up the scalloped edges?

RacerMachX said:

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You could try black Plasti-Dip spray to refinish it.

Im trying to find out if anyone has ever tried to plasti-dip a cowl that is in this condition with success before, I might as well jst try to find anotehr cowl for my costume and instead make a space for this on my museum wall.

Eopie Herder said:

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Yes, it's the Morris '89 cowl. It was made of Latex, and it could be rotting. It's lost it's shape at the bottom, do you have a bust you can put it on to lift up the scalloped edges?

Well, no bust, not yet anyway. It usually just hangs there on the stand.

I attempted to bond (DAP) a recently pulled latex scrap to the inside of it, testing out a repair i was making, and the DAP bonded nicely with the scrap but even after several hours from the initial contact bond, all of the DAP peeled away from the cowl and stuck to the scrap.

2012-04-16_20-47-13_606 by nachtinis, on Flickr

2012-04-16_20-47-23_495 by nachtinis, on Flickr

Are you sure on this? I thought the Rubies and Morris cowls were all vinyl.
If it is indeed vinyl platsi dip will not stick to the cowl, it only owrks on latex.

Eopie Herder said:

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Yes, it's the Morris '89 cowl. It was made of Latex, and it could be rotting. It's lost it's shape at the bottom, do you have a bust you can put it on to lift up the scalloped edges?

Only in the last few years did they start using vinyl for mass produced cowls. This one is definitely latex.

And I agree with EH that maybe the latex is starting to rot which is why it's not acting like latex anymore. It's over 20 years old so wouldn't surprise me.

Finhead said:

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Are you sure on this? I thought the Rubies and Morris cowls were all vinyl.
If it is indeed vinyl platsi dip will not stick to the cowl, it only owrks on latex.

Positive. Returns cowl was Vinyl. The 89 was a nice thick latex, the first year run of them were quite nice. Even the Returns and Forever costume parts were still latex. Now that I think about it, for the three sequel movies, they offered latex and vinyl versions of the cowl.