Email from John Healy of Healy FX:
It is not uncommon to price out these suits for a motion picture at or around sixty thousand. Remember, these are prototypes (one-off's) and they are form fitted for one performer, hence the cost. We have made costumes for about four or five thousand as well...assuming they are coming from a pre-existing mould and fur quality is a highly depending factor. I will attach a Sasquatch suit we fabricated last year and although the final billing is confidential...lets just say that you could purchase a well equipped domestic vehicle for the same cost.
Please feel free to call anytime if you have any questions or comments.
Best,John Healy
Healy FX Studios Inc.
So, I decided to call Mr. Healy and see if I could get more specific questions answered. I don't have permission to post the photo, but lets just say it is not even close to the subject of the photo in question. If this was the same subject, I am sure he would have said something. Notes of that conversation are below. Very interesting information.
03-10-2012 Phone call with John Healy of Healy FX:
Today I spoke by phone with John Healy and here are the points we discussed.
Costumes from Clawed a/k/a the Ghost of Echo Mountain.
1 Original (completely trashed by the time the film was completed). Mr. Healy explained that once the film completed the suit built for the movie was completely ruined by the blood, cleaning of the blood, and just wear and tear. These suits are not made for a lifetime of use.
2. One full copy of the suit went to Romania. One went to the Playboy Mansion (for a photo shoot) and one stayed in Victoria British Columbia and used in an exhibit.
He went on to say the photo released by our organization – IS NOT – one of his costumes, unless someone completely ripped off all the hair and used a very, very, very (he repeated the use of the word very) expensive NFT custom mesh type werewolf fur.
He also said there was no glue used to put the hair on the subject of this photo. He said there were only 2 ways this happened. Hand punching, which he says drives him nuts after one square inch so he refuses to do it, but there are people who do it, and they are very well paid for it also. The last option is the very, very, very expensive NFT custom mesh type werewolf fur, but for a full subject (head to feet) the Clawed costume used 40sq Yards – that does not include the waste. There is a lot of waste, which you must figure in when ordering the yardage. So, he said they ordered more than 40 yards but did not elaborate as to how much. The Clawed costume did not use this expensive NFT custom werewolf fur, and much less expensive fur was used.
Mr. Healy said the only part of this photo which gives him pause is that right bicep area. I asked him why? Mr. Healy stated – “It looks too big,” but other than that he can find no evidence that this is in fact a suit.
He also said the more fur used in a costume the less expensive. That is not a mistake. The less fur a suit has, the more expensive it is. He in fact stated the fastest and cheapest way to make a Bigfoot suit is to buy the fur that is very thick. He said he can slap together a suit like that pretty quick.
He also said, the shape of this bicep area issue could also be because of the angle of the photo (or the position of the subject of the photo).
Prices (estimates if this photo is of a suit):
One person suit, or “1 off.” These are made specifically for one person to wear as they are formed and molded for that person specifically. This John Healy stated he would not “get out of bed for less than $70,000.00".
If pre-existing molds were used with crappy fur from head to toe (he used another word, but I won’t share that) he could do it for 8,000.00 – 4-5 thousand for half costume (head down) with crappy fur.
For a half costume (pre-existing molds and just enough to show what is in the photo):
-Good fur (NOT the custom fur Mr. Healy thinks would have had to have been used) minimum 3,000.00.
-Crappy fur $2,000.00.
These minimum quotes are minus a face. He said if you add a face to this – you can double these dollar amounts.
I asked him if this could be done for under $1,000 – he laughed again and said – No, no way!!
I asked him if someone could go to their garage and build this (even half) in 10 minutes. When he stopped laughing (I’m serious he laughed) he said “It’s not possible”.
But then he also said he has been getting 7-12 emails a week since this photo was released. I asked him how many of those people asked him how much it would cost to do this? He said, “NONE,” and he said it very slowly and clearly. He also thought others would be interested in knowing just how much it might cost to do something like this.
Mr. Healy told me – If this is a hoax, he doesn’t understand it. He is a complete agnostic toward Bigfoot (as he put it) but does not understand why someone would go to such an expense to fool people, then not do anything to recover their money.
He also said, he has been making it clear in these emails – this is not his suit. I told him, “you used the word “might”. But, he has told these other people who emailed him, this is not his costume. He says if this is a suit he admires the work, and it is very good work, but it’s not his. He feels he has been completely clear on this issue being his suit.
I also asked him if he knew or knows of any Hollywood productions, going on right now, or in 2007-2008 that had a costume created like the subject of this photo – he said he did not know of one.
In closing, Mr. Healy’s opinion is: He does not know if this is a suit or not. There was only one area of the suit that gave him pause, but not enough to say this is a costume of any kind. But, he stated if it is, it is a very expensive suit.
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So, we still don't know if this is a costume. We do know it is NOT the "Clawed Costume" and we know, if it is a costume of some kind, it was not cheap.
