Field Trip Time – Specter Studios in Pittsburgh, PA

Sometimes the guards let me out of my hole long enough to impose on some unsuspecting haunt, movie theater, book store, or, as in the case this past Saturday, a maker of fine products of interest to myself and you the Halloween fan. Five miles northeast of Pittsburgh as one slides along the Allegheny River lies the borough of Sharpsburg. At one time it nurtured any number of businesses and manufacturers – brick yards, lumber mills, machine shops, and even was the birthplace of the H.J.Heinz company – yes the ketchup and pickle people. In 1940 it boasted a population of just over 8,200 people; as of 2000 its denizens number less than 3,600. It’s a small town with a rich history dating back when the Seneca Indians trod the shore of the river. The current residents – like those I had the opportunity to observe while waiting for a bribe of pizza (more on who I was bribing later) at Sacco’s on Main St – are a friendly folk who remember their heritage – skies filled with the thick smoke from now deserted steel mills.

In their midst, in a very unassuming building, lies another manufacturer that, unlike some of the others I just mentioned, is still going strong. Into their sixth year, Specter Studios, a manufacturer of quality latex masks, wings, props, and other costume goodies, is still churning out product with increasing regularity. On Saturday morning, with the “bribe” still steaming in the boxes, I made my way into the Specter facilities to meet up with Mark Marsen, co-owner with his partner Scott Tyson, to take a tour of how all the magic comes together in the line of Specter Studios products. The bribe, two of Sacco’s extra-large pizzas, a twelve pack of Pepsi, and a veggie tray from a local Giant Eagle supermarket just in case some one actually wanted to eat healthy, was not only for Mr. Marsen but also the handful of dedicated Specter employees working hard on the weekend to fill orders during this crucial time of the year. My Mom taught me that one never goes a visiting empty handed.

I first became familiar with the Specter Studios line of products back in the days when the National Haunters and Halloween Convention was a small gathering of pro and home haunters in a church in Mechanicsburg, PA. They were always good to us “cheapos” and managed to sell out, at less than retail prices, of their unpainted wings – a product you can’t get nowadays – which are great for turning Bucky skeletons into flying demons – as well as their masks, hands, and prop weapons – pipes, bricks, axes, clubs, etc. – that are strikingly realistic. I learned from Mark that those early days, while the Specter employees were working their butts off hocking their wares dressed professionally in Specter shirts, were lean ones. Some of you older haunters may remember a company called Spector Studios with an “o” instead of and “e”. That was the company Marsen and Tyson had purchased only to find the owners were cooking the books to make it appear profitable. It wasn’t.

In fact the money the new Specter Studios – the name change was meant to differentiate the new company from the poor business practices of the old – lost in the first year was staggering. Without going into specifics let me just say that the deficit would fund one heck of a haunted attraction – several even. To their credit, Tyson, a successful pediatrician, and Marsen, a one time IBM employee and now the chief Human Resources guru of Tyson’s pediatric practice which encompasses approximately seventy employees, shored up the company with their own funds. The employees, who were used to working without pay, got paid, debts got managed, and relationships with shippers, suppliers, and customers were reestablished. It wasn’t easy – Marsen and Tyson haven’t been able to quit their day jobs – not that I’d ever expect them to really do that – but Specter Studios has steadily decreased expenses while increasing revenues. Full time employees even get a subsidized medical coverage.

Imagine that – slinging latex and getting health benefits in Pittsburgh, PA – not LA or New York.

The scent of curing latex filled the air as I toured the facility with Mark. We’d met a few weeks back at Pittsburgh Comicon and I’d managed to pass myself off as a real writer. Do I think he bought it? No. Mark is too smart a guy to fall for the “I gots me a Halloween blog” line, but he did, I think, recognize a fellow enthusiast. Both he and Scott are warm and affable men who are happy to speak candidly to anyone about Specter Studios – even on a Saturday. I was glad to take him up on an offer to let me see how it’s all done.

In every nook, cranny, and crevice of the shop were molds either with curing latex or ready to be filled as well as pieces in various stages of production like their signature wings and half masks. Specter boasts having its products on every continent but Antarctica – Mark has a several plans in the works to get a Specter mask there as well – and the controlled mayhem of the shop in the midst of October crunch time was evident. Product lined tables were everywhere. Master copies cast in silicone also were everywhere being used to produce new molds to replace ones that had worn out. Specter prides itself on quality, thus no mold will exceed the number of pulls – usually twelve to twenty – before it deteriorates far enough to degrade details on any mask or set of wings. If you buy a “Gill” collector mask tomorrow it will be exactly the same as one produced a year ago.

The half mask is one of Specter Studios top sellers. More comfortable than a full mask, Specter churns them out with precision to fill both orders it receives and those of its drop ship sellers. It’s two biggest resellers in that category are Grim Reapers out of West Virginia and Full Moon Masks. While I was there Mark showed me an order for five dozen Big Bad Wolf half masks they were rushing to fill. It’s one of their biggest sellers, much to the chagrin of its creator Mike “The Spider” Doran – Artistic Manager for Specter.

There are several “Mikes” at Specter thus each goes by an alias. One of Spider’s first creations with Specter was the Big Bad Wolf, and he still can’t figure out the appeal of it. Hoping to top the Big Bad someday – who wants to peak with their first piece of professional work after all – Spider keeps creating some of the most meticulous sculpts I’ve ever seen. I’d love to share them with you, but I was sworn to secrecy until January 2010 when the new products are revealed. The man definitely has talent – something that Mark confided to me that he hopes to help Spider develop even if it means someday that they might part ways because of some new opportunity – but from what I saw, Spider seemed perfectly content with his work and workplace. Who can argue with a company that lets one bring their dog to work, provides a game and workout room to blow off steam, and is dedicated to giving opportunities to local talent from the Art Institute and the Douglas School – both local schools that have programs tailored toward educating special effects artists.

While there I also got to meet one of Specter’s newest employees Leigh Ferraro. Leigh was busy finishing costume products in Specter’s sewing department where fur and fabric come together with latex to make ghoulish, glamorous, or or just plain twisted wearable creations. She even modeled one of Specter’s new product designs that, in my opinion, will fit nicely with some of the new “Classical” motifs of at least two possible blockbuster films of 2010. With Spider’s sculpts combined with the skill of Leigh behind the sewing machine, Specter’s new products will almost certainly be memorable hits in costume shops literally worldwide.

When I’d finished with my tour, Mark led me back to his office where we spent the rest of my visit chatting about the future of Specter, the general shortsightedness and greed of American business, and a dozen other topics unrelated to Specter. Tanisha Smith, Specter’s Sales & Service Coordinator (a fancy name that means she takes crap from customers and turns it into orders and revenue), worked diligently just outside Mark’s door, and I felt kind of bad just sitting around while she was obviously working at a time when most other folks were off enjoying time with family and friends. I wish I had a photo of Tanisha, but she just wouldn’t stop working long enough for me to get one. You can see her gorgeous smile, along with the photos of other Specter Studios employees, on their About Page. Sorry Tanisha, I didn’t want you to think I forgot about you.

While you’re on that page take a good look at the faces there. These are your neighbors or your neighbor’s kids. They’re the people who take care of your children, pay taxes to the local municipality, and try their best to keep local economies flowing. Specter Studios isn’t unique in that respect. In your own neighborhoods are small and large companies just like them that take pride in what they do and keep the community out of poverty. Mark and I agreed that, while neither of us is unrealistic or xenophobic in our views in light of the global economy that persists, if American businesses continue to outsource the production of goods and services, who will be left employed to buy them here? So I suppose what I’m asking of you dear reader is that before you run off to the super-mega-chain store and purchase the cheap mask or costume, which may or may not have been made by people making slave wages, working in deplorable conditions, and possible have something like lead paint or worse in it, that you first consider Specter’s catalog or a company like them. I think you’ll find their quality and dedication to the customer second to none, and the job you save because of it might be your own.