Hi, my name is Garrick Backer and I have been wearing capes in public for as long as I can remember. I was a theater kid that loved to work on both cast and crew, and was always neck deep in anything superhero or sci-fi related. I was lucky to have a mom that was an artist and a dad who could build anything. Curiosity, creativity and experimentation were highly encouraged growing up. After getting out of school and meeting my wife, I was ready to settle down and enjoy a world that was being conquered by nerds. Then one fateful day in 2008 Jackie and I decided it would be fun to go to Comic Con as Batman and Catwoman. We have not stopped making costumes & props since.
- Project Hero: Along with some like minded friends, we are founders of the costume charity organization Project Hero. We help boost other charitable groups by attending or hosting fundraising events in costume, organizing raffles with themed items created or provided by us, or by volunteering our time out of costume as additional support staff.
- The Inventern: Garrick was chosen to be one the the 10 semi-finalist on Tested.com‘s Inventern contest with Adam Savage from MythBusters! It was an amazing experience, and even though he did not make it to the finals he had a blast.
- Super Power Beat Down: They fine folks over at Bat in the Sun used one of the Deadpool hoods Jackie created for their Batman vs Deadpool video.
- Hinges: The wonderfully talented artist Meredith McClaren ran a successful Kickstarter to print the first volume of her comic Hinges. We created a resin figure of the main antagonist Crick for one the reward tiers.
- Voyage Trekkers: Garrick had the opportunity to work on the bridge set for season 2 of the best series about the worst crew in the galaxy. We both are looking forward to help make the now funded motion picture come to life!
- YouTube: Over the years we have picked up quite a bit of knowledge, and sharing that back with the community has become a passion of ours. We try and fill our YouTube channel with all the tips, tricks, and reviews we wished were out there when we started.
- 1st National Prop Making Championship: We took 2nd place in Comikaze’s first ever contest just for props with our How To Train Your Dragon Hiccup’s Helmet!
- Cosplay Melee: Garrick was selected to be a contestant in the very first season of Cosplay melee on SyFy!
- Acrylic Academy for Props and Costumes
- Cosplay LEDs for the ABSOLUTE Beginner
- Armor Making Q&A
- From Concept to Cosplay: How to realize 2d characters in a 3d world
- Killer Cardboard Creations: How to make professional looking paper props
MEDIA/AWARDS
2013
-Deadpool and Deathstroke mask made and featured in “Super Power Beatdown: Batman vs Deadpool”
-Garrick made it in Tested’s “The Inventern”
2014
-Were featured in the “Women vs Cosplay” calendar for May
2015
-Co-wrote, appeared in, and costumed “ST:The Night Shift”
-Won Judge’s Choice Award for our video game group costumes at Saboten con masquerade
-Won 2nd place in “Stan Lee’s Comikaze’s Propmaking National Championship” for our Hiccup helmet
-worked on costumes for a training video for a major pharmaceutical company (it was an NDA, so we can’t mention names or show pictures)
2016
-Garrick was featured in the “Men vs Cosplay” calendar for February
2017
–Garrick was a contestant in season of of “Cosplay Melee” on SyFy.