Hey Rusty! (From the CFX guys)

[CFX]

They say that imitation is one of the best forms of flattery . . . . and if you type the URL "CFXMASKS.com" you will be re-directed to SPFX masks’ website. Rusty, as much as we appreciate your faith in our products, we think that attempting to steer CFX customers to your website is taking that saying a bit too far. Is there a reason why you feel the need to lean on CFX’s reputation of quality in order to sell masks? We Apologize in advance for the public nature of our query, but we are left with no choice as you don’t reliably answer your phone or return e-mails.

Ken Decker & Wes Branton Owners and managers of Composite Effects LLC.
www.CompositeEffects.com
E-Mail: Info@CompositeEffects.com
office: (225) 756 - 7875
Fax: (225) 756 - 7843

So long as we are posting (typically were too busy being the global leader of silicone masks to post as often as we’d like in forums) We’d like to take this opportunity to clarify a rumor that several of our customers have brought to our attention. Apparently the rumor goes that we, (Ken and Wes) were at one point partners with or sculptors for SPFX, and that we got upset with Rusty and formed our own company.
This could not be further from the truth. Fact is that I (Ken) a native of Baton Rouge made my first silicone mask the same year that SPFX launched their original line. (At the time I was working for the 13th Gate as a makeup FX artist) after seeing the strengths and weaknesses of silicone and how it performed in a professional haunt setting I partnered up with a fellow classmate and monster enthusiast of mine (Wes, also a Baton Rouge native) to form CFX in August of 2006. Both Wes and I had extensive mold making and sculptural experience and were able to adapt my 5 Years of experiences with the 13th Gate to develop a foam latex and silicone mask product line which continues to set the industry standards for haunt makeup FX. In short the guys at CFX have never, nor will we ever have any affiliation with Rusty Slusser, SPFX masks, REAL-U masks, or any of its subsidiaries

[Spookyfinder]

LOVE... you guys! We plan on buying a mask or two from you all... see you at TW! -Tyler

[mindtumor]

What is the CFX web URL? I haven't been able to find their site.

[Spookyfinder]

http://www.compositeeffects.com

-Tyler

[mindtumor]

Thanks! I was having a hard time finding it on google for some reason.

[CFX]

Hey mindtumor, thanks for the heads up on that, Ive edited the post to reflect your question.

[graystone]

Ken, Wes

Your reputation stands on its own! For someone to do this is just out right fourm of theft. It seems to me that they feel the need to use your good name to gain customers! It also seems these new customers were looking for you when he felt the need to steal them away. Best thing to do is make him make a statement to the Industry on why he felt the need to do this. I know now why he wants to post all the mask pics here. He knows he would get very few orders if he were at Transworld.

Larry is going to say I am sticking my nose in to cause drama but let me tell you first hand these guys and this company CFX is another one of the great honest and up front vendors out there. SOMETHING WE NEED!!!!

Rusty loose the URL and let your name stand alone! How would you feel if someone did this to you? Your butt would be right here doing the same thing. Man play ball and play fair!

Ken, Wes my advice to you guys my friends!!!! Post this on the fright fourms. New people are coming there all the time and should be made aware of how some people need to use your name. Shane and its I have never had a CFX mask to tear and I cant say that for the knock off company. Shane this time!!!

P.S. Ken, Wes when will the new Insane Shane mask and the Loony Larry mask be coming out will they be ready for Transworld?

[The Head Cracker]

CFX does have some good products, but silicone masks is not one of them. The eye holes are way too big and the neck buckles when you turn your head.

I own two spfxmasks and was expecting the same quality when i got my freddy kruger mask in the mail from CFX - but when i opened the box my face actually felt blood rush to it - its that feeling of embarrasment as a collector when we've bought a piece that looked great in the pictures but looked no way near as good as you expected when you opened the box you were so excited to get in the mail.

People posting here must not have owned a spfx mask before. How can you even try to dis this quality?

http://www.fxmasks.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=1798

You can talk about who came first, it really doesn't matter but no one comes close to that realism.

My advice is both cfx and spfx should play nice with each other. Rusty should probably not redirect any URLs and CFX should probably not slander SPFX on their site and on obviously biased youtube videos like kinghumans SPFX vs CFX rant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFbuu3O9luM

There must be enough room in this market for both companies to do well.

[graystone]

Head Cracker

Whats ole Rusty gonna give you for that shameless plug? As you can see hes always posting mask pics here. CFX on the other hand don't have time to play here they are actually busy! Anyway Cracker enjoy your free mask. Rusty were still waiting for a statement from you!!!Shane and its sure is funny to me ole Cracker has made a whopping 16 post in # years Shane this time!

[N2SPOOKINU]

Hey Rusty, speaking of waiting. I'm still waiting for the e-mail you said I would get to send my vampire mask back to you for the repairs. Please pm me/ e-mail me or call me Thanks, Greg (573)881-7061

[The Head Cracker]

Whats ole Rusty gonna give you for that shameless plug? As you can see hes always posting mask pics here. CFX on the other hand don't have time to play here they are actually busy! Anyway Cracker enjoy your free mask. Rusty were still waiting for a statement from you!!!Shane and its sure is funny to me ole Cracker has made a whopping 16 post in # years Shane this time!

What is wrong with SPFX posting pics here? At least he doesn't photoshop his mask pictures to hide the seams like all the pics on CFX site. I WISH I could get a free $700 mask just for typing a paragraph in a thread. I haven't gotten anything free unlike KingHuman has from CFX for posting biased reviews and youtube contests.

This thread is bullshit and I would guess that rusty won't even stoop to this level to post anything in this thread - buy whatever you want from whoever you want - end of story - you don't even deserve to be enlightened - you're right CFX is the best - good luck winning the prize at that costume contest.

[Speculo]

Aw man...Is this going to be another "Haunted Portraits" type deal? I hope not! I can say I buy from both, and have had good customer service from both and will buy from both again. The real battle is never on these boards, it is in the product. The one who makes the coolest stuff for the best value will always do well.

In most cases I think haunters will fall for the MASK they like or need and that is the one they will buy no matter who makes it. Its like those changing portraits, I have both Haunted Memories and Ghoulish Gallery, we picked the paintings we liked from BOTH vendors.

These masks companies really do have a different style from each other and I think they will both do well until the market for these things gets saturated - and as long as they produce NEW designs that will be a long time before that happens.

Oh well I got nothing more to say. It seems like there is a lot going on under the surface here we don't know about, I just hope they get it worked out - we need em both!

Thanks!

[drfrightner]

I think its great that SPFX is promoting their new masks and I think 99.9% of the people I've seen love seeing the new stuff. I hope they continue to show us whats in the cooker! That is what the net is for.

I also hope that CFX when they are ready will unleash their lineup on Hauntworld. I can't wait.

Speaking for myself our haunts have not bought ANY silicone masks from anyone until NOW! We bought masks from CFX and SPFX masks. I think both companies have an amazing product and hope both continue on into the future.

As for the issue of cfxmasks.com pointed to spfx site this is nothing new we've seen this dozens of times, one company just trying to get the edge over another, happen in all industies. However that doesn't mean its the right thing to do, because yeah I'd be miffed as well. I like Ben hope that everyone can simply come to an agreement and move on.

Unlike the portrait fight that ended up in court costing both sides thousands of dollars, lets be honest those portraits are just one time buys, and once you bought them you probably will never go back to the well... these two companies here are both paving the way for a new future for haunted house owners to put their actors in top notch masks only seen in Hollywood.

I hope the url stops pointing to the one site and everyone just get back to making the best new products that can be offered at Transworld St. Louis.

There is a BIG FUTURE for these two companies in our industry and I like Ben hope it stays that way!!!

Larry

PS: I can't wait to see my new masks from both companies!!!

[mindtumor]

CFX does have some good products, but silicone masks is not one of them. The eye holes are way too big and the neck buckles when you turn your head.

I own two spfxmasks and was expecting the same quality when i got my freddy kruger mask in the mail from CFX - but when i opened the box my face actually felt blood rush to it - its that feeling of embarrasment as a collector when we've bought a piece that looked great in the pictures but looked no way near as good as you expected when you opened the box you were so excited to get in the mail.

People posting here must not have owned a spfx mask before. How can you even try to dis this quality?

http://www.fxmasks.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=1798

You can talk about who came first, it really doesn't matter but no one comes close to that realism.

My advice is both cfx and spfx should play nice with each other. Rusty should probably not redirect any URLs and CFX should probably not slander SPFX on their site and on obviously biased youtube videos like kinghumans SPFX vs CFX rant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFbuu3O9luM

There must be enough room in this market for both companies to do well.

I bought a CFX mask last year and I thought it was great. The eyeholes on the one I have are just fine and I don't have any neck buckling. Both companies look like they have good masks.

[CFX]

First off I’d like to say that my intentions for this thread is not to start a “Bash Rusty”, or a "whose mask is better" thread, that’s for the customer to decide for their own. It is simply one business owner publicly calling another owner out on what I regard as shady and unethical business practices. (A topic which has yet to be answered by the person to whom it was addressed, and judging by how quickly the link was removed I know that he has read the original post, but opted not to comment)

Secondly the eyes . . . OH the eyes . . . . As I said in my original post all of our masks are made with the professional haunter in mind. No other mask making company knows what haunters want better than we do. Why is that you may ask?? Well from mid September through about the first weekend in November I’ll shut my shop down around 3:00 pm and head on over to the 13th Gate Haunted house, I get there around 3:30 and for the next hour and a half prep the makeup room. The rest of the makeup staff (9 more artists) and first volley of actors show up around 5:00 pm, and for the next two hours Wes and myself head up the makeup department and get about 80 – 90 actors into makeup and ready to open the show by 7:00. Once makeup is on I’ll change into a 13th Gate “STAFF” shirt and join the security team to assist with removal of trouble patrons, Frightened children, or handicap follows. During this time I constantly keep an eye on our makeups, as well as costumes and silicone masks. I get to see exactly how our products (and our competitors products) are holding up. Which is great because there is no better way to check on the durability of a product than to physically witness it in action, in the actual environment for which it is built. We also get to see how our products stack up against our competition. When the lights go up at the end of a show I head back to the makeup room to remove makeup, and stick around for the end of show meeting where the actors tell the maintenance staff what broke, and share with the rest of the cast funny stories, or security issues that happened that night. It has been this way for the last EIGHT years, and will be the same this year, and how ever many more years Dwayne feels like keeping us around.

During the time I spend helping out with security I personally witness actors being swung at ALL night long , in fact I get clocked in the face at least once a night just going in and out of security doors. (all of you haunters know exactly what I am talking about) I have helped actors to the cast room during the middle of a show many times to nurse a bloody nose because they couldn’t move out of the way fast enough. Truth is that whether a patron is intentionally trying to hurt an actor, or are just swatting as a reaction to the intensity of the environment, actors take allot of abuse and so does the makeup/masks. It is for this reason that our eye holes are the way they are. An actor needs to look scary, but above all they need to be able to react to the patrons in the room and move out of the way if necessary to protect their safety. They can’t do that if they can’t see out of the mask. It is for this reason that I will NEVER apologize for the way we cut our eye holes. Further more all of our masks are pictured on our website both on a person in an action shot, and on a black head form so the buyer can see exactly what they are buying. (The only photo shop that has ever happened on the display pics is to adjust the color of the iris to match contacts that are available)

In closing I’d like to go on record saying what I have openly said to my customers including Larry, Ben and Dwayne , “ The masks made by Rusty and his crew are on the surface beautiful masks, they really are! *”

Rusty, you can quote me on that if you like, in fact print it on a vinyl poster ship it to me and I will personally sign it with a wide tipped Sharpie!

I don’t mind the competition, in fact I welcome it, I love making masks, and I love pushing the envelope. As more silicone mask companies come into play we are bound to see new advances in the silicone arena, this is an eventuality that I welcome and embrace with open arms. But if one company is going to have an edge over the other, lets be professional about it.

Ken Decker CFX

P.S. Sorry this was so long.
*If this quote is used it must be used in its entirety and without alteration.