How the Mighty Hath Fallen: Jason Voorhees

When I was a kid Friday the 13th was THE franchise that dominated horror pictures.  In the first half of the 1980s there was an F13 film every year, only slowing down in the latter part of the decade.  Along with A Nightmare On Elm Street's iconic villain Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees owned the decade for horror.  I am an admitted fan of the Halloween franchise as well, and I do like the Chainsaw franchise, but Jason and Freddy defined and redefined, respectively, the slasher villain and the genre.
We've never had so much merch as we do now, including Halloween costumes and decorations, but I seem to remember-through the nostalgia fog, of course-that the costumes were somehow better in the olden days.  Back then if you had a hockey mask you were Jason, period.  There were Freddy and Jason costumes, of course, and knock-offs as well.  In this day and age I expect you can find some of the highest quality costumes for these icons.
It turns out I am dead wrong about that.
Such a legendary figure of horror and what are our options?

That's about it.
Look at those sad bastards.
On the left is what appears to be an attempt at capturing the Jason look from the 2009 remake.  Sure, I guess.  Jason doesn't have an iconic sweater like Freddy or a standard mechanic's overall like Michael, so you have some freedom to work.  That can work against you, though.
I'm not sure what the right side costume is supposed to be.  I think it looks slightly better, but it just sort of says, "Jason" vice trying to hit a single film look.
When you are the costume or creature designer for a film, I expect you have quite a piece of work cut out for you.  After all, you need to make your signature villain recognizable but you don't want to go overboard and give him a ridiculous look.  This is not Riddick we are talking about here.
You could probably, as a fan, create an awesome look, but you'd need some gear and the ultimate piece of gear, the centerpiece if you like, is the mask.  A good old hockey mask.

These are not good options.  They are cheap, but they don't look like anything.  They sure don't look like hockey masks.  Why is the glow-in-the-dark option cheaper?
I will give some grudging credit to "Ice Rink Raider".  It's far and away from Jason's classic look, but it has an appeal of it's own if you just want to work with the psycho slasher in sports gear theme. These are well groomed killers too.  Just look at the coiffure on the first guy.  Clean cut killer.  That's flash.
Fun Fact: Jason did play a sport as a child, but it was tether ball and I'm not sure that counts.
Fun Fact: I just made that last fact up.

Now here's a combo for you.  The mask is official licensed stuff, but I've seen it in person and it's a soft, flexible thing, not a rigid piece of face protection.  As such it deforms to the head and that detracts from the look.  Oh for a good costume.
The hockey jersey is just right out, friends.  At no point in a Friday film would Jason stoop to such a poor joke as to wear a logo of himself.  This is a feral killer that was raised in the woods of New Jersey, not a superfan from Red Bank.  If you pair that mask with that jersey you've not gone meta, you've gone douche.  This makes me sad.

This is not cute.  This is just wrong.  Look at his eyes.  Look how sad he looks.  He's just tired.  This is not the role he expected he'd play in life and his rage has led him to murder your other lawn gnomes.  This is your classic part 3 to 4 look for Jason.  I get that Jason's look is not so easy to pin down and only hardcore fans would go the extra mile, but this is one of the greats of the genre.  Jason was, for many an adult of today, a beloved bogeyman of their youth.  It was a coming of age, cutting your teeth sort of thing.  You watched them on television sometimes, edited sure, before your parents would let you rent them, then you got to watch them for reals.  It was a major part of growing up, like getting your learner's permit or that embarrassing junior high dance where you said you were "going stag" because, honestly, nobody would go with you and you had to salvage your pride.  Jason was the image of a generation.  A horror icon deserves better, but what better way to sum up how this icon has fallen from greatness than a sad lawn gnome?

Okay, I'll admit, this is actually pretty cool.

Yeah, a candy bowl.  Jason does not give out candy.  Jason derives no pleasure from sugary snacks.

It's all in fun, right?
Okay, in fairness I am a bit serious.  Any fan that really wanted to do so, and had the time and skills, could craft a screen accurate Jason costume from any of the films.  Cosplayers, I challenge you!  As long as people get the gist, you've done your job for a costume.  I accept that.  Jason has long since ceased to be a figure of fear and menace, as my glowing words above can attest, so as long as you do it with your heart in it and make an effort, I'll be happy.  Still, that lawn gnome, and the paucity of official options to purchase tells me that the old boy just don't have the clout he used ta.  That makes me sad.

Keep your pumpkins lit.