Bringing Make Believe to Life: TopCity Costumes
When Toryn Harmen was a child, he talked to Batman on the phone. And Spiderman. And other superheroes he, his brother and cousins idealized. They simply dialed a special number, said who they wanted to talk to, and, like magic, that hero would be on the other line. Even better than that, their superhero friends would show up to their birthday parties.
Years later, Toryn discovered the true identity of his heroes:
his dad, Rodney, who had secretly installed a
second phone line at his house and
rented costumes from a shop in North Topeka.
Why go through such measures for make believe? Rodney said he did it because at the time it wasn’t possible for their family to visit amusement parks where superheroes roamed. But Rodney still felt it was important for his children to meet the characters they looked up to.
“Every kid has a hero,” Rodney said. “Whether it be their mom or dad or someone else, they still need to talk to that person. That way, they realize they can grow up to be whatever they want.”
Today, Rodney is the owner of TopCity Costumes, and Toryn is the co-owner. In business since 2017, they provide mascots and costume characters for hire in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri.
TopCity Costumes doesn’t rent out their characters. Instead, they dress up themselves to deliver the ultimate entertainment. Their characters don’t just pose for pictures. Beginning with a dramatic entrance set to the character’s theme song, the arrival itself is an event, and often, one of the most memorable moments of the party.
“It’s an unexplainable feeling when you see the kids’ faces light up,” Toryn said.
The arrival leads into a dance party where guests jump around alongside the character. Depending on the package, the character also facilitates games like hot potato, limbo or obstacle races.
“Each party is different,” said Rodney. “ The games we play, the order we play them in and how we treat each kid.”
TopCity has 90 costumes. While none are licensed, they strongly resemble characters from TV shows and movies.
The first costumes they purchased were the “turtle warriors” (who look like characters from a cartoon starring crime-fighting reptiles named after Italian Renaissance artists). Since then, they’ve built an inventory based on customer requests and recommendations from similar businesses in other states. But two years in, the turtles still rank among the most popular costumes. (They’re also the hardest to put on. It takes about 30 minutes and a bit of baby powder to get into the multi-piece latex suits.)
Word of mouth has been huge for TopCity Costumes. While they started with a clientele of about three families, those families generated about 30 parties. From there, word spread so rapidly that Rodney and Toryn didn’t advertise until about a year and a half into their business. Now TopCity Costumes has a website, Facebook page and Instagram account.
Generating buzz was easy, but picking a price point was more difficult. Since TopCity Costumes is the only business in the area to offer characters for hire, Topekans don’t have other price points to reference.
“You play with price a lot,” Rodney said. “If you’re too low, no one believes it’s a good service. If you’re too high, then everybody thinks you’re charging too much.”
Highlighting their veteran status helps build trust.
“I feel like people trust us because we were in the military,” said Toryn, who served five years in the Air Force.
“We chose to serve our country, and now we choose to serve your family,” said Rodney, who served seven years in the Army.
Rodney and Toryn hope to eventually open a storefront. Having their own space would allow them to host parties and other events, like read-a-longs. It would also eliminate traveling, which would cut fuel costs and save time, enabling them to do more parties in a day.
They also want to work more with corporations, not only through events but also by making deliveries. Their stuffed heart character, for example, would be a perfect postman for Valentine’s gifts.
But, for now, they’re content being in the business of helping parents make their kids incredibly happy.
