I know the latex used on the Kirk is much more stretchy than say tots. Is there any mask today that has that same feel? What members have actually felt the latex of a 75 Kirk?
Great question !
Nik’s masks have the stretchiest latex but I’ve seen quite a few of his masks deteriorate over the years. So I’m guessing there’s a trade off with that kind of latex.
I absolutely love the part at the end of the 78 film where Michael puts the mask back on and it stretches over his face!!
Really good question. I wonder if anyone knows, 
I did hear that don post studios use to do something to their latex. I think they watered it down a lot more then usual. Don’t quote me on that.
The original latex had some sort of clay (don’t know the type of clay) added into the original latex as a filler ,to “stretch” the latex,meaning to get more masks out of a smaller batch of latex,not literally to stretch. People call it “Claytex”
It may have made the latex more weak & easier to stretch,also gave it a more brown/Kirk skin tone color to the latex itself. If you watch the scene where he stretches the mask,you can see how dark the inside of the mask is.
Besides that I don’t know how the stuff was exactly made,nobody has ever gone into details but regardless it doesn’t last as long as the 100% latex rubber.
Latex is a modified product that is plant based. Almost any flowering plant produces the gum used to produce latex. It’s a natural material, and therefore subject to rot. It’s actually a pretty terrible product to use for anything meant to have a shelf life, especially after human exposure (like Halloween masks). There’s a reason it’s most often a one time use product like condoms and gloves. Its not shocking many companies stretch the product with fillers, because they haven’t expected Halloween masks to become a love memento. And it’s hilarious latex rubber masks can command such high prices. There’s simply better options to cast things in, but we are still casting Myers masks in latex. But to answer your question, I don’t know if we will really know what latex is the best match, because even an original Kirk likely feels much different today than it did in 1975. I doubt there are any pristine original DP masks left to analyze.
My thoughts exactly on the age of the masks
the above members are correct, dont post did use clay powder to “cut” or use as a filler to save on latex.
They would take clay the left over, dried up clay left from mask making. then grind it to powder and mix it in.
This gave them the ability to cast a mask thin, but keep the sculpt/features intact and have some rigidity and spring back.’
I wonder if any mask maker has tried out this method with todays materials it would be interesting to aee the differences in different casting methods
It was only to cut the cost of latex, so they could cast them thinner too but keep the shape.
I remember reading about it back in the day on the HMA forum. Some other company maybe topstone, or travellers co,
Don post was complaining they were cutting their masks with sand 
Don said the masks would be cast thin, but theirs were stiff and didnt flex like latex they were uncomfortable and scratchy
I definitely wanna try that! Probably in a couple of light years from today, though! : (
That has gotta suck
I remember reading about the Kirk masks from Star Trek fans who bought that mask back then and had no interest in Halloween etc. They said the masks don’t last long if your using it regularly. Kids especially with shorter the lifespan of them. And they said it was very thin rubber which will rip after being played with. I always wonder if trekie fans are a source of masks out there but I doubt any will be in new condition useless they vacuum sealed it. 
In my opinion, NAG and Father Phantom Studio make great Kirk masks.
Lightyears are a unit of distance, not time. 
IMHO I think the KHU is the closest thing to what I remember masks being like in the 1970s
Wonder what latex Ken used for the khu
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They used Claytex. It was a mixture of Clay and Latex as the name suggests lol. Was done to cut costs and resulted in a fairly durable stretchy material but one that wasn’t durable for very long depending on the care given to the mask over the years.
This has been debunked. The clay additive did the exact opposite. This is a direct quote from my email correspondence with Cathy Tharp:
“The clay was only added into the latex for the 800 line for a brief time in the late sixties/early seventies, but it was not stretchy at all. It was added to make the masks stiff.”