Peter Kokis turns household items into scary robots

Peter Kokis turns household items into scary robots

While most see a toilet seat, toothbrush holder or doorstop for what they are, Peter Kokis envisions his next robot.

The 50-year-old former hotel security director turns ordinary household items into incredible robot costumes in his two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment.

He wears his getups, which weigh upwards of 160 pounds, to events throughout New York City, wowing locals and tourists with both his engineering and acting skills.

“Ladies especially love my Bumblebee outfit,” says Kokis. “I say to them, ‘Look, I have a little bit of creativity and I don’t take myself too seriously.’

“The strange part is, I have given ladies my number without them ever actually seeing me with my helmet off.”

He’s super serious about his kooky craft.

“I consider myself an artist and a professional cosplayer, which means I make my own costumes and then become the characters,” says Kokis, who grew up in Sheepshead Bay before becoming a helicopter pilot in the military. “Each character consists of thousands of parts and requires as much as eight coats of paint. They are very visually complex.”

That’s an understatement.

Since he quit his job and started making robot costumes full-time in 2011, Kokis has built four Transformer costumes and one Terminator outfit. His first costume, Optimus Prime, ultimately took 400 hours of work to make eight versions, the final of which weighs 123 pounds.

So why does he do it?

“I wanted to take some time to nourish my artistic side and build a business,” says Kokis. “The business comes from performing at private and corporate events, and doing photo shoots. Although, I also do build on commission.”

Depending on the time spent building the robots, Kokis’ costumes can cost as much as $ 15-20K. But he does smaller pieces as well.

Kokis, who used his own savings to start this business venture, estimates the value of his robots not in money â€" he spends thousands of dollars on the parts and tools he uses to make each of his robots â€" but on the hundreds of hours it takes to create them.

After all, it’s not easy to build such otherworldly outfits out of very worldly items.

“I use toothbrush holders, toilet brush holders, egg slicers, apple corers, soap dishes, ash trays, potty training seats, and even pacifiers,” he says. “Recently, I have started incorporating items from pet stores including pooper scoopers, bird feeders, and dog bowls.

“I am looking for visual complexity in everyday items.”

Kokis’ genius lies in his ability to meld these items into an outfit so visually complex that one barely notices the true form of each smaller part.

Graphic designer Alan Camuto, 36, met Kokis at The Big Apple Comic Con in 2009, and was blown away by his Optimus Prime outfit.

“At first you don’t notice all the details, you just see a very realistic looking costume,” Camuto says, “but then you see the household items and it is mind-boggling. He is topping what Michael Bay does in the ‘Transformer’ movies.”