By Britany Adorno-Alicea
The 2026 Pop Con event was filled with activities and vendors, bringing the nerdy community of Fairbanks together once again. Among the vendors was Fairbanks' own balloon artist, Bill Torgerson.
Torgerson, also known as IncrediBilloons, has attempted to break the Guinness World Records title for the tallest balloon costume. This was not his first attempt, nor will it be his last.
Torgerson posing with Godzilla.
“The first attempt was back in 2025,” Torgerson said. “I broke the standing record then, which was 12 feet, 4 inches. I had made a 12-foot, 5-inch costume. The problem was, while I was compiling all the information, someone in Hungary had broken my record.”
“They had a Guinness surveyor on-site, so they were able to check off right away. I went ahead and tried again this past February, but it wasn’t enough. So we’re shooting for a third time.”
Torgerson said his motivation for the first attempt was simply to challenge himself. His second attempt was to officially secure the record.
“I didn’t know if I had the energy to try again, unless someone provided the balloons,” he said.
Pop Con organizers were gracious enough to offer to sponsor him and purchase all the balloons he would need for the ambitious project.
The record Torgerson hopes to break is 13 feet, 8 inches, set by Hungarian balloon artist Csatai Gergő.
Torgerson modeled his costume after Godzilla, the fictional monster and international pop culture icon. He chose Godzilla for his first and second attempts because he wanted to make a spectacle of the event and correct his previous application. This time, however, he decided to stick with Godzilla for his third attempt because of the upcoming release of the latest movie in the franchise, “Godzilla Minus Zero.”
The costume measured approximately 12 feet, 6 inches, falling just over a foot short of the world record. However, Torgerson remained hopeful about trying again at next year's Pop Con.
Measurements of Godzilla being taken.
