How much does your mascot head weigh?

Is your mascot head a literal pain in your neck? Have you ever weighed it?

When we produced a new costume head for the Brockton Rox we put it on our shipping scale to find out how much it weighed. It came in at a meager 2.5 pounds.

The head for the Greeneville Astros, constructed differently and larger in size came in just under 3.5 pounds.

Gizmo

We just shipped out our latest custom mascot costume which was a duplicate of an existing design. The large (by our standards) head weighed in at 4.5 pounds a 25% decrease in weight from the previous manufacturer. Despite the decrease, we wanted it to be even lighter.

Curious about head weight, we polled our social media followers and asked them how many pounds their current heads were. We were shocked to hear that some heads weighed as much as 15 pounds! And we were upset about 4.5!

When you’re ordering a mascot costume ask them how much their heads normally weigh. If they don’t have an answer, chances are it’s not something they generally consider nor is it something they are striving to improve. For some terrible reason, a lot of mascot producers feel that bigger is better. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When it comes to the weight of mascot heads ounces add up and make a significant difference. Things such as the type of helmet, foam, and fur all add or detract from weight.

The great thing about ordering a custom costume from AMAZING!! Mascots is I’m the person designing your costume. My name is Kelly Frank and I’ve been wearing mascot costumes since 1998. I spent five seasons as Raymond for the Tampa Bay Rays and three seasons as Thunderbug for the Tampa Bay Lightning. I’ve also been a mascot for Major League Soccer, the WNBA, the NBA (backup), Arena Football, minor league baseball, minor league hockey, NCAA Basketball, a division I University, and I’ve been a Halloween performer for Universal Studios as well as a parade puppeteer for Walt Disney World. I also worked in the costumed character department at Universal Studio’s islands of Adventure repairing costume.

I’ve worn suits made by every major manufacturer and found most of them to be hot, heavy, and were unimaginatively designed. I feel the issue is the people designing the suits were never mascot performers themselves. They look at a costume design from a fashion or graphic design perspective. I cannot design your wedding dress, or create a wonderful merchandise ready graphic, but I can design a highly functional LIGHTWEIGHT and unique mascot. I know what elements will and won’t translate into a foam and fur costume.

So when you’re ready to order your new custom mascot costume, don’t get a big head. Save yourself a giant pain in the neck and go with a performer friendly designer, like AMAZING!! Mascots.

 

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