The difference between a costume and a mascot.

The difference between a costume and a mascot. The big difference is the performers face and body parts do not show on a mascot and they may on a costume. If you want your performers face to show so they can talk and interact with the audience that is a costume. If you want the total fantasy and not have the performer to be seen at all. That is a mascot. It is an illusion. Some poorly made mascots will allow you to see the performer inside the mascot through the eyes screens or mouth screens. They are still mascots but very poor samples of them. The idea of a mascot is fantasy. The character magically comes to life… with all the wonder and mystery of the illusion. With a costume there is no question there is a real person inside. We make both and depending on your needs one is not better than the other. Ask yourself will my character have there own personality? Do I want to create a fantasy? So what works for you? Mascot or Costume..

Here are two samples. One is a mascot the other a costume. Both work great for the clients we made them for. The mascot was made to look like an iguana, He is the mascot for Jim Boy's restaurants. The other is a fish and he is used in a commercial where the performer needs to interact with the camera.

We can meet what ever your requirements are.

I don't see it on your site. can you make it?

I don’t see that kind of mascot on your site. Not all our mascots are on our web site. We work to change the photos around so you can see a cross section of our work. Our mascot gallery is so you can see the quality of our work, and a few of our latest mascot characters. We don’t have a catalogue as all our work is custom designed. If you can dream it we can make it. We have a solid reputation for bringing any design to life. Some of the odd things we have made are: a rolled up newspaper, garlic, tissue box, tomato, cookie man, runner, sun, hammer, gift cards, and of course there are the animals aardvark, camel, beavers and many many more. The photos you see are of the gift card, Her name is Ivana gift card.. and a hammer for home hardware. So if you don’t see it, don’t worry we can build it. We take pride in the fact that we do not mass produce mascots, we create personalities. Mascot characters. Now don’t get me wrong. If you need to have 10, 100, or 1000 we can duplicate any design. No order is to small or to large. We had a customer ask for a pair of gloves. That’s great too. Once we make a mascot for you we will not duplicate that mascot for anyone else. When you see a mascot on our photo gallery you like. We can design something similar but no the same. That is our guarantee to each client. That their mascot is an original. If you have a mascot that is in need of duplication replacement. We can do that. We cover it all, cleaning, repairs, duplication, small or large orders, mascot design and creation. Call us for any of your ideas.

rush orders you want it when????

We have from time to time been asked to make a mascot in a week or two when it takes on average of 4 to 7 weeks. Current production has to be shuffled about and sometimes overtime is asked of staff. The shortest notice we had was one week for Green Peace. They had an event planned and need the mascot to be there to let people know of the melting artic. We all jumped into production, worked as a well oiled team and got it out and to the event on time. Then took a much needed day off. We work hard to accommodate every need our client has. We have to charge extra for a rush sometimes if we need to special order fabric and pay for overtime. Some clients don’t understand that, they are not the only client we have. Others are so grateful we are able to help. It isn’t easy managing production. We coordinate ship dates with clients events this is super important because you don‘t want a store opening with out your star performer. Or pay staff for a film shoot and the mascot hasn‘t arrived. Customs from time to times puts a screw in the mix with added paperwork or taking there time to clear a mascot. This can add some excitement in the office. (my office) That is frustrating. I guess not every company is as diligent of service as us. I don’t have a lot of patients for shipping companies who just don’t seam to care. So look about, pick a company who will work with you. Have some time to spend on the mascots creation. Give the manufacturer at least 4 weeks to make the mascot and allow shipping time. But if you are in a rush we are here to help.

how do I pick a mascot company

How do I pick a mascot company. Some important questions you need to ask yourself are: 1) Did the person on the other end seam to know about mascots 2) Do I have any say in the design, or just pick a mascot from a cataloge 3) Did the sales person give me feedback on my requirements 4) Did the sales person listen to my needs 5) Do they offer a guarantee 6) Do they stand behind the product 7) How long did it take them to get my design and quote to me 8) Are they available to answer my questions 9) Is this a company or do they just build from there basement or home 10) Can they provide photos and contact information 11) Do they care about my needs and requirements 12) Are they honest about vision, comfort and care of the design I have picked There are a lot of mascot companies, it can be very hard to pick one to make such an important purchase. The mascot is not just a costume it is a character, a personality and you are putting your trust in a company to bring your mascot to life. If you are not comfortable with the service you get before you buy, what service will you get once your mascot is made. Pick a company that can back up what they say, and a company that listens to you. Look for quality, comfort, and make sure you can have say in the design. Ask questions and make sure you get all your answers. Pick a company who take the time to know you and your mascot. Make sure the company you pick will work with you on the creation of the mascot. It is a team effort and you are a part of that team.

Design verses function…. I get requests from clients sometimes to make a mascot that I know will have vision or movement problems. I have found a lot of mascot companies just build it, and don’t tell the client the problems with the design, and work out a compromise or at least make the client aware of what the costumes limitations are. We work very hard to meet all our clients needs. We made a mascot for Workman’s Compensation Board. Photo one show the structure of the first mascot. photo two is the finished product of first mascot, photo three is the second design for movement. They requested it look very crisp, corners, cookie cutter look. The hands and feet were to look round. We had some design concerns. In order to accomplish the look they requested. The mascot would have very little movement. This was made very clear to the client. We got the go ahead to make three of them. They got them and found that other than parade floats or areas where the mascot was not required to move it was not going to work. We had advised them of this prior to making them. They now wanted a second designed mascot to be more flexable and it wasn't as important for it to be so crip looking. We worked with the client to have two style mascots. One as a body form style where the mascot would be able to run jump and move about very freely, and the second was the crisp animated look on there signage. Now they have two looks for one mascot and are very pleased. Communication is extremely important when you design a mascot. We watch for vision, comfort, flexibility, ease of care. If you have to send the darn thing out to be cleaned that is adding to your price. We spend up to an hour just getting the feel for where the mascot will be performing, who will be inside it. ( student, professional, or office staff) that makes a big difference when we make it. What is the personality of the mascot. We want to capture that too. It takes a lot of time and care to get it perfect and we are quickly developing the reputation for taking the time to care. We listen to our clients. It is unfortunate that many mascot companies are so busy on design they forget a very important ingredient comfort, safety and care.

standing behind our product

We made a mascot his name is Waverly.. He is a wave for the City of Nanimo.. This design was very interesting. Their logo is a wave, and the city wanted a mascot to reflect that. So we designed a large blue wave with white waves as hair. The city loves him and the design works great. They have found the mascot is a bit top heavy and awkward to wear when they are wanting to be active. He matches the design perfectly, and looks awesome. They did originally not want a fan but have since asked for us to install one. Our solution to the problem.. First we will install the fan system for them. Then because the mascot has shoulder blocks, at the base of the head, at the moment. We are going to add a harness system to secure the head on the performers chest and back. With that and the shoulder blocks the problem will be solved. We are not charging for this as it is our firm belief to make all mascots performer friendly. We do test drive them here before we send them out, and we will have Waverly on to insure the problem is solved before he leaves here. We value our clients feedback and respect the performers view. All our mascots come with a one year warranty against manufacture defects. Waverly will arrive in a few days and when he gets here we have a team ready to work on him at once and get him out the door within 48 hours. This way he can be back home and performing again to the delight of all the children and adults alike. Waverly is used in parades, and community events and has a booked summer. So it is important we get him back as soon as possible.

who can use a mascot?

Who can use a mascot? Well the answer is every company, sports team, organization, city, town, or event. That is a wide blanket. Mascots create excitement where ever they go. You can’t walk past a mascot waving at you with out a smile. They are a fun way for people to know who you are. Soon people will start to recognize your mascot by name. Who doesn’t know the A&W root bear, or Snap, Crackle and Pop. Smokey the bear teaches us about forest fires. Sutter Lakeside hospital has 5 mascots. Mr. Healthy Heart to teach heart care and promote activity, Mr. Healthy Sun to promote the use of sun screen and sun glasses, Mr. Healthy Tissue to promote using tissues when you have a cold, Mr. Healthy Spine to promote the proper way to wear a back pack. Both of these mascots are in the photo. And Mr. Bee the corporate mascot for corporate events, and awards. Can you imagine going to a football game and not seeing a mascot doing funny antics on the side lines. Or a parade with no mascots. Many Cities have mascot registration services so you can register your mascot to attend events in your community. Many of these events provide the performer with a staging area, and do not charge for the mascot to attend. Wow free advertising where else can you get that. But please if your mascot is falling apart know when to retire it and replace it. There are some real bad mascots out there just falling apart. The mascot represents you, always have them looking there best. Insure your performers are comfortable inside them. All our mascots are machine washable in your machine at home or easy to clean. I bet if you think about mascots you can come up with a few dozen names as well. The more you use your mascot the more he will work to promote you. Come on lets fill the world with mascots. What a fun way to market.

cooling systems

Cooling system I get asked a lot, do I need a cool system? The answer depends on what style of mascot is it? Where will you be using it? If the mascot is a unibody style and has lots of vent screens in the top, eyes and mouth you may not need one. But if you have a mascot with a head and you are very active. I would get the fan system. We vent the fans out not in, that way the old air is replaced with fresh. We have worked with a number of performers to get the right formula for ventilation. We always add vent screens in every mascot as a standard design feature. Some performers have told us they don’t really care for fans because they are noisy. I do find them a bit noisy but to be honest I like them. There are pro’s and cons for and against fan systems. They are not heavy but the batteries can add extra weight on the heads. We make our mascots so the client can choose to not have one and then add it later if they so wish. If it is any help about 50% of the mascots that leave here with no fan system, the client contacts us to get one. Ice vests some clients swear by them as it can keep you body temperature down. But I don’t like the cold on my chest. My partner loves it. So again it is up to the performer. I would error on the side of caution. It is nice to have, especially if there are a number of performers inside the mascot. Each performer has there own likes and dislikes. Keep your performers comfortable and they will want to be inside the mascots, and be better performers for you. Fan systems and Ice vest are a good start and let the performer decide if they want to use it. Do you have a fan system and do you like it? Let us here from you.. Your comments also help us perfect our craft and provide you with a better quality mascot. We care about your comfort.