Here at Olympus, our years of experience perfecting our custom mascot process enable us to deliver high-quality mascots that perfectly embody your brand’s image. And a key element in this process is you – the customer. We are involved in the design process from start to finish, providing your approval on details regarding design, shape, functionality, material, and more. One of the most important details we’ll need your input on is whether your mascot will be a standard or foam shape design.
Now you might be wondering, what is the difference between these two mascot categories, and why does it matter? You see, creating a custom mascot means creating a mascot tailored to you and how you want your mascot to look, move, and interact with your audience. These traits can vary based on whether your mascot is made of a standard format or foam shape, which makes it a crucial decision. To ensure you make the right choice, we will walk you through the key differences and how each category affects the overall design of your mascot.
Here at Olympus, our years of experience perfecting our custom mascot process enable us to deliver high-quality mascots that perfectly embody your brand’s image. And a key element in this process is you – the customer. We are involved in the
design process from start to finish, providing your approval on details regarding design, shape, functionality, material, and more. One of the most important details we’ll need your input on is whether your mascot will be a standard or foam shape design.
Now you might be wondering, what is the difference between these two mascot categories, and why does it matter? You see, creating a custom mascot means creating a mascot tailored to you and how you want your mascot to look, move, and interact with your audience. These traits can vary based on whether your mascot is made of a standard format or foam shape, which makes it a crucial decision. To ensure you make the right choice, we will walk you through the key differences and how each category affects the overall design of your mascot.
The most obvious difference between a standard and foam shape mascot is the build. Standard mascots have ABS plastic heads with a jumpsuit. This is a mascot you would typically see at a sporting event. For example, Bucky Badger, Marquette Golden Eagle, Sparky the Sun Devil, etc. Foam mascots don’t use an ABS head or a jumpsuit but rather are completely made of foam into one giant shape. These mascots are tailored to create specific shapes, like an apple, a baseball, or even a sun.
Foam is an easily manipulated material that allows us to construct the foam into precise shapes. For example, a giant tooth for a dentist’s office would be an example of a foam-shaped mascot (His name is Dr. Flossy for Premier Community Health!) A standard mascot would not be able to achieve that shape because the soft fabric material used to create a jumpsuit doesn’t hold specific shapes as well as foam.
One important similarity to note is that both categories of mascots can use all 400+ samples of fabric that we have in-house. For foam, we place the fabric on top of the foam, and for standard mascots, the material is placed over the ABS plastic head and is used to create the jumpsuit.
Foam mascots are typically larger to accommodate for the created shapes. This can make shipping and transportation more complicated since the mascot can’t be folded down. Typically, foam shaped mascots must be shipped via freight to make sure there is plenty of room and damage doesn’t occur in transport. We recommend pre-planning how you will transport your mascot from event to event and how you will store your mascot. This is because foam mascots usually don’t fit in the back of a standard vehicle or in a typical storage container. It’s best to use a truck or moving van for transportation and find a large, well-ventilated storage room to keep the mascot when not in use.
A benefit of standard mascots is that they can be easily folded and stored away. This makes transportation and storage a breeze. Let’s say you need a mascot that attends a lot of community events: a standard mascot can be useful for easier transportation. On the downside, standard mascots do have a catch when it comes to sizing. Because standard mascots have jumpsuits, we need your performer’s height and size measurements to ensure a proper fit.
Foam shape mascots allow for more flexibility because they have an adjustable harness that can be used for various heights, which helps when having multiple performers.
Foam mascots are typically larger to accommodate for the created shapes. This can make shipping and transportation more complicated since the mascot can’t be folded down. Typically, foam shaped mascots must be shipped via freight to make sure there is plenty of room and damage doesn’t occur in transport. We recommend pre-planning how you will transport your mascot from event to
event and how you will store your mascot. This is because foam mascots usually don’t fit in the back of a standard vehicle or in a typical storage container. It’s best to use a truck or moving van for transportation and find a large, well-ventilated storage room to keep the mascot when not in use.
A benefit of standard mascots is that they can be easily folded and stored away. This makes transportation and storage a breeze. Let’s say you need a mascot that attends a lot of community events: a standard mascot can be useful for easier transportation. On the downside, standard mascots do have a catch when it comes to sizing. Because standard mascots have jumpsuits, we need your performer’s height and size measurements to ensure a proper fit.
Foam shape mascots allow for more flexibility because they have an adjustable harness that can be used for various heights, which helps when having multiple performers.
The way you want your mascot to act, move, and perform is crucial for the identity you want your mascot to establish. For instance, if you’ve even seen the famous Cosmo the Cougar mascot from Tik Tok, you’ve seen this mascot dancing it’s heart out to put on a show for the fans. If you want your mascot to provide this type of crowd-pleasing energy, we recommend a standard mascot.
Cleaning isn’t everyone’s favorite topic but it’s an extremely important one to keep your mascot in tip-top shape. Foam mascots are not machine washable so we recommend spot cleaning as necessary by using a mix of mild detergent and water with a white cloth to pat out stains and then leave to air-dry. This just means you need to be more mindful about what conditions you put your foam mascot through to ensure longevity. Standard mascots are machine washable on a delicate cycle with mild detergent and air dry.
Even with lots of care and cleaning, sometimes your mascot might need professional TLC that goes beyond detergent. If this occurs, we offer high-quality cleaning and refurbishment services to make your mascot as good as new.
Summary
Foam and standard mascots offer their own set of benefits and challenges. Both categories result in excellent mascots, and one isn’t necessarily harder to create or better than the other. It all comes down to what qualities you want your mascot to have. With our expert advice and your newfound knowledge, we’ll bring your perfect mascot to life.
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