FAQs

 

How much does a mascot costume cost?

The price for a mascot costume can vary greatly for a number of reasons. The real question here should be: “What SHOULD a mascot costume cost?”.

Price (at least for us) has nothing to do with quality or durability. All of our mascot costumes are produced equally in that regard. What affects price the most is complication of the character you are looking for. A simpler animal character (a dog or a bear) will cost less than a "knight" or a "Trojan", which would cost less than an inanimate object...like a TACO with all the fillings, for instance!

What you ultimately decide to invest in your mascot costume will largely depend upon:

  • Why you want a mascot in the first place.
  • What conditions it will be used in.
  • How long you need it to last.
  • How your mascot fits into your branding strategy.
  • How complex is your character to make?

Clearly, if you are looking for a "street character" that is only meant to stand on the corner and wave at people, and you have little regard for your reputation, $1,000 - $2,000 would probably do the trick.

If on the other hand, your mascot is going to be a high-profile ambassador for your brand, you owe it to your organization to invest accordingly in a professionally made mascot costume.

A successful and marketable mascot character needs to be supported by a properly made mascot costume. With this in mind, a typical investment for a professional, custom made, mascot costume, will be from $7,000 - $10,000. There’s no need to pay more than this, but paying anything less is just asking for trouble.
(Also read: Why Should you Invest in a CUSTOM Mascot Costume?)

What should you expect from a custom mascot costume?

Regardless of what you pay for your costume, you need it to perform the way you expect it to, represent your brand properly and generate revenue for you. And oh yeah....it should last you a LONG time!

If you Choose THE Mascot Company, this is what you can expect from us:

  • Prompt, professional guidance through the entire process.
  • A colour drawing of a unique character designed exclusively for you.
  • A guarantee that the mascot costume will be a reasonable representation of the agreed upon final drawing.
  • The right to use the character and the image for no additional cost.

The mascot costume itself will be:

  • Custom designed to fit your needs; single or multiple performers, weather conditions, high activity, etc.
  • Performer friendly with a good field of vision, lightweight and comfortable. Above all else, safe to wear at all times.
  • Durable, made from high quality long lasting materials that are resistant to water and weather, lasting several years with proper care.
  • Washable from head to toe with a minimal amount of maintenance.
  • Accurate and believable as a character. It hides the performer and allows for outfit/jersey/clothing changes.
  • Marketable, allowing you to generate revenue through sponsorship, merchandising, and appearance fees.

How do you choose the best mascot character?

The cost of creating a custom mascot costume is wholly dependent upon the complexity of the character you have chosen. A dog or a bird, for instance, will not be as costly to create as a "Spartan" or a "Knight".

However, in addition to considering cost, the initial mascot concept you choose can also greatly determine the initial acceptance of your mascot character and the long term success of your mascot program.

Animal before Creature before Human before Object

Our counsel to anyone looking for a new mascot character, is to choose a living being over an inanimate object first, and then an animal over a human. We strongly urge you to consider this direction for several reasons that we would be happy to discuss with you over a phone call.

Your mascot should wear your logo...not BE your logo

Many times, clietns offer us a logo as inspiration for a mascot character. Sometimes we are asked to turn this logo into a mascot character. But sometimes, that doesn't work. Nor does it always make sense. A logo may not directly translate well into a mascot character from which we need to build the mascot costume that needs to move around and interact in a real world setting. And, oh yeah...it is also helpful if the costume is designed to allow your performer to see, walk around safely and breathe!

We have a motto: Your mascot should wear your logo...it does not haave to BE your logo. Let your logo do its job and use your mascot to promote your company by displaying your logo proudly.

Of course, we always take inspiration directly from our clients when it comes to developing a mascot character and building their mascot costume. We have full graphic services that will draw your mascot character concept with yourimput. We will draw your mascot to properly anticipate performer safety and mobility while still maintaining the inspiration of your initial mascot character concept. We only proceed with the build once YOU are satisfied with the drawing.

Regardless of the mascot character you choose, quality. accuracy and durability are never compromised with a TMC Original™ Mascot Costume. Please call us for more advice about the best mascot character to represent your brand.

Why should you invest in a CUSTOM mascot costume over a cheap one from the internet?

Mascot costumes can be ordered on the internet with the click of a button for as low a a few hundred dollars. But, these costumes fall far short in terms of functionality, quality and durability and can't seriously be considered a “mascot costume”. With a cheap costume it's more about what you DON’T get than what you do.

Firstly, it will likely be made of extremely low quality materials, which makes it:

  • NOT durable. You will likely need to replace it in 18 months.
  • NOT washable. You have to pay for dry cleaning, which is hard on fabrics and will shorten its lifespan even further.
  • NOT performer friendly. It will be heavy hot and not easy to move around in.
  • NOT safe for the performer or audiences because it may be made hard materials or have sharp edges, wires, metal etc.
  • NOT believable. It likely won’t be an accurate depiction of the character you were expecting it to be.

Furthermore, a cheap costume will likely be mass-produced. This means it is:

  • NOT unique, and therefore it is…
  • NOT exclusive to your organization, which in turn means it is…
  • NOT a marketable entity. You can’t prevent or control copies of the same costume entering your own market. (If you can get it cheap, so can someone else!) Nor will you be able to generate revenue from your own character. (See “How can we generate revenue with our mascot?”)

In other words, just because you can spend a little less, doesn’t mean you should! Going cheap may cost you more than you bargained for. It is far worth it in the long run to invest properly in a unique, custom mascot costume from a reputable company…like THE Mascot Company!

How can your mascot generate revenue?

By definition an "investment" is something that will generate a return over time. A custom mascot costume is truly an investment in your brand and should perpetually generate revenue for your organization. Paying $7,000 or more for a mascot costume may seem steep initially. But it is truly an investment that will pay dividends that far surpass the initial cost.

WHAT IS YOUR R.O.M.I.? (RETURN ON MASCOT INVESTMENT)

If a mascot costume is designed properly, and customized to your specific brand, the possibilities for revenue generation are endless. They include:

  • Sponsorships
  • Endorsements
  • Promotional events
  • Merchandising
  • Appearance fees

Simply put, your annual R.O.M.I. (Return On Mascot Investment) should at least cover the cost of operating your mascot program. At best it should become a revenue centre for your organization.

Consider this example:

Coleman High School had a budget of $2,500 for a new mascot costume. Upon doing some research, the discovered their budget wasn't quite enough to get a quality custom product that would represent them properly. They knew it was in their best interest to invest just a bit more to get a far superior mascot. So, rather than settle on an inferior costume, they got creative!

Before they even unveiled it to the public, the student body approached a local car dealership and showed them a conceptual drawing of their new mascot. The school asked the dealership for $2,500 per year for the next 3 years for an exclusive sponsorship agreement. The sponsor would receive:

  • Logo placement on the mascot's clothing (school jerseys and shorts)
  • Sponsor mentions in all student led school publications
  • Sponsored P.A. announcements at all home games
  • Signage at all home venues at the school (gymnasium, field, etc.)
  • Access to the mascot for any special event hosted by the dealership

To no one's surprise. The dealership jumped at the deal. For a mere $2,500 a year, they saw the opportunity to :

  • Give back to the community by supporting a local high school
  • Market directly to the parents of the students
  • Create great goodwill with their future customers (the students)
  • Generate great PR

The school was not only able to pay for a fantastic mascot costume, they doubled their R.O.M.I. within a few years. They used the funds from the sponsorship to purchase promotional merchandise of their mascot character (plush dolls, bobbleheads, key chains, etc). They sold those at a profit which they in turn used to set up a scholarship to help low income students go to college.

How's that for ROMI?

Generating revenue from your mascot program is not only possible, it is vital to the success of your organization. It all starts by investing properly in a quality, professionally made, custom mascot costume.

Call us for more ideas!

Do you need a fan or a cooling vest?

Very often, we are asked if we can install a fan or provide a cooling vest in the mascot costumes we build. We say "NO"! Here's why...

The very nature of mascot costumes makes them hot. A highly active performance in a fur suit with a "bucket" on your head will do that. So basically, as a performer you have to get comfortable with discomfort. There is no way to make a mascot "cool".

The best thing we can do to wehn building the mascot costume to minimize heat is to provide discrete ventilation and to make the mascot costume as lightweight as possible.

Installing a fan causes more problems than it solves. Firstly, you are introducing wires and batteries to power it, which will negate the ability to wash the mascot costume. Secondly, in order to be effective, a fan must suck hot air out of the head. If it didn't, it would simply blow hot air back on to the performer. Also, in order to vent air out properly, we would need to put a very obvious hole in the top of your character's head. This detracts from the illusion of your character as a "living thing".

A cooling vest will work...briefly. Usually the cooling packs in a vest warm to body temperature within 10-15 minutes. Once they are no longer useful, the performer is stuck carrying them around for the balance of their appearance; that's about 5 - 7 lbs of dead weight, which makes the performer work harder...which generates more heat!

Cooling vests and fans seem like a good idea, but really they are a waste of money and can do more harm than good. While no mascot costume can be entirely "cool", a well made, lightweight custom mascot should be cooler than the rest. Our best advice is to invest in a proper mascot costume, take frequent breaks and drink plenty of water to beat the heat!