The Half Masks of Von Grimm Productions

Philip: Coming up, Darryl is checking in with Matt at Von Grimm Productions to hear about his new products.

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Okay. Here's a Darryl and Matt.

Darryl: So, I'm at Von Grimm Productions here at Transworld 2022, and I'm going to be talking to Matt Scott. Matt, introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Von Grimm.

Matt: Hi, my name's Matt Scott, been in the industry since 2006. I've worked in all sorts of different style shows, like the small regional small town shows to mega shows, and I've done everything from acting up to management, to set building, and mask making is really where I landed. I started making masks for myself in the shows I was working on, and then other people that worked in shows with me wanted me to make masks for them, and I realized I must be doing something that's catching people's attention. So, I started doing more and more, started doing burlap masks because I was seeing a trend in the market when I started that, and they've really caught on, people really seem to like them, so I'm going to keep doing those because they're a lot of fun, and they're getting a lot of attention.

Darryl: And you were making some live on YouTube and stuff for a while, are you still doing that?

Matt: I wish I could have done more this year leading up to Transworld, but unfortunately, I was just building for Transworld. I do plan on getting back into doing more live videos, more online content, just because it was a good way to connect with people and find out what people liked, what they were looking for, and that sort of thing.

Darryl: What's your most popular product right now?

Matt: My most popular one, this year, has probably been my Wendigo Scarecrow Mask. That one's definitely gotten the most attention that show so far. Next to that is probably my Krampus half masks.

Darryl: What kind of new product, besides the Wendigo, do you have released?

Matt: New takes on some designs we had last year, some different designs for those, some more kind of ghostly takes on all them, if that translates well through audio. We've got a few more Christmas designs that were added in, kind of late last year, that I carried over into this year.

Darryl: And what's one of the products that you want to tell people about that they might not know about it at this time?

Matt: My half masks are probably the one that people, they look at in the booth, but they kind of get overshadowed by a lot of the scarecrow stuff. My half masks are all reinforced with burlap, so they're probably the most durable half mask I've seen on the market. They come with a lifetime warranty, same as my full head burlap masks do, and I do a full range of different styles and also do full custom work. So, if there's a design you want, let me know, I'd love to get you to mask you want, not the mask you settle for.

Darryl: Now, recently, because of all of the things that are going on in the world, pricing has gone up for shipping and supplies. How is that affecting your inventory?

Matt: I mean, obviously, I'm feeling it too, because I got to buy materials, have to be shipped same as everybody else. However, I've decided to honor the same pressing ahead in 2020, which is the same project had 2021, I'm rolling that over into 2022, because I don't want to have to pass that on to people. They couldn't control that change any more than I could, so I wanted to at least give them some good news about pricing for this year.

Darryl: Good. Good. Now I've got a question. It's a little oddball. What's the first Halloween costume that you remember and why?

Matt: The first one that I can remember, not really from memory, but I've seen a picture of it. I was about three or four years old, and my mom decided to dress me up as Big Bird. It was one of those old plastic vacuform masks with kind of a trash bag looking costume.

Darryl: You mean the flammable ones?

Matt: The ones that were pulled from the market, a great safety choice. But I don't remember much about that one because I was so young, but I do remember that mask being very uncomfortable and hard to breathe in.

But the first one I probably remember was, my grandmother bought me this, and this kind of says a lot about the products I sell and how I got into this. She bought me this half mask, it was a Grim Reaper, and I love that mask, I wore it all the time.

Darryl: Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first, down at Von Grimm Productions at Transworld, prices are staying the same.