First Person: Tony Zagone, the Story of Zagone Studios

Editor’s Note: Longtime NCA Vendor Member Zagone Studios was a beloved part of the costume market for 60 years until they closed earlier this year. NCA Executive Director Ed Avis interviewed Tony Zagone about the business. This first-person narrative is based on that interview.

   Zagone Studios started out of a retail store that my uncle, Robert Zagone, owned in Chicago in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He was a magician, and the store was a novelty and magic shop. My dad – Phil Zagone Sr. — would go help my uncle, and my brother and I would go along, which meant he was getting us out of my mom’s hair for the morning. My brother and I would sell the nickel and dime magic and pretend like we were helping.

     My uncle also sold Halloween products focusing on adults. The two weekends before Halloween were some of his biggest weekends of the year. Uncle Bob saw that a lot of customers were not satisfied with the quality that was available. The rubber masks were very hot, and you couldn’t wear them very long.

     My uncle and dad saw this opening, this unsatisfied customer and need, and like other initiatives they wanted to make something better. Then they ran into a guy who said he knew how to make masks and he was set up in our garage to create and experiment. My older brother and I were the initial labor force. We would pour the masks, vulcanize them in the household clothes dryer, and trim them. In fact, we both had to give up Little League to work. I was around 11, and my brother about 14. It was just typically an hour or two a day.

      They sold the masks at the store, carefully observing customer reaction. They saw what they liked and kept trying to improve the product and reaction. One of the things people wanted was a mask that would breathe and be more comfortable. That’s why the half rubber and the half fur mask was one of their first innovations. Not only did the fabric allow some air in but you could turn it inside out and use safety pins to get a better fit, an adjustable size able to fit a wide range of heads.

       At first they sold everything we made through the store, and through a couple of other local stores. Since my uncle knew the people at Franco American Novelty Company, he and my dad teamed up with them. This gave them national recognition and distribution.

      My dad and my uncle called the company Be Something Studios. They both kept their regular jobs initially and me and my brother continued to be part of the labor force. We would pour and make molds in our garage and spray paint in my uncle’s attic. Around 1977 or ’78 we moved into our first facility on Belmont Avenue (in Chicago).

       One of the key things that happened around that time was that Bill Ystrom, an artist, joined us. He was in high school with my older brother. He used to practice make up and prosthetics out of his house. For those who remember back in the ‘60s, early ‘70s, most of the masks were like a balloon. They had some features, but the teeth were painted on. Bill was extremely gifted in understanding spatiality and the human face and anatomy. He designed the masks around fit and movement and wasn’t constrained by the existing designs. When he created our first demon, it had two-and-a-half or three-inch horns and three dimensional teeth. That in itself revolutionized the industry. Up until that point, things were pretty one dimensional.

     Eventually my uncle sold his half of the business to Franco American Novelty Company, and they became the exclusive distributor. My dad cherished his relationship with Bob Oumano, who owned Franco American. At this time, my brother Rich was running the business for my dad. Sometime after Bob died, my dad retired. The market conditions and relationship with Franco American changed, so that’s when we transitioned the company to Zagone Studios. My brothers Phil, Rich and I, together with a very close childhood friend, Franco Pacini, became the principal owners.

    The transition to Zagone Studios was pretty seamless, but the big thing we didn't have starting out was the customer database. Those first few years of Zagone Studios were focused on finding and learning about the customers.

     All of our masks, hands and feet were made in Chicago. Zagone Studios tried to source most of their components and supplies from the U.S. to support the U.S. economy. We did have some unique costumes that complement our masks made in China. They would have been too expensive to have the made here.

      One of our most successful masks was Funny Bones the Clown. It was one of the first masks for Be Something Studios to sell over 10,000 units a year for multiple years. One of the most notable masks was Fang Face. Don Post, who was one of the creators of the Halloween mask industry, said during a speaking forum that Fang Face was the best mask ever designed. The way it fits the face, its three dimensional snout and sharp teeth, the look, everything about that mask worked.

      One of the more recent crazy successful masks is Uncle Bobby. You can talk in it, you can drink in it, and it’s got character. Everybody recognizes it! If you’re Jewish, it’s Uncle Sol; if you’re Italian, it’s Uncle Mario. The big cheeks, heavy mustache, everybody knows someone like that. So that familiarity and the functionality made it a very successful mask.

     I think the key to success with some of our best masks was that they were extremely unique at the time. There was nothing like them. Some had movement, they fit really well, the wearer could entertain while wearing them and be the hit of the party. Product success was always a combination of the artwork, the look, the functionality, quality production and the uniqueness that made them successful.

     One of our exciting innovations was the super soft latex. The artist always wanted a latex that was more like skin. We worked with the chemist to come up with a new formulation and then the artist skillfully designed the artwork to take advantage of the latex so that it could move more realistically. The first super soft masks were a huge success, the little mom and pop independent Halloween stores were selling 48 pieces a year. They would have them at the counter and they’d say to customers, “Here, let me show you this.” They're the ones who appreciated how novel the concept was and realized the fun customers could have with them.

      The independent store appreciated what we did, and we appreciated them for their passion. It was one of the reasons we kept so many models active. Every independent store had their favorites, the masks they were confident in, and when they’re confident in the product they’re easier to sell

     It was very satisfying to make these masks, to see them being sold on the shelf was an amazing feeling.

      We had as many as 20 employees and many were like family. We also got a lot of help from family members.

    A lot of things contributed to us closing the business. In the initial years of Zagone Studios, selling to Party City and Spirit Halloween was a good thing because it allowed us to keep growing. But then they kept demanding more concessions and were very restrictive on pricing. The market was changing, the smaller stores who appreciated our uniqueness were closing and the big chains who focused more on price than value were getting more powerful. And selling to those big guys is risky, as we saw when Party City went under.

     Although online sales were a blessing for many, it did mean we had to devote significant resources to protect our copyrights. Some people stole our online content while others were copying products.

      Another issue was costs, everything from building rent, labor, freight and tariffs was rising faster than we could pass on.

      Numbers are numbers. With costs rapidly increasing, the customer base changing, and then Party City going bankrupt, which hurt us greatly, we couldn’t absorb that and then pivot to a different business model.

    Another factor was my dad passing. We dug deep inside and wanted to keep it going but where do you find the passion to keep it going or start over again knowing the significant challenges ahead? It was a very difficult decision.

      For the future, we’re trying to sell the brand, some designs and our social media presence. Some years ago we were told by Amazon that we had the strongest brand in the industry so we are hoping there is demand for the brand. When people want to buy masks, they search for Zagone Studios. We own some of the art work but most is owned by Bill Ystrom. Those rights have gone back to Bill so he controls their destiny.

      Good artwork is important but quality production matters too. I’m not ready to retire so I am hopeful that I can find a new niche in the industry once we get done selling the building and closing the business properly.

      I think that the legacy of Zagone Studios is that we changed the mask industry forever. The things we created brought a lot of fun to our customers and made the industry improve.