What Is A Fursuit?
A fursuit, as defined by Wikipedia, is a “custom-made animal costume, owned and worn by cosplayers and members of the furry fandom” (although I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who isn’t a member of the furry fandom wearing a fursuit unironically). However, getting a fursuit goes a bit deeper than that. These costumes are usually modeled after what are known as fursonas which are anthropomorphic animal characters made by furries as a means of representing either themselves or another personality.
How Much Does A Fursuit Typically Cost?
It’s no secret that fursuits can be pretty expensive even at their cheapest. However, this doesn’t change the fact that they massively vary in prices regardless. This depends on quite a few things such as whether it’s a full fursuit or a partial fursuit, a digitigrade or plantigrade fursuit, and many other factors. On average, a full fursuit will cost upwards of $3000 but can go as high as $5000 – $6000 depending on the seller and the quality of the suit.
Why Are Fursuits So Expensive?
The average price of a fursuit may come as a shock to some but we’re here to assure you of two things. 1. trust us, they can get way more expensive (which we’ll show you in a second), and 2. Their cost is pretty justified. For one, these suits take a while to make and they’re not exactly the easiest pieces to make. The artist has to make a full body suit, accommodating the sizes and preferences of the customer as well as paying close attention to details such as the specific colors they want, how they want the tail stylized, what kind of eyes they want on the suit and so much more.
Additionally, these fursuits aren’t just a sacrifice of effort, they are also a sacrifice of time. Fursuit makers usually have schedules of multiple fursuits that they work tirelessly to complete all year round, meaning they are constantly working on some suit. Therefore, they are charging not only for the effort and skill it takes to make these fursuits well but also for how many hours if not days’ worth of work goes into them.
#10 Aero The Horse ($7,100)
Coming in at number 10 on our list is the Aero The Horse fursuit. As the name may suggest, this is a horse fursuit that sold in 2020 for over $7000. It was designed by the designer brand Sky Pro Costume and sold to buyer Deanna Biesemeyer after some back-and-forth bidding on the Dealer’s Den. As for the suit itself, it is a grey horse with hooves in place of hind paws and fluffy gloves for the front paws of the suit. It also comes with detachable bridles just as an extra bit of customization for the suit. This suit doesn’t look particularly special and its price likely boils down to being made by a designer fursuit brand but horse fursuits aren’t super common and it’s a pretty cool suit nonetheless
#9 Mishka The Silver Fox ($10,100)
Made by fursuit maker HowlYeah!, this fursuit defines amazing craftsmanship. As the name implies, it is a fox fursuit that was made in 2016 that somehow just captures the very essence of a fox so perfectly with everything from its perky ears and its cunning little face, it’s no wonder that this suit would end up selling for $10,100 in September of that same year. The suit also features beautiful deep blue paw pads on the feet and hands that complement the black and grey color palette of the majority of the suit amazingly. As well as this, you can’t help but adore the little white teeth and tongue that only make you appreciate this artist’s attention to detail even more.
#8 Doberman Mutt ($10,200)
You might be surprised to see an animal as common as a dog making an appearance on this list, but you’d also be surprised by what people are willing to pay for a fursuit so here we are. The Doberman Mutt fursuit is a plantigrade fursuit made by renowned fursuit maker Mixedcandy who then sold said suit for $10,200. It features a dark brown fur coat with a light brown belly and a short stubby tail that is stitched right onto the back of the suit as opposed to most fursuit tails that usually have a detachable tail that can be pinned onto the suit. This is yet another entry that ended up selling on The Dealer’s Den as a lot of the entries on the list do.
#7 Sniper The Angel Dragon ($11,575)
This is a fursuit you may have actually seen given how popular it is, even having its own Facebook page dedicated to it. Created by fursuit maker Jay Negron, this suit kind of blurs a line between being a bird fursuit and a dragon fursuit. Features like its beak and its general facial structure would lead you to believe this suit was in fact a bird but after close inspection, you begin to notice details like its massive spined tail and the literal horns on its head which I guess is a better indication than any that this isn’t a bird. This suit also features some of the most creative designs from its blue, yellow, and brown color palette, to the flared scales at the end of the tail, this suit is just a treat to look at and probably even more so to wear around. Although we don’t have an exact, judging by the posts on the account’s Facebook page, we can only imagine that this suit sold sometime in 2015 for its given price tag of $11,575.
#6 Protogen ($15,400)
This suit simply known by the name “Protogen” was made by fursuit designer Jing F. in 2020. As you could probably guess, it is a protogen suit but for those who don’t know, protogen fursuits are suits based on fursonas that are basically half furry and half robot or cyborg. They usually wear these visors that cover their whole face and instead have a light-up face on them in place of it. This suit is likely so expensive because, as promised, this suit has a light-up visor on the front with LEDs that create a cute little smiley face. This means that the designer not only has to be experienced in fursuit design but also in electronics and circuitry. This is also why protogen fursuits are pretty hard to come by when commissioning them and can take ages to make
#5 Antonio Jackal ($15,600)
Yes, yet another entry from Mixedcandy makes this list, and it’s not the last either. This time it is a Jackal fursuit which goes by the name Antonio The Jackal. The suit was made in 2020 but only sold in December 2021. It sold after an extremely back-and-forth bidding war which eventually ended at the price of $15,600. As for the suit itself, it’s another awesome toony suit with these cute little frowning eyebrows and a nose ring which seems to be common among Coyote and Jackal suits.
#4 Manuel Dawg ($17,127)
This is yet another entry by fursuit maker Mixedcandy who just seems to make a killing when it comes to designing fursuits, and not without reason. Funnily enough, this suit was not a commission either, it was actually a premade suit that was listed on the Dealer’s Den in 2018 and sold on auction for the grand total of $17,127 to the highest bidder. This made it, at the time of its sale, the most expensive fursuit of all time but was quickly overtaken that same year by some of the following entries. The suit has awesome clawed hands and feet paws as well as a lovely ocean blue trim that really just makes the fur of the suit pop.
#3 Primal Visions Spartacus Cheetah ($17,500)
This was one of the suits that quickly trumped the Manuel Dog suit for the most expensive fursuit of all time in the same year of 2018. Made by fursuit maker Lex Rudd from the team at Primal Vision, this is a hyper-realistic suit that earns its price tag for the sheer amount of effort that went into crafting it. For one, most of the suits on this list are made in a toony style which is the typical style of a fursuit, so it is already more difficult to create a realistic fursuit. However, the fur of this suit was stitched onto a loom meaning each hair of this fur was put on individually as opposed to using strips of fur and cutting them out according to the shape needed. This is what allows the suit to have super intricate patterns on it as opposed to block patterns.
#2 Killer Wolf ($18,250)
This is another one of those realistic suits but this one is a little more disturbing, so I guess the name is pretty fitting. This suit was designed by fursuit maker Porazo from Clockwork Creatures and sold in 2018 to then top both the Manuel Dog suit and the Primal Visions Spartacus Cheetah for the most expensive fursuit in the very same year (what a year for fursuits?). Anyways, this suit features probably one of the most haunting wolves’ faces you will ever see, complemented pretty well by devilish, curling horns coming off either side of the top of its head. Then another horn on the nose just for safekeeping. Its value may also derive from the fact that it comes from the same studio that designed the original Wookie suits for Star Wars which is a neat little bonus. It also features what I can only assume are teeth around its eyes if you weren’t already having nightmares about this suit. That’s not the only teeth it has though as its mouth has some of the most evil, sharp-looking teeth I have ever seen.
#1 Roar Dragon ($23,500)
If you’ve done even a little research into the most expensive fursuits, then there’s a very good chance you’ve heard of the Roar Dragon fursuit. This suit borderline qualifies as a fursuit simply because of its complete lack of fur but it is modeled after a fursona so I guess it qualifies. It was made by fursuit maker Zaranthus in 2019 and has yet to be topped as the most expensive fursuit of all time. As opposed to faux fur, the suit is made from leather and latex which is layered over itself to create these awesome shimmering scales. The closest thing to fur on this suit might have to be the white mane of hair that runs down its back but apart from that, this dragon is all scales. On top of its crazy scaly texture, it’s another hyper-realistic suit giving yet another suit on this list this borderline terrifying appearance. All in all, this suit’s uniqueness and difficulty to make moderately justifies its ludicrous price tag.
Where Can I Get A Fursuit Of My Own?
All this talk about fursuits may have you wondering where you can get a fursuit of your own. Well, look no further as we have put together a brief list of the best fursuit makers for you so that you can save yourself all the browsing. Just note, we are fully aware there are some great individual artists you can go to out there, but we are just listing the best fursuit-making services.
Lemonbrat: Lemonbrat is the top dog when it comes to fursuit-making and if you’ve looked into getting a fursuit there’s not a chance in hell you haven’t heard of them and with good reason. They offer quality fursuits, they are reliable, they are experienced and sure they are a bit pricey but they already juggle all the previous attributes so they have to compromise somewhere I guess.
Fursonafy: Shameless self-plug here. In all seriousness, as well as furry art commissions, we offer quality fursuits for what we believe to be relatively affordable prices and we try our best to take on as many commissions as possible.
KoshkaFursuits: This is probably the most affordable option on the list but as a result, their commissions are very often closed, and getting a slot can be an absolute nightmare. However, if you do manage to get a slot, you can get a serious bang for your buck because these guys clearly know what they are doing when it comes to making a fursuit.
MadeFurYou: MadeFurYou is another super popular option that you’ve probably heard of if you have looked into getting a fursuit before. They are a pretty bog standard Fursuit making service however one interesting thing they offer is adoptable suits which means they model the fursuit after a reference sheet design that they have already made and you can choose the reference sheet you want them to model the suit after.
