Maniac Pumpkin Carvers on 'Shark Tank': What is the cost and where to buy the custom pumpkin designs that resemble famous faces?
YONKERS, NEW YORK: Halloween is just around the corner and carving a pumpkin is a must. Many people don't like the old tradition of carving a pumpkin because it can be a real mess. The gooey and sticky pumpkin innards make it a pretty messy but fun affair. But what if you want the fun but not the mess?
At the moment, all the 'Shark Tank' fans are excited for the Sharko-ween episode where we will get to listen to some spine-tingling pitches.
Marc Evan and Chris Soria are set to pitch their creative pumpkin carving invention called Maniac Pumpkin Carvers to the Sharks in the upcoming Episode 5 of Season 15.
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers started as a labor of love but quickly spiraled into something so much more. Founders Evan and Soria have creatively collaborated for more than 20 years now.
This creative duo has managed to make some amazing wonders. They took their passion for art illustration and sculpting skills and Halloween and created Maniac Pumpkin Carvers.
Marc and Chris successfully turned their passion for carving pumpkins and made it into something that could pay their bills.
We will have to wait and watch to see the upcoming episode 5 of 'Shark Tank' Season 15 to find out if the Sharks — Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and guest Shark Jason Blum will invest in it.
What is Maniac Pumpkin Carvers?
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers is a company specializing in high-end, custom pumpkin art. It was founded by Marc Evan and Chris Soria in the year 2008 after they graduated college.
Their carvings and illustrations which resemble popular faces, famous characters, and artworks are known worldwide. Over the years, they have continued to experiment with pumpkin carvings. Some of their bigger clients are as follows: New York Yankees, Martha Stewart, and Food Network.
In 2008, Evan and Soria founded Maniac Pumpkins Carvers with the mission of creating the best pumpkin artwork available.
They started their business in a basement apartment and now it has transformed into a full creative studio. They have a great team of talented artists and pumpkin carvers. In 2020, they shifted their studio from Brooklyn to Nyack. Right now, they have a beautiful space at Ridge Hill, in Yonkers NY.
In the past, the Maniac Pumpkins have been displayed at various places including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and Yankee Stadium.
Every year, Marc, Chris, and their dedicated team take the level of pumpkin carving to new heights. If you have a problem carving pumpkins, you can simply reach out to Maniac Pumpkin Carvers and get your "custom" pumpkin just the way you want, without getting your hands dirty.
View this post on Instagram
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers' services
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers can carve anything into pumpkins that you would like, including logos, brands, heartfelt messages, favorite characters, celebrities, music album covers, portraits, monsters, and more.
Their team will merge their creativity and your idea to create a masterpiece. Whether the design will be etched on the pumpkin or sculpted will vary from design to design. The Maniac pumpkins are real-grown pumpkins.
Apart from this, you can also hire the Maniac Pumpkins Carvers for live events, classes, timelapse videos, advertising, and custom work. You can provide their team with a picture of your choice and they'll ensure that your vision glows up in a Maniac Pumpkin. You can even gift a loved one a Maniac Pumpkin with a beautiful carving of their favorite celebrity on it.
View this post on Instagram
Who are the founders of Maniac Pumpkin Carvers?
Marc Evan and Chris Soria are the founders of Maniac Pumpkin Carvers. The duo started Maniac Pumpkin Carvers in 2008 after completing college.
However, the roots of Maniac go back to their high school days. Both of them love Halloween, horror, and geek culture. They began carving pumpkins during their high school days.
At that time, they used to spend weeks transforming a section of the school into terrifying haunted houses.
Later on, the duo studied illustration at Parsons School of Design. They began carving pumpkins while working in the NY restaurant and bar scene during college.
Then, they clubbed their love for Halloween and their passion for pumpkin carving and formed Maniac Pumpkin Carvers. They pushed their boundaries and made a name for themselves in the world. Gradually, their carvings became popular and sales increased.
Soon after, Mark and Chris were contacted by Wired.com and the press coverage never stopped. Their carvings have made appearances on 'Good Morning America', 'Rachael Ray', 'The Kitchen', 'The Chew', 'Martha Stewart', 'Popular Mechanics', and news outlets like Yahoo News, and CNN. Apart from this, they are fine artists and active muralists.
In an interview with Business Insider, Marc said, "Pumpkins have a relatively short shelf life. This means for artists like me, whose seasonal business primarily revolves around carving pumpkins, there's no room for error or do-overs."
He added, "Unlike canvas, where you have the luxury of pausing and returning to your work when it comes to a perishable medium like a pumpkin, it's a race against the clock to get the job done and the finished product out the door and into the client's hands. No matter how far in advance a client commissions a job, we typically carve everything within 24 hours of when it's needed to ensure it looks its best."
Evan continued, "I run Maniac Pumpkin Carvers, which I started in 2008 with my childhood friend Chris Soria after graduating from college. We work out of a temporary, 6,000-square-foot storefront in Westchester, New York, and our sought-after carved creations start at $150 and can go into the thousands."
He went on to say, "Our pumpkins have been displayed at The Museum of Modern Art and Yankee Stadium. We also provide both virtual and in-person carving classes, corporate workshops and team-building events, and live demos, and we even make and sell carving kits for DIY-types."
View this post on Instagram
What is the cost and where to buy Maniac Pumpkin Carvers?
As per Marc, their pumpkin carving designs take somewhat around 20 hours to make and they can cost thousands. These professional carvers carve the pumpkins within 24 hours of delivery as they want their pumpkins to look good and fresh. Their delivery periods are shorter as pumpkins are perishable. The artists work quickly and efficiently to deliver the best product on time.
When we talk about the prices of the carvings, they depend on a couple of factors like the size of the pumpkin, and the intricacy of the image to be carved. The prices of the simple etchings begin around $150 and they can be up to $800 and far more for detailed portraits, unique works of art, and extreme sculptures.
The types of pumpkins one can pick from include white pumpkins, giant pumpkins, cinderella pumpkins, plus other heirloom pumpkins and gourds.
The fans can simply visit the official website of Maniac Pumpkin Carvers and order their pumpkin right away. Their pumpkin designs have received positive feedback on social media.
They recently shared a beautiful pumpkin featuring a picture of Taylor Swift on their Instagram page. One user wrote, "Not a hair out of place! Just another perfect pumpkin 🎃 ❌💎." Followed by a user who penned, "@taylorswift you need more pumpkins from @maniacpumpkins! They never go out of style 😏✨🎃."
View this post on Instagram
Where is Maniac Pumpkin Carvers now?
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers has come a long way from a basement to an incredible creative studio in New York. Over the years, it has evolved a lot.
Halloween season is the best time for the company as it gets the maximum number of orders for its products during this time. At the time of writing, the company has more than 16k followers on Instagram and it continues to grow rapidly.
View this post on Instagram
Who will seal the deal?
In the upcoming episode 5 of Season 15 of the show, Marc Evan and Chris Soria will be pitching their company to five Sharks. They will have to give it their all in order to convince Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and guest Shark Jason Blum that their company is worth a 'Shark Tank' investment.
Cuban might give the duo a deal as he previously invested in a horror entertainment company, Ten Thirty One Productions which produces live Halloween-themed attractions.
The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is one of the most popular ones. It will be a perfect addition to his entertainment company.
'Shark Tank' Season 15, Episode 5 airs on ABC on Friday, October 27, at 8 pm ET. Catch the latest episode featuring products like Maniac Pumpkin Carvers, American Ghost Walks, I Love Chamoy and Thrill Builders.
Missed episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Not just that, viewers can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.