A great way to get into Fun World collecting (especially on a budget) is late 90s/early 00s masks from the polyester shroud era. They're far less competitive and often half the price of their earlier cotton shroud predecessors. While cotton shroud masks are heralded for their history and quality, it's great to remember these masks are also classic and vintage!
While they are far less sought after and sparsely collected, the late 90s may have been Fun World's most iconic and popular era. The Scream boom massively popularized the glow-in-dark assortments, even expanding to international markets around the world. Production and distribution was likely at an all time high— placing the most Fun World masks on the most trick 'r treaters, defining Halloween of the 90s. Fun World was able to hire more in-house designers and largely expand their mask and costume catalog with new and iconic items like the Bleeding Dripping mask series. Fun World items could now be found in most stores Halloween seasonal aisles, with this era's new iconic purple photography and packaging lining the shelves. There are even some benefits to masks from this era such as the classic vanilla smell, darker fabric, flatter tassels, and additional characters.
While the catalog gained a few new faces (and most characters were still in production) it appears they may have stopped producing:
'Goofy' ghost (in #9206 glow)
'Yellow Teeth' skull
'Fanged' skull
'Lurch' phantom
'Old' phantom (non-MK)
I'm waiting for the day a collector who exclusively collects poly shroud masks comes along. I think that would be so cool to see. Until then, I advocate for them as perfectly great and valid vintage masks for any collector interested in Fun World to try.
