Where can I find light weight potatoes made of foam/plastic/etc?

November 20, 2008 12:42 PM

Where can I find light weight potatoes made of foam/plastic/etc?

I am looking to find potatoes made of a light-weight material (obviously not for consumption) so that I can mail what looks like a "five pound bag of potatoes" and not get hammered with shipping costs.

I'm in the Houston area, and don't mind using the internet.
Thank you.

posted by Seeba to grab bag (10 comments total)

I don't know about buying fake potatoes, but you could always make some by stuffing brown pantyhose with cotton, then stitching shut the ends. By placing a few more stitches all over them, you can make idententations that look a bit like "eyes". I guess if the pantyhose doesn't quite look opaque enough at the end of the process, you could go to town o your stuffed version with a can of beige spray-paint. But those wouldn't be quite as huggable as the straight-up cloth ones.
posted by Greg Nog at 12:57 PM on November 20, 2008

Craft stores like Michaels always have tons of lightweight foam and plastic fruit and vegetables. I don't recall specifically seeing potatoes, but it's a pretty good bet that they carry them.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:59 PM on November 20, 2008

There seems to be a brisk trade in very realistic-looking potato stress balls (who knew?). I've only found personalizable lots with huge minimum orders so far, but I'm sure you could buy just a few with some more looking.
posted by peachfuzz at 1:06 PM on November 20, 2008

and here you go!
posted by peachfuzz at 1:07 PM on November 20, 2008

Try contacting somewhere like this?
posted by mandal at 1:11 PM on November 20, 2008

do consider that it probably will cost less to buy a real 5lb bag of potatoes and ship USPS or UPS Ground or Fedex Ground than it would to buy a bunch of fakes and ship them, too.

shipping costs probably won't be more than $15, with a $2 box and $3 bag of potatoes, while the fake spuds look like they'd run a pretty penny to get enough to have a whole bag, and then you'd have to buy a mesh bag, etc....

:)
posted by citystalk at 1:13 PM on November 20, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Realistically, almost anything you buy that is light and looks like a potato is probably going to end up being more expensive overall. Each stress ball costs $3. A "5 lb bag" of them will probably run you at least $20-25. Shipping 5 lbs by UPS is around $13, shipping by parcel post is $10 so you're not saving money. Unless you have a bunch of unused stockings lying around, that's not the most economical solution either (although I suppose one pair would be enough, not sure how much that costs and how valuable your time is).

If the idea is that you're just mailing a 5 lb bag of potatoes, and it's some kind of joke, and there don't actually have to be any potatoes in there at all, I would recommend buying some burlap, sewing into a bag and simply printing "POTATOES 5LBS" on it (a flour sack towel sown over will also work. Add a twine drawstring. For the potatoes, take some brown paper and crumple it into potato shaped wads and throw them in the bag.

If you're not a sewer, you can even buy potato sacks (although generally larger than a 5 pounder) on ebay for a few dollars each.
posted by Deathalicious at 1:23 PM on November 20, 2008

Thank you all very much.
posted by Seeba at 2:41 PM on November 20, 2008

Seconding craft stores. Michael's and Hobby Lobby are two franchises you might find locally.
posted by PatoPata at 4:52 PM on November 20, 2008

hot potato?
posted by jus7brea7he at 5:57 PM on November 20, 2008