The Phanatic has gone through a few changes since his first appearance in 1978.
He’s even been red a few times to promote the team during “Paint the Town Red Week.”
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Over the course of his history, he’s evolved into the mischevious mascot that fans know and love. The new Phanatic hasn’t changed so much that Phillies fans won’t recognize the beloved furry creature, but a few key tweaks have been made:
Compare with this picture from Sep. 29, 2019.
As evidenced by the tweet above, the new Phanatic is a slightly lighter shade of green. He also has had some plastic surgery: His new snout is a slightly different shape, more of a cone than a cylinder, as you can see in this older picture below. It’s also a bit shorter.
Another big difference is the Phanatic’s eyes. His old eyes were more of an oval shape.
The Phanatic must have had laser eye surgery, because his new eyes are more round. It also looks like he got lash extensions: His former cloud-shaped dark purple eyelids have been replaced by lighter purple stars, and the blue tufts of eyelash fur behind his eyes have been dyed a lighter shade of blue.
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In the new photos, the Phanatic’s feathery tail has been dyed the same light blue as his lashes, and it appears to have grown in length, compared with this photo from 2019.
In body modifications, Phanatic’s hands are now separate from his furry coat, giving them a sort of oven mitt appearance. His old hands (below) were attached to the top of the arm. He also added some lovely new arm scales, probably an attempt to get in touch with his reptilian Galapagos brethren.
The Phanatic has always been known for his big belly. But the new Phanatic has shown up to camp in the best shape of his life. His once-ample stomach, as seen below in this 2008 photo, has been trimmed down.
His online profile hasn’t been updated yet with his new stats, but he’s definitely shaved off a few pounds from his former 300.
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The Phanatic’s shoe game is always on point (remember when Bryce Harper gave him a pair of Phanatic-inspired cleats, and the Phanatic made his own cleats with Harper’s face on them?). But the Phanatic’s classic red and green Phillies logo shoes and red and white socks (shown below) have been replaced with red shoes with blue and white trim and the Phillies Liberty Bell logo, and blue socks with a red and white stripe.
However, Phillies fans will find that no matter the physical changes, the big goofy green guy is still up to his antics.
