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Two words that when used together are a sure bet to attract attention.
Few cultural icons garner as much fascination as Shrunken Heads. Like the two opposite poles of a magnet, they both attract us and repel us at the same time.
In their strange aspect we see ourselves: we see the savagery we are capable of as well as our ingenuity. They reflect both the depths of human cruelty and extent to which spirituality and superstition dominate the human experience. While people the world over are familiar with Shrunken Heads, most know very little about them: how they are made, and more importantly, why. And, even though the practice has been long outlawed in every corner of the world, they still endure: woven deeply into the our collective consciousness of things hideous and taboo |
 The Real Shrunken Head™ products are authentic reproductions of real shrunken heads produced in the traditional practices unique to specific cultures around the world. We have made every effort to capture authenticity and the complete experience of each distinct culture represented with each shrunken head series. (While we in no way condone the practice of human mutilation in our modern, large scale societies, we cannot ignore the importance of such rituals to some tribal cultures: both recent and in ages past. Head shrinking is part of the human experience and like all cultural practices, bears understanding.) |
| The Real Shrunken Head is a toy/novelty produced by Ichabod Products, LLC of Collierville, TN, USA. Distributor Inquiries Welcome Feel free to contact us at: Ichabod1@realshrunkenhead.com Amazon ExpeditionTM and The Real shrunken HeadTM are Trademarks of Ichabod Products, LLC | The Real Shrunken HEAD – AMAZON EXPEDITION series shrunken heads were obtained by an American expedition into the Amazon Basin over 100 years ago. Join the Adventure! Check out the links to begin unraveling the mystery. |
The Boyz are Easy to OrderJust "Meet The Boyz" (link on the tab above this window) and choose the one you'd like by clicking the "Add to Cart" button. If you'd like more than one, click "Continue Shopping" and choose another!
A couple of things you might want to know:
- Real Shrunken Heads™ are realistically heavy. They're about the size of a baseball and are made of solid resin. They come with their own gunny sack and ID card.
- We ship FedEx, so your Real Shrunken Head™ arrives quickly and safely. Shipping is reasonable - $7 for every two heads.
- If you hate your head, we'll take it back (heh). Just email orders@realshrunkenhead.com, and we'll make it right.
- We use PayPal, the standard in online transactions. You can use your PayPal account, but if you don't have one, you can just use a major credit card (and you don't even have to create a PayPal account).
- At the moment, we only ship to the US. Contact the creator of these fantastic novelty items if you have questions about shipping elsewhere.
Interested in wholesale?Ichabod Products, the creators of the Real Shrunken Head™ would be happy to send you wholesale information. Drop us an email at: ichabod1@realshrunkenhead.com and we'll get back to you soon. You might want to include your postal address if you want a brochure or something.
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Coming AttractionsOur first release of the Real Shrunken HeadTM, Amazon Expedition™ (AE) series, includes 5 original characters. We plan on releasing at least two additional sets of 5 characters in the AE series.In addition to shrunken head novelties, IP plans on releasing other innovative and novel products as part of the AE series. IP has several other shrunken head series in the works. These include famous historical as well as fictional characters |
About UsIchabod Products, LLC (IP) is a business devoted to turning novel and innovative concepts into consumer products and bringing them to the marketplace. Our first product line, The Real Shrunken Head™, is an IP developed original. In addition to the 1st series of shrunken heads that are part of the RSH product line, Amazon Expedition™ (AE) series, IP has several other shrunken head series in the works. The president and founder of Ichabod Products is Andrew Mariano. Our headquarters are located in Collierville, Tennessee where Andrew lives with his wife, two children one dog and a one cat. |
This remarkable story begins over 100 years ago. When a wealthy American eccentric underwrites an expedition into the Amazon jungles.
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In the year 1897, an American expedition embarked upon a journey to explore the uncharted territory deep within the Amazon Basin. A wealthy American eccentric Cyrus Whitney funded the expedition.
Lead by the eminent naturalist Hershel Becket, their published objective was to catalog plant and animal species unknown to western science. [Months later, this objective was put into serious question as authorities in the US and in South America sought answers. However, as with most other aspects of this ill-fated expedition, their true objective remained shrouded in mystery for over one hundred years.] Plagued by bad luck, and poor weather, the journey started off on the proverbial wrong foot and continued that way. |
Six months and little more that half way into their planned journey the entire party vanished mysteriously and completely.
Despite one of the largest searches in Amazonian history, covering thousands of square miles of territory, not a single trace of the expedition was ever found. Six weeks before the expedition was noted to be missing Whitney (who was not on the expedition), was reported to have drown off the coast of Maine. No body was recovered. As time passed, and as the 19th century faded into the 20th then the 21st, memory of this ill-fated expedition faded into history and from history into legend. |
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One fine, Saturday morning in March of 2001, Nick Wassmer, an American graduate student, busied himself cleaning out an old storeroom in the basement of the Anthropology Department at Quito International University in Ecuador.
It was there that he came across a most remarkable discovery: three very large, very old wooden crates stenciled with the words: AMAZON EXPEDITION and the year 1897. Having no idea what they were or what they might contain, he was intrigued by their apparent date, their condition and other strange markings on the crates. He had maintenance move them to the natural history lab upstairs where he spent much of his time |
researching his doctoral thesis. Upon opening the crates, Nick and his mentor, Dr. Stefan Bacci, without their knowing, began to unravel a one hundred year old mystery, ….
Those crates were found to hold the tackle and treasure and final testament to the Lost Expedition of 1897. How, when and why these crates came to be in Quito and remained hidden for so long remains a mystery. However, the contents of those crates have proven even more intriguing than the questions they leave unanswered. … Inside those crates Wassmer didn’t find plant and animal specimens as expected. |
| He didn’t find Incan gold and artifacts. What he found was both shocking and disturbing. …
The members of the lost expedition of 1897 were able, before their demise, to document one of the most horrific ritual practices ever invented by mankind: Head Shrinking. Apparently, before they disappeared they were able to witness, firsthand, the grizzly practice. And they did something few persons before them or since have ever accomplished, they were able to obtain an unprecedented number of, REAL, shrunken heads: SHRUNKEN, HUMAN HEADS. Even more remarkable they were able to obtain the | stories behind each and every unfortunate soul who was preserved in this gruesome, ritual.
The initial 5 shrunken heads of the Amazon Expedition series seem to be heads of native people of the Amazon basin. These heads and their stories offer an heretofore unprecedented glimpse into their world over 100 years later. As the contents of the Lost Expedition's crates are examined and catalogued, additional heads and artifacts will be made available to the public. Who knows what we might find inside. There is only one thing for sure: There are still more questions than answers. |
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 -- Independence Expedition Specimen # 797 Motsansi TSANSI (shrunken head) 2°S 67°W Strong, courageous and brave, Motsansi was once a great hunter and warrior. Cunning though he was, he always followed orders without question, leading to his downfall. During a fierce battle, a tribal elder ordered Motsansi to burn down an enemy’s hut. |
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Motsansi suspected there might be women & children hiding inside, nevertheless he set fire to the hut. His suspicions were right, and 2 women & 5 small children died. Later, their deaths were avenged by the men of their tribe. Motsansi was captured, killed and his head was cut off, shrunk and hung on display in the enemy village. |
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Amazon tradition holds that the spirit contained in the Tsansi will both protect and empower its owner. Keep Motsansi to protect you from unethical authority and to keep you true to your conscience.
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| Amazon Factoid - More than 20 percent of the world’s oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. | |
 -- Good Luck Expedition Specimen # 4893 Fanneebo TSANSI (shrunken head) 3°S 62°W Smart, brave and kind, Fanneebo treated others with respect. A hard worker, he provided well for his village and his family. He was a lucky man, always victorious in battle, but his luck finally ran out. |
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One fateful day, soon after winning a fierce battle with a neighboring tribe, he was hunting in the forest. Fanneebo and several of his tribesmen were ambushed by a roving war party band from a third tribe. He was shot through the heart with a poison tipped arrow by a young boy who was experiencing his first battle. Fanneebo’s luck had finally run out. His shrunken head became a lucky charm for the young warrior. |
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Amazon tradition holds that the spirit contained in the Tsansi will protect and empower its owner. Keep Fanneebo to protect you from bad luck and to give you the good luck that ran out on this otherwise lucky man.
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| Amazon Factoid - At least 3000 fruits are found in the rainforests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. | |
 -- Honesty Expedition Specimen # 1371 Riantu TSANSI (shrunken head) 2°S 66°W A natural liar, Riantu was what many call “two faced”. He was very skilled at making people feel as if they were his friends while all the time, plotting against them. Soon he had lied at least once to everyone in his tribe, and eventually, his lies caught up to him. |
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During a battle with a neighboring tribe, his fellow clan members abandoned him. When he realized he was alone and surrounded by the enemy, he tried to lie his way out of capture. The opposing tribe laughed as he concocted one outrageous story after another. Soon his head, including both faces, was shrunken and hung on a rope to warn children to tell the truth. |
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Amazon tradition holds that the spirit contained in the Tsansi will both protect and empower its owner . Keep Riantu to protect you from dishonesty in others and to keep you true in word and deed.
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| Amazon Factoid - The Amazonian Rainforest covers over a billion acres, encompassing areas in Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia and the Eastern Andean region of Ecuador and Peru. | |
 -- Generosity Expedition Specimen # 297 Pakkii TSANSI (shrunken head) 3°S 65°W Sneaky and self-centered, Pakkii was above all, greedy. He often befriended others only long enough to get what he wanted; then dropped them like yesterday’s bananas. He spent much of his time cheating others out of their possessions. He lived an easy life, until the day he cheated the son of the village holy man. |
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The villagers had seen enough of Pakkii’s greedy ways. He was banished from the tribe, bound, hand and foot, and left deep in the forest many miles away. Before he could free himself, Pakkii he was found by enemy warriors and was not able to cheat death. They cut off his head. It was then ... well, you know the rest. |
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Amazon tradition holds that the spirit contained in the Tsansi will both protect and empower its owner . Keep Pakkii to protect you from greed in others and to invest your heart with generosity towards others.
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| Amazon Factoid - Species of plants and animals are disappearing from the rainforests before they can be cataloged and studied. | |
 -- Kindness Expedition Specimen #3875 Wakannii TSANSI (shrunken head) 4°S 63°W An evil man” was the best thing anyone could call Wakannii. As a boy, Hevenjoyed tormenting any living thing in his path including village livestock and small forest animals. Wary of beatings or worse, his playmates quickly learned to stay clear of him. As a warrior, he delighted in making his enemies suffer. |
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After one skirmish with an enemy tribe Wakani was discovered behind a hut, mutilating a dead body with his knife. When the tribal chief reprimanded him, he jabbed his knife at the chief, nearly killing him. The men of his clan had had enough of Wakannii. He was killed and his head shrunk and placed on a pole in the center of the village as a reminder for children to treat others well. |
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Amazon tradition holds that the spirit contained in the Tsansi will both protect and empower its owner . Keep Wakannii to protect you from evil and to invest your heart with virtue and love towards others.
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| Amazon Factoid - The Amazon Rainforest has been described as the "Lungs of our Planet" because it provides the service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. | |