Two shapes dominate helium advertising: the sphere and the blimp. They are not two sizes of the same product. They behave differently, carry different things, and suit different sites. Most buying mistakes in this category are shape mistakes, not size mistakes.
The two units
**5.5-foot sphere** — $350, plus $27 shipping. Holds about 87 cubic feet of helium.
**13-foot blimp** — $1,526, plus $135 shipping. Holds about 170 cubic feet. Full-colour artwork on both sides is included in the price.
Both ship UPS Ground from North Carolina, two to five business days, in a single 60 by 26 by 3 inch carton. Both fly at 120 feet on a tether.
Shape decides what you can say
A blimp has two large flat-ish flanks. That is why it carries artwork — a logo, a name, a message, printed full colour onto white panels that reproduce almost any colour accurately.
A sphere has no flank. It presents a curve from every angle, which is excellent for colour and useless for text. Anything written on a sphere is legible from one narrow viewing angle and distorted from every other.
So: **if there is a message, you need the blimp.** If there is only a brand colour or a need to be noticed, the sphere does it for a fifth of the price.
Shape decides how it behaves in wind
This is the part nobody explains at the point of sale.
A blimp has fins. It weathervanes — it turns to point into the wind and sits relatively stable. That is good for stability and it has a consequence: **in steady wind, a blimp shows you its nose, not its flank.** The artwork you paid for is edge-on to anyone downwind.
A sphere has no preferred orientation. It has nothing to turn into the wind and nothing to hide. It moves more, but it presents the same thing from every direction all the time.
Practically: on a site with prevailing wind across your sightline, a blimp reads well. On a site where the wind blows along your sightline, a blimp will spend a lot of days pointing at your customers rather than showing them anything.
Both come down at 25 miles per hour forecast, regardless of shape.
Shape decides how many you buy
A blimp is a single strong point. One unit, one message, one location on the site.
Spheres are a run. Four spheres cost $1,400 — less than one blimp — and cover a long frontage. For wide sites, a line of colour moving at height often reads better from a car than one object does.
This is the calculation most people never do: **frontage width should influence shape.** Narrow site, one strong point, buy the blimp. Wide site, buy several spheres.
Running costs differ a lot
Helium is about $1.50 per cubic foot from a welding-gas supplier — roughly $300 for a 200 cubic foot tank.
A blimp fill is about $255. A sphere fill is about $130. Both lose roughly one percent of gas per day, so both need topping off every three to seven days.
The difference compounds. One 200 cubic foot tank covers about two months of sphere flying including top-offs. The same tank is one blimp fill and a little left over.
If your budget is ongoing rather than upfront, that gap matters more than the purchase price does.
What is the same for both
Setup: first inflation takes reading the instructions, after that about ten minutes with one person.
Anchoring: net lift on a blimp is about three pounds, so a sandbag or a fixed tie-off handles it. A sphere pulls less.
Airspace: 120 feet is deliberately below the 150-foot line at which the FAA becomes involved in tethered balloons. Within five miles of controlled airspace, call the local tower — a routine call, never refused in forty years of doing it.
Indoors: 15 feet of clear ceiling minimum.
Storage: both deflate, fold flat and store in their shipping cartons.
Material: both are polyurethane, which handles UV and recovers from folding rather than creasing. That is why fourteen-year-old units are still flying.
A common and sensible combination
Many sites run both. One blimp at the entrance carrying the message, and a run of spheres along the frontage carrying colour.
That splits the job correctly. The blimp says who you are to people far enough away to read it. The spheres make the site visually busy to everyone driving past.
Quick decision
– Need words read? **Blimp.** – Just need to be noticed? **Spheres.** – Wide frontage? **Spheres, several.** – One strong entrance? **Blimp.** – Tight ongoing budget? **Spheres.** – Wind blows along your sightline? **Spheres.**
Questions we get
What does a 13 ft advertising blimp cost?
$1,526 printed, with full-colour artwork on both sides included in the price. Shipping is $135 UPS Ground from the factory in North Carolina.
How much helium does it use?
About 170 cubic feet for a full fill, roughly $255 at $1.50 per cubic foot from a welding-gas supplier. It loses about one percent per day, so top off every three to seven days.
How high does it fly?
120 feet on the standard tether. That is deliberately below the 150-foot line at which the FAA becomes involved in tethered balloons.
What happens in wind?
Winds forecast over 25 miles per hour, bring it in. Wind does not wear a balloon out, but it can lose one.
How long until it ships?
Three to seven days from artwork approval, plus two to five business days shipping.
More at bigblimps.com.