Pharaon says the first Sammy was a "clumsy papier-mâché and plaster head worn with regular clothes" (1962 Alcalde).

Within four years Sammy has undergone his first makeover (1968 Alcalde). This remake is the first real mascot suit, Pharaon says, thereby making Sammy not as bulky as the first and much easier to look at. "Notice that Sammy is brown, and not orange, and the head was made out of hard plastic" (1970 Alcalde).

Pharaon says the next incarnation of Sammy was also sculpted out of plaster. "He was also brown and to me he looks more like a wolf than a bear or a kat" (1971 Alcalde).

In the 1970s – as they had previously done in the 1950s – the university tried keeping a live kinkajou; the first of the 1970s-era kinkajous died shortly after its arrival, the second lasted a few years longer. The idea of a live animal didn't exist much longer either before the costume returned (1978 Alcalde).

"This Sammy looks very old and wise,” says Pharaon of the first orange Sammy and the first one that really looks anything like a bear or a kat (1984 Alcalde).

Of the next Sammy incarnation, Pharaon says Sammy looks like a rat (1986 Alcalde).

Samantha Bearkat debuted in the fall of 1986. Shirley Sanders created the costume of "black leotard, fluorescent orange Reeboks, and a furry tail and ears" (1987 Alcalde).

The next Sammy debuted in 1990 and Pharaon likens this version to "a big orange dog." This Sammy was introduced with a new version of Samantha Bearkat; Pharaon says they looked similar but one wore a dress.

On January 30, 1997 the new and improved Sammy Bearkat made his debut. Pharaon says Sammy is now "more kat-like and more muscular. He's also a heck of a lot more happy looking."

A new Samantha appeared in 1997 and lasted until her retirement in 2005.

Sammy celebrated his fiftieth anniversary in 2009.