Puppetsnstuff Puppets

[puppetpackpepe]

Hello,
I'm new here. I recently purchased a puppet from puppetsnstuff. I should get it in a couple days. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with these puppets. What's the quality, how do they perform, and how is it overall.

Thank you very much,
Cody

 

[gfarkwort]

I've played with one that my friend owns.........They are nice but I got a cramp in my thumb but nothin big......but I noticed that the builder uses styrofoam ball for eyes (the ones that crumble) And the eyes arent protected from crumbling so I suggest that u just take the pupils off and pait the eyes with this one product u can get at JoAnn Fabrics (its real cheap too like 3 or 4 bucks....sorry i cant remember what is called but its found in the same isle as the strofoam balls usually and it has a purple lable.) that u can just paint on and it protects the eyes from crumbaling and also dries quickly and u can just put the pupils back on. (use glue if u need to.) but thats the only complaint I have.......i really like em.....nice and light but sometimes one puppet looks the same as another puppet they've made so sometimes they're not always that original.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I've never actually seen one of these in person, but I don't think they use styrofoam for the eyes. All of the characters on their web site (click here ) appear to be plastic.

 

[Puppetplanet]

I haven't taken a close look recently, but I know that he has used styrofoam balls for eyes on puppets he sold on Ebay in the past. I'm not sure if he does it only for the Ebay puppets or not.... I think I remember him making a comment on this forum about using them as well. I'll have to check...... Nope, can't find anything here. Someone suggested it though! *laughing*

I haven't used or seen one of his puppets in person, but on close inspection of the photos he provides in his ebay auctions I would say that they appear to be decent characters for the price. If you want true feedback, you should check his feedback rating and comments left from buyers on Ebay. Just look up the name puppetsnstuff on ebay and click the number to the right of his name and it will open up the window with comments that everyone has left for him.

-Michele

 

[puppetpackpepe]

Thanks

It doesn't appear to me that he uses styrofoam balls in the picture. It looks like a ping pong ball. I can't wait to get him. I plan to use him in Children's Church. I only paid 45 for mine, i guess it's a good deal .Guess ill have to wait until i get him.
We use "Puppet Productions" puppets in our team, and most of them have soft rubbber grips on the inside. Not having one of those is going to be awkward.
Shouldn't be too bad though

Isn't Puppetsnstuff a member on this forum?

-Cody

Oh and that's the guy i ordered in my avatar.
I asked to customize one of his existing characters, and he thought it came out so good, he made a new character out of it.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Yup, PaulyPuppets runs Puppetsnstuff.

So maybe the styrofoam balls are just a money saver on the ebay puppets then? I imagine his margins on those aren't very good. One thing I've always wondered about those puppets is the mouths - how do they look in person? The bottom lip in all the pictures seems, er, kind of sloppy.

 

[gfarkwort]

.........and square

 

[puppetpackpepe]

i got it today.
The mouth is square, but it kind of gives it more character. It's very,very easy to move. Part of the reason the body is so lightweight is because theres not alot of foam in it. It weighs about 3 pounds mainly because of the Old Navy coveralls he put on it. It's a very nice puppet. The eyeballs are styrofoam and the pupils are round pieces of velcro (for some reason).
It's a pretty cool puppet all around. It's a little smaller than what i thought it would be, though.

Another thing. The clothes are definitley not removable. The head is seperate from the rest of the body and is sewn directly to his white shirt. Theres no fleece covering the 'body' of it, just the shirt and coveralls. I believe the arms are sewn to the foam. It's pretty good considering i ordered it on tuesday ( i think )

 

[PaulyPuppets]

From Pauly (Creator of PUPPETSNSTUFF PUPPETS)

Wow! All this talk about 'lil 'ol me? I'm flattered. Firstly, thank you for all the positive things you've said, everyone. I wanted to clear up, or at least explain my way of thinking, when building these puppets, so there's no assuming. I started building and selling puppets on eBay about 3, maybe 4 years ago, and it's primarily how I feed my family. When I first started building and selling on eBay, sales were not good. The main reason is that folks who buy on eBay simply want to save bucks, and that's fine. EBAY is a great place for that. But at the time, I was building puppets with plastic eyes, high cost antron fleece covering the ENTIRE body, expensive lining in the puppets' entry, wires in the fingers, basically all the things that usually go into a professional "Muppet" type of puppet. But these materials are very costly as most of you other puppet builders know. No one on eBay seemed to have the funds for the prices that I had to start these puppets off at. Most of my clients are ministries without much to spend to begin with. So I had to come up with a way to save some material costs, yet still deliver a "Pro TV Looking" type puppet to my customers. In order to do that, I started using the styro foam ball eyes, and I kept the clothes attached to the characters, so I didn't have to cover the ENTIRE body with fleece. I found "Alpine" fleece (which I've written about on an earlier post) as a great substitute (and better, in my opinion) for the expensive, and hard to find antron fleece. Basically, what I offer is the chance for the average person who can't afford a $3,500 puppet (I swear, that's actually what we spent for each puppet from my old TV show "Jelly Bean Jungle") to own one almost as nice, but for less than $60-$70. It's worked out great so far, as my eBay feedback will show. Are there better made puppets out there? Absolutely! But they're usually quite costly. Although there ARE folks like PUPPET PLANET who also do nice work, who seem to be affordable as well. So I personally feel I'm doing a pretty nice service for some good people. Also, after each sale, I Email every single customer, educating them on the proper ways to preserve puppets built like this. Bottom line is, if you treat the puppets well, they'll last as long as you want them to.
Ok, nuff said. Thanks for listening. ....Pauly

http://stores.ebay.com/PUPPETSNSTUFF-PUPPETS

PS: Hey, GFARKWORT, I'm going to take your advice and use that stuff to paint over the styro foam for more protection. I never thought of that. Thanks.

 

[ravagefrackle]

i think it great that you are out there i feel bad when i tell people i cant build them a puppet for such a low price, especially when they area small group, but like you stated the time and materials that go into a "muppet stlye " tv ready puppet are different from what goes into say a church ministry puppet

why not just use ping pong balls, they are about the same size as the small styro foam balls, and they last pretty well, and you can paint them, and for pupils i have been using those small felt pads they sell for lamps and stuff that prevent scratches on furniture, they work pretty well , and have a nice sticky backing