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OT The hunt is on!

The christmas present I work hardest at getting right every year is the one for Ash.

Sometimes I score brilliantly, sometimes it is a bust.

I don't know if I mentioned his trip to the dollar store here. When we take him we alot a certain amount for him to spend, usually 2 to 5 dollars, and try to get some budgeting and commerce notions across. On this particular trip he found himself a micro blucky and would not part with it. He would not trade it for candy, flash cards, or toys. When we got home, dad went to take off the card and the elastic, and Ash would not allow it. The elastic was molded into the top of the blucky's skull, and Ash took the card and made it dance, explaining to us that it is a "puppen".

So the hunt is on for a simple but sturdy marionette.

Nobody has a clue where he ever saw one, nor where he learned the word "puppet". Most of the kid's shows don't mention that the characters are puppets, nor do they usually feature marionettes. He has no interest in hand puppets or sock puppets, even though the only repeated exposure to a puppet called a puppet that I could think of is sock puppet on Blue's Clues.

Sourses for and hints on marionette shopping would be very welcome. I have inqueries out to some of the more obvious online shops, but if there is a craftsperson in your area that does good quality "puppens" I want to know!

NightMist a blucky is a blown molded plastic skeleton, they come in assorted sizes ranging from micro (8-10 inches) to gigantor (8 to 10 feet)

Reply to
NightMist
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Reply to
Jennifer in Ottawa

Possibly more than you want to spend, but lovely things:

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There are some stuffed toy ones here:
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Charming but spendy:

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Some more nice ones:
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Damn, the good ones are expensive! My sister had one as a cild. We spent as much time disentangling the strings as we did playing with it!

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

I like the way these are 'untangleable'. I remember always having to have my marionette sorted out as the strings were always getting in a mess. Not too many strings either, and nice and thick too.

I think some marionettes are really actually at adult level.

Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk

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Jennifer >

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I 'forestle'd marionette> makers and came up with quite a few links - this was one of the US> ones. jennellh

Reply to
Sally Swindells

These are fantastic quality

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They are Muppet-types rather than simple hand or string puppets. I have a huge uran-utang (think Librarian) and I had a green dragon. The guy who sells them is lovely. They are used in schools and are really robust.

Nel (Gadget Queen)

Reply to
Sartorresartus

That is one of the places I have emailed questions.

I like that I can see some of the joints in the pictures. The one thing I absolutely do not want is hidden wire, or any kind of wire, joints.

NightMist

Reply to
NightMist

Reply to
Roberta

Do youo think Ash would be happy with a hand puppet? I don't have a reason to shop for toys, but I sometimes see these in Wal Mart, or a drug store. Barbara in FL

Reply to
Bobbie Sews More

We have some hand puppets about the place. DH is so good with the Folkmanis type wildlife puppets that people miss them when he puts them aside.(G) Ash has very minimal interest in hand puppets. They are not proper puppens I guess.

NightMist

Reply to
NightMist

With toys he is going to interact with, anthropomorphic is the way to go. DH tried making a controller and stringing some of the looser jointed plush animals Ash has. Very minimal interest. When his Woody doll was strung that got more interest, but Woody is not supposed to have strings on him! so we didn't get to see how well that would have worked. Having priced dolls over the years, I might just as well start out with a proper marionette as try getting a new doll and stringing it as best we can figure.

He has taken great care of his blucky, so maybe I am placing to much importance on sturdiness and non-wired. However I feel it is best to err on the side of caution with something like this.

NightMist

Reply to
NightMist

On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:09:30 -0600, NightMist wrote (in article ):

Hmm. Don't have any resources right at hand, but a couple of weeks ago as I was running into Hobby Lobby, a little girl coming out had sort of a muppet-like marionette that she was making walk along the with her. Since they were leaving, I wonder if it was something they picked up there.

Maureen

Reply to
Maureen Wozniak

Been thinking about your puppen. Assuming you've found one that is 'Ah, just right', will you want to create a stage that appeals to Ash? and what would that be? Does he connect puppen to stage? and in that case you might want to make a curtained tie-back tablecloth. Does he associate puppen to tv? You may need to get a cardboard box about the size of a washing machine and cut it so that it looks like a tv puppen stage. Maybe just steps that Mr. Puppen can climb up and down? Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

I am thinking Pinnochio may well be who we end up getting. Many of the shops are very helpful in finding just the right personality, but surprisingly few can (or will) actually tell me anything about the actual construction of their puppens.

I still have absolutely no idea where he ever actually saw a marionette. We don't do TV, except for dvds we select ourselves. Both this year's and last year's teachers swear they have never had any media that used marionettes in their classes. Nor were any involved in any of the field trips he actually went on. I am starting to wonder if he got the notion by osmosis from my sewing machine guy! Sewing machine guy is a professional clown on the side, he has one marionette (a puppy) that uses in a mime routine. Ash has never actually been to an event that Bill has played, but it is the closest I can figure he has ever gotten to a puppen!

So I am clueless about what kind of staging he might associate with one. Mr.Blucky dances on the floor, on Ash's desk, in the chalk tray of his easel, wherever the spirit moves our boy.

You know what happens when you give a child a large cardboard box! Some years I have been tempted to just hit the appliance store for refrigerator boxes, and other such big boxes for christmas presents. It would save the kids the bother of taking the toys out to get to the boxes.

NightMist

Reply to
NightMist

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