| |
Hey Terry,
I just got done listening to you on the Muppet Cast. You were great! I had no idea you were behind the MR Muppets. I own every one that's come out so far. My wife is fighting me for display space in our house. And I'm still waiting on that Fozzy I saw last year at San Diego Comic Con.
Anyways, I'm currently a Transformers Toy Designer for Hasbro in RI. It's a great gig, I mostly draw robots all day and make comments and put out little fires on some great toys and a brand I grew up with. But what I really enjoy doing is making my own puppets. I entered a contest on Project Puppet last year and got into the top 10 but didn't win. I did the Jim Reaper (he's still in the gallery on their site) but he was my first real puppet using all the real materials and all. Since then I did a puppet for my friend of my friend and gave it to him for Christmas last year. This year I have to make one of his wife.
But after hearing you and getting a sense of the "real" people behind the building of these fantastic creations, I've decided to really look into puppet building as a career. My family (and most of my wife's) is located in NJ and I heard about a puppet building facility in Hoboken NJ. I'm going to look into this with a bit. I can't lie, the money as a toy designer isn't bad and I'm thinking building puppets would be more of a labor of love rather than a cash cow, but it could be a nice change of pace.
Or maybe I'l just stick to building my own stuff and displaying them. I'm not much of a performer though I can do a bunch of voices. Sometimes hasbro throws my voice in some of the toys we make.
Wow, this is getting long. Well, just wanted to say "hi" and I'm glad i found your site. your stuff is great. Please keep doing what you're doing. You've got a big fan in Rhode Island.
Later,
Bill