Where can I buy/how to make puppets from Avenue Q?

I like to go to Yahoo! Answers and try and give some advice on making puppets. A regular question there - and elsewhere - is where to buy (or how to make) puppets from Avenue Q. The following gives you some info about buying replicas, along with some reasons why you can’t.

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Thanks so much for this great posting...makes homeschooling my daughter alot easier!!!

... Tara on What types of puppets are there?
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2 comments
Mike White Mike White said...
You forgot to mention that most factory-made puppets are in fact made in China, where labour rates are about one tenth what they are in Australia. As you mention, making puppets is very labour intensive, so local makers can never compete with them except for one-off specials. Local companies like Wilmot Harvey and Science and Nature get their puppets made in China. If you made puppets in Australia you would have to sell them at prices comparable to the prices of the Chinese made ones, and that's not economically possible.
comment posted on  29th April 2010 at 10:39  permalink image  Permalink
Excellent point Mike. I recently had a discussion on just this topic, where a puppet maker was suggesting that someone sell their handmade muppet-type puppets for $US 20. When I questioned the validity of the price (not believing it would cover anywhere near someone's labour or materials for making one), the person pointed out that it's not that they can really get that low in costs, but that it's all about the perception of the cost. I guess it's why so many people think that puppets can be that cheap, they see a finger or glove puppet on sale in a toy store and presume that all puppets can price-match despite them being factory-made at low cost. I'm willing to bet Folkmanis are also made in China. (Funny that you can actually buy fairly cheap Chinese shadow puppets on Ebay though... almost ironic in its own way!) How I wish we could convince the general public that the cost is worth it, just so we could pay our bills a little easier. It's probably why I write a lot of these articles, trying to remove some of that mythology and mystery behind puppets. Ah well, one can hope. :)
comment posted on  30th April 2010 at 12:35  permalink image  Permalink
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