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.

First, the basics. Here and elsewhere [link to be added] I state time and time again that puppets seen on stage/TV/film are copyrighted, which means the only way you can get your hands on the puppets is: a) if someone is auctioning off the items as memorabilia, and b) official merchandise is available.

Avenue Q puppets were made by Rick Lyon. As I answered on Yahoo, if you love his work so much, commission him to make you a puppet; but don’t expect it to be cheap! Bloomberg Businessweek notes: "COSTS OF A PUPPET: Up to $10,000 and 120 hours to make". (Why do puppets cost so much? Find the answer here [link to be added]) And don’t expect it to look like an Avenue Q character. Why? Because the producers of the show - or Lyon himself - will own the copyrights on the designs. This means that only official merchandise will be available to purchase: and you can’t convince Lyon to make you a replica. Seriously, the guy earns this much from his puppetry. Be nice to someone whose work you admire and buy official merchandise so he can earn a buck (more info on merchandising below).

As with all successful puppet shows, people see it and simply think: "I want one". Well, take a moment to think of the puppeteer whose designs you’ll be ripping off. Despite how it might seem, 99% of puppeteers are not anywhere near as successful as Jim Henson was, and ripping off their work is not only disrespectful, but means those puppeteers lose out on any money they could make from their work.

Ok, so now for the info about the merchandising. As of December 2009, Avenue Q producers offered up finger puppet versions of the Bad Bears. At the London premiere Trekkie mini hand puppets were available to buy - originally as a one-off promotion - and as of January 2010, they were again put on sale. For a long time, Avenue Q producers stated that:

The puppets that appear on stage are not available as merchandise items due to the high cost of making them. At present smaller versions are not on sale but this is something that might be considered in the future.

What about making your own Avenue Q puppet? Er, well, you still can’t do anything about it. (This isn’t quite correct: if you obtain the rights to perform an amateur or school performance of Avenue Q you may be able to make replicas of the characters. Stress on may)

As the designs are copyrighted, you can’t make your own replica without infringing on someone else’s rights and breaking the law to do it. (There is a puppet maker who is infamous amongst professionals for selling Muppet replicas and actually got sued for doing it) As mentioned in my other blog posts on NOT making puppets like The Lion King and not being able to find Muppets/Sesame St patterns [links to be added], it doesn’t matter whether you want to perform with it, or just want it as a souvenir; if it’s not sold by the legal copyright owner, then you won’t be able to buy it or make it. This goes for patterns too: Lyon is likely the only person in the world who has patterns for the Avenue Q puppets.

Want more info?

• Read this thread on Muppet Central forums, where the copyrights for this show are discussed in detail. Those who have made replicas and posted pics on the net have either gotten permission due to a licensed reproduction of the show (ie. for school or something), or have done so illegally.
• As far as I know, no opportunities exist for hire of the puppets. (I do recall it occuring here in Australia when the show was touring, but given the high price of the puppets - mentioned above - I suspect it would be out of the budgets for most average people. And would probably also require the hiring of the puppeteers to go along with them) Again, for something like this you need to contact the agent/represenative for Avenue Q rights.
• Read more on my policy about replicas and how to make them
• Read this on people getting sued for selling replicas
  
• Use a free puppet pattern, or one purchased from any decent pattern seller or book and invent your own characters. There’s plenty of info here and here on how to make your own muppet-type puppet.
  
• Commission a puppet maker to create a puppet of your own design - or theirs! 

Do yourself a favour - create your own puppets from scratch. The beauty of the muppet design is that the technique is the same; but a zillion different characters can be made from that one technique. You’ll find it’s much more enjoyable creating your own characters, and you can celebrate your love for Avenue Q by buying approved merchandise from their site (Aussies can go to www.avenueqthemusical.com.au for official merchandise go to the above website; the Australian Avenue Q site has been down for over 6 months as of 5th December 2011).

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