I am very excited and very tired, because I just got back from a (long) trip to Rhode Island to be a part of Hasbro’s Fall 2007 Freelance Fair. It was a great opportunity to meet some extremely talented folks that do all sorts of cool stuff like sculpture, illustration, character design, writing, etc. It was also a chance to let the designers from Hasbro and Milton Bradley see what I do by showing them the puppet design and building work that I offer. There are some amazing and fun people that work at Hasbro and so many folks had great things to say about the puppets.

Apparently puppets haven’t been particularly popular as toys in the past, but I have a sneaking supspicion that that is all going to change. From my perspective, in recent years, children have been bombarded with all sorts of technical gadgets and games. I think that there needs to be a return to “real” toys. Toys that allow the children to use their beautiful imaginations. Puppets are perfect for that in that the child gets to take a character and do what ever he or she wants with it–while actually holding a real physical object. I don’t know what that’s all about, but it’s important somehow. Oh, and the puppets also have to look really cool. Design and function work hand in hand.

Anyway, it was a fantastic and productive time that I won’t soon forget. Many thank yous to Susan Algeo who headed up the event and to everyone else that I spoke with.  I hope to do it again sometime.

Being a puppeteer, and a Transformers fan, I love this photo with the hand of Optimus Prime!

Tags: Thistledown Stuff // 3 Comments »