I encourage everyone to not be too hasty in their assumptions of the contest.  I am sure that it was very hard for the judges to make their choices and it may not have been based simply on the final outcome of the puppet. I know that they take into consideration the text and images sent with the puppet along with other things.  While Gavzilla may not be the slickest puppet in the lot he does have quite a bit of character and the story and images for the puppet are excellent.

I have to agree with Shawn in this matter.  The judges are not just looking at "how neatly a puppet is sewn together", but also "the character".  My personal suprise that one puppet or another was not included does not imply that the top ten should not be there (which I don't think anyone is saying, but I just wanted to put that out there).  As I said, this seems to be a very well rounded contest with many great entries.

If you look at the judges, Ed Christie for example would have his own view of a good puppet character.  A well made puppet is only part of it.  Ed Christie is also a charcater designer, so he may have that as a big component to his choices.

I also want to go on the record to encourage people to continue to enter these contests.  Project Puppet contests are perhaps the best organized and enjoyable out there.  The reason we have judges (and a variety at that) is because more tan one perspective is needed. 

As for "Gavzilla" I can understand some people not liking the character, but I can also understand why some poeple would.  Obviously more than one of the judges (who in my opinion are world class in their own right) picked "Gavzilla", so whether or not we personally see merit in a choice, a panel of experts did.

Again, everyone is entitled to their opinions...and I think Project Puppet contests are fantastic!

I don't know when the next contest is, but I plan to be a part of it. Hey, if there were only 28 entries, that means odds were fair of getting into the top ten this time around. I like those odds. By sitting this one out, I can see some things that help. Marketing your entry seems important. If I had been in this, I don't think I would have gone to the effort others did in photographing their puppets. Now I know to do that. I don't know any of these folks at Project Puppet, or for that matter, I am not personally acquainted with any of the entrants. (OK, I feel like I know a few of you, after a couple months here at P&S, but it's not like we've actually shaken hands or anything).

Anyway, the whole thing looks fun to me.

The phrase, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," come to mind.  Almost anytime you have a contest with judges there is the presence of subjectivity.  Which means that the person preference of the judges come into play.  The fact that the judges are experienced builders, puppet designers and character developers means that each entry will get due consideration and evalutation.  But this doesn't mean that I will necessarilly agree with all of their choices.

For the most part I felt that the top ten exhibited qualities that made them worthy of top ten consideration.

Best wishes to all the finalists.

Question was this a photo contest, a writing contest or a PUPPET CONTEST? 

Maybe all the other people who built better puppets than GAVZILLA should have made a crappy puppet, hired a professional writer, and a top model photographer!

And for the fella who said they also picked GAVZILLA as one of the top ten because of its character!  Take another look its a melonhead, green fabric with two eyes, thats it, it looks like a 5 year old made it! He should have just cut out the pattern and elmers glued it to a brown lunch bag!

I feel sorry for you guys who have to do this puppet stuff for a living, submitting puppet characters, this judging is like ice skating and boxing! You get a bad score but nobody can tell you why!   Once again it could have been judged better!  because for those of you who did not make it don't know why!  So when you enter next time you may make the same mistake without knowing it, being the non pro trying to get to that level!

Whats next a short puppet film to judge my audio, and director skills?  wait a minute I just thought of something if the puppet builder is holding the puppet in the picture who took the picture? the puppet designer or someone else?  are we judging the puppet builder or his friends camera skills!  when a model has a nice photo who do you give the credit to the photographer, the stylist, makeup artist or the model?

The flood gates have opened!  Because they added so much stuff to the judging other than judging the puppet.

For those of you entering next year.........PHOTOSHOP, ADOBE PAINT...? will it end? 

In that sense, totally with you!

Miguel!

As I see it the contest it not over yet.........Everyone still has to vote................... The final two have not been picked. The judges were very high and respected experts and some of the best in there field. In any contest it is best to be a good sport and except things as they are. Very quick comments made out of frustration could very well reflect what other people think of what type puppet builder you would be to work with in future endeavors. Or if they would commision you for future work in the furure.
As I said ........................ I think everyone did a good job ! If I had time I would have entered just for the fun of it

Billy D.

I read the rules and they were quite specific .................. and involved a lot of different things from a good puppet to great photo work and great story telling. Some are good at one thing while some were strong in other areas.
Look at the reality shows there judges don't always agree............... But someone has to win and some has to lose.

While I did not like Gavzilla as much as the other puppets, I have to agree with what everyone is saying.

Fonzo, you may be missing one important thing: this contest is an excellent marketing tool for Project Puppet. Therefore judges may not choose the best looking or made puppet, but rather a range of designs that show how flexible their patterns are to work with on any skill level.

I've done competitions before - as an organiser - and while I want to select people who present their best work, I've often chosen works for other reasons; whether it be an interest in the story or characters, the hope or promise shown by the people involved, or the ability to support a range of people rather than just one group that has similar ideas. It doesn't have to be all about the skill level, and in fact, I have worked with people who are at different stages of their career.

The competition isn't just about design and building, and I think it's easy to get caught up in that concept.

And as Billy points out, judging isn't over and we have a say in who wins.

And for the fella who said they also picked GAVZILLA as one of the top ten because of its character!  Take another look its a melonhead, green fabric with two eyes, thats it, it looks like a 5 year old made it! He should have just cut out the pattern and elmers glued it to a brown lunch bag!

  Was that directed at me?  Not sure who you were talking about when you refered to "the fella".  I went back in fact and couldn't find anyone who said they "also picked Gavzilla as one of the top ten".  Maybe I missed it.

Point is you don't like the puppet.  Got it.

What about the next contest? Maybe no judges and the people vote their puppet? It was only 28 puppets in the contest.

What about the next contest? Maybe no judges and the people vote their puppet? It was only 28 puppets in the contest.

Well this one is not over yet.  No judges...and then you get a contest that is based solely on who has the most internet friends.  That seems less fair than what we have now.

 I think the contest has been well thought out and the balance with judges and public is quite fair.  If anything, I think having a contest with only judges would be more fair than a simple online popularity contest.

The truth is that you will never have a contest where everyone is happy.

Also, I get from some of the past emails that people imagine that the judges come together and discuss which ones should be included (as per the comments about trying to show a wide range of designs that could be achieved with the Project Puppets patterns).  It doesn't work like that. 

Each judge gets pictures with no names of any of the creators.  The judges give their top ten based on a few areas of consideration.  They send in their votes (from favourite to least favourite) not knowing what anyone else has chosen.  The top ten are compared from each judge (by Project Puppet) and the puppets that have the highest ranking (most judges have chosen at a certain rank) get a tallied score.

The whole thing is very well organized and very annonymous.

It may not be perfect for eveyone, but is pretty well thought out.