Recently I was contacted by a representative of RK Publishing asking if I could build a puppet for them. As you all know I do very little custom puppet work these days so thought I would pass on the details to you all.

They need between 50-100 of these built for them and they need to keep the price per unit at $15.00 or below.  The puppet will be used by teachers in conjunction with their "Club Mystere" readers.  Below is a drawing from the reader of the dog you would need to re-produce.

Here is an example of the type of puppet they are looking for. http://www.puppetsbypost.com/animal_hand_puppets/dogs/dog-small

If your interested you can contact Lyne via

I think this could be a great opportunity for one of our members!  I realize the price per unit may seem a bit low but I think it could be done.  Perhaps the base pattern could be taken off of the Glorified Sock Puppet pattern.  Might have to increase the size a bit and round out the shape of the head and snout some. Hey MsPuppet... you up for another go at building a puppet for a book?    

Sounds like fun, but this is the busiest time of year for us. We do a lot of camps and VBS during the summer. Plus my mom finds out tomorrow if she has to have heart surgery (they live 1500 miles from me).     For the quantity and price wouldn't they be better off finding something like the ones you posted?

It is possible that they could perhaps find an existing puppet that would fit and in might be able to get it down to the price point they need if they purchased wholesale. I think the issue is that they can't find one that is really the dog in the reader.  The one I posted a link to seems to me to be more of a puppy or bull dog look and the drawing reminds me more of something like a terrier. It could be they could have gone overseas to find a manufacture but that can often end up costing a lot more by the time you pay for design and set up manufacturing. I think also the low limit on something like that is around 1000 units to start.

You know I wonder if the project could be shared by more then one puppet builder.   

One thing I noticed is the puppet in the photo is actually about $25 USD.  I think it's going to be almost impossible to get a US manufacturer to be able to produce such a puppet for less than that unless the quantity is much higher as you mentioned 1000 units.  For that matter, I'm not sure there is a US company that manufacturers toys like that anymore.  Such a shame.  Also, I'm guessing this is a Canadian company?  I'm not familiar with Canadian laws requarding products sold to children, but here products produced for children under 10 must be tested for several types of safety elements. I'd say $25 is a good price.  They could still sell it for $35 or higher since it would be exclusive to their curriculum.  Otherwise I think they will need to go overseas.  I'd be curious to see what they are able to find here in the states.  It would be nice to know if there is a company able to produce such a low cost product.  I have folks approach us from time to time about the same thing, but for something with such detail $25 is the lowest I've every quoted.

Not that I'm an expert, just my experience so far.

Julie

The puppets are for use by the teachers not for use by children. I guess I was not clear about that.

With a contract like this you need to be able to design the puppet so that you can produce 3 or more in an hour. Not impossible if you streamline production. It is a pretty low price per unit but if someone could do it without losing money it could be a good "resume" piece so to speak.

Yes, I noticed that you mentioned teachers using it, but I guess I read into it that it would be also used by the kids. LOL  I agree it would be a good contract. Haven't worked up to that speed yet. LOL

Julie

I've repped (is that a word?) at a few conferences for a company that has puppets made overseas.  She told me there is a lot of $ involved in the initial layout, up to $10,000, depending on the details, etc. Julie is right, there are several import laws that apply, such as.. all rod arms have to plastic.

I too have been contacted by people wanting bids for puppets for VBS curriculum, books and such.  It is hard to design something like that and keep the price low enough to make it worthwhile for both you and the customer.