Hi everyone, my name is Gary. Im a happily married father of 3, 2 still at home, who is now taking up the hobby of puppet making.

I've always been a big fan of the Muppets, from watching Sesame Street in the late 60s/early 70s, until today. We bought my youngest son(7) a Whatnot for christmas and things seemed to lead me to finding Project Puppet where I picked up the pinhead pattern.

Long story short, im going to start making puppets for my kids, and some nieces and nephews. Hey, its cheaper than golf and im home where my wife can find me, behind the sewing machine.

That news reporter already looks awesome, rather like a pro then someone "just taking up"! Welcome, Gary.

Welcome to Puppets & Stuff!  We'll be happy to share the journey with you and offer any help we can.

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Welcome to PandS Gary!  Hey I wonder if we are related?  My dad's family is from the south of Missouri.  You have any relatives from there?

So is the puppet in your avatar the Whatnot you purchased?  Can't wait to see some of your creations.

Let us know if you have any questions.

welcome to Puppets and Stuff.................. Keep us updated with your projects.

Hi everyone, thanks for the welcome. Sorry if the avatar was mistaken as mine, but thats just a pic I found on the web. It's Guy Smiley, from Sesame St, at least the one I watched as a kid. The whatnot we bought our son is the blue one, kind of a round or melon head shape.
The whatnots are nice, but not as good as I expected them to be. I've seen much better stuff from you guys here on the boards.

Shawn, my dad was from Eastern Ky, but most of his family that I actually know, moved to various areas outside the state. Im not familiar with anyone earlier than my grandparents, they were Charlie and Ila Sorrell. So, it could very well be the lines intersect somewhere in the past, especially considering the spelling. The Sorrell spelling is the one I almost never see.

Okay, since part of sesame street was produced in Hamburg there are some figures we never got or that we missed (like big bird. He was in the sesame street when I was very little, but later they got rid of some scenes to make place for Tiffy, Samson and Herr von Bödefeld (they were build by the Creature Shop though). So I missed out on him...

Guy Smiley was always one of my favourites too. Welcome Gary!

Oh, and thank you for educating me on Whatnots. I had never heard of them before. Would you be comfortable sharing a photo of your whatnot? From what I read they're a blank canvas you add to??

Welcome to P&S!! Feel free to share pics/video Gary, we're a friendly bunch

Lizzie: http://www.fao.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3808780

I actually have one of these. My parents happened to be in NY and picked one up for me. ... I have no pics at the moment. (I could bring it with me in July so you could have a play!)

The original Whatnots were generic Muppet figures whose features could easily be swapped to suit whatever character might be needed. The F.A.O. Schwarz Whatnots are similar in that you can order them choosing from a wide variety of features but once your particular puppet is made and delivered its features are permanently attached. I also have a Whatnot. They're cool and I do like it but you're correct they are not at the level of quality that I and the rest of the folks here build. But then they are quite a bit cheaper than what I sell my puppets for too!