That was very cool!  I love the fact that the puppets are based on actual Zappo employees.  I have seen some of these commercials in the past and I always enjoy them.  I found it interesting that they had to find a way to harden some of the features so they did not flatten out when the fabric was stretched over them. You know Daryl uses the model magic for some features... think that is the right brand... and it would really help with this issue.  I do wonder what they used to harden their foam.

Well for the most part my story is in my Profile.   I did start at a very young age around 5-6.  I really started getting into puppets hardcore in junior high.  That is when I started doing what you did.  I would get puppets and take them apart then figure out how to put them back together in my own way.  I was lucky enough to have a mom with a sewing machine and she taught me how to use it.  In fact not sure they had glue guns then. 

You can always re-dye fabric.  

That's pretty neat!  So does he make the sounds on his own or was the puppeteer in this video making the sounds?  That is a really good price.  Yet another example of why an individual puppet builder has difficulties getting a fair price for their work.

Tried embedding the videos. Not sure why it didn't work.

Still please click the links and enjoy!!

Fixed the embeds for you!   Now I need to go back and have a look at the new videos.

To embed a YouTube video all you need to do is past the video ID (that is what you see after the v= in the url) between the youtube tags. There is a YouTube button on the post screen that puts the tags in for you then you just paste the id between them.

He is adorable!

While this is not puppetry it does show how you can take a classic art form and re-create it. This is truly thinking outside the box.

Many of you may have watched Irish Dancing before.  This couple has taken it to whole new place.
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https://youtu.be/iANRO3I30nM
http://www.youtube.com/upandoverit
http://upandoverit.com/home.html

Welcome to Puppets and Stuff!  Wow now that is service!  To have a company that sells something give you other suggestions of where to get the same thing is pretty amazing!  Then again I am not surprised.  The members here make me so proud to have them in our community. Again Welcome!

You and your wife are in my thoughts. 

I guess if you want to be technical, it would be a puppet that was made by a puppet builder that does it for a living and not just as a hobby. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional

I understand where you are going though.  There are a lot of great puppet builders that may not be building full time and they create and build puppets that are fantastic and worthy of the title professional.  I actually like this line from the Wikipedia definition.

Professional is a expert who is master in a specific field.

The only thing I think I might add to your list is durability of the product. That may be assumed by your second and third listing but I do think it is an important one.  A product can look great on the outside and even work well the first couple times but over time it falls apart because of over all poor craftsmanship or low quality materials.  Hmmm.... perhaps quality of materials is something to hit on. That being said I have made puppets in the past that I would have considered professional but chose to use lower grade materials because of either budget or because they where for a limited run/use.