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Seriously, it's freaking me out right now how awesome Spooky Daddy's plush toys and creatures and whatevers are. Actually, thanks to his awesome Flickr photostream, it's been gnawing at me for months now, like a plush Prometheus getting his plush liver plucked out by a plush eagle every day.
When I first saw Spooky Daddy in the exhibitor lineup last fall for Crafty Bastards in DC, I realized I'd seen his Skull Bunny dolls around before, but they're the tip of the iceberg. In an increasingly crowded crafty marketplace, Spooky Daddy stands out in a lot of ways:
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But a man's only as good as the plush creatures he sews, so let's take a look. The Coney Gang? I guess it makes perfect sense: if you make plush Mr Tum Tum characters [above], who live inside of everyone and help sort out the nutrition from the poo, then you're eventually going to be making plush meconium creatures, too. And since they're underdeveloped, they'll just look like one-eyed tadpoles. Mm-hmm. [$20 apiece on etsy, btw]
Roaming Eyeballs of Doom: self-explanatory. I just grabbed a couple of these, actually. They seem so harmless and playful, just plush balls that happen to be eyeballs. [also $20]
Looking at some of the more elaborate monsters, though, I'm just blown away by the high quality finish and detail. We'll see if it holds up in person, but I don't worry too much about it, frankly. There's an attention to detail, both for the production, but also for the expressiveness. I mean, check out this hobgoblin and, uh, this cosmic brownie. [I have no idea]:
According to the description text, the hobgoblin is for an upcoming three-artist plush show/concert--a "plush hoedown," apparently--called Forest Party, which will feature Spooky Daddy along with two other indie plush pioneers, Heidi Kenny of My Paper Crane and Jenny Harada. Forest Party kicks off Saturday, Feb. 9 at Emmaus in Gettysburg, PA.
[I'd ask how Gettysburg became the Detroit/Seattle/Nashville of the plush scene, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around an art and live music venue that also includes a private bowling alley and the city's largest thrift shop. I think this calls for a DTQ&A...]
Spooky Daddy Toy Company [spookydaddy.com]
the etsy shop, the flickr stream [etsy, flickr]
the invite for Forest Party, 2/9 at 7pm [flickr, vinylpulse]
Previously: Crafty Bastards 2007: are crafters the new carnies?
I'm constantly searching for new ways to disappoint my in-laws; a skull bunny looks like the next step.
[glad to be of help, be sure to tell your in-laws you got your parenting idea from "some blog" -ed.]
Have you seen the make a monster at FAO?
http://www.fao.com/catalog/boutique.jsp?categoryId=672
expensive... but pretty cool!
In your quest for edgy plush have you ever checked out Chateau Bizarre, a site that gives you "small business at its strangeness." If nothing else your children can achieve true goth before the rest of their preschool does.