- Joined
- Mar 9, 2020
- Messages
- 367
I do some part-time work with a family friend's art studio that does kid's day camps and birthday parties. When I was first applying for the position, I was having a casual chat with the owner about the fun and funky artwork displayed around the studio. I brought up my own hobby of toy customs, and showed her some of my MLP work, since I'm pretty proud of it. She lit up and told me that this was an EXCELLENT activity for kids' birthday parties.
I was polite in my response, and I got where she was coming from, but I hadn't been taken off-guard like that since someone offered to buy a $25 pottery piece from me for a single quarter. Can you imagine sourcing anywhere from 10-30 g1 baits, cleaning and acetoning their factory paint, and tossing them to a group of 8 year olds with a blunt brush, some acrylics, and an hour and a half to do whatever? And god help you if you think that rehairing them is a good idea. Even if you're not worked up about the collectors' value of the toys (it's their toy now, if a kid wants to sharpie on Rapunzel it's their individual right), the economics of the concept just don't make any sense. Plus, if I know anything from the parties I've worked, there is going to be at least one or two kids who will decide they don't wanna paint a pony and will sit there pouting until cake time. Bottom line: just buy unicorn figurines in bulk, or get them 3D printed.
What's a well-intentioned reaction to collecting or customizing that's left you speechless?
I was polite in my response, and I got where she was coming from, but I hadn't been taken off-guard like that since someone offered to buy a $25 pottery piece from me for a single quarter. Can you imagine sourcing anywhere from 10-30 g1 baits, cleaning and acetoning their factory paint, and tossing them to a group of 8 year olds with a blunt brush, some acrylics, and an hour and a half to do whatever? And god help you if you think that rehairing them is a good idea. Even if you're not worked up about the collectors' value of the toys (it's their toy now, if a kid wants to sharpie on Rapunzel it's their individual right), the economics of the concept just don't make any sense. Plus, if I know anything from the parties I've worked, there is going to be at least one or two kids who will decide they don't wanna paint a pony and will sit there pouting until cake time. Bottom line: just buy unicorn figurines in bulk, or get them 3D printed.
What's a well-intentioned reaction to collecting or customizing that's left you speechless?
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