Grumbling about MLP FIM Plushies

[Koudoawaia]

Yeah I agree. The Hasbro Twilight plushie is indeed rather scary looking. XP

[WickedWonderland]

I feel your pain. I've seen so many great custom plushies come up on ebay, but unless they start accepting organs and first born children as payment I think I'll be out of luck. Still, it's great to see show accurate plushies and I think it's great that people are being paid well for their talent.

I don't think they're being greedy listing them for auction. They don't make the price so high, the bidders do. I think it's more greedy of people to want them to offer their work cheaper when they can get more money elsewhere. If they want to be charitable, then that's very nice of them, but with the economy the way it is you can't be mad at people for trying to make money with their own hard work.

[bluemoondreams]

I feel your pain. I've seen so many great custom plushies come up on ebay, but unless they start accepting organs and first born children as payment I think I'll be out of luck. Still, it's great to see show accurate plushies and I think it's great that people are being paid well for their talent.

I don't think they're being greedy listing them for auction. They don't make the price so high, the bidders do. I think it's more greedy of people to want them to offer their work cheaper when they can get more money elsewhere. If they want to be charitable, then that's very nice of them, but with the economy the way it is you can't be mad at people for trying to make money with their own hard work.

Oh I agree I just really want one at least I found a few people that will do me ones I can hopefully afford!

[Shini]

I make them but as i can't find minky I use super soft felt. Witch means they are also more adorable. The only problem is getting my boyfriend to release them. Lol ^_^

[WickedWonderland]

Scraleos, those are wonderful! I hope I'll get a chance to commission you when I'm not so broke.

I feel your pain. I've seen so many great custom plushies come up on ebay, but unless they start accepting organs and first born children as payment I think I'll be out of luck. Still, it's great to see show accurate plushies and I think it's great that people are being paid well for their talent.

I don't think they're being greedy listing them for auction. They don't make the price so high, the bidders do. I think it's more greedy of people to want them to offer their work cheaper when they can get more money elsewhere. If they want to be charitable, then that's very nice of them, but with the economy the way it is you can't be mad at people for trying to make money with their own hard work.

Oh I agree I just really want one at least I found a few people that will do me ones I can hopefully afford!

That wasn't directed at you, hun. I just thought I'd give my two cents for people who are upset about sellers letting the prices go so high. 

[appleponygal]

I do think it'd be nice if Hasbro did make more choice of plushies from the new generation like they did with previous generations!

[StarLite]

Yeah I agree. The Hasbro Twilight plushie is indeed rather scary looking. XP

I think they look cute...

[BrightSide]

Hasbro really do need to start putting their heads together and distributing some good FiM plushies, like there were for past gens.. the Pinkie and Twilight plushies so far are rather scary! Plus they're only available in the USA, which kind of sucks for us Euro / international ponyfolk!

If they started making cute little Pinkie beanies, I'd snap them up right away..

[xkappax]

Pinkie and Twilight plushies so far are rather scary!

Amen to this. They scare the bejeepers out of me! 

[BrightSide]

^ Their manes.. *shivers* they look like a really nasty texture! No thanks!

[RainbowJumper85]

My friend got me into plushie making long ago. It is very hard to, I have done 2d-3d work but...something about toys does screw my brain up a little. I understand how BIDS can get very heated and high on ebay for just about anything. However...I do wish the flat rate for a pony commission was...well just that a flat rate. They have seem to escalated, but I suppose that is something as basic as supply and demand perhaps? In all honesty I was considering really studying the pony plush structure and selling some privately on places away from Deviant art. I figure that way if they were in fact good, I could probably keep the price very steady because I would not have as many commissions on the chopping block. Mind you it was just...a fleeting thought.
The Pinkie Pie plush hasbro released was pretty good so I agree with Starlight, and have a floof hair for Pinkie Pie makes sense however Twilight Sparkle was scary, though she was listed as a "pillow" ,':/ ..and googly eyed. They really can't harsh on Pony when they make their own products look that way. She also had ...no nose. She was like that animation error pony. The body structure was good, she stands well, but Twilight has such a great mane. Show it up! My friend had a theory that she believed hasbro did'nt think the show would be much of a success...certainly not what it is now. Since it took quite sometime between the more successful pony shows till now. So they almost had to play catch up. They are listening to fans and I was at toy fair and saw what they are pulling out. I give them lots of kudos for not just given everyone the middle finger or anything, they worked with it.
But back to plushies! I did price all the material and time it would take with an embroidery machine, no doubt at all its...tedious and minky is more expensive, as well as all the thread that goes into the eyes and cutie marks. I just...some of it must simply be the SUPPLY and demand aspect that so many fans want them so bad at any costs I guess for the artists its hard to want to do commissions when you know you can throw it up on ebay for 6 straight days and watch it go for far far more then what you would sell a commission for. Plus I suppose doing ebay bids you don't have to worry about deadlines...that still does not explain the high prices. Agree, material, time consuming technique all factors. I did come across a seller who was...quite upset that their toys did not go for the same as those high bid ponies. Same quality, same materials...but she was indeed concerned about the money. Now that could not necessarily be greed...but could be just...an artist wondering why their worth is some how lower when they are supplying the same product. It would make me wonder if I was not being judgmental enough on my own work or was missing some little thing that needed tweaking.
Lol I love that BrightSide,,,their manes...really nasty texture. My twilight sparkle was definitely not as snugly as those ponies online look.
All the bids seem to be quite high, not even just the plush, but the blind bags as well.

[bluemoondreams]

i have to admit the offical plushies thus far scare me too. The ones others make are much more realistic and just nicer.

[Starbright]

I don't at all begrudge the artists good pay for their hard work. But I wish Hasbro'd get with it and release official plush with good quality!

[Flutterswirl]

I wouldn't say that people putting them up for bid are "money hungry". Personally, if it were me, I would put it up for bid as well. I can't really judge how much my own work is worth. I wouldn't want to sell it for way less than it's worth, but I also wouldn't want to come across as arrogant and price it for way more than it's worth. I'd rather just let my potential buyers bid on it, that way it's priced fairly.

This. It's really hard to judge- you want enough to cover the time spent in design and execution, but you know (correctly or not) in your heart that no one would ever pay what all that work and time is *really* worth.
So you end up totally clueless about what to ask for something.
I can see why an artist would just set a good opening bid and see what comes of the auction.

[Evening_Moonstone]

I am still not sure what my plushies should be priced at.  I've done 2 auctions for plushies I've made: Applejack got only 1 bid and went for $40, but Minty had a bit of a bidding war and wound up at $61.
It seems that you need 2 (or more) buyers who *really* want something for the prices to go up.