Whedonesque : Comments on 9145 : Vampire Angel Debut.

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January 04 2006

Vampire Angel Debut. The final plush in the Angel puppet line.

Desilu | Collectibles | 18:51 CET | 28 comments total | tags: angel. smile time, vampire

The third version and it really hasn't improved since the first one debuted to much derision.

Simon | January 04, 19:05 CET

I'm still amazed that it's apparently hard to make a puppet look like a puppet....

Rogue Slayer | January 04, 19:16 CET

No doubt, eh Simon? They really missed the boat with this item. I'll bet they would have sold ten times more if they actually had taken the trouble to reproduce Puppet Angel. Like I said in the other thread, this is just Abe Lincoln with fangs. Feh.

Willowy | January 04, 19:16 CET

Did his eyebrows really disappear when he vamped out? I have the first one and have become attached to him but no, even in "person" he doesn't look like the puppet from Smile Time.

Lioness | January 04, 20:03 CET

Wow - this was the only one of the 3 that i was going to buy - but it looks horrible - forget it - i won't buy it - how disappointing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Angel_1 | January 04, 20:06 CET

A missed opportunity indeed. Had any of these "reproductions" actually looked like the puppets used in Smile Time, I would have snatched them up pronto.

Hjermsted | January 04, 20:33 CET

Abe Lincoln with fangs, Ha ha ha perfect!!

Lizz2727 | January 04, 20:34 CET

I too would have snatched up all of these puppets if they looked even remotely like the real Puppet Angel. Such a disappointment. Does anyone know what the production problem was? It can't be that hard to make a puppet look like a puppet...

MindPieces | January 04, 21:15 CET

You would think by the third time, they've finally gotten it right (sigh).

Madhatter | January 04, 21:20 CET

Does anyone know what the production problem was? It can't be that hard to make a puppet look like a puppet...

I can't speak for certain but I was discussing this on some website around the time the first version was announced/released when pupeteer posted and pretty much said that puppets, good high quality puppets like they use on the Muppets are actually quite expensive... somewhere in the $1000-1500 range if I remember correctly... which is unlikely (me remembering correctly I mean.) so feel free to correct me.

war_machine | January 04, 21:34 CET

'Tis a puzzlement, truly.

Chris inVirginia | January 04, 21:35 CET

What in the heck are those tusks emerging from Vamp Angel's face?

It's quite easy to make the original puppet look more like the Smile Time puppet by rounding out the chin with a well-placed stitch or two.

I think I'll just make wee fangs for my original puppet. As Lioness says, he's quite easy to get attached to.

Ruadh | January 04, 22:11 CET

Do they not realize tha the Angel puppet from the show looks like a classic Hanson puppet? OMG, how hard is it to copy it from the show let alone get some inspiration from tons of Hanson muppets? It's a shame, I would have bought one had they ever got it right.

DarenG | January 04, 22:20 CET

I agree, I would definitely have bought all three if they had actually looked like the originals. You would think they could just make them exactly how the Angel production team did, but apparently not. I mean, they have enough trouble getting actor likenesses right on the merchandise, and apparently they can't even get puppet likeness right ON A PUPPET.

Anyway, when I was at the Two By Two convention someone there had actually made their own puppet Angel that looked much better than the official reproductions. And I remember seeing in the B/A magazine a photo of a convention where someone had made awesome Angel and Lorne puppets, perhaps before the official one came out. I mean if amateurs can make great reproductions why can't a professional company who wants to sell the things?

Razor | January 04, 22:52 CET

I actually just got my Battle-Damaged Puppet Angel a few days ago.

Honestly I think it looks pretty good. Especially compared to the other two which I agree are awful.

That is the reason I ordered this one. It really is the best of the lot. The chin still is too narrow but other than that its...well...Cute!

Xane | January 04, 23:35 CET

Over the years i have seen countless toy adaptions of the various Henson Muppets and Sesame Street characters. I've seen Kermit toys that look like Kermit, i've seen Oscar toys that look just like Oscar, i've seen Elmo toys that are the spitting image of Elmo! So why, for the love of all that is puppety, can't they get even a close match to Puppet Angel???

I swear i could design a better version myself. Y'know, if i had the materials ... and the money ... and the time ...

Buffysmglover | January 05, 00:38 CET

Anyone remember these little guys? Sadly, they are no longer available, but they were spot on in appearance. If I recall correctly, they were 1/4 scale and sold for $270 each. Considering these were handmade, I fail to understand why a puppet Angel true in its appearance couldn't be mass produced for a reasonable price.

Madhatter | January 05, 00:40 CET

Would it possibly be a copyright problem? Hmmm, not sure. Maybe they just don't have the right designers for something like puppets.

doodles | January 05, 02:56 CET

Good grief.

Lunakitty | January 05, 03:06 CET

Get that fan that did Puppet Spike on board and Diamond Select would be laughing all the way to the bank.

Simon | January 05, 03:08 CET

Oh for goodness sake what is DST's problem with this character?

If I can make something that looks at least a little like the little fella then so can you. Have a look see....

The sad thing is I would have bought one too if it had actually looked like him.

*ETA* Sorry I still can't work out to make live links here. sigh.

sueworld2003 | January 05, 03:26 CET

Sueworld2003, I would have bought your Spike and Angel puppets in a second. They are marvelous.

wrikiwood | January 05, 04:03 CET

Fixed your link, sueworld2003.

The trick? Copy this pattern exactly, but use these bracket-thingys: < > in place of the [ ] in the example:

[a href="http://tinypic.com/jqgvif"]Here's my work[/a].

Just don't forget the space in between a and href, and the quotation marks.

Your work is exceptional, by the way. :)

SoddingNancyTribe | January 05, 04:09 CET

Thanks love! And thanks for the compliment, but you can see from the above image that it can be done, quite easily infact.

I really wanted a larger version though and so when I first heard about DST getting the license to make them I was expecting great things. *Sigh* Was I dissapointed.

sueworld2003 | January 05, 04:40 CET

Sue's a professional, damn but they should have asked her or that other fan to make them..

spikeylover | January 05, 06:08 CET

Sueworld, I love your puppets. The ones by Diamond Select aren't fit to be on the same thread with them.

[ edited by annieb on 2006-01-05 04:15 ]

annieb | January 05, 06:15 CET

DarenG: Hanson puppet? Not that is a truely frightening prospect.

(I believe you mean Henson.)

Ginny | January 05, 07:38 CET

Ginny, that made me smile too!

Hanson puppets!?! Aaaaaargh!!! :p

Buffysmglover | January 05, 13:42 CET

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