Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Custom Plush Toys - Is Simpler Better?

A lot of critics would tell you that making plush toys to sell is not a wise decision. They'll tell you that it's the generation of console gaming, toy robots and the likes. It's easy to understand why they think that way. After all, even custom plush toys would have a hard time directly competing with the said toys because they're complex. Stuffed toys don't have the capacity to play games, songs and movies like their more advanced counterparts.

This is a trap that you can easily fall into. Of course, you can't really compare custom plush with the more advanced toys. Even if they're both toys, it's really like apples and oranges. But some individuals would make stuffed toys to sell with complexity in mind. They're thinking of sales right off the bat. They plan a lot of things to add "bells and whistles" to the toys. Why do they do this? It's because they think that the more complex the toy is, the better.

But is that the case? Sure, it's good to have plush toys that have complexities not found on other toys. After all, you're trying to invent the next big thing in toys and the only way that you can see that happening is if you offer something not found on other toys. But because of this, you plan a lot of details without the end results in mind. You think of cute things to put and complex details to add to them. But come production time, you realize that it's not possible because it's too complex for the toy.

When you're making plush toys to sell, you have to set up a plan from start to finish. That means having a plan that you can follow from the designing up to the selling process. Don't waste your efforts in something that you can't do down the line. During the planning process, ask yourself if it can be done. When in doubt, ask a manufacturer if it's possible. After all, they are the ones who will be making it.

A simple rule of thumb is it will be harder for you to put complex details into smaller plush toys. Naturally, it would be easier for bigger stuffed toys to have more complex details and designs. It's also important to consider that these toys are round and soft. This is the reason why it will be hard to design something with hard corners like triangles and squares. That's why it's important to stick with round designs. You can still do designs with corners but it won't be that detailed. You also have to minimize thin details as much as possible. You have to remember that plush toys during production are turned inside out. So it would be really hard to put something like really thin legs on the custom plush toys.

So should you still make plush toys for sale if there are limitations to it? Yes, you should. It's just a matter of finding the balance between size and complexity while taking into consideration the limitation of production. Ask your manufacturer what can be done and what will work with them. After all, plush toys never really relied on the "bells and whistles" but it always has been very popular. It still is.

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