Many times we get emails from friends who want us to create a special puppet for them. One was for a recently written book, many are for Holiday characters etc.
The problem is that there is always a time delay between when something is ordered and when we can have it done and ready to ship. In the case of the book, the release date of the book was just days away and the puppet was needed for some upcoming publicity opportunities and for several book signings. Many times we will get a request around Thanksgiving for a Christmas type of puppet.
As much as we wish we were good (and fast) enough to just hiccup and have the puppet done, life just does not work that way. One reason is that when we do commit to a puppet, we give you a hard date to expect your puppet by. At that point, we have sold a piece of our time, and as much as we would like to accommodate your instant needs, we don’t “own” the time it would take to do the task. It belongs to whoever we have committed to for that time slot.
I’ve said all that to say this. Please, help us help you. We want to do each puppet for which we get a request. BUT we are human and can only do what is humanly possible. If you are going to need something in six or seven months, please be in touch with us now. Lets get the details worked out while we still have a chance of getting your project on the board and getting your project done in a timely fashion.
In the early days, we prided ourselves in having a 30-45 day turn-a-round. Fortunately for us (maybe not for you) we can no longer do that. When you have a back log of 35-40 puppets, you must be realistic on schedule. Right now we are into the second week of November on Production Schedule. Yes, we still have some time available for your Christmas projects, but not if you wait until Thanksgiving.
None of the “good” makers can just drop everything and do a quick project. In fairness, if Jeff wants a puppet, he will have to go to the back of the line just like everyone else. It would not be fair to you if we let anyone butt in line while you wait patiently. So please understand, it is not that we don’t want to help each of you at the very minute you need us, it is just the desire to be fair to everyone.
Thats all for now folks,
Steve & JET