Manufacturing a Plushie: Part 1

99 Space Monkeys Go By…

Well it's more like 999 Space Monkeys!

But we'll let that one slide.

What am I talking about?

Why, SPACE MONKEYS, of course!!! And more specifically…How not to manufacture anything.

Long story short:

An artist (Jon) and his game designer friend approached me last year.

They were like, "Hey, Paddy, you're really good with Kickstarters. We've got a sci-fi project and we'd love to work with you."

And I was like, "I love sci-fi. Tell me more!"

And they were like, "It's D&D in space."

And I was like, "Sign me up! Let's slot it in for Q3, 2022. Jon, send me some art when you get a chance. Show me what it's all about."

Fast forward a few months and Jon sends me this:

And my first reaction is: "SPACE MONKEY!"

And Jon's like, "Excuse me?"

And my second reaction is: "SPACE MONKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

And Jon's like, "WTF, Paddy?"

And I'm like, "Jon, I wrote a series of space opera novels, and the plot hinged on the fate of a space monkey."

And Jon was like, "Whoa!"

And I was like, "Whoaaaaa!"

And then I thought for a second and I was like, "Jon! This Kickstarter campaign needs a Space Monkey PLUSHIE!"

And Jon was like, "That'd actually be cool."

And I was like, "I know right? Leave it with me."

So I reached out to my boy Ivan (my manufacturing rep) and I was like, "Ivan, my friend! I need a space monkey!"

And Ivan was like, "Slow down there, cowboy. What are you even talking about?"

And I was like, "Ivan, I need a space monkey plushie and it's gonna be insane! Do you make plushies?"

And Ivan was like, "No. But I know someone who does. Send me details and I'll ask around."

And I was like, "Ivan, I love you man. You figure out a way to make everything! We need something that looks like this little guy.”

And Ivan was like, "Dude. That's awesome. But it's a bit complex for a plushie. We need simplified designs like these:

And these:

And I was like, "Oooooh. That totally makes sense. Leave it with me."

So I went to this one group I used for a lot of my art, and I was like, "Hey awesome artists, It's me again. Only this time I need someone who can do product design drawings for a space monkey plushie."

As usual, I was inundated with messages. There were 100s of them and I eventually had to stop responding. But one artist (lets call her Rose) was like, "I'll do it for $300, including a 25% rush fee and commercial rights."

And I was like, "Rose, you sing my kind of music! Let's do this."

So I sent Rose the brief and the references.

The next day Rose sent me this:

And I was like, "I really like A, because it's straightforward. But he looks like he sat on a banana. He needs to be cute like Puss ‘n Boots!"

And Rose was like, "Consider it done."

And the next she sent this:

And then she was like, "The eyebrows make him angry. Lemme fix that."

And she sent this:

And I was like, "YAAAAAS! Only we need to fix a few colors."

And then she sent this:

And I was like, "Rose, you're a frickin' genius! Let's work again sometime."

And she was like, "I'd love to."

With design drawings in hand I send my boy Ivan another message. "Ivan, my man, I've got your drawings!"

And he was like, "Perfect, buddy! Give me a week!"

The very next week...

Ivan was like, "Buddy, I got you a rough mockup. Here are a few photos."

And I was like, "Holy Sheeet! That's amazing."

And I sent it to Darren Millar, our art director...and Jon the artist...and they were both like, "Holy Sheeet! That's amazing!"

And I was like, "That's what I said!"

And after we got over all the amazement we realized it needed a load of work. So I was like, "Ivan, me man! It's tail is pink. It needs to be yellow and white. Also it looks kinda lime green. We need it to be more yellow."

And I gave him a bunch of other notes.

And my boy Ivan was like, "Buddy, all good. Leave it with me!"

And we went back and forth for a while, and a few weeks later I held a space monkey plushie in my hands!

And that's the crazy story of how I ordered 10,00 space monkeys.

THE END!!!

Only anyone who's read any of my posts knows there's a moral to the story.

You see, this little nondescript Space Monkey who was just a bit of flavor became so much more! We called him Wrench. We turned his species into a big deal in the game. We turned him into a plushie. And we plastered him all over the Kickstarter:

Wrench with a Martini James Bond style…

Oh...And we made a comic book based on him.

This post was a convoluted way of saying...

When life gives you lemons, drop kick it in the face and take its lemon tree.

And yes, everyone involved had a blast, we created something awesome, and we’d do it all again in a heart beat. HOWEVER! This is a great example of how not to approach manufacturing!

Given that we manufacture everything dozens of different products, I’ll write a proper post on manufacturing soon. But I had to get this fun little story off my chest first.

You’re welcome :)

Paddy Finn