G4 How much will one be willing to pay for a custom G4 plush?

[HoneyCombSurprise]

just asking?

 

[Moondream]

Personally I wouldn't go over $100. There are a lot of amazing plush makers but when they charge $600 for a pony plush that's just to much for me.

 

[HoneyCombSurprise]

Personally I wouldn't go over $100. There are a lot of amazing plush makers but when they charge $600 for a pony plush that's just to much for me.

a friend of mine @Raynaldo makes mlp plushes for a living he is now making a rarity

 

[Skeen]

Depends on who the artist is and how difficult the pony you want is. A lot of people get upset at the price of handmade plushies but people need to realize it isn't just materials that go in to one of these things - you can't whip one up in a matter of hours, usually. Factor in the fancy embroidery and any extras, and they can get pricey quickly. The majority of plushie artists aren't making a true living off their commissions.

 

[CJ Thimble Bright]

Any handcrafted item tends to be more expensive, because in addition to paying for materials, you are also paying for the artist's time and expertise. Even one of my small plush magnets usually takes an entire day, if it's a simple pony and can take as long as a week if the pony is more complicated. If someone is making something "from scratch," meaning they are also creating the pattern, that's a LOT more work. I have a good friend who is a costume designer and the hours that go into creating a custom look for someone is much more in-depth than the customer usually thinks.

 

[Skeen]

If someone is making something "from scratch," meaning they are also creating the pattern, that's a LOT more work.

That's a good point. A lot of people PM me asking for their OC as a plush and then balk when I quote them, but they're not considering I have to make and test every custom pattern their design requires. If it isn't a pattern I have used before or cannot use again (custom eyes, cutie marks, hair, clothing, etc.), it really does add extra hours into the process - sometimes an entire few days! The body pattern is the same all the time but those extras, man.

 

[evilbunnyfoofoo]

The hours of work custom makers go through just isn't realised in price. If they were to charge an hourly wage on top of materials, the prices would be much, much higher. It's a shame because most customs are really worth far more than than cost in just time.

 

[Kallile]

I really don't know. I mean, if I was getting my ponysona I would say somewhere between $300-$400. I know she has a lot of different colors which means a lot of different fabrics to buy and test and she does have an unusual cutie mark that, while not an unusual cutie mark is oddly colored. She is, however, not very complicated as far as design goes (no crazy hairstyle, eyes) so I wouldn't go too overboard to get a physical version of her.

 

[HoneyCombSurprise]

I really don't know. I mean, if I was getting my ponysona I would say somewhere between $300-$400. I know she has a lot of different colors which means a lot of different fabrics to buy and test and she does have an unusual cutie mark that, while not an unusual cutie mark is oddly colored. She is, however, not very complicated as far as design goes (no crazy hairstyle, eyes) so I wouldn't go too overboard to get a physical version of her.

well my friend @Raynaldo uses vectors for the eyes and cutie marks

 

[Skeen]

well my friend @Raynaldo uses vectors for the eyes and cutie marks

Does he embroider them or does he use iron on transfers?

A lot of my designs start as vectors, but after I run them through my embroidery digitizing software, they aren't vectors anymore. That adds even more time, not to mention the materials and wear on the machine when it's doing its thing. Embroidery thread and stabilizer aren't exactly cheap either.

Iron on transfers might be faster and/or cheaper to do, I don't know. I'm really wanting to see his finished Rarity! I haven't made one of her yet but she's my favorite FiM character.

 

[HoneyCombSurprise]

Does he embroider them or does he use iron on transfers?

A lot of my designs start as vectors, but after I run them through my embroidery digitizing software, they aren't vectors anymore. That adds even more time, not to mention the materials and wear on the machine when it's doing its thing. Embroidery thread and stabilizer aren't exactly cheap either.

Iron on transfers might be faster and/or cheaper to do, I don't know. I'm really wanting to see his finished Rarity! I haven't made one of her yet but she's my favorite FiM character.

I believe he embroiders the vectors

 

[Raynaldo]

Does he embroider them or does he use iron on transfers?

Hi there! To answer your question, both. For my first plushies I embroidered them by hand using pieces of felt. Here is the Rarity I made that way

However, this process takes me insane amounts of time and results are sometimes frustrating. I'll consider trying it again later on.
For now though, I'm printing. I use iron-on cotton sheets. They're a bit pricier, but the papers I tried did not even print right.



*Mod Edit: Link not appropriate for G rated site - Photos can be edited back in if you wish.

 

[Skeen]

Hi Raynaldo! I can't see Rarity while I'm at work but I will check her out when I get home.

Hand embroidering, OMG. I can't even. I don't have the patience! I get frustrated when my machine takes longer than I'd like to do something, I can't imagine sitting still long enough to do it by hand! A tip of my hat to you, sir.

I tried the iron on paper at one point but I didn't like the results either. I never tried the cotton kind; I kind of hated our printer by then.

 

[Raynaldo]

Hope you like her
Aw, thanks It does require extreme patience. It's not really embroidery, but you'll see it. I'm a slow worker so I can take weeks to do it. I simply had to find a viable alternative, and I can't afford a machine. I tried iron-on papers for light and dark fabrics and the cotton sheets. The papers printed out with inexplicable stains on them. The cotton looks okay, but it has disadvantages too.

 

[Skeen]

Is it more like applique? I can't do applique by hand, but I can do it manually on my machine. In theory.

I've used the papers for dark fabrics and other than wanting to toss the printer out the window, the worst thing was trying to cut out all the details. The lady I bought my initial pattern from had a really innovative way to make eyes and symbols - she printed directly onto felt! When that was done she would whip stitch or applique them onto the finished pony. I never could get the printer to work but the effect was really cool. I think she has a tutorial on Youtube. Her name is dolphinwing, if you want to look it up. It was neat!

 

[Raynaldo]

Ah yes, I think applique is the right way to call it. I'm still not big on sewing terms ^^;
Hmm interesting. I found cutting out the eyes from the cotton was pretty easy. Printing directly on felt? :O I'm not sure about that. Wouldn't the printer clog up? If it's possible, I would definitely try that Thanks for the idea!

 

[Skeen]

Oh, she is lovely! Well done! I love her hair. Did you draft your own pattern?

That's the tutorial for the felt eyes. It didn't work for me, but obviously it does work because this artist makes all kinds of plushies with it.

 

[Raynaldo]

Thank you! Heh, the hair is my least favorite part actually, I'll have to work on trying to give it more volume. Yes, I draft my own pattern, I've been changing it and trying to improve it with each pony plush. I still have lots to fix.
Ah, that looks like it would work, but yeah I imagine it would be hard on the printer, even hers came out with an error.

 

[mlp2sell]

they used to be really expensive. but since hasbro has started making them and several companies are also making them with licence from hasbro AND the chinese are copying them. you can get them at walmart for like 12 or 15 bucks i think? so i find it hard to pay more than that for one that is the same size but custom made. even the huge detailed custom ones are only bringing a fraction of what they used to. it is really hard to compete with the people in china who can turn them out en-mass on a machine for a dollar an hour
my mom made some cusom pony plushes before and no one wanted to pay enough to cover the cost of the materials and her time. she wound up making what the chinese workers do. about a dollar an hour LOL

 

[Raynaldo]

she wound up making what the chinese workers do. about a dollar an hour LOL

Believe it or not, that's not so bad for some countries in Europe. In Bulgaria the minimum wage is $1.35/hour, so if I can get $1/hour by sewing plushies at home, I'd be more than happy lol.