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I Am A Stuffed Animal personal dolls

For the most narcissistic person in your life comes these personalised plush dolls from I Am A Stuffed Animal. It’s simple: just email them a photo and some basic info, then their artists will start working as soon as you finish paying your $65. Next thing you know, hey presto, there’s a mini-cartoony you, in an easy to cuddle format.

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Also by ZOLTON

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Maths explains the origin of superhero characters

I love the colours and simple reasoning in this clever series by Scottish illustrator Matt Cowen, which uses basic maths equations to explain how certain pop culture icons came to be. Read more

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Star Wars Uncut: a fully crowdsourced version of Episode IV

The project of creative technologist, Casey Pugh, this full length version of the George Lucas masterpiece was created from multiple 15 second segments recreated from the original movie and submitted by thousands of Star Wars fans, which were then spliced together by editor Aaron Valdez to form the final product. Genius, as both a commentary on contemporary pop culture trends (there are references to LEGO, stop motion, memes and the like) and on the power of tapping your audience for quality material.

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Filmmaker creates LEGO stop motion to propose to girlfriend

Now, this is one for the ages: back in 2010, Atlanta film-maker Walter Thompson created a jaw-dropping LEGO stop motion to propose to Nealey Dozier, his girlfriend of four years. The video took 22 hours of shooting and some 2,600 pictures to splice together, a small sacrifice to pay for years of happiness together. Right? Right! Oh, and she said yes. Bonus.

YOU'RE SAYING (1)

Christine said | 17 August, 2010

Review of Iamastuffedanimal.com

Buyer Beware: Iamastuffedanimal.com Co-Founder states “Artwork Highly Subjective”.

Iamastuffedanimal.com advertises “Get a Buddy of You”. “Have you ever wanted a stuffed animal in your cartoony likeness?”

Most of Iamastuffedanimal.com’s customers are satisfied with their buddies. But if you happen to be one of their customers who believe the buddy does not clearly represent the likeness of the person, the company does not provided edits, changes or refunds. You risk being left holding a buddy that doesn’t look like anyone you know and be out $69.00 plus $8.00 shipping.

We recently received a buddy we ordered as a unique birthday gift for my brother-in-law who is a airline captain. I completed the online request accurately, paid immediately using PayPal and sent an e-mail confirming the order with three pictures.

My husband, artist mother-in-law and I are quite disappointed as the buddy only has a slight resemblance to him. Only the mouth and eyes match. The hair and eyebrows are the wrong color and the jaw and nose don’t match. There is a section that is overstuffed, distorting the buddy.

In response to our concerns, Chrissie from iamastuffedanimal.com wrote us stating “Unfortunately, because the artwork is 100% custom and highly subjective, a lot of the time customers love their buddies, but sometimes they don’t. Due to this subjectivity, we don’t offer “edits” or changes to existing orders, although you can always order another buddy with suggested changes, should you wish.”

So why would she suggest we “order another buddy with suggested changes” if there was no room for improvement? And how can she guarantee a more accurate buddy?

Drew, co-founder of Iamastuffedanimal.com wrote us stating “The vast majority of our customers are satisfied with their buddies, but unfortunately, some are not. As you can imagine, you’re not the first customer we’ve had this type of communication with, and I’m sure you won’t be the last. The reality of it is that in our business, the perceived quality of the finished product comes down to a very subjective opinion.” In another e-mail he wrote, “with a product that is based on artist interpretation and re-creation, judgment of the quality is inherently subjective”. He also stated “In your specific case, it looks like a difference of opinion on the quality of the art, which is something we hope you’ll respect.”

Well, I don’t think my brother-in-law will respect a company who created a buddy that barely resembles him.

I responded to Chrissie and Drew by asking them if they would place an order with their company knowing they may not get what they paid ($69.00) for? Neither of them responded to this question.

If they are not able to produce an accurate likeness consistently, they aught not be in business.

Buyer beware.
Christine

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There’s some nice, doom-tinged psych rock coming out of Holtzclaw, Virginia in the form of Pontiak, a lumbering, feverish, blues-heavy trio that sounds like a hungover morning after a drunken party around a bonfire in the woods.

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You’d be hard-pressed finding a designer with a more impressive background than Jessie Hill. While most of us were waiting to outgrow our awkward teenage years, she was already on her way to Los Angeles. Leaving her Sydney home at just seventeen to pursue her love of fashion, it wasn’t long before Jessie Hill made a name for herself, styling cool kids like No Doubt and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Read more

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