There's a certain charm in home made figures that just can't be bought. What the figure may lack in "finesse" he may make up for in charm and personality. I remember the late Jack Coats trying to talk many an amature figure maker out of abandoning their creation in favor of one of his custom carved creations, generally offering to tweek the mechanics or repaint it for them to make them happy with it. Alas, the lure of a custom made creation usually won out and I must say that often I saw what Jack was talking about when comparing the home made original and his wonderfully crafted piece. Sometimes the charm of the home made character was lost. Remember that a figure that a pro figure maker makes for himself may also be considered a home made figure and exhibit that home made charm as well... a figure made for their personal use carries all the personal characteristics that come from the character within.
Below are photo's of figures that were made by their owners. In most cases, I've used thumbnails to make this page load more quickly. Select the thumbnail to see the full sized photo.
This is Dave Boiano's 'Charlie'. 'Charlie' was made from a William Anderson head so Dave would have a full sized figure to carry around to activities where he didn't want to take his other characters (outside activities, camping trips, etc.) and fits the bill quite nicely at a great price.
'Fronky' was made by Frank Frazee as a Halloween character and is based on Captain Dick's 'Henry' kit. This is the second figure of this type that Frank has built and he's working on a third.
Jack Coats made all types of figures with about every movement imagineable; rolling eyes, cross eyes, winkers, raising and lowering eyebrows, flapping ears, raising upper lip, and the list goes on. However when it came to building his personal figures, his home made taste in figures really came out. Here he is pictured with 'Leroy' and 'Barney'. 'Leroy' came about when Jack looked at a profile photo of the Great Lester's figure, 'Frank Byron'. He did not have a front view of the famous figure, but 'Leroy's' profile is identical to 'Frank Byron'. From the front you'd never know whence the pattern came. A very simple figure, 'Leroy' had fixed eyes and (possibly) a handshake movement. 'Barney' was Jack's version of a less intelligent character in an animal form. Also a very simple figure with beak and head only movement.
Shown here is 'Onesimus' who is owned by North Carolina ventriloquist Nina Cooper. Although Nina did not make him herself, 'Onesimus' is one of those creations with extra special meaning... a home made figure created by her father just for Nina. A wonderfully unique character.
Here's my mate, Ray Cooper of New Zealand and his cast of characters... no relation to Nina Cooper above. Ray builds soft puppets and was inspired by Verna Finly whom he met while touring America in 1989. In this photo he made the grandpa, grandma (not a good picture unfortunately), donkey, bee, and the red head with John Lennon glasses. I'm not much of a soft puppet worker yet, but Ray's puppets show a wonderful personality.
Pictured here is Andy Anderson with 'Max'. 'Max' is the second figure carved by his dad, James Anderson, and shows a lot of personality. The mechanics are good too! Andy and his parents are members of our local ventriloquist club (Speaking Of Dummies) and it's always a treat to see what James has been working on. His influences seem to be many and often I think I see some of Conrad Hartz, Frank Marshall, or Tim Selberg in his concepts. I hope he keeps on carving and can't wait to see how far he goes with it.
At left and above are some characters made by Lawrence Harris. Above from left to right are 'Elwood T. Krankshaw' (1998), 'Corkey' (1997), and 'Rodney' (1994). At left is a close up of 'Elwood T. Krankshaw'.
At right is noted figure maker Conrad Hartz with his character 'Spankee Doodle'. As is the case with all of Conrad's figures, it is a high quality basswood carved figure, but being his personal figure there is a difference. Notice the teeth which are reminiscent of one of Conrad's favorite puppets - Howdy Doody. And the face, cheeks, and ears which remember another famous character, Jerry Mahoney. But don't be mistaken, the character is pure Conrad!
Dennis Meeks has built a number of figures over the years starting with an Anderson shell he purchased from Mr. Anderson at the 1981 Fellowship of Christian Magicians Conference at Winnona Lake, IN. Here is a picture of the finished product. Sonny has crossing eyes ...a little feature that Dennis developed on his own during construction.
David R. Sleeper built his partner Wally Cooper out of ponderosa pine. Here is a picture of the finished product. Wally has a slot jaw and side to side moving eyes. The eyes are made from ping pong balls.