Why do everyone think they're pro?

[BorkBork]

I'm a bit hung up on something. Something that anooys me just a little. How come everyone selling their puppets on ebay call them professional. Professional puppet blablabla.
Many puppets are in fact professional looking, but i've seen some aweful ones where the maker really needs to practis his/her skills.
I for one would absolutely not label my puppets as pro until i have a flourishing business with it. Then you know you are pro.
Sorry for the beatdown but i had to vent hehehe...

[Teenager's]

To get money.....

You can't verify too well on ebay....and its up to the buyer/consumer to decide if they think the seller is selling a pro item or not

[Buck-Beaver]

The term is pretty much meaningless. I did a blog post on this subject earlier this year.

[Giar Fraggle]

Professional pretty much = making money for what you do. It has nothing to do with the quality of your work, sadly.

[Kevin the Frog]

I think they use the terms pro / professional becuase those are hot "keywords" that crazy puppet people like us search for. I search for muppet puppet, professional puppet, pro puppet, monster puppet, etc. So if they didn't use those terms I wouldn't find their puppets.

[Vic Romano]

I think most people throw the word "professional" around too easily. Granted, art is in the eye of the beholder and what one person thinks is crap is another man's gold; but there is a fine line amongst the masses about what is "good" vs what isn't. Then there's the whole "people can be delusional" aspect where they think they're gods at their craft when clearly they lack mass amounts of talent, we all knew that kid in high school right?

[MGov]

I think I'll take a picture of an old sweat sock and put it up on eBay as a pro puppet.

[DanDanStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Vic Romano

I think most people throw the word "professional" around too easily. Granted, art is in the eye of the beholder and what one person thinks is crap is another man's gold; but there is a fine line amongst the masses about what is "good" vs what isn't. Then there's the whole "people can be delusional" aspect where they think they're gods at their craft when clearly they lack mass amounts of talent, we all knew that kid in high school right?

Sorry to go entirely off-topic but YAY THE FESTIVE SEASON HAS BEGUN, VIC'S CHRISTMAS AVATAR IS UP!

[pjspuppets]

I believe that people use the word "professional" to differentiate their puppets from children's toys. "Professional" puppets are for those who perform with them, not for those who "play" with them. Does that make sense to anybody else?

PJ

[MGov]

It makes complete sense.

But it doesn't mean that the puppets are any better than a child's toy.

[Buck-Beaver]

Actually, now they are even listing plush toy puppets as "professional" too.

[Buck-Beaver]

There's an article on the Newsy Vents Blog today about this issue as it relates to ventriloquist figures.

One interesting suggestion he has when shopping for a puppet is to email a few experienced builders and ask them for their opinion of the "pro" puppet you are thinking about buying.

[bezalel]

I really think (like Kevin the Frog) that "professional" is used as a popular keyword and search term. That's also the reason you see Ebay puppets titled - Professional Muppet Sesame Street Fraggle Style Puppet - or similar. The seller is trying to drive traffic to their item, so the use terms that are more likely to be searched for on Ebay or elsewhere for that matter.

Here's something else to think about. If all advertising was truthful - a lot of billion dollar companies would be out of business - and I'd have a lot less stuff.

[Phantom]

Professional has become much overused like the word gentleman (which used to mean a land owning person). It wasn’t a description of manners but a statement of fact that this person owned land. Over time it has become a portrayal of politeness and removed from its original meaning. Many words are like that.

Without a board of standards and governance, the word "professional" has no meaning. Of course this means builders would have to be part of some organization and be judged by an objective set of criteria put forth by a governing body. New techinques and ideas would either have to be shared or patented and artistic intrepretation could not be a factor.

This could be why you can have a plumbers union but not an artist union. Plumbing must be a certain way to maintian public health standards. A painting by an impressionist can be very different from a painting by a cubist, yet both are paintings and who can say one is professional art but the other isn't.

BTW: You can express yourself in the way you plumb but it has to meet state/local ordinances.

[dkmontgomery]

I too believe the term is simply a way to get people to look at your item. There are so many puppets out there. I would say email the seller for further information and pictures if you question the item. You can also email other buyers that have bought puppets from the individual.