| I’m not sure how it really started. I mean, I’ve always sort of had a thing for puppets. They just seemed to have more potential for personality than your regular run-of-the-mill toys.
I think the pivotal comeback moment was in a gift shop in Melbourne, where I picked up a set of Australia’s animals finger puppets. I was enthralled by the idea of a platypus finger puppet. When I returned home I propped them on a shelf and tried not to play with them when company was over. Then Starbucks decided to do a series of Muppet finger puppets. The temptation was too much, suddenly finger puppets were everywhere. I was hooked. Yet I started to realize not all finger puppets are created equal.
At trouveonline.com/eclectic_toys.html, you’ll find the most intellectual finger puppets around. Boxed sets ($12.50-$19.95, all figures US) range from The Great Philosophers series with Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Plato and Kant to the timely Axis of Evil with Kim Jong Il, Khamenei, Saddam and George W. Bush. For the little painter in your life there is the Great Artists collection housing Monet, Dali, Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo.
If you aren’t partial to puppets the site offers alternatives with the Little Thinkers Dolls ($15.50). Snuggle up next to your very own freedom fighter with the Che Guevera model or talk the night away with the manic looking Einstein. The bespectcled Monet with brush in hand makes for good company but watch out for that crazed Van Gogh with his removable ear.
The site sells a great deal more than puppets, so be sure to check out the rest of the European style wares available for purchase. |
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