Jayden Libran – Hello, I’m Jayden Libran and I’m a puppeteer, puppet builder, and major Muppet fan. My two closest friends and collaborators are Alexander Mantia (from the great country of Canada) and Tau Bennett (from Being Elmo), both of which are puppeteers, builders, and Muppet fans, much like myself. A few months ago, we realized that there are a lot of obscure Muppet characters that aren’t paid much respect in terms of merchandising. So we’ve taken it upon ourselves to build our own custom Muppet toys, which we call ‘’The Muppet Merchandise that Disney refuses to make.’’ We trade some these custom toys amongst ourselves, while other customs are made specifically to keep and not to trade.
Starting in December of 2016, we all decided we’d do some kind of gift exchange for the holiday season, and as a part of this gift exchange, I requested a Thog plush from Tau. And lo and behold, a fantastic Thog plush was built as part of my Christmas gift.
After receiving Thog, over the course of my winter break, I decided I’d go ahead and take a shot at making a few of my own customs. I began with making a Behemoth plush (at the request of our friend Alex), followed by a sculpted figure of Shakey Sanchez to go with it. Both of which have been given to Alex, seeing how the ‘’I’ve got you under my skin’’ number has been a longtime favorite of Alex’s.
For my own personal collection, I’ve also built: 2 Mutations…
Doglion…
The Luncheon Counter Monster…
Droop…
…and most recently, Timmy Monster.
Our friend Alex has also built a few custom Muppet figures and plush. As a part of another 3 way exchange, Alex built the very obscure, radish-loving, 1960’s Muppet monster, Splurge (which now belongs to our friend Tau, upon his request.)
As a part of his own personal collection, Alex has also made a Thingy Thing figure.
That’s all that we have to show off for now, but we’re still always working on something new. Tau is currently working on a Mean Mama plush (for me), and a Beautiful Day Monster plus (for Alex.) Alex is building the creatures from the ‘’Hugga Wugga’’ sketch to go with the Thingy Thing. Lastly, I am planning on building Fletcher Bird, Gorgon Heap, Fletcher Bird, and a Frazzle plush for Tau. So stay tuned, and if this happened to inspire you, then make some custom Muppet stuff too!
Update: Since writing this post, Jayden has finished his Fletcher Bird toy.
The Muppet Mindset 