I need a gross of penguins.

May 1, 2006 8:49 AM

I need a gross of penguins.

I need 150-odd penguin miniatures, on the cheap. They need to fit as snugly as possible into a 1"-diameter cylinder, and they need to be cute. They can even be plush if they stand upright. All I can find are some vaguely realistic penguin/auk figurines (like this, although at a third of the quality and an order of magnitude cheaper), but I know there must be some bulk penguin toy, or accessory, or bauble, or something out there. And what I truly need are six batches of 25 penguins, if I can't find a full gross of any one kind. I've looked into Legos (although their downloadable Creator software is a scam, since you have to purchase preexisting lots of pieces to get the individual pieces you want) and may even consider using a 3D printer if I can't find anything. But I'd really just like to find the cheap bulk penguins I feel must exist.

posted by blueshammer to shopping (14 comments total)

Maybe these?

Search for penguin there for 3 pages of penguin stuff.
posted by mikepop at 8:56 AM on May 1, 2006

This is what the Oriental Trading Company is for.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 8:59 AM on May 1, 2006

flocked?

BTW 3D printing is mad slow and really expensive. It won't be your option.
posted by whatzit at 9:01 AM on May 1, 2006

Yeah, and the OTC. Everyone loves them for cheap stuff.
posted by whatzit at 9:01 AM on May 1, 2006

Can you tell us what this is for? Are you building some sort of PenguinGun?
posted by mikepop at 9:04 AM on May 1, 2006

There's a board game called Penguin Pile Up which costs around $20 and comes with 24 small penguins figures. More penguin madness here.
posted by brautigan at 9:06 AM on May 1, 2006

Have you considered marzipan?
posted by leapingsheep at 9:07 AM on May 1, 2006

Playmobil sells 8 Pengins for $4.99, which is a fairly steep 62 cents + per penguin.
posted by anastasiav at 9:21 AM on May 1, 2006

mike, tapas: See, I knew there was an "answer" to this question, much like my last question about wood products. Prior to that question, I wasn't aware of craftparts.com, and I had likewise never heard of the OTC until now, but I can see that they might prove useful in the future. Those beads, though not exactly what I had in mind, are the closest I've come.

ana: OK, those are the closest I've come, but the price is high, esp. when you realize that in the set of 8, only 6 are identical and therefore useful for my purposes.

whatzit, I had found those flocked penguins but wasn't crazy about them, esp. for the price.

mike, brautigan: It's for a boardgame prototype, so I'm not sure that using the Pile-Up penguins would be appropriate.

leapingsheep: I had not considered marzipan.
posted by blueshammer at 10:10 AM on May 1, 2006

So the penguin gun idea isn't taken yet?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:22 AM on May 1, 2006

penguingun.com is still available...
posted by blue_beetle at 10:32 AM on May 1, 2006

If you're feeling crafty, I'm sure you could make some simple cute penguins out of a hardening modelling clay like Fimo.
posted by Robot Johnny at 11:42 AM on May 1, 2006

Can you call the gift shop at a local zoo or aquarium, and ask about their wholesalers or distributors? I was just at the Shedd and saw little penguin figures. I'm sure the markup at a museum/zoo/aquarium gift shop is awful, but they must buy them from somewhere...
posted by SuperSquirrel at 2:27 PM on May 1, 2006

Huh? Huh?

Aw, c'mon.
posted by Sallyfur at 9:12 PM on May 1, 2006