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Author Topic: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?  (Read 3781 times)

Matt Ottinger

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Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« on: September 24, 2017, 06:06:08 PM »
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TV-Game-Show-Host-BILL-CULLEN-Professional-Plush-Puppet-Productions-Texas-yqz-/292266196042?hash=item440c6c3c4a:g:pSUAAOSwAGlZxYHM

According to the listing, this item has been "identified as the late Bill Cullen."  Seems likely that it's just a regular puppet that somebody decided kinda looked like Bill.  And you know, you build the guy a little suit, trim the hair down, and maybe you've got something.

Also, don't be weirded out by what look like giant red lips in the first picture.  It's just a bad photo with the puppet's mouth open.
This has been another installment of Matt Ottinger's Masters of the Obvious.
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johnnyd1788

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2017, 11:15:47 AM »
I can see the resemblance. However, the vibe I am getting more is Paula Poundstone by outfit alone. lol

ChrisLambert!

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2017, 01:00:43 PM »
I see Food Network's Justin Warner.
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nowhammies10

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2017, 02:51:16 PM »
I see Wink Yahoo with glasses.

BrandonFG

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2017, 04:28:11 PM »
Whereas I see "Buzz", the animated host of the Buzz! video game series. He's on the cover art further down the page.
"It wasn't like this on Tic Tac Dough...Wink never gave a damn!"

nowhammies10

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2017, 05:38:01 PM »
Whereas I see "Buzz", the animated host of the Buzz! video game series. He's on the cover art further down the page.

Can't unsee it now.  Good find!

BrandonFG

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2017, 05:45:01 PM »
Whereas I see "Buzz", the animated host of the Buzz! video game series. He's on the cover art further down the page.

Can't unsee it now.  Good find!
Haha thanks...it's actually a really fun party game, but when I saw the other comparisons, "Buzz" immediately came to mind.
"It wasn't like this on Tic Tac Dough...Wink never gave a damn!"

nowhammies10

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2017, 06:41:48 PM »
I'm one of those anime convention host people that frequent this forum, and I know the BUZZ! paddles well.

PYLdude

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2017, 11:21:25 PM »
He kinda looks Rod from Avenue Q, but with peach skin and blue eyes.
I suppose you can still learn stuff on TLC, though it would be more in the Goofus & Gallant sense, that is (don't do what these parents did)"- Travis Eberle, 2012

“We’re game show fans. ‘Weird’ comes with the territory.” - Matt Ottinger, 2022

geno57

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2017, 04:29:52 AM »
Somebody paid $70 for that?!

Matt Ottinger

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Re: Ebay: A Bill Cullen Puppet?
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2017, 11:33:31 AM »
Somebody paid $70 for that?!

Similar ones sell new for about $100, and this seemed to be in pretty decent shape, so maybe it's not SO outrageous.  I just hope the winner didn't get it thinking it was a genuine Bill Cullen collectable.

Also, weirdly, if you Google "professional plush puppet", the first hit you get is an earlier effort on a different auction site to sell this very puppet, again as a Bill Cullen lookalike.

Turns out the company that made this puppet went out of business in 2009.  This seems to me the major player in the consumer puppet industry these days:

www.puppetsinc.com
This has been another installment of Matt Ottinger's Masters of the Obvious.
Stay tuned for all the obsessive-compulsive fun of Words Have Meanings.