Nothing can take the wind out of your sails faster than when you have purchased a ventriloquist figure and when you open the box you find he has been damaged. This has happened to me more times than I would like to say and of course going through the battle with the shipping companies is a night mare because they do not want to pay even when insurance has been purchased. It is always the fault of the shippers bad packing. So here is how I pack for shipping and so far I have never had a problem….knock on wood !!!
The first thing you need is the bubble wrap with the large bubbles. This is the major item needed to protect the head from damage. I like to wrap the head so that there is a 2″ think cushion of bubble wrap around the head and the head stick. Then you find a small cardboard box that this wrapped head will fit into and pack him tight in that box.
Now wrap the hands in a layer of bubble wrap and then place them inside the body and fold the legs up over the back hole covering the hands inside the body. Go into the kitchen and get the Saran Wrap from under the sink, and wrap up the body in this configuration in the Saran Wrap. The reason for this is it eliminates having to remove the styro foam peanuts from the body when unpacking.
Now you find a box large enough to put the boxed head and wrapped body into for shipping. I also collect the cardboard cup holders that you get in McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts that hold drinks because they are formed cardboard and are very strong to use for packing. You place them all around the inside of the box when packing.
I put a layer of cup holders on the bottom and add some peanuts, Place the body on this then you place the packed head inside as well, Put cup holders on the sides, add peanuts then cup holders again on the top before sealing. This gives you the protection needed and you will never have a problem again in shipping a vent figure.
It seems like a bit of work but for the piece of mind it is worth it. You must remember that once you give the package to the shipper, some of the workers that they use are like gorillas (remember the old American Tourister luggage commercial) and you have to just assume the package is going to get thrown around because it will.
Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com
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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com
Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger
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