New 3-D Baseball Cards

A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Puppet
Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends, news from the world of puppets and ventriloquism, bits of humor and other interesting but useless information. I post every Tuesday and Friday.
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Please Tell Me Why Anyone is Buying This Product


I don't know why the Doodle Bra exists. But it's real and it offers a broad selection of stencils that one can use to "doodle" on their Doodle Bra.

Someone out there is getting rich on this.  (Pretty nice mannequin ... unless you want one that can turn her head).

You Suck at Photoshop

This five minute, homemade Photoshop tutorial is made even funnier by interruptions from the narrator's wife and phone calls from friends. At the same time, you'll probably learn a lot about using Photoshop ... but you'll learn even more about the producer's private life which is hysterical. And if you're not real fond of cats, you'll love the end of segment 2.

Click here or on the photo to see "You Suck at Photoshop."

More Interesting Photos
These photos are fascinating ... and a little scary.

Funny Commercial for "Sound"

Here's a clever way to highlight the "extremely realistic sound" touted by Loewe.

You've got a choir performing a piece while an invisible remote zapper toggles between sound options. The choir changes to provide the desired audio texture. As "bass" increases on the dial, additional bassists run to the front; when volume is increased, more join the choir. The conductor's questioning face ties it all together nicely.

The ad wraps up by panning away from the choir to reveal a television frame.  The ad gets your attention and keeps it by being clever.  Click here to see the commercial.

Don't Put These Baseball Cards in Your Spokes
Since the 1950s, Topps has sold baseball trading cards filled with photos and stats, bringing the game to life. Now the company is bringing its cards to life.

A fanciful depiction of a 3-D image of Ryan Howard of the Phillies from a Topps 3D Live card.

Now, collectors who hold special Topps 3D Live baseball cards in front of their webcams will see three-dimensional avatars of the players on their computer screens. Rotate the cards, and the figures rotate in full 3D perspective. It's called "augmented reality," a combination of a real image with a virtual one. (I've seen automobile magazine ads use this same concept.)

"This is the ‘Beam me up, Scotty' version of a baseball card that will get kids to buy more. We see this baseball season as a redefining moment for us," said Steve Grimes, chief digital officer at Topps.

Topps needs to augment reality because baseball cards are struggling in the Internet age. Today's collectors can just as easily and less expensively find the sports facts they want online. While once a $1 billion business, the market for sports trading cards has shrunk to $200 million in yearly revenue today.

(Hint: You have to look at her feet to get this one.)