Wapuu is the unofficial mascot of the WordPress project and is quite the traveler appearing at WordCamps all over the world. While there is a variety of swag featuring Wapuu, outside of handmade items, there isn’t a way to obtain a plush toy.
Peter Meth, a Senior PHP Consultant based in Toronto, Canada, is looking to change that with a crowdfunding campaign using Kickstarter. Meth is seeking $11,338 to create a number of 7″ Wapuu plush toys.
“The factories that produce most of these items are in China and there are large minimum orders,” Meth said. “I have done the calculations and have tried to keep the Kickstarter goal at a minimum.”
Meth has previous experience creating plush toys for other software projects. Last year, he successfully raised $35K from 432 backers to create a PHP Woolly Mammoth plush toy. While the web version of Wapuu features the WordPress logo, the plush toy does not.
“The WordPress logo is a trademark of the WordPress Foundation,” Meth said. “I did not get permission to use their logo. I am in no way affiliated with WordPress. This product is a plush toy, not software and on his chest is just a regular W with a circle around it.”
If successfully funded, backers won’t receive the product for at least a few months as the orders are created, processed, and shipped from China to Canada. Meth will then package the orders and ship them to backers, “I have done it before and have figured out the best ways to get these items to backers quickly and efficiently,” he said.
Pledges range from purchasing one plush toy up to five. There’s also a pledge available for about $763 where companies can have their advertising materials shipped with each toy.
So far, Meth has raised $676 from 20 backers with 29 days left to go. Considering the lack of Wapuu plush toys in existence, these would be excellent collectibles to give away at WordCamps.
Wow. Thanks for the article Jeff. I’m having lots of fun with this Wapuu project. Been wanting to do it for awhile, but the prototype takes some time.