By charlotte, Today at 8:42pm Duckplanet will soon be moving it's base of operations from sunny Southern California to green Western Washington. At a recent fun, but bittersweet, going-away party hosted by Paul and attended by the dastardly minds from work, we were treated to a live multimedia musical performance with original music by the creative minds of Judy Chen and Sam Kaufman on guitar, Judy on vocals, and with Lilly Irani providing the visuals. It was too good not to share. So I asked for a version to share on DP. Duckplanet is proud to present "Ducks Come Soon": a video that lampoons my generous support of ebay over the years in service of my world record duck collection.
Gillian also made this awesome bathtub cake with marzipan duckies! I will spare the readers of DP photos of people wearing yellow and sporting rubber beaks. But, yes, it happened. I'll miss this band of loonies.
By charlotte, Nov 8th, 2008, 8:51pm The USA will soon have a new president and hopes run high for a better future. It seems wherever we go, so do our rubber ducks. In this amusing photo from Digicolleen's Duckshow website, we see Duck President Elect: Barquack Obama. Check out Duckshow http://duckshow.com/ for more great rubber duck photos including a Sarah Palin Duck.
By charlotte, Nov 5th, 2008, 10:42am In order to maintain some semblance of normalcy in my home, I long ago stopped buying duck stuff other than rubber ducks themselves, but that doesn't mean I can't help others duckify their homes. This steel tea kettle is enameled inside and out. The handle, spout, and lid knob are made of durable plastic. It can be used on gas, electricity, radiant, halogen, or ceramic heating sources. Hand washing recommended. Size: H 8" x W 12.5". The capacity seems to be 2 quarts although the amazon page contradicts itself and lists both 2 and 3 quarts.
By charlotte, Oct 31st, 2008, 8:23pm Duckplanet recently got this fabulous postcard announcing Lucy Sander Sceery's exhibition Not All Rubber Ducks Look Alike. The postcard features a photograph of some of Sceery's pressed duck artworks. Somehow we can't stop staring at the squished little duckies. It's probably the same fascination we had as kids when our friends would press their faces up to glass windows to make us laugh. There is something both disturbing and amusing about seeing someone, or in this case something, that we know so well be made alien and different while remaining familiar. And these ducks are very familiar to Duckplanet as we have them all in our collection--mercifully unpressed!
The show will be at the Westport Arts Center's Studio Gallery in Westport, Connecticut from October 30 through November 30. In addition to the pressed duck works there will be photographs and paintings featuring rubber ducks. If you live nearby, you won't want to miss this exhibition as Sceery does not often have opportunities to show her rubber duck works. The opening will be on Thursday, October 30, 2008 from 6:30 to 8:30pm.
By charlotte, Nov 5th, 2008, 5:33pm A recent article by Brittni Reinertsen of the UW News Lab reported on Ron Sterling, a psychiatrist who uses rubber ducks purchased on eBay to decorate his curbside garden with ducky holiday scenes. Sterling lives near Lowman Beach in West Seattle. His garden features a 30-foot-long cement planter box with seven separate duck scenes. Each display is added to daily over the course of a week. A new display is featured every month, usually for a specific holiday including New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo.
Sterling chose duckies as the main feature in his garden for several reasons: “On a conscious level, you can’t really look at rubber ducks without smiling. They have always been entertaining. They fit the whole Northwest world,” he said. Ron sells calendars and cards at his website: http://duckiesrule.com The article is really interesting. Read the whole article here on the West Seattle Blog: http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=11169#more-11169
By charlotte, Nov 14th, 2008, 10:18am The collectible line of BUD ducks inspired new and old rubber duck collectors alike. Currently available from Just Ducks http://www.justducks.co.uk is a limited edition China set of miniature BUD ducks. Seasoned collectors will recall that ducks come in large, regular, and miniature sizes. This set of ducks was created by BUD for China in commemoration of the 2008 Olympic Games. Only 1888 of these sets were produced--a very small number indeed for typically mass-produced rubber ducks. Somehow Just Ducks was able to get 288 sets, but they won't last long so be sure to pick up your Propoganda, Stadium, and Panda ducks ASAP. These ducks are only available as a set. The photo here is from Just Ducks, but Duckplanet was lucky to get our hands on them early and are pleased that we did as these ducks are standout examples of the miniature BUD line.
After 10 years in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, the Archie McPhee store will be moving in early 2009 to the Seattle neighborhood of Wallingford. The store is moving back to Stone Way where the business was located in the '80s and '90s.
Archie McPhee and its wholesale arm, Accoutrements, are the force behind the original and ubiquitous line of official Devil Ducks. You can see the announcement on their website by clicking on the link below:
Marisa C. tooks these photos of a great "Quackers for Obama" window display at a shop in Provincetown, MA. In the second photo you can see a flock of giant rubber ducks heading towards an almost life-size Obama cut out. Marisa didn't get the name of the shop, so if you know the name of this shop please let us know so that we can give due credit.
UPDATE: Thanks to Lucy, we now know that the name of the mystery shop in Provincetown is Pulp. According to their website, it's not only their window that is full of rubber ducks! http://www.pulpdc.com/index.cfm
Duckplanet Gear including t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, tote bags, and stickers are now on sale. Show the world your love of rubber duckies and of Duckplanet!
Your purchase will go towards maintaining and the Duckplanet.com website. Shop Duckplanet Now!
Marcel put together another short rubber duck animation. Since so many people wrote to say how much they enjoyed the original Duck Follies (Actually, just one guy; Thanks Burl), Marcel decided to make a sequel. I would like to claim some credit also. I was responsible for turning the "propeller" for each shot. Please do not torture yourself and try to play this unless you have a fast internet connection. To the rest of you, enjoy The Transmogrifier.
Register for Duckfest Now!
It's time to register for Duckfest 2008! Duckfest is the only rubber duck collector's convention in the world and is being held this year in Marysville, WA (approximately 40 miles north of Seatle) on Saturday, August 2nd starting at 1pm. Every year Duckfest presents a unique opportunity to get together with fellow rubber duck collectors and other rubber duck fanatics. As usual, Duckfest will have food, fun, duck selling, duck buying, and games. Don't forget to bring ducks to trade or sell, cash to buy ducks, and photos of duck madness to share. We've gotten a lot of interest from onlookers in recent years, but Duckfest is still too small to absorb casual onlookers, sorry. Thus we have the bummer, disclaimer portion of our announcement:
* Rubber duck collectors and rubber duck fanatics only. * Duckfest is for adults 18 and up only. Kids get to be kids every day and grownups get to be kids at Duckfest. Exception: adult collectors may bring their kids if they are prepared to supervise and take full responsibility for them at all times. (Host has no children, no supplies for same, and house is not childproofed.)
Please RSVP by July 4th, 2008 to duckfest2008@yahoo.com. This is also the e-mail address for any questions for your host, Colleen (squeakybeaks)
Ducks Come Soon
Gillian also made this awesome bathtub cake with marzipan duckies! 
The USA will soon have a new president and hopes run high for a better future. It seems wherever we go, so do our rubber ducks. In this amusing photo from Digicolleen's Duckshow website, we see Duck President Elect: Barquack Obama. Check out Duckshow 
In order to maintain some semblance of normalcy in my home, I long ago stopped buying duck stuff other than rubber ducks themselves, but that doesn't mean I can't help others duckify their homes. This steel tea kettle is enameled inside and out. The handle, spout, and lid knob are made of durable plastic. It can be used on gas, electricity, radiant, halogen, or ceramic heating sources. Hand washing recommended. Size: H 8" x W 12.5". The capacity seems to be 2 quarts although the amazon page contradicts itself and lists both 2 and 3 quarts. 
Duckplanet recently got this fabulous postcard announcing Lucy Sander Sceery's exhibition Not All Rubber Ducks Look Alike. The postcard features a photograph of some of Sceery's pressed duck artworks. Somehow we can't stop staring at the squished little duckies. It's probably the same fascination we had as kids when our friends would press their faces up to glass windows to make us laugh. There is something both disturbing and amusing about seeing someone, or in this case something, that we know so well be made alien and different while remaining familiar. And these ducks are very familiar to Duckplanet as we have them all in our collection--mercifully unpressed! 
A recent article by Brittni Reinertsen of the UW News Lab reported on Ron Sterling, a psychiatrist who uses rubber ducks purchased on eBay to decorate his curbside garden with ducky holiday scenes. Sterling lives near Lowman Beach in West Seattle. His garden features a 30-foot-long cement planter box with seven separate duck scenes. Each display is added to daily over the course of a week. A new display is featured every month, usually for a specific holiday including New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo. 
It's time to register for Duckfest 2008! Duckfest is the only rubber duck collector's convention in the world and is being held this year in Marysville, WA (approximately 40 miles north of Seatle) on Saturday, August 2nd starting at 1pm. Every year Duckfest presents a unique opportunity to get together with fellow rubber duck collectors and other rubber duck fanatics. As usual, Duckfest will have food, fun, duck selling, duck buying, and games. Don't forget to bring ducks to trade or sell, cash to buy ducks, and photos of duck madness to share.