Today we’d like to introduce you to Stefani MacLeod.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The Menagerie got its start in 2015 when we debuted our very first pose-able artdoll design. As a long time fan of magical creatures, particularly those shown in the Harry Potter films, I developed a burning desire to collect and raise my own magical pets. Since you can’t just pop down to the nearest pet store and take home a jackalope, this desire lead me to the Designer Toy community and once I fell in love with artdolls, there was no going back!
We’ve designed a lot of creatures over the years, from our original Pudgy Jackalopes to magical mice, 3-eyed cats, Cockatrices, and now we are dipping our toe into the world of Dragon Taming with the debut of our Wyvern Hatchling dolls this past Summer. While we pride ourselves on creating very high quality, vegan-friendly art pieces that will last a lifetime, we try to provide our customers with a more immersive experience than just shopping. Over on our Patreon page we incorporate story-telling elements to involve our supporters in the daily grind of working with dragons. We are working to create an elaborate fantasy world of researching and raising magical creatures that Patreon supporters can participate in for just $10 a month. Our fantasy story and personas have always been a big part of the Menagerie and the community of collectors who enjoy our work. When you take home one of our dolls, you’re not just getting an original handmade artwork, you’re taking home a living, breathing piece of our world.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Building up the Menagerie hasn’t been the easiest. Over the past few years, we’ve had a lot of challenges in our personal lives. At the end of 2018, we were victims of the Woolsey fire and found ourselves suddenly homeless with a baby on the way. Another artist who lived across the country was kind enough to offer us a place to stay for the next year. We packed up what belongings we had left into our Chevy Malibu and we moved across the country, had our amazing daughter, and moved back all in the span of about ten months.
We continued to make dolls and work on our story throughout this chaos as the Menagerie is our family’s primary source of income. To say the last year has been challenging is an understatement. Our creativity and drive has been incredibly up and down over the last two years as we struggled to find a balance between work and self-care, making an income and rebuilding our lives. Now that we are back in LA county and re-stablizing our work and living situations (we also own/manage a boxing and MMA gym in Agoura Hills) we’re finding our creative footing and beginning to put out new designs after a long hiatus.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Menagerie MacLeod – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
The Menagerie MacLeod is a Designer Toy company. We create handmade, high-quality artdolls from urethane resin and faux fur. Each of our dolls is entirely handmade by the two of us from the early design sketches, through the sculpting of the body parts, creation of the plush body patterns, painting, assembling, and photography of the finished pieces! All of our dolls are made with plastic skeletons on the inside, which sets them apart from other plush/plastic toys as they are fully articulated and can be moved, posed, and played with, with a range of motion similar to an actual living animal. We pride ourselves in ‘breeding’ life-like creatures from unique, original designs you won’t see mass produced on the shelves at big box stores. Our dolls are more than just toys, they are works of art.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
2020 is our year for re-establishing the business after the turmoil that was 2019. We are focusing on more story building this year, beginning with our Patreon page. We want to bring the experience of Dragon Keeping to our Patreon supporters and give them a community in which they can participate in their magical creature keeper fantasies. This switch is also going to be reflected in our creature line up for 2020: we are phasing out some of our designs in favor of exclusively dragon-themed dolls. Some of the new designs we will be debuting this year include Fairy Dragons, Chinese Lung Dragons, and Hydras.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TheMenagerieMacLeod.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: theMenagerieMacLeod
- Facebook: facebook.com/themenageriemacleod
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