The annoying thing is that I waited for this design to come out literally for years, then somehow I missed the entire production run. I was lucky to get this redesign...

Similar, the person that got the project going was Trainz10. I think he initially tried to go through Puffypaws, but that fell through. He ended up dealing directly with Jetcreations themselves. But to do that he had to start his own company to deal with them. Somewhere in that process I lost track.

Not entirely certain if this is still the case, but Mereck, Puffypaws, and one or two others are actually fronts, so to speak. They perfect a design, then sent it to the actual manufacturer, or should I say work with that manufacturer on the design. In this case, it is Jetcreations. They actually make the custom inflatables. The preorder system is what allows the other companies to have a lower price. We cannot go directly to Jets, as they only deal with companies. They also charge a lot more for their product, but you have a lot more opportunity to make tweaks to the design.

This is another reason why some folks hate Hongy. Hongyi will work directly with anyone. You will not get the same level of service when it comes to design and seeing a prototype mock-up. I’m in the process of making a wheeled eevee it isn’t going well...

As an owner of several of their products, I can confirm that the quality spectrum is there. If one is specific about design, and can see what you are getting in advance, they can be pretty good. (I think they have the MLP design down to a science!) As for ripping off others' designs, yes to a certain extent. Some toys had an extremely small production run, and if you missed it, tough luck. Hongyi does not mass produce the customs. They are made on demand. A lot of them could be qualified as fanart. Technically, all fanart is ripping off someone else's character. Be it pokemon, Mickey, Sonic, or whatever.

Their biggest quality issue is the paint. The older stuff is a nightmare. Ironically, my Goodra is still holding up great..

Is this one gonna be male or female? I'm guessing the latter and I can't wait to see more pics with her/him soon~! ^w^

This one is a "she" as well. We'll see how she does! =^^=

Once again, I can't wait to see what hijinks she gets up to! X3