Aug 2, Astoria: Balata rubber animals from Guyana

What fun! It was so exciting when I got this shipment of balata rubber animals (natural, sustainable) for the gift shop from a company in Guyana. As you can see, a lot of them are tapirs - babies and adults. But they were all nice.

I liked this hippo! There's such variety and they're design is a bit different each time I order. And each artist has his or her own style. This might be great for a brick-and-mortar store, but when you have to show the products online (or in a print catalog, which I don't do, thank god), people want to see what they're getting. That's a lot of photos and a lot of changing and updating. It's so labor-intensive, it hurts. I can remember years ago when I thought products shouldn't have to be uniform and conform and blah, blah, blah. Well, yes, it's art in a way, and as such it shouldn't have to. But I can now see the other side of the question, because I'm living it. And that's why these cute animals are already becoming such a headache. Which is sad. I don't have the answer.