Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

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  • Big Thud Joe
    Senior Member
    • May 2017
    • 352

    Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

    Well, with another Australian summer coming up, it was time to buy some new clothes, and as my mobile phone died last month, found myself having to try out new phones.

    Anyway, this meant that I was frequently hanging around shopping centres conducting business over the last few weeks, and to be honest, it was as boring as shit - I generally hate shopping, but sometimes when things don't work and clothes whear out, it's time to get some retail therapy.

    But as any looner knows, there is that somewhat reluctant quick trip to the department store, conspicuously trying to go through the toys section, looking for the inflatables. Well you know with the Australian summer coming up, the temptation was just too raw to resist.

    Well about a week ago in a shopping centre in South Sydney, I found myself in the kids section of Big W, walking briskly toward the inflatable section if I could find it, and within moments, there they were.

    Going past the boring as hell stock standard inflatable mats, my first stop seemed to be this intex inflatable ring

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    So looking around, I made sure there was no store staff and personnel to ask me what I was up to, but then again if they were, it wasn't exactly illegal what I was doing. I just wanted to open up the packages to see exactly what I was going to put down my hard earned cash for.

    So the time came to pull the intex ring off the shelf, and with the strength of my hand, ripped through the top of the box, and uugghhhh!, it was the crappy matt finish canvas shit. The box went back on to the shelf, and on to the next thing.

    It was an intex translucent whale. Again it was time to crack the box, and see what good or bad was inside that baby. Rip, the lid flipped, and wow. Very soft blue shiny translucent PVC; now almost on the verge of buying a few. So pulled it out and unfurled it, but some matt white printing on the bottom just couldn't break the deal for me, so it went back. Don't know what happened to the photos of these blue translucent whales, but I may have second thoughts about getting a few next week. From memory they were 1.8 meters long, which is about six foot in American money.

    Right next to it was a silver whale, but from the box I could see straight away that it was that heavy matt vinyl, so I didn't bother wasting my time with it. It looked the same size.

    This next one got me roaring straight away, the sense of this one being completely glossy and shiny already gave that strong glowing feeling within the body.

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    The box flew off the shelf, and rip, and yeah, the bottom was white and nice and shiny, but upon unfurling this baby which I did fantasize on taking to bed, the top printing gave the mat a complete matt finish.

    This was definitely very disappointing, as the connotation was the idea of taking a huge piece of inflatable candy to bed, but ul well, such is life.

    The next one that caught my eye was this inflatable surf board.

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    Like the inflatable ice cream, there was an immediate sense of anticipation, fueling my curiosity for opening it up. They were two colours with this one, so I went ahead and opened the blue and red one.

    Unboxing of inflatable surf board
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    Inflatable surfboard unpacked
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    Oh wow, that glossy white backing has me pumping straight away, with the thing in my hand, I was already getting hard. Unbelievably no store personnel had come to ask what I was doing. Upon unfurling this one, the top portion of the surf board was kind of a semi gloss finish. This is still worth thinking about. Taking this to bed while laying naked with this thing on top of my body, that thought does excite me. Looking at the picture though, it doesn't seem to have much thickage from the bottom to the top, like an inflatable thong / flip flop, so whether I still want to buy this one is still up for some further pondering.

    The camera seemed to have gone off randomly with this one, but this for me is just a total utter turn off, so passed this one straight away. Looks like some inflatable play centre.

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    That concludes my visit to South Sydney from two weeks ago. About three days ago it was off to a shopping centre in North Sydney for getting some new summer clothes, and on the way out it was a quick dash to Kmart.

    But as this has already been a long post, I'll get straight to the point of these. The inflatable beach beds, crocodiles, and whale floats from Kmart are all absolute garbage. Upon opening all packages, the material felt like a heavy canvas, like camping tents with a matt finish. So looks like Kmart is a no go this summer for looners like me.

    Inflatable crocodile from Kmart
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    Double beach bed from Kmart
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    Inflatable whale float from Kmart
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    I also checked Target, but like Kmart, all there inflatables were made of canvas. So for this Australian summer, a pretty (again) ordinary selection of inflatables to choose from.
  • Steve_inflator
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2013
    • 110

    #2
    Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

    Have you tried Clark Rubber?

    Comment

    • Big Thud Joe
      Senior Member
      • May 2017
      • 352

      #3
      Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

      Steve, will check these stores out, doesn't seem to be any clark rubber stores near me. I only have access to public transport, so have to find one thats close to a train line. , thx for the suggestion.

      Comment

      • Big Thud Joe
        Senior Member
        • May 2017
        • 352

        #4
        Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

        Some more musings.........

        I finished my usual grocery / run of the mill chores today at westfield shopping town in south sydney, and just as I came back from the shopping; on my way out, a new pop up store appeared. Not only with nice huge inflatables, but plastics that certainly had a good degree of phthalates in them.

        Looking at those nice shiny inflatables, the glow of absolute bliss filled my body, the first thing my hands grabbed on to was the huge luxe inflatable flamingo float. The one that was on display was a rose gold colour. Dug my nails in and that plastic squeeked like heaven, my eyes darted all over the place, oh, what is the price, what is the price?

        Check out those pics below, this was definitely 100% phthalate based plastic. I had an immediate erection. But at a hundred dollars a pop, no thanks.

        Use imgbox to upload, host and share all your images. It's simple, free and blazing fast!


        Use imgbox to upload, host and share all your images. It's simple, free and blazing fast!


        Use imgbox to upload, host and share all your images. It's simple, free and blazing fast!


        The next part was absolute torture, the huge inflatable watermelon beach balls, made of that phenomenally nice transparent plastic on one side, and semi gloss green printing on the other, very, very nice and squeeky.

        I instantly wanted to get about 20 of these. You know you see them one minute and they're gone. Well, this was the time to bight, parden the punn. Ask the guy thinking that these were about AU$10 each (around AU$250 for a few dozen), and the guys face looked rather mystified. It all started making sense when he then said $1000. I nearly freaked out, only to realise that these 35 inch watermelon balls were AU$49.99 each. I asked the guy again, confirming, $50 for one, not for two or three in a pack? He said yes just one, and I nearly fainted. Keeping calm and polite I simply asked why were they so expensive, and he said some throw away comment like "plenty of parents with too much money to spend I guess".

        My asperger's syndrome was kicking in, and though completely calm on the outside, I was having a complete meltdown on the inside. I couldn't believe the very thing that would feel so good would command such a crazy price, but I had to crack a whip and move on, life goes on, and I just wanted to get out of the shopping centre as soon as possible.







        The funny thing is the heavy duty canvas plastic inflatables at the variety stores are $10 and $15, yet these things that are made of the light plastic are three to four times the price, go figure.

        Got home, had some lunch and a cool shower (it's summer time here in Australia), and spending the afternoon relaxing. Not what a looner expected on a saturday arvo; in absolute exhilaration one minute, and being in an abyss the next.

        They also had these bananas, but again for $70, I'll pass them up. Would have love to have got some of these, they were the perfect size for taking to bed. but ul well. :P

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        Think I'll stick to my inflatable helmets.

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        Comment

        • Big Thud Joe
          Senior Member
          • May 2017
          • 352

          #5
          Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

          Awesome, just tracked down the exact chinese factory that has made these sunnylife watermelon 35 inch balls, just put in an enquiry for getting a thousand made. If I can do this for around a thousand dollars, will jump right for it. I've just asked for some samples if possible. Will even still go ahead if around $2,000, but at present this is the limit of my finances.


          Comment

          • freetofloat
            Junior Member
            • Jan 2018
            • 23

            #6
            Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

            This was always the hardest part of building a collection. Slyly determining finishes in store without interference from staff. I'm more a matte finish guy, but its getting harder to determine qualities or always find good scores.

            You had some good finds.

            Comment

            • Big Thud Joe
              Senior Member
              • May 2017
              • 352

              #7
              Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

              Fair enough, as you're more into matte material, I thought you'd have an easier time as 90% of the stuff now is in that finish.

              I've just come to the realization that it doesn't matter what factory you get a quote from, the minimal order price overall always seems to clock in around US$3,500 to US$4,000 when including the manufacturing of the inflatables, the minimal order amount, freight, and customs fees.

              I'll just have to wait and hope the sci fi book I'm writing will earn me some decent money.

              As far as checking inflatables instore, for me anyway, it seems to be quite easy, I tend to take the three or four items I want to check, go to a quieter part of the store, preferably where the shelfing is high, and you're obscured from the staff. I'll then go hell for leather and rip the boxes open, unfurl the things, and make sure the entire surface is gloss. If I do get busted, then I'll just tell the store person that I'm thinking of buying these, and want to check out the strength of the material. We are consumers, it is our legal right to check out what we are buying, before we hand over our money; so I have no worries about this.

              I recently bought a heap of 36 inch pure white and pure clear balls from D&L but unfortunately many of them had pin holes. Don't know whether it was bad manufacturing, or old stock. I never bothered getting my money back, I'm just not going to purchase from him anymore.

              Comment

              • EthylTheAardvark
                Senior Member
                • Nov 2016
                • 143

                #8
                Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

                The internet is definitely where it's at for buying inflatable toys these days, although it seems like Google and Amazon go out of their way to prevent you from seeing what might be had in other countries. If you're looking for something specific, using Google's Image Search with specific inflatable keywords might help find you something interesting.

                It wasn't too hard to get inflatableworld.de to work with me on a toy. If you have some ideas you want to make happen and Google Image Search comes up dry, I'd be happy to give you some pointers on the process and how to approach them. I wasn't asking for much, though, just wanted to get some toys made. The fox Ride-On I worked with Rawr on seems like one of their big sellers if their "top sellers" list is anything to go by. Rawr did most of the heavy lifting on that one, though -- I just told him I wanted a fox ride-on similar to the old intex ones, and his first concept drawing is pretty much what we went with.

                It sounds like inflatableworld's shiny toys would be right up your alley, if you haven't checked them out yet. Their vinyl is soft and supple, smells great and has no printing on it. They can somewhat expensive, but a lot less so than a full custom toy.

                Comment

                • Benjy
                  Member
                  • Mar 2018
                  • 47

                  #9
                  Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

                  Those Sunnylife toys are very nice inflatables; I have two of their 'rainbow' rings, and they are beautiful, really good quality and extremely durable. But they are bloody expensive, especially given the essentially throwaway nature of inflatables (and the Sunnylife toys also have the problem that they take an age to inflate and deflate, which doesn't exactly make them user-friendly for the average customer). I suppose well-off people who'd spend £20 on an inflatable instead of a fiver for something similar probably wouldn't be bothered about abandoning or popping one of those Sunnylife floats at the end of the day.

                  I spotted them very expensively in the shops here in the UK last summer, but ended up getting a couple at bargain prices online in the sales just before Christmas

                  Comment

                  • Big Thud Joe
                    Senior Member
                    • May 2017
                    • 352

                    #10
                    Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

                    I know Benjy, I would have liked to have purchased a bundle of their XL inflatable watermelon balls, but AU$50 each was absolute highway robbery. The transparent half of those balls was made of a very, very soft plastic, and well, for the one I touched and felt in the shopping center gave me a good rock down below.

                    Comment

                    • Riftwing
                      Junior Member
                      • Jun 2017
                      • 19

                      #11
                      Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

                      I found one of those Sunnylife flamingos online for around £50 - expensive, but not outside the realm of possibility, so I figured I would snap it up! I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

                      Comment

                      • jimbob59
                        Junior Member
                        • Aug 2018
                        • 19

                        #12
                        Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

                        Originally posted by EthylTheAardvark
                        The internet is definitely where it's at for buying inflatable toys these days, although it seems like Google and Amazon go out of their way to prevent you from seeing what might be had in other countries. If you're looking for something specific, using Google's Image Search with specific inflatable keywords might help find you something interesting.

                        It wasn't too hard to get inflatableworld.de to work with me on a toy. If you have some ideas you want to make happen and Google Image Search comes up dry, I'd be happy to give you some pointers on the process and how to approach them. I wasn't asking for much, though, just wanted to get some toys made. The fox Ride-On I worked with Rawr on seems like one of their big sellers if their "top sellers" list is anything to go by. Rawr did most of the heavy lifting on that one, though -- I just told him I wanted a fox ride-on similar to the old intex ones, and his first concept drawing is pretty much what we went with.

                        It sounds like inflatableworld's shiny toys would be right up your alley, if you haven't checked them out yet. Their vinyl is soft and supple, smells great and has no printing on it. They can somewhat expensive, but a lot less so than a full custom toy.
                        Hello. Can you actually order custom toys from IW.de? Like get a small number made(i.e. 5). Also, do you happen to know if they restock toys or one they're out, you can't get them? I'm interested in a shiny cheetah and shiny bear but I can't see them on the website anymore. Are there any other websites where you can order a small number of nice inflatables(big, soft material), like inflatableworld? Phenod is a bit expensive for me

                        Comment

                        • heaviest
                          Senior Member
                          • Jun 2018
                          • 501

                          #13
                          Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

                          Originally posted by Big Thud Joe
                          Looking at those nice shiny inflatables, the glow of absolute bliss filled my body, the first thing my hands grabbed on to was the huge luxe inflatable flamingo float. The one that was on display was a rose gold colour. Dug my nails in and that plastic squeeked like heaven, my eyes darted all over the place, oh, what is the price, what is the price?

                          Check out those pics below, this was definitely 100% phthalate based plastic. I had an immediate erection. But at a hundred dollars a pop, no thanks.

                          Use imgbox to upload, host and share all your images. It's simple, free and blazing fast!


                          Use imgbox to upload, host and share all your images. It's simple, free and blazing fast!
                          I've sat on these in the store. It gets a lot of bug-eye looks from people, as I'm really big, but I smile and laugh as if it's totally normal for an adult to sit on these things in the store and people kinda see the humor of it. And when I get off of it they continue to look at the float, like "omg it didn't pop!" LOL

                          There's a hefty youtuber that has had inflatables in a few of her videos. I sometimes wonder if she's one of us. In one of her videos she sits on one of these swan floats in a store. She's tall and might be my partner's size, and you don't appreciate how big that is until you see her next to an ordinary size person.

                          Last edited by heaviest; 28-08-2018, 12:38.

                          Comment

                          • heaviest
                            Senior Member
                            • Jun 2018
                            • 501

                            #14
                            Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

                            Originally posted by Big Thud Joe
                            this intex inflatable ring

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                            uugghhhh!, it was the crappy matt finish canvas shit.
                            The 36 inch version of this is a soft, matte vinyl. It stretches a lot, which is fun, but it isn't sturdy. I like putting some of my weight on one side of it and then leaning into the bulging part with a hand or elbow to stretch the vinyl and create a thin bubble. The vinyl turns lighter when it stretches a lot, and it doesn't fully recover, so you get wrinkles in the fully inflated ring once the bubbles have recovered as much as they are going to recover.

                            Comment

                            • Big Thud Joe
                              Senior Member
                              • May 2017
                              • 352

                              #15
                              Re: Musings of a PVC looner for the forthcoming summer of 2018

                              Inflatable big thudder fat bat / inflatable stool

                              Well.... this is kind of my latest looning venture that one is looking into. Always fantasized about something akin to an inflatable bat, but much fatter, almost what looks like in some ways as a huge door knob..

                              Again I've put a quote request out onto alibaba and things at this stage look promising. I'm working with Shangrao Shuangyu Industrial who can do 500 pcs for US2.800. I still have to nail down final costs such as shipping and import duties.

                              I'm around six foot, so when fully inflated, this thing will come up to above my waist. It's going to be around three foot high and about 16 inches wide with a 20 inch base. Again I'm looking at 0.15mm gloss phthalate pvc.

                              If this comes off, I'll definitely been in looners heaven. I can't wait for the warmer days to come during the Sydney summer. I have this continual urge to be digging my feet (with my thongs) into these, feeling that new shiny pvc squeak away; total bliss.

                              It also occured to me that they are those on here who enjoy sitting on beach balls, and that the size would pretty much also make this thing double as an inflatable stool that could be boinked and whatever.

                              Anyway here is a video direct from my 3D drawing application showing its shape.

                              This is a current template I'm working on for an inflatable; made of the same thin PVC as those bargain beach balls one finds at dollar stores - I love that ...


                              At this point I'm explaining what phthalate PVC is to the guy, which seems to be the last hurdle (which is also throwing somewhat of a doubt on this), so I've sent him some info, so hopefully he can make sense of it. If all falls through, I'll try some of the other recommended manufacturers above in this thread. We'll see how we go. :P

                              Just to elaborate further on the colours, the top section will be white, with the sides black, the upper portion of the bottom section white, with the base black, all using gloss PVC with gloss printing.

                              Here's a rough picture on what I expect the finished inflatable to look like.

                              Last edited by Big Thud Joe; 09-09-2018, 00:17.

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