In 2021, I found out about a little show called "Camp Camp." The show was created by the recently defunct "Rooster Teeth" and has a simple premise. Two counselors are in charge of maintaining a (possibly illegal) summer camp while the founder is off committing several crimes. There's David, the overly positive optimist that tries to see the good in everything, and there's his co-counselor, Gwendolyn. Who's (like me) a lot more of a pessimist and doesn't really know what to do with her life, which is how she landed the crummy job that is being a camp counselor. Of course, with these two counselors, you also have the summer camp kiddos (duh.) But the show focuses solely on one kid 90% of the time while also being sure to let everyone shine: Max. Max has attributes similar to Gwen. He's a massive pessimist and it is implied that he was sent to the summer camp against his own will. Camp Camp mostly focuses on Max and David's contrast in character and David trying to convince Max that life isn't all doom and gloom.
Originally, I watched the first 9 episodes of season 1 and lost interest. Home Movies still had me in a very tight chokehold and getting me to tune into something else was like trying to pull teeth. And initially I had thought nothing of it and labeled it as one of those "temporary phases." Well 2 years later, I discover that the show is getting not only a 5th season, but also a half hour special in honor of RT's 20th anniversary, my interest in the show quickly came back. I tried introducing dad to it, but his initial thoughts were kind of iffy due to the amount of times characters (mostly Max) drop at least 3 swears per second. But I managed to convince him to watch the show with me when we were both stuck with summer colds. We both really enjoyed it and Camp Camp became a main fixation for many MANY months.
In September, I met someone who I will keep anonymous and we instantly clicked due to our near identical interests and fixations. Same favorite show: Camp Camp, same favorite character: Gwen, same favorite episode: literally every Gwen-centric episode, the list goes on and on. As the months went by, my friend and I discuss getting Gwen plushies to add to our Camp Camp collections. Mine is a lot smaller than hers since I don't have too much of the official merch besides the figures, plushies, CD, apparel, and other odds and ends. So the Gwen plush would be a HUGE holy grail for not just us, but the entire fandom. My friend ordered hers during Christmas time since that was when she would be able to afford it. I gave her a good word to my go-to company, Budsies since I've had excellent service with them in the last 3-4 years. Fast forward a few months and it is now February of 2024, the plush would be arriving sometime in the beginning of March, but suddenly it's arriving early (that does happen sometimes). My friend receives her package after getting home from school and the plush is... Not great. In fact, it is VERY off model. Allow me to show you a comparison.
Here is what Gwen is SUPPOSED to look like.
Well here's what the unofficial plush looks like...
We were both shocked, and obviously upset with the outcome. Again, I have had amazing experience with Budsies and didn't expect something like this to happen. My friend has since held a massive grudge against the company and refuses to own another custom item of Gwen or any Camp Camp character for that matter. I expressed that we could at least look forward to when I commission mine and she wasn't too happy with that response.
As you can tell, I wound up buying the plush off her as she was so upset with the outcome that she had to keep the plush in her dad's bedroom. Both of us have since renamed the plush "Gween" and has become a bit of an inside joke between us and my many "inner circles" in general. I'll be ordering my Gwen plush very soon, but there are gonna be a LOT of difference between her and the 16 inch abomination that we call "Gween." I'll likely update this post when my Gwen arrives and will show a difference between the two plushies. That's all for now.
