Hey folks - apologies for the shameless advertising to follow, but there's a PuffyPaws TimberWolf looking for a new home. Just under a day left on the eBay auction if anyone would be interested in giving a cute squeakie woof the attention he deserves 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/302400039117

Hi Folks, it's been ages since I last posted, but I just wanted you to know there's a Woof that needs a new home - Might he be for you?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/302400039117

I'm able to ship worldwide and it's a private listing too, so no-one else will see your name for your privacy :0)

Hope you can help re-home Pup, he needs much love, snuggles and play

DragonInf

Hi Folks,

Headline: Beware - Hongyi makes mistakes at the Customers Cost

I don't normally like to discuss things like this publically, but I'm really very disappointed, unfortunately yet again, with the way Hongyi deals with problems they have caused.

I bought one of those lovely Goodra Dragons, which to my best knowledge is not a copy of someone elses design (Please let me know if I'm mistaken)

Copy 1:

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I was sent the original copy, which was made out of the same lovely soft squeakie material that my Toothless was made from, however, it became quickly apparent that the paint started to come off when it got wet. Woah, this isn't going to be very good for taking to the pool / seaside with me, I'd better get back to Hongyi.

Their initial response was "Oh well, you'd better just not get it wet then" - erm......no, that doesn't work for me. Then, somehow, I'm bartering with them, how about 20% off your next order? What?! No, I have a problem with the inflatable that makes it un-useable, I'd like a replacement please.

After much debate, I end up having to foot the additional cost of shipping Copy 1 back to them and new Copy 2 out. I'm unhappy with doing this, but I've been held over a barrel and see this as the only way to fix the problem.

Copy 2:

---

Copy 2 arrives with me last Tuesday, so you can imagine my excitement. Here we go, a nice shiny new inflatable to replace the one with the problems, initially happy happy.

Unfortunately, I get the Goodra out of her bag (not sent in a box, just a bag, not brilliant) and notice the surface of the vinyl is very rough, that's not good. And it doesn't feel like the squeakie soft previous goodra? Oh dear......And, the connection points that held the hands over her breasts are missing? Oops........And the surface is quite dirty indeed, so I'll just give it a quick wipe over with a cloth and water (no chemicals), and.......What?! the paint comes off AGAIN!

Reponse from Hongyi, I'm told:
- The second was checked before it went out - Not true or these issues would have been spotted.
- The Material is exactly the same, it might be because of the UV Print that it feels different. Well, no, the previous one was very smooth, and the previous one (exactly the same size) weighed 10.5kg, so why does this one only weigh 9kg?
- Hongyi can offer me a 35% refund on the inflatable only cost (Approx $190 of the $750 paid), the sales agent and manager think this is not an insulting offer
- No comment is made about missing features
- Oh and the sales agent claimed she had repeatedly told the factory what to do and they hadn't (Hang on, that's Hongyis factory right? not a separate company. Aren't you representing your factory? the place where your inflatables are made?!)

It seems I'm not alone, I've already spoken to 5 other people who are currently having issues with Hongyi. it appears they are rushing things, not paying close enough attention, and the after sales care is really unacceptable, in fact I'd go as far to say absolutely rubbish!

HONGYI, you have a chance to make things right, but it does mean you'll have to communicate with me, refund me or make another inflatable of the same cost to replace.

The Gauntlet is laid down!

P.S. if anyone else wants to talk to me about their issues or questions about Hongyi, please let me know, don't suffer in silence, you're not the only ones having problems.

Folks,

I wanted to let you all know that Susanne and Matthias have been working like crazy together with people like  pileup to bring us all a big bunch (and emphasis on the "Big" part there) of new Inflatables.

The Line up of new Inflates includes:

- Angel Dragon (1.9m high)
- Bear (2.15m high)
- Cheetah (2.6m long)
- Red Dragon (1.8m high)
- Fox Ride-on (1.7m long)
- Shark (3.2m long)
- Black Whale (5m long)
- Blue Whale (5m long)

Back in stock again are their lovely Zebras and the Giant Duck. You can see more details at:

http://Inflatableworld.de (You can select English in the bottom left hand corner)

I've been dealing with IW.DE for years now, and always get a top notch and very rapid service from them. Did you know that they also accept Paypal?

Also, Stay tuned - I'm working together with them to produce one of my Dragon Designs "FyaRyuu". You'll see more on this next year :0)

Any questions or comments, just let me know!

Hi Folks,

Thanks so much to you all for you watches, I've just hit 100 people, I'm so honoured :0)

As a treat for you all, I'm going to upload some more lovely Squeaks - Keep an eye out for them appearing very soon.

My very best to each and every one of you,

Dragoninf

Folks, Just want to make sure you're aware of some of the Inflatables in the Ordering phase right now:

Puffypaws Husky (Pre-Orders Close on 2nd August)
http://www.puffypa.ws/site/blog-pos.....-now-open.html

Propitious Clouds (Pre-Orders Close on 23rd August)
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/propitious-clouds/

In addition to this, some other potentials and definites include:

Ayru Dragon:
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/ayru
Ayrus Lovely and Fantastically Huge (I'm quite excited here!) Dragon. Latest is we may well see the order phase open in July - have a look at the prototype - I NEED TO HUG!!

Inflatable World New Inflatables
http://InflatableWorld.de
Susanne and Matthias have been working very very hard towards the end of last year right through this year too, in addition to all that you can find on their website, towards the end of October is the projected completion date for lots of new designs, These will include a selection of theirs and a selection of commissioned characters : 3.5m Shark, 3.5m Cheetah, Fox Pool Float, Pileups blue Angel Dragon and I'm not sure who the artists are but there's also a Big Bear and Red Dragon coming too

Hi Folks,

It's about time I thanked everyone once again for their watches - in the last 2-3 weeks I've had over 70 people come along to watch, so please forgive me for not thanking you individually, but to make it up to you, feel free to ask me any questions you'd like and if there are any alternate pictures of any of the inflatables you've seen so far, I'll try to accomodate for you too.

And please help to feed my fascination and love of inflatables too - if you see, hear or just hear rumours about new characters, let me know ;0)

Thanks so much again and all the very best to each and every one of you.

DragonInf

Hi Folks, while answering some questions recently, I wondered what others might think about materials of construction too:

So we all know that PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) is the typical material that all our lovely inflatables get made from. A while back, I bought some inflatable furniture from Fugufurniture.com, made from TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane). It was brilliant, clear, fold free and to my suprise, quite stretchy. So I investigate the differences a little further.

PVC is flexible, but in terms of physical properties, it's quite plastic and not very elastic, this means that if you stretch it, it won't go back to its original state (Plastic-deformation), also, if you crease it too much, the same again, the folds are permanent and it can damage the seams. TPU on the other hand is very tough and elastic, almost like a rubber balloon but a polymer. Unlike PVC, you can stretch it (within reason) and it will return to its original state (Elastic). I say within reason, actually, with thicker material e.g. 0.3 to 0.4mm you wouldn't be able to deform it (unless perhaps you happen to be the incredible hulk!)

If you compared the two materials together, TPU stretches where PVC would not. So instead of PVC placing a lot of strain on the seams when for example you jump onto an inflatable, TPU distributes the strain across its whole surface (it all stretches), so the seams see substantially less strain. This makes items made from TPU very long lasting when compared with PVC. The problem is that it's a lot more expensive to make items from TPU when compared with PVC. This is purely because it's not currently manufactured in such huge quantities as PVC (the more you make, the cheaper it gets).

(To Note: Fugu are so confident with the strength and resilience of their TPU material that they give a 1 year gaurantee on all their inflatable products - there's confidence for you!)

At some point in the future, maybe TPU will become more affordable, then our inflatables would last even better, stand up to heavier people, more punishment without splitting, but for now, it's PVC.

Sound interesting?

Again, another really good question from FancyRat:

So I've had a go at answering below, and again, feel free to add your own comments in too - let's see if I hit the nail on the head or if there are other reasons too :0)

"what is it about the inflatables that draw people to them? I mean obviously they are adorable."

I think you've hit the nail on the head there, it's that age old translation of human emotion onto things like these characters coupled with a great imagination. For me, the most exciting thing I've done is create my own dragon and see it made into a real life inflatable (I don't currently have photos online as I don't want companies like Hongyi stealing my design as Sypheria is my dragon!) - My imagination often kicks in and I wonder what it would be like to live in a world that has dragons, what would it be like to be a dragon (to be able to fly for example). I think I'm not too far wrong in saying other folk here like specific animals or mythical creatures, this influences their fursonas which is why they save all their pennies to have fantastic fursuits made. I've not taken that step yet, but if I was too, my Fursuit would definitely be a Dragon

I'd also admit that I'm a little addicted to inflatables - I'm currently chatting with IW.DE about getting my next dragon made - which would mean it would be available to everyone (not likely to happen before next year though as they are busy with a big run at present which should be complete in October) - they produce 0.28mm inflatables with butted seams, but because their vinyl is very soft, this doesn't lead to uncomfortable seams. Also, you'll remember, it is a bit cheaper to produce than say Jets methods, so hopefully somewhere around $100-150 will get you what is planned to be a 3.5m long Dragon

The one thing that really brings a smile to my face is seeing others enjoying these inflatable characters too, so being able to share them is also a huge part of the experience too.

The other part is definitely the tactile contact: Hugs and cuddles. Make an inflatable that you can ride and hug and I think you're onto a winner ;0)

Influencing the feel of the tactile contact is the finish of the inflatable, typically the material can be gloss or matt. Gloss is very shiney and has a bit of a tacky feel when dry (which makes it Squeak - which I love!), Matt on the other hand doesn't have a shine, but it feels smoother when you run your hand along it (typically reduced or no squeaking). But, excusing the old line in advance, both are "Slippery when wet" - which makes it much more entertaining when you're trying to get back on them in the swimming pool or at the sea side (Especially on the 5m Inflatable whale I have in my collection - hehe).

Another part which is an advantage to people who don't have loads of space at home, they deflate into very small folded packages. Using again the 5m whale as a reference - you'll see how it just about fits in my living room while inflated, but it will fold away to a package about 40cm x 40cm x 10cm, Puffypaws inflatables made by Jet typically take up a bit more room because of the thicker material, but still a significantly smaller space than they occupy when inflated. While I was on holiday in Skye last week, we rented a property with a big garden, so it was a perfect excuse to get some of the big inflatables out as you'll see on my gallery!)

And finally, as you'd expect with a standard inflatable, if it's comfortable to ride or lay on, then it's the perfect way to float around on the pool during your holidays (or maybe you're really lucky and you have your own pool - which is not common here in the UK)

FancyRat asked me this question a little earlier on and I thought it might be of interest to others too, hence another Journal entry:

In most cases for all the lovely big inflatables you've just seen a Company called Jet makes them:

For big production quantities they make screens for painting individual colours and features onto the flat vinyl. Screening is the application of one colour at a time (using vinyl paint), overlaying one colour on another to form the required shapes and patterns - it uses screens [a bit like a graffiti artist uses cardboard shapes to ensure colours are applied to specific regions of the material].Manufacturers can also print, like an old school dot matrix printer, onto the surface of inflatables.

(Screen printing tends to make lovely glossy finishes, whilst this dot-matrix-esque printer gives it a more matt finish).

Note: I have commissioned the talent and skill of both Rawr and DragonAlexia to produce reference drawings from my original sketches, the manufacturer uses these side, front, back (and sometimes top and underside) views to correctly reproduce the shape of inflatable you're looking for

They can also make presses for cutting all the required panel shapes in one go (to save manufacturing time) or they can cut all the pieces by hand.

I haven't seen a method for automatically making these lovely inflatables though - they all need to be painstakingly held together and their seams bonded by either heat guns or more typically now ultrasonic guns which do the same - heat up the joints, semi-melt the vinyl so it bonds with the other surface making the seams I'll try to explain below:

There are two standard types of seam used: your standard Intex beach whale uses Butted Seams - these make those seams that can sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable (where the edge of the vinyl makes a flappy line), whilst Jet uses overlapping seams, so they are perfectly flat and don't cause any uncomfort to the rider.

Your average inflatable is made from approx 0.2mm thick pvc, whereas a manufacturer like inflatableworld.de will use 0.28mm and Jet go for 0.4mm. So butted seams and thin plastic tends to be cheapest, compared with overlapping seams with 0.4mm which is typically the most expensive.

Finally, the more skill the manufacturer has, the easier and more accurately they can produce the exact inflatable you have in mind. There are a lot of manufacturers out there, but typically Jet and Inflatableworld.de produce the best quality for the type of inflatables they make. (also note there are a lot of companies that try to copy these various designs, but none seem to be able to reproduce them exactly - sometimes distorting the dimensions of an inflatable, making it look a little weird, or more typically making inferior products which tend to fail prematurely at badly formed joints)

I hope I haven't put you to sleep? And if anyone else can correct or add any detail to the above, please feel free, as it all helps when people decide they want to have their inflatables made.

Please also feel free to contact me if you're thinking of having your own inflatables made - at the very least I can help advise, but can also help take you through the process too as I have a fair level of experience now.

Hi Folks,

Thanks to everyone who's watching, I hope I continue to provide you with interesting and fun stuff to look at :0)

I've been using this site more or less forever, but never really added anything in until now - it was time for me to contribute to other peoples enjoyment too.

I've a cupboard full of inflatables, so it was time to share them with the world.

If you want to know any more about any that I put on here, just let me know, here or on Twitter (#DragonInf)

Look forward to maybe chatting with you all at some point :0)

DragonInf