As you might have deduced from the image above, the Make-My-Own-Monster service is so simple it’s magical. Or diabolical. I still can’t decide. Anyway, customers just draw a monster and FAO Schwarz turns it into a stuffed toy. FAO Schwarz will send a kit that contains a set of colored pencils, paper and a “detailed questionnaire”. I imagine the latter will have something like, “Do you certify that your monster is not a crudely disguised depiction of a sexual organ? (Yes/No)”. But seriously, the questionnaire is actually pretty neat; FAO Schwarz says that it’s included so that customers can create a back story for their monsters. The story and other details will then be written on the monster’s tag.

Although Make-My-Own-Monster is certainly impressive because the finished trash product looks really close to the original drawing, it’s disappointing that the store has to send you a kit first. Who doesn’t have pencils and paper? Wouldn’t it be faster if customers could just send or email their drawings? And what if I want to use ketchup and mustard to draw, so that FAO Schwarz will also know how my monster smells like?

Now before you get your kids excited about having a green Pikachu, you have to warn them that they can’t draw any copyrighted entities. Then explain what “copyrighted entities” means. If they refuse to obey you and keep on making Ben10 figures, ditch their copyrighted entities and just send a drawing of your router. Or a dot. Or your face. That’ll teach them.