The CW Source

CWS: What about the props?
Bins and bins of them. They got to the point where I started to separate them out—this is the weapons bag, and this is the food bag, and this is the hotel accessories bag. It makes it easier to find what I need. In the beginning everything was in one shoe box. Now I have two three-drawer bins, and then I have long bookcases that has more spots on it, filled with props. It needs to be organized or I won't get anything done. When I'm shooting the episode, the room is a disaster. Stuff is everywhere because I don't pack up as I'm doing it. But when I'm done, everything goes back to where it needs to be so when the next episode comes, I can find what I need. Because nothing is more frustrating than knowing you have this little bitty gun you totally need to find, and you know it's in this finite space and it didn't leave the room, but where could it be?

CWS: How much money do you think you've sunk into this?
(Laughs) More than I probably should have. Nowadays my budget is about $5 an episode If I have to go out and buy a specific thing, usually it's something I can get a Goodwill. In the beginning, the startup cost was a little higher. I didn't have any props so I needed to buy a desk set and a bed set and the dolls themselves. Back then, it would be $25 an episode, until people starting sending stuff in. There are weeks when I don't spend any money, I just use what I have. It's gotten to the point where I say I don't need any more stuff, I can make do with what I have. Maybe somebody else should start Plastic!Prison Break or something.

CWS: Do you get any props that you don't know what to do with?
I have a spider web set. I don't know if it was from a SpiderMan movie or what. I think a lot of comic book movies have props or sets, and I'm not familiar with the comic books, so I don't know what to do with it. So there's this elaborate set that has cobwebs hanging everywhere. I've tried to use it a couple of times, and just haven't been able to make it work. I have a gym – I think it's supposed to be an indoor gym set. It's pink and there's a bathtub in the middle of the floor, and there are these funny lights on the wall. Someone sent this to me and I thought "It's fabulous and I have no idea what to do with this." I have specific dolls, too. The James Dean doll took forever to work into a plot line. Once I finally found a way to use him, it was great. I have a Barbie dressed entirely in Jell-O-related items that some girl sent it. She has a Jell-O shirt on, and pants that look like Jell-O. She has glasses that spell out Jell-O. I can't imagine why I would use that, but I'll come up with something, just give me time. Eventually…

CWS: What's on your wish list?
Sometimes there are moments I think, "Oh, if only I had that." I don't know if there's anything specifically on my wish list right now. Usually the stories are driven by what props I have. The one time I wanted a Chuck Norris doll, I asked if anyone out there had one. I kept bidding on them on eBay and kept getting outbidded. I was thinking, "Who else would want a Chuck Norris doll? Why do you want it? I have a legitimate excuse for wanting one!" (Laughs) I don't think they understood that. That was something I had really wanted to do, and I finally got the doll, and I had come up with a story I had wanted to tell. I can't think of anything right now that I'm looking for. People pop up all the time – a girl just e-mailed me saying "I have a giant sunflower tent with matching sleeping bags – can you use that?" Absolutely! Here's the P.O. Box number.

CWS: How many people do you have contributing these things, and where do they come from?
Lots of little girls who have grown up have lots of moms who say, "I'm cleaning out my closet, I've got a box, the girls don't play with these any more, would you like this?" In the beginning, it was just me going to thrift stores and Toys R Us and buying my own stuff. I don't even remember who was the first person who said, "I have a box of Barbies, do you want it?" Sure! I put a thank-you list at the end of every episode, and that list gets bigger and bigger as we go along. There are just tons of people. I'm constantly amazed by their generosity for this. They'll be out shopping and they'll see something and say "Andie could totally use this." They just pick it up for me and ask where they should send it. In a way the fandom came together and made this their project. People feel totally free to e-mail me and say "If you do an episode about this, it would be fabulous." And I'll say, "That's not a bad idea."

CWS: That's where the pirate episode came from, right?
Yes, someone asked for pirates. Sometimes they'll say, "Do you want to do this?" and it will spring me over to another idea. It may not be specifically what they asked for, but I get there, I'll get something that's hopefully just as good or better than that.

CWS: Does your CafePress store help support this?
It doesn't really support it so much, as I think every item is marked up 50 cents. Usually the 50 cents goes toward me buying Plastic!Winchester buttons, which I then give out to people.

CWS: Why?
It's self promotion—come check me out. Most of the people knew what it was already. The button kind of became it's own thing. People started taking them to Supernatural-inspired places, taking the pictures. I post those. I get at least five of those a week, people saying, "Look where I took my button this week." It's kind of something the fandom can do – you have this badge, you take it to Cemetery Road or Winchester Road or whatever, and you're showing the rest of the world. I like little in-jokey fandom things, so that was awesome. When Jared was coming to Fangoria last February, the plan was to give him one. Jared with the button, that means I win.

CWS: Do you make the costumes, such as the Metallicar girl outfit?
That came from Goodwill. This stuff wasn't around when I was a kid, that's all I have to say! (Laughs) I do have people that make me different outfits, like the orange prison jumpsuits. The AC/DC shirt, someone made that for me. Sometimes they will specifically say, "Do you want this, I thought I'd make you earmuffs, do you think you could use that?" Sometimes I do say no – I really can't think of anything off the top of my head for that.

CWS: What have you said no to?
There was a bunny suit I almost said no to, but I eventually said yes and I did find a place for it. Sometimes they have smaller figures, and I tend to say no to those. Somebody had the entire cast of Star Trek: Next Generation – I thought, "They're small, my dolls are big," so I couldn't really find a way to make them work together. That was one where I said, "Thank you for offering, but I don't think I can come up with a plot for that one."

CWS: Do you think you're going to inspire a whole Plastic!TV schedule?
I would love it! I would love having somebody else try this, to see what they would come up with. A girl did try a Plastic!Veronica Mars. I think she did two episodes and told me "This is hard!" Honey, you're singing to the choir, I totally get that this hard. I would love it if someone would try this with a different show, to see how that would work – and to be able to talk to someone – "Isn't it a pain in the ass when they fall over in the middle of a shot, or when you take a picture and it's fuzzy and you have to go reshoot two days later, and you have to remember where they were standing and how the light was?" Someone to feel my pain… And a little competition never hurt. Maybe I'd up my game then, knowing there was somebody else out there doing the same thing.