# Balloon animals: cool or dorky? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989 "2011-10-18T01:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/1 "2011-10-18T01:38:34Z")
For my birthday my GF bought me a balloon animal/sculpting kit on a lark. I’ve been playing around with it and I’ve made a few basic animals/objects. I make a good saber, the classic dog, an elephant, a bunny, and I just made a little turtle. I’m enjoying playing with it but I can’t help but think it may be more than a little dorky (not that I care). My GF is quite delighted at my little creations and I like making her happy. What do _you_ think about balloon animals? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/2 "2011-10-18T01:46:56Z")
I voted dorky because of my irrational dislike for balloon animals. I think it has something to do with the sound of making them–that squeaky noise is like fingernails on a blackboard to me. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/3 "2011-10-18T01:52:35Z")
I hate balloons because I’m always afraid they’ll pop. So my answer is terror inducing. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/4 "2011-10-18T02:02:07Z")
Dorky, and that’s the whole appeal of them. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/5 "2011-10-18T02:07:11Z")
I personally like them - got me a balloon octopus once. But they are kinda dorky. I voted in between. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/6 "2011-10-18T02:10:47Z")
I voted somewhere in between, because while balloon animals are dorky\* per se\*, they also have some chance of helping you get laid by women that like that sort of thing, and that can be kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/7 "2011-10-18T02:13:44Z")
I voted “cool” and was reminded of the C.S. Lewis quote about how being a kid meant trying really hard to seem very grown up and being grown up means no longer giving a shit if people think your interests are “childish”. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/8 "2011-10-18T02:18:46Z")
There was guy who used to busk on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder CO who made a life sized balloon Jimi Hendrix, which I thought was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/9 "2011-10-18T02:35:01Z")
I voted dorky but if your GF is delighted with your little creations, pump it up, brother. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/10 "2011-10-18T03:04:36Z")
Cool in a dorky way and potentially profitable. At a summer fair this year I made about 200 balloon dogs to hand out to kids. I did it for free, but at a buck or two each, there’s a tidy profit level there. A few weeks later I made balloon animals for $1 each about 1.5 hours at the local farmers market and made something like $40. Not too much lower than my regular hourly wage at the day job. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Miss\_Sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Sunshine)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/11 "2011-10-18T03:10:58Z")
I guess they are fun for children… especially at birthday parties. But for adults, dorky. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/12 "2011-10-18T03:14:53Z")
Missing category: “Very Vaguely Creepy.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/13 "2011-10-18T03:15:20Z")
I make a wicked eel. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/14 "2011-10-18T05:33:57Z")
Steve Martin made them the coolest (and funniest) thing in the world! Thirty-five years ago! \* “Puppy-dog!” “Venereal disease!”\* ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/15 "2011-10-18T23:01:01Z")
As a somtime clown, I say it depends on who makes them and how. They can be dorky or uber cool. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/16 "2011-10-20T02:04:18Z")
At a kid’s party or as a gag- cool. At a wedding or a get together for adults- dorky. So I voted in between. A bit off point, but a friend of mine who used to be a clown at kid’s birthday parties learned quick that when doing balloon animals make the first one a sword. The reason: swords are easy to make (unlike poodles and octopi and birds) and once one kid has one most of the others are going to want a sword too. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/17 "2011-10-20T02:48:20Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I voted “cool” and was reminded of the C.S. Lewis quote about how being a kid meant trying really hard to seem very grown up and being grown up means no longer giving a shit if people think your interests are “childish”. Now is that a direct quote? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/18 "2011-10-20T06:47:38Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > As a somtime clown, I say it depends on who makes them and how. They can be dorky or uber cool. Agreed. I once saw someone make a balloon animal of a bunny, riding a Harley. Cool. I want to learn to grind my own sausage so I can make them into balloon animals. I want to have a party with a balloon/sausage poodle on a rotisserie over a flame. I think that would also be cool. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/19 "2011-10-20T07:27:58Z")
It depends. [Dorky](http://0.tqn.com/d/magic/1/0/n/W/balloon-animal-horse-12.JPG) [Cool](http://www.toxel.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/balloonart1.jpg) [Dorky](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_i-mjLEwbeXo/SLarOITITAI/AAAAAAAAALQ/2UNUjuxIrsw/s400/BalloonModels.com_pink_balloon_poodle_dog.JPG) [Cool](http://balloonhq.com/photos/db/uploadsAfterDec2004/web/6418-1161746089.jpg) [Dorky](http://solvaylibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/balloon_animal.jpg) [Cool](http://www.balloon-animals.com/uploaded_images/DSC00949-761358.JPG) [Dorky](http://0.tqn.com/d/magic/1/0/u/V/balloon-animal-kids-begin-06.JPG) [Cool](http://mylifeandart.typepad.com/my_weblog/images/2007/08/30/monkeyg.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989/20 "2011-10-20T08:10:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I make a wicked eel. I made a snake skin. ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balloon-animals-cool-or-dorky/599989.md?page=2)