Mustache crayons for sale in Boing Boing Bazaar

Cory wrote about these mustache crayons a couple of weeks ago. I contacted the creator, Emily, and she is now selling them in the Boing Boing Bazaar! A set of four costs $7.

Some facts about these mustache crayons follow. Please write down them on a card to keep in your purse or wallet.

These mustaches can be used to create a colorful masterpiece or as a quick, vibrant disguise!
They are made from Crayola crayons so they are non toxic and have the most vibrant hues.
Each crayon is the equivalent of about 5 regular sized crayons. Each measures 3 1/4" long by 1 1/4" wide.
Mustache crayon 4-packs come in primary color (red, yellow, blue, black) and secondary color (orange, green, purple, brown) sets.
Mustache crayons are loved by both children and adults.

Mustache Crayon in Maker's Market

Previously:

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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karmacomedian

Mustache crayons never say die.
jfrancis

Do they come in Steampunk?
ill lich

Is melting Crayola brand crayons into mustache crayons considered “fair use?”
- TJ S
  
  I would say this use is fine. Crayons are sold with the intention that they be deformed in order to create art.
  
  That’s exactly what is going on here.
- Gilbert Wham
  
  Is melting Crayola brand crayons into mustache crayons considered “fair use?”
  
  Yeah, pretty much. If I make a cake using Homepride flour & sell it to you as ‘Gilbert’s Amazing Cake’, Homepride can’t really complain.
UnnecessaryUmlaut

Now that’s some useful wax. Much better than Wax Lips, “The candy of 1000 uses!”
Thac0

jfrancis… mustaches ARE steampunk!
moosehunter

not even coved under copyright, this is mearly re-sale.

bootleging would be if you made your own wax recipe and put crayola look-alike lables on them and sold them as crayolas.

this is really nothing more than re-form.

its like this:

say bob buy’s camps canned soup (by the boatload)
and re-cans in in bigger cans and sells it as “bob’s brand soup.

perfectly legal and companies do the same thing all the time… SS brand soda uses ADM brand corn syrup, Proctor & silas Cola nuts.. etc…..
- ill lich
  
  bootleging would be if you made your own wax recipe and put crayola look-alike lables on them and sold them as crayolas.
  
  No actually that would be counterfeiting (although the terms have become interchangeable over the years.) I’m no lawyer but if I’m not mistaken, technically bootlegging is the creation of something new but unauthorized: bootleg liquor/moonshine doesn’t come in Jack Daniels bottles, and bootleg Zappa albums aren’t made to look like exact replicas of “Zoot Allures”, and both are illegal.
  
  SS brand soda uses ADM brand corn syrup, Proctor & silas Cola nuts.. etc…..
  
  Again, SS is creating something new out of different ingredients, ingredients that are designed to be used in that way. I’m not going to drink ADM corn syrup, but I will drink SS’s finished cola product. It’s the same as the cake scenario– I’m not going to eat a plate of flour. The concept of buying one brand of soup and repackaging it as another is confusing to me on a business level (how much profit is there in such a venture?) but if it’s legal, fair enough.
  
  A better argument would be: why should Crayola care, their product is still getting purchased? That I can understand. I just suspect that in this day-and-age Crayola would make a stink. “Fair use” is about artistic/creative re-use of copyrighted material, and I guess my question is: does Crayola hold a copyright on their colors, and if so, can Emily resell Crayola colors as her own simply by changing their shape? I suspect that if Emily started making huge profits then Crayola’s lawyers would start eyeballing her business with the aim of getting a piece of the action.
ill lich

Well, I was being snarky, but turning flour into a cake is a lot different than turning crayons into. . . crayons. All she did was change them into a different shape, they’re still crayons. She could’ve at least combined different colors into her own new shades.

Honestly I don’t begrudge her making them, they are kinda cool, I’m just curious as to where “fair use” begins in this case. These are still crayons with Crayola colors. It seems very close to bootlegging to me (and I’ve bought plenty of bootlegs, so I’m not judging, just trying to figure out where the line is here.)
- Anonymous
  
  Who cares where the line is and Fair Use, if you want a moustache crayon there it is. Don’t let big corporations deny you because of fair use garbage.
  
  Crayola already sold the crayons, they got their cut.