The finger puppet wars: American woman reclaims record by adding 1,000 to collection

Over the last five years, two finger puppet collectors in America have been battling it out for the title of champion – trading off records to become the singular person with the largest collection of finger puppets in the world.

On the one side, we have Salacnib "Sonny" Molina (USA), an avid hobbyist from Illinois with a dozen record-setting collections… and on the other, we have Cheralyn Lambeth (USA) from Charlotte, North Carolina, a professional puppeteer and collecting connoisseur. 

Though Sonny officially kicked off the back-and-forth in 2021 with his record of 497 puppets, for the last year, Cheralyn has squarely come out on top – increasing her latest collection by nearly 1,000 to take the record on 18 January with 3,451. 

Yet for this lifelong artist, these little figurines are more than just a title, as they represent her passion for puppeteering on a larger scale. She’s acquired them from all over the world, but many of her pieces are entirely hand-made, created during the pandemic as a way to keep her fingers moving – and she doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon.

“I've always been interested in puppetry in general, but what started me on finger puppets specifically was being caught at home during the pandemic a few years ago,” explained Cheralyn to GWR. “I started creating simple hand puppets and finger puppets and sharing my build ideas with others caught at home, as fun and easy projects that parents could do at home with their children.

“After a few months of this, I realized I had built up a pretty substantial collection,” she added, saying that she had looked up the world record only to discover that she had already surpassed it. 

“I never would have thought when I first started building my collection that it would earn a Guinness World Records title, [but] it all began by looking up the current record and realizing my own chance was definitely within my reach.” 

Read more stories like this in our dedicated Collections section!

Cheralyn with her first batch of record-setting puppets in 2022

At that point, it was 2022, and Cheralyn successfully applied with her total of 563 puppets. 

Nevertheless, one year later Sonny Molina came back even stronger, reclaiming the title on 1 January 2023 with a total of 1,517.

And though some might be daunted at the thought of tripling their collection, Cheralyn certainly was not – as she continued to create the little figurines, turning patches of felt into lively shapes, smiling characters, and household objects for her audiences to enjoy.

“My collection is constantly growing as I add to it, and when my record has been broken – twice now! – I'm able to reapply with my new number, which has usually grown substantially by that point,” she said.

Cheralyn with her record-setting puppets in 2025

Soon enough, she resubmitted her application on 8 February 2025 with a grand total of 2,540 items, each designed in their engaging and unique ways. 

Cheralyn sourced the puppets from flea markets and vintage shops, was gifted them by friends and loved ones (even from Germany!), and some she made herself, intended to be sold at local gift stores, commissions, and her Etsy shop.

“With all of these different avenues, my collection continues to grow pretty quickly,” she explained.

And though she could never pick out which singular finger puppet is her favourite, one batch that she particularly enjoyed creating was a set of "Christmas cookie" puppets for the holidays – which she would arrange on plates just like real cookies, and sell to customers also interested in her whimsical creations.

Sadly, Sonny came back a few months later to retake Cheralyn’s record again, this time with 2,978 puppets. Still, she remained unphased, and kept creating (and collecting) her pieces, allowing her to reach her record-breaking amount the following year. 

Now, with 3,451 puppets (and counting!) under her belt, she is pleased with the results of her journey – though she doesn’t plan to stop stitching anytime soon.

Beyond her collection, she always works with the Carolina Panthers NFL team on their mascot Sir Purr, as well as numerous other puppet production commissions over the years, including: building creatures for the film The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992), the TV series Dinosaurs!, and the European leg of the musical Avenue Q. 

She also spends her time writing – with two puppeteering books under her belt (Introduction to Puppetry Arts and The Well-Dressed Puppet) as well as two history books (Images of America: Historic Rosedale for Arcadia Publishing, and Haunted Historic Rosedale on Kindle Direct Publishing).

Her passion for the arts have contributed heavily to her records, and she’s said that the title has been a great credential to add to her puppetry background.

“It has definitely been a fun journey – not only enjoying the creative process involved in building my own finger puppets, but also in seeing many of the interesting puppets that friends have sent me from all over the world, as well as vintage finger puppets from years past,” Cheralyn said. 

“And I would absolutely encourage anyone who is thinking of breaking a record to go after it!”

So congratulations to this nimble-fingered puppeteer – Cheralyn, you are Officially Amazing!