This week in Pickstarter, our weekly look at the goings on in corwdfunding, we look at hand made dolls with a specific aesthetic, some of the great losers in history and a documentary about soldiers finding their place on the homefront.

Pick #1 – Love & Dumplings

Our first pick this week was chosen by Nerdist’s own Monica Moon. She describes the project so well I figured I’d just let her explain it to you:

Check out these originally designed, handmade dolls.  Aren’t they super cute? (Yes, I’m a 12-year-old girl).  They make Hello Kitty look like someone took a dump and put glitter and cat ears on it.  They’re called Love and Dumplings, and they come in sets of 2 dolls, one to keep and one to give away.  If you purchase from them, a percentage also goes to a charity.  So, not only are you giving away a doll, but technically, also, money.  That probably makes up for some of that drunken, blacked-out night.  Not all of it, but maybe some.  Like the first 5 minutes.  Let’s be honest, a thousand toys wouldn’t make up for those nights.  Plus, they’re 100% made in the USA.  USA!  USA!  USA!  So, if you want to be hip with an upcoming toy, share, give to charity, and LOVE ‘MERICA, then you’ll join in the venture.  Don’t be un-American.

P.S: They have a nerd dumpling doll too.

Pick #2 – Presidential Losers: The Book

In every presidential election there’s a winner whom we get to know for four to eight years before moving on to the next one. But what about the person who didn’t get the job? What about the nominee that doesn’t pass the nation’s largest job interview? Last year, the Salvage Vanguard Theater, in association with Gnap Theater Company, produced an exhibit of portraits of the men who lost their bids to be President of the United States of America. They are now turning to crowd-funding to get the exhibit collected into book form so it can be shared with the world. My favorite so far is Grover Cleveland (1888) by Jim Rugg for its historical accuracy. He was sent back from the future right?

Pick #3 – Searching for Home

Friend of the Nerdist Podcast and OG Nerd Anthony Edwards is executive producing the documentary film Searching for Home, which looks at military veterans coming home from service and assimilating back into the world. The movie highlights the problems many vets face, from PTSD to just finding a normal job; it will illuminate the struggles of veterans of combat in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan and show how fundamentally things have changed or stayed the same for military servicemen and their struggles with the home front. Edwards said, “Eric Christiansen is a film maker whose work I have known for many years. He tells stories from his heart using the tools that come from his intelligence and his great abilities with the craft.”