I have handled a couple of Teddy Corden figures and they work well, good practical figures, as a newcomer Subsy you may be surprised to hear that some figures do not work well, ie figures need to come on and off the hand easily, as you put your hand in the figures naturally fall into the finger/thumb positions.
Performing Punch is a lot about doing a dozen things at the same time, whilst giving your all and staying calm and dealing with the unexpected, good and bad, at the same time. A mixture of instinct and intellect?
Remember, Punch spends a lot of time on your main hand, and you are then removing the secondary figures and replacing them with your other hand. Costumes need to get 'worn in' with use, the finger hole needs to fit your own finger, not too slack, not too tight, and the head needs to be balanced.
http://www.punchandjudy.com/images/lazarus2.jpgHave a go at PM, compared to buying figures it is 'cheap as chip paper!' ( Apologies.)
Lazarus' figures show what can be done with Papier Mache, lots of character and good variety in appearance of each character. And PM lets you be far more creative right from the start compared to carving in wood.
As if I haven't got enough to do today, with all I've got to do today.