Archiving Performative Objects aimed at applying and conserving puppetry as creative practice in VR. It included 3D scanning and interaction design to capture puppets and their varying control schemes from the archives of the Center for Puppetry Arts. This paper reports on their design and implementation in a VR puppetry set up. Its focuses on the evaluation study (n=18) comparing the interaction of non-experts vs expert puppeteers. The data initially show little differences but a more detailed discussion indicates differing qualitative assessments of puppetry that support its value for VR. Results suggests successful creative activation especially among experts.