"Muppet" collections... where do you draw the line?

[CherryPizza]

Since Jim Henson once described himself as a "work in progress", I guess we can all use that excuse for our collections seeming eternally "incomplete". It just seems that, like so many other things, the more you gain, the more you realise there is left to gain.

I guess that this little babble is me taking the "scenic route" to asking how wide the scope of people's Muppet collections are. When space and budget considerations are taken into account, where do you decide "no, that's gone too far"

Obviously, collections could include stuff from...

The Muppet Show
Sesame Street
Fraggle Rock

And possibly more obscure (in terms of poularity and recognition) items such as anything from...

Ghosts of Faffner Hall
Mother Goose Tales
Dog City

But if you are interested in "Muppet" characters, despite them no being Muppets themselves, it could also include...

Muppet Babies
Cartoon Fraggle Rock

Then, if you extend your definition of "Muppet" to include any work of Jim Henson's, there's also...

Labyrinth
The Dark Crystal
The Storyteller
Greek Myths

And if you make the decision to include these animatronic characters, do you then extend the collection to include merchandise of anything that the Creature Shop has taken part in? You could almost use this logic to convince yourself that Ninga Turtles and Harry Potter items are fodder for your collection

Then, since you've allowed the words "Jim Henson" to determine your definition, are you also including items from programs made after his death....

Dinosaurs
Bear in the Big Blue House
The Hoobs
The Animal Show
Muppets Tonight

And so I could continue. There are also the Muppet movies made post-Jim, but since we've already included Muppet Babies on the list, I guess there's no argument that latter day forms of the classic characters qualify as well.

So, by making that list I guess I was taking the long long long way around to asking the question I had already written in my subject line: What items do you/would you like to include in your own collection, and what says out of it?

Cherry "long long question about long long scope" Pizza

 

[BlueFrackle]

Hey,

I do collect anything to do with Jim Henson.

But i do draw the line at stuff like Harry Potter, Because Henson didnt take a major role in the movie.

Something like Ninja Turtles, Yes i would buy it.

And when i say Jim Henson, i also mean his team i bought Monsters, Inc because of Fungus (Voiced by Frank Oz) i also bought a figure of him.

See ya

 

[beaker]

Well, to shore up a little what you listed...everything from TMS, Bear in the Big Blue House, Sesame, Muppets Tonight,
Fraggle Rock, Animal Show, JHH, Hoobs, Mopatop, etc is all
"Muppets".

Then there is what I would call creature shop that is NOT Muppet related, but JHC related. That being Dark Crystal, Labyrinth,
Storyteller, etc.

Then finally there is JHC lending themselves to every new fantasy or genre film out there. I heard they even had a hand in the creature from Brotherhood of the Wolf. From Cats and Dogs to Harry Potter...and to some extent Monsters Inc(a few JHC employees and ex employees had a hand int hat) JHC had their hand in some of 2001's biggest films.

None of th eabove is associated directly with an original Creature Shop production like Jack and the BEanstalk.

As for TMNT(the first one) Perhaps its a combination of my love for
the ninja turtles, Japanese influenced things, the late 80's, and the heavy JHC work involved(Creature Shop puppetry and animatronics to Kevin Clash being Splinter) that I consider TMNT one of my top fave films of all time.

 

[ElecMayhem]

This is an interesting topic to me, and one that I have wrestled with a great deal myself. I ONLY collect classic Muppet character... um, stuff. Originally, I limited myself to items with characters from the Muppet Show. But that was a little bit too rigid, and I have opened it up to characters featured in the movies, and other Classic Muppet related tv shows (i.e. The Jim Henson Hour & Muppets Tonight). For instance, I have the Bean Bunny plush & beanie from Disney. And if -- I say IF -- we (Palisades) make Pepe or Clifford into figures, of course they will have a home in my collection. To me, although newer characters, they fall into the catergory of Classic Muppets

I do not collect Muppet Babies, unless the item directly relates to the Muppet Babies scene in The Muppets Take Manhattan. And I do not collect Sesame Street, despite Big Bird & Oscar's cameos in The Muppet Movie and the Great Muppet Caper respectively.

I love Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street, Emmet Otter and ALL of that stuff, but there's just TOO much out there. I have a small fortune invested in the collection that I have -- I can't imagine what would happen if I were to start collecting items from other Muppet worlds.

 

[Gonzo]

Honestly, because there hasn't been a deluge of Muppet collectibles TO collect, I've never really run into the problem of reining myself in. I've got quite a bit of stuff. My favorites are things from The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, because that's the stuff I grew up on...I do have a few Fraggle Rock PVCs and Books, but those are mostly incidental.

Quinnnnnnnnn