Red Fraggle Collectible Doll by Greg Ortiz

[Foodie]

Puppets you can bring to life are much more fun than dolls that just sit there and look cute. That's why I make puppets, not dolls.

I can pretty much bring anything to life... which makes it difficult to throw things away.

 

[muppetperson]

I wonder who is next? Just changing the "Red" base, you could get "Gobo" or
"Mokey".

This picture of upcoming projects, and the Fraggle body in the background,
has me wondering.

 

[Foodie]

I kinda dunno if there will be a next one. They've regularly been trying to sell Reds on eBay but, I dunno that I've seen any sell. So... I guess maybe he's been trying to sell the same one.

Gobo would be sweet though. Hopefully his clothes won't be as furry.

I wonder who is next? Just changing the "Red" base, you could get "Gobo" or
This picture of upcoming projects, and the Fraggle body in the background,
has me wondering.

 

[Drtooth]

I kinda dunno if there will be a next one. They've regularly been trying to sell Reds on eBay but, I dunno that I've seen any sell. So... I guess maybe he's been trying to sell the same one.

This thread is a couple years old now. I guess that essentially proves that this wasn't successful. Fraggle Rock's inaccessibility coupled with the high end-ness of this product were obviously their undoing. I could see this doing modestly well if a Sesame Street or Muppet Show license, but Fraggles? Like I said back when this thing popped up, you could blame Henson for only licensing out the Fraggles for High end harder to find stuff, or blame the retailers for not wanting it in the first place.

But seriously... if they can license 16 Candles Funko Pops, they sure as heck can make Fraggle ones. Then we have the Muppet trifecta.

 

[Muppetboy09]

Man, I forgot all about this. Did any Reds actually get sold? I remember how excited I was about it, and then I saw the price tag...Yikes! Personally, unless the limited quantity DID actually sell, I doubt we will see another Fraggle replica.

 

[muppetperson]

Man, I forgot all about this. Did any Reds actually get sold? I remember how excited I was about it, and then I saw the price tag...Yikes! Personally, unless the limited quantity DID actually sell, I doubt we will see another Fraggle replica.

well, I know at least one was sold.

 

[muppetperson]

This thread is a couple years old now. I guess that essentially proves that this wasn't successful. Fraggle Rock's inaccessibility coupled with the high end-ness of this product were obviously their undoing. I could see this doing modestly well if a Sesame Street or Muppet Show license, but Fraggles? Like I said back when this thing popped up, you could blame Henson for only licensing out the Fraggles for High end harder to find stuff, or blame the retailers for not wanting it in the first place.

But seriously... if they can license 16 Candles Funko Pops, they sure as heck can make Fraggle ones. Then we have the Muppet trifecta.

Yes, it is a shame that there are a lot of high end/limited editions on Fraggle/Muppet stuff. Probably because fraggle/Muppet items don't sell well,
so I guess the logic then is to make less, which leads to higher prices.

 

[Drtooth]

Muppet items tend to vary depending on the venue. It's like some Hallmark ornaments sell out by Thanksgiving, some are left on clearance (but only Fozzie and Gonzo I've seen... Statler and Waldorf, Kermit, and the Chef sold like crazy). Plush disappeared off of Disney Store shelves except for Constantine... even then, when it hit clearance, it's days were numbered. But Muppet stuff seems to do well overall or at least not levels of massive clearout. Even supposed Disney heavy hitters like Cars manage to get deep discount clearances.

Fraggle Rock is different. The only mainstream FR stuff I've seen was when Sababa had a line, and even then, didn't do well in general retail.

 

[Foodie]

Muppet items tend to vary depending on the venue. It's like some Hallmark ornaments sell out by Thanksgiving, some are left on clearance (but only Fozzie and Gonzo I've seen... Statler and Waldorf, Kermit, and the Chef sold like crazy). Plush disappeared off of Disney Store shelves except for Constantine... even then, when it hit clearance, it's days were numbered. But Muppet stuff seems to do well overall or at least not levels of massive clearout. Even supposed Disney heavy hitters like Cars manage to get deep discount clearances.

Fraggle Rock is different. The only mainstream FR stuff I've seen was when Sababa had a line, and even then, didn't do well in general retail.

Fraggle fans are quite rabid but the general public kinda still need to be reminded about Fraggle Rock. Although, just today, the guys that looked at my furnace knew what Fraggle Rock was when they saw the poster in my living room.

The price on that Red is just too high for what it is. I'm not saying it's not worth that much but, I think something almost the same could have been made for a lower price ... and a less fuzzy sweater.

 

[Drtooth]

Fraggle Rock was hardly accessible when it was on the air. It was an HBO series. I remember seeing some things at general retail (I was pretty young at the time), and that was when there was either longer turn around for retail toys or when the more accessible NBC cartoon show started up. I was really young at the time, but I could find Fraggle PVC's at KB Toys no problem. I think.

Back in the late 90's and early, maybe even mid to almost late 00's before the huge action figure crash, you really saw a resurgence of retro toy lines and merchandising. We don't have that now is the problem. Maybe Funko might license some 1980's movie toys, but stores tend to stock the toy series these things are in (Reaction figures, Pops, etc.) and not stock the licenses. That seems to be the only way to get any retro merchandising now, not releasing various toy lines, but one big one that encompasses different franchises. And when we had toy lines that were specific retro, they didn't do that well and were hard to find. Jazzwires' Hanna Barbera and Nickelodeon lines (even though the Nick line had some contemporary characters mixed in with the old schoolers) specifically.

So what does this mean for Fraggle Rock? General retail will only want a toy line of a contemporary property, especially if it's a movie. FR doesn't have a current project in the works, so no reason to launch a retro line. So the licenses winds up going to high end crap that sells online. There's no market for something retro outside of t-shirts that pop up occasionally. And FR isn't exactly the most well known Muppet property there is, while Sesame Street merchandise continues to pop up.