Diamond Select Toys to Produce new Muppet figures and mini mates!

[beaker]

These can easily be nit-picked to death, but the real answer is...there is no real answer. I think some people think of the previous figures as accurate when they're actually just one more interpretation of something that's difficult to pin down. If the arms were to be exactly on puppet model, they'd look long, thick and gorilla-like (a lot more so than what we see in these prototypes).

Beaker and Bunsen are "live arm/hand" puppets. We fanatics know that means their arms and hands are gloves that fit human hands inside of them. They don't connect the same way on the poser versions of the puppet. Those tend to look skinnier or sometimes thicker.

Beaker has baggy sleeves. These may have translated a little bulky, but not much bulkier than the production puppet. If anything, Bunsen's arms are too thin, but they do match his poser. I think people will forget about most of it once they start playing with these and posing them. But I can say with a moderate degree of certainty that the arms were not switched in production. That's not how design like this works. They simply wouldn't fit.

I'm so glad to hear the reviews of Animal, Statler and Waldorf. All very 70's retro. That Waldorf is very much Jim Henson's classic Waldorf and I love the stuffing out of that crotchety old fella!

I saw Diamond's response to the issue with Beaker, and it could be Diamond is brave enough to make a Beaker that resembles the promotional pose Beaker photos in a way that hasn't been done before. I'm so used to the Palisades Beaker, that I never stopped to realize in all the promo pose photos Beaker does have these big puffy arms.
I'm really starting to see the genius of this line and I do feel it will distinguish itself from the Palisades line a lot. They also seemed to say there will be
two different sort of packaging releases for retail vs more collector versions online. I got tired of the endless nitpicking when Palisades, as gracious as they were to be very involved with the fan community in the early 2000's. But I don't see too many reasons to nitpick with these. I am surprised there's no Piggy in either of the first waves, but I also am guessing the time between waves won't be too long.

 

[beaker]

I don't think the issue is his head; the arms are too big.

Awesome.

That mini playset balcony two pack is just jaw dropping. Like everyone I was a champion of Palisades, but they never made the beyond iconic S and W theater box seat balcony. This is just beautiful beyond words

 

[jvcarroll]

I saw Diamond's response to the issue with Beaker, and it could be Diamond is brave enough to make a Beaker that resembles the promotional pose Beaker photos in a way that hasn't been done before. I'm so used to the Palisades Beaker, that I never stopped to realize in all the promo pose photos Beaker does have these big puffy arms.
I'm really starting to see the genius of this line and I do feel it will distinguish itself from the Palisades line a lot. They also seemed to say there will be
two different sort of packaging releases for retail vs more collector versions online. I got tired of the endless nitpicking when Palisades, as gracious as they were to be very involved with the fan community in the early 2000's. But I don't see too many reasons to nitpick with these. I am surprised there's no Piggy in either of the first waves, but I also am guessing the time between waves won't be too long.

The funny thing is that Palisades actually received much more criticism. I contributed a lot of legit work to that line and could go figure by figure and recite each criticism. Fans are entitled to their opinions. It's just funny to think about it now that they are considered the gold standard.

If Palisades had all of a sudden continued their line with the same level of great quality, there would still be nitpicks by the usual suspects. As a designer who has worked (very hard) on this sort of product over the years, I find it a little disheartening and unduly harsh. A lot of research goes into this stuff! But it's part of the game. I'd just rather enjoy all of this news. Haters gonna hate. Actually, that's a bit to far for the majority of comments, but there are chronic complainers. That's their prerogative. We've been craving another line for years and now we have it!!

As for me...in a little Muppet Movie Robin voice, "I don't care what anyone else says, I'm having a good time!"

 

[minor muppetz]

I'm surprised that Animal is coming alone, but I guess it makes sense due to the size of his drum set (I had wondered if big instruments would be included, in part because of the two-packs... Then again, they'll be able to give Statler and Waldorf a balcony). Still, if Animal could come with an additional character, maybe it should be a generic bunny.

I wonder if Rowlf and Dr. Teeth will be packaged alone (if they get done) in order to fit their instruments in the packaging.

Earlier I was talking about the possibility of whether Gloria Estefan Penguin could be included with Miss Piggy, thinking she'd be in series 2 and there wouldn't be much planning time, but now that we know she's not in series 2 (or could there actually be a sixth character not pictured? I thought somebody from Diamond Select Toys said something about series 2 including a Muppet Show character who Palisades didn't make), there would be more planning time.

I wonder if we'll get the series 3 and 4 line-ups announced at Toy Fair. The full series 2 of the Palisades line was first announced shortly before Toy Fair 2002, and that Toy Fair was the first to officially announce the planned series 3 and 4. But then again, just because Palisades did that doesn't mean Diamond Select will (I was going to say that it's like comparing apples and oranges, but I think it might be more like comparing Pepsi and Dr. Pepper).

 

[muppetperson]

Well this is the first prototype, things may change.

Things are pretty much approved and locked in now.

 

[Blue Frackle]

The funny thing is that Palisades actually received much more criticism. I contributed a lot of legit work to that line and could go figure by figure and recite each criticism.

I know you wouldn't want to do this, but I'm actually game to hear it, lol.

As for me...in a little Muppet Movie Robin voice, "I don't care what anyone else says, I'm having a good time!"

It's been too long for me... I have no recollection of Robin being in that movie.

I wonder if Rowlf and Dr. Teeth will be packaged alone (if they get done) in order to fit their instruments in the packaging.

I hope Rowlf gets an upright piano this time around!

Earlier I was talking about the possibility of whether Gloria Estefan Penguin could be included with Miss Piggy, thinking she'd be in series 2 and there wouldn't be much planning time, but now that we know she's not in series 2 (or could there actually be a sixth character not pictured? I thought somebody from Diamond Select Toys said something about series 2 including a Muppet Show character who Palisades didn't make), there would be more planning time.

That was series 1 (Bean Bunny).

I wonder if we'll get the series 3 and 4 line-ups announced at Toy Fair. The full series 2 of the Palisades line was first announced shortly before Toy Fair 2002, and that Toy Fair was the first to officially announce the planned series 3 and 4. But then again, just because Palisades did that doesn't mean Diamond Select will (I was going to say that it's like comparing apples and oranges, but I think it might be more like comparing Pepsi and Dr. Pepper).

I follow the World of Nintendo line by Jakks Pacific and at one of their conventions they literally announced the lineup for like the next three series, so it is possible.


Random thought: I always love wave two's of action figure lines. Wave one: okay, we got the boring main figures out of the way; wave two: let's have some fun!

 

[MuppetSpot]

I like how we got the Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie so we can some fun with Series 2 hopefully we get some variants for the line.

 

[jvcarroll]

I know you wouldn't want to do this, but I'm actually game to hear it, lol.

I'd rather not get negative, but Series One of anything is like a first pancake. It's still delicious goodness, but the later ones get better.

With Palisades, Series One Kermit's legs had a leaning issue. The plastic was very soft and I think the factory bungled that a bit, but he was a beautiful sculpture. Fans, however, were brutal. Series One Miss Piggy looked to Barbie like for fans' taste. Even the hair down version was rather thin and didn't have the flocking texture. That was remedied in First Mate Piggy. Series One Teeth was very short and fat and egg-like. I don't know why that happened, but that was a point of contention with fans. His keyboard had an incorrect number of keys and his hat also had issues staying on. Fans reported Series One Bunsen had arm and glasses breakage issues. People complained about Beaker coming with the playset and that it wasn't like the Muppet Show. He also had trouble standing if I remember correctly. But those were beautiful figures and I didn't have most of the issues others reported. But yeah, fans were, well, fans. Hehe.

 

[antonydavanzo]

Hi guys. Not posted here for a while. Just wanna say that I'm loving the fact that we are getting a whole new bunch of figures. I have the entire Palisades collection inc all the sets. Do I love these as much as the Palisades??? Can't say until I see these in the flesh but I can say that I am dedicated to collecting this entire line. There is a **** of a lot to love with this range. There seems to be a lot of improvements to what Palisades did and that line was stellar. Quick question....are these figures textured at all?
Cheers

 

[minor muppetz]

That was series 1 (Bean Bunny).

I can't remember who or where I read it from (well, it'd either be from here or Ask DST, and would have been from either Zach or the person in charge), but I thought it said it was for series 2, and thought it said that the character in question was from The Muppet Show (Bean Bunny did not appear on The Muppet Show).

But as I can't remember where I saw it (but the number of places I can think of to check is limited), maybe I just misread or misunderstood. Or maybe Diamond changed its plans since.