MASTER REPLICAS @ Toy Fair 08

[frogboy4]

I totally disagree. MR was selling Kotobukiya Star Wars Statues when they had there license, they did not have there name on them. Sideshow sells RAW figures from Hot Toys on there site and Sideshow make there own stuff as well. Other companies do sponser other companies products. It is very tipical for other companies to hold other product lines. It is not a matter of passing the buck, but they do get a certain percentage of the profit for carrying there line. I have worked for many companies that have done this in the past. It isn't suprising that MR would be any different.

These were advertised as being from MR in their newsletter. Pom-poms aside I still don't agree with the practice of any company passing the buck of responsibility and quality when their name is stamped on the product. Nonetheless we don’t know who proposed and designed the figures until Travis returns with news. I hope these are still in the working phase and that there’s good news for us! I’m always hopeful. I was surprised by these high-end valued Electric Mayhem sculpts after seeing Master Replicas' gorgeous work with the Disney property.

 

[Blinky_Fish]

New Suggestion...

For Trav -

Hey - All of those 110% makkettes that were in Horn's office would make a nice collectible collection. Why not tackle that - Add a rat, chicken or pengiun and you have a top seller.

 

[Rowlfharris]

Perhaps I'm just a pessimist, but these Toyfare pictures of Fozzie really worry me.

Its the mouth.

Not one single shot of Fozzie shows the mouth completely closed.

Terry's prototype from his original photos looked perfect, and it was partly because the mouth was closed with v slight overbite which holds one of Fozzie's common expressions.

We all remember Gonzo looked perfect in Terry's first shots as well.... Then came those shock pics from the Fair which for the first time showed the infamous sock nose. "Its just an early version, don't worry, more refinements will be made to that".....But weren't.

Kermit has a completely closable mouth and is perfect.

Animal did not, and it is a significant weakness.

Gonzo (I have read) also cannot completely close his mouth.

Somewhere along the development line, MR seems to have not made fully closing mouths a fundamental outcome for these replicas (or they decided to trade it off against over-thick tongues).

I just hope that Travis, or somebody at MR factory control, gets the message across before its too late for Fozzie.

Fozzie MUST HAVE a completely closeable mouth. It is an absolute necessity in order to capture his character.

I hope somebody on these boards can reassure us.

 

[Telly]

Maybe if they want to use such thick tongues, they could build a little indent in the top portion of the mouth?

 

[MuppetCaper]

According to Travis, Fozzies tongues is a lot thinner and this Fozzie IS Terry's first prototype. So mybe we will be lucky and have Fozzie's mouth to fully close.

 

[Luke]

I totally disagree. MR was selling Kotobukiya Star Wars Statues when they had there license, they did not have there name on them. Sideshow sells RAW figures from Hot Toys on there site and Sideshow make there own stuff as well. Other companies do sponser other companies products. It is very tipical for other companies to hold other product lines. It is not a matter of passing the buck, but they do get a certain percentage of the profit for carrying there line. I have worked for many companies that have done this in the past. It isn't suprising that MR would be any different.

It's Master Replicas who have the license, and they have announced them under their name so whether they outsourced the manufacture to another company is neither here nor there, these do seem to be Master Replicas products, it was even in their press information at Toy Fair as part of their Muppet range. I think if it was a case that the other company had the license and they were just distributing them they would have named the company when we heard about them.

 

[MWoO]

But how many people out there other than us fans know how to pose a Muppet....not very many. So of course they are going to look odd or drunk like poor Fozzie. I wished I was there to help the poor bear. They could have at least put them together in a group and that would have made a world of difference.

Well if the company that makes them can't pose them right then it sends the wrong message.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

Terry came on the board himself to tell us that this was his first prototype, which I saw at Comic-Con. At that time, his mouth closed perfectly, overbite and all.

As I said in another thread, if he looks thrashed now, or his mouth won't close, it's because he's been beaten up. I'm not concerned about it. I will be more concerned if we see the first factory prototype and his mouth won't close. THEN there will be a problem, not now.

 

[Rowlfharris]

Terry came on the board himself to tell us that this was his first prototype, which I saw at Comic-Con. At that time, his mouth closed perfectly, overbite and all.

As I said in another thread, if he looks thrashed now, or his mouth won't close, it's because he's been beaten up. I'm not concerned about it. I will be more concerned if we see the first factory prototype and his mouth won't close. THEN there will be a problem, not now.

OK Thanks.....as you say we won't really know 'til later when we see factory samples, but it worries me that by then might be too late down the track for substantial fixes to the design/shaping of the mouth plate/jaw area.

I'm just trying to flag this now as a very important outcome before it gets too late and the assembly line has already begun.

It seems to be a heavy compromise when 'posers' are being produced with limited mouth adjustment, when that's where the real puppets get a lot of their expression and character from.

Not being able to adjust the facial expression really limits their potential. eg. Animal is fixed in a permanent excited gape and cannot capture a quieter mood.

 

[Ignohippo]

I highly doubt we'll ever see factory samples. Proto 2 and 3 are being disected in China now. Once costs are ironed out at MR, I imagine they'll probably put him up for pre-order using this one as their sample. Just like Gonzo, we won't know for sure until we actually get him.

Knowing how beat up Trav has been on these boards, I'm sure he'll iron out every possible problem there may be with Fozzie.