Save the Fozzie Replica

[frogboy4]

How do you think that minor characters would sell....doesn't make senSe. Piggy would sell over Teeth or Beaker ANY day. Everyone knows who they are. Even Bunsen would sell over Beaker as well.

I don't know where your source for that is, but the pig collects dust when pegged along side other characters. It is a known fact to licensors that was personally shared with me. Beaker is not a minor character to most people. Besides, I didn't say scrap the pig. I just think that many character posers could be popular if released under a different business structure. The expense really does kill potential buyers.

 

[Ignohippo]

MR dropping GB can only mean really bad things for them. Obviously, there had to be a contract signed or MR wouldn't have begun prototyping. They must have quite a bit of cash invested at this point to end production this abruptly.

I would guess this means MR is selling off properties/licenses to try to stay afloat. Hopefully, negotiations have already taken place between MR and Disney and paperwork will be signed soon for Disney to take control of the line in the near future. (this is the only thing I can figure from Muppetperson's comments. Right?)

Obviously, there are companies selling product of not nearly the recognition of the Muppets at this price point so I'm sure Disney can see the same thing. I would expect that (if Disney finds a new home for the posers) the quality will be as good or better than what MR produced. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually take it up a notch and put them out at even a higher price point.

Besides marketing, I think MR also missed out that these could've actually been put out for more of a high-end collectable marketplace and a smaller edition size. I thank them for trying to make them realistically priced but that may have actually hurt how the marketplace saw their collectability. They could've gone all out on accessories (that would've been pretty cheap to produce, all things considered) and raised the price by quite a bit. Think of a Kermit with reporter's accessories or Animal with sticks, chain, etc...

 

[Andibcool]

Some posts seems like bashing on MR to me.
Im actually thankfull they did the Photo puppets.
As for prices i would say 200$ is quite some money 300 and 400 is even more. Im sure even 400$ spend on the posers is fully worth it but might not attract a lot ppl.
I dont think i would have bought animal for 400$ and not even sure 300$ on Gonzo.

Oh as for extra money some equipment for the posers sold seperatly ( as suggested already ) would have been nice. Different closing and Kermits mug or ankles for Animal and stuff like that.

Then again i can understand big projects like this cost money and time and with so many chinese manufactors giving up its hard to find new ones to even produce stuff to sell.

Im still wondering why so many companys die because of the finacical crisis. Hope the guys that caused it burn in ****.

 

[MuppetCaper]

Most everyone to some point is thankful for the posers. It is not a matter of bashing, but a matter of what went wrong or why is it going this direction. MR has lost the Halo, 007 and the GB license in a very short time span....this tells your something. Mr has only five licenses left as far as we know. Tom the other day asked us what other licenses we would like to see. This answer is kinda hard since there is not a whole lot left to do as far as prop movies go.

 

[Ignohippo]

I have an infinite amount of love for MR and am incredibly thankful that we got such phenomenal posers. And that is why I am so passionate that they are a success – it's good for the company and ultimately good for us as fans and consumers.

I hope that if there is a new company, they are able to market these products the right way. I can't tell you how many die-hard Muppet fans I run across who have absolutely no idea this line ever existed.

I completely understand the statement that these are expensive enough at the price point they're at now. I just don't personally think these items were treated as the one-of-a kind collectable that they are. As Muppet fans, we've never been given the opportunity to own such a spectacular product and I doubt we ever will again (once this current line comes to completion – whether with MR or someone else). It's just too bad that point was never really made by MR and no one but those of us on these message boards even knew about this product.

It's sad to see the second good company making amazing Muppet products go under.

Just think, we could be on poser #8 or #9 now! Could you imagine if we could be choosing between Rowlf, Fozzie, Scooter, Piggy or Dr. Teeth right now?

I'm sure the higher price point would make it so you could no longer collect them all, but I'm sure the same people who are currently buying the posers would still find a way to afford their fan favorite. Smaller edition sizes would also make them much more collectable.

 

[muppetperson]

It's sad to see the second good company making amazing Muppet products go under.

Master Replicas has not gone under.

 

[frogboy4]

Some posts seems like bashing on MR to me.
Im actually thankfull they did the Photo puppets.
As for prices i would say 200$ is quite some money 300 and 400 is even more. Im sure even 400$ spend on the posers is fully worth it but might not attract a lot ppl.
I dont think i would have bought animal for 400$ and not even sure 300$ on Gonzo.

Oh as for extra money some equipment for the posers sold seperatly ( as suggested already ) would have been nice. Different closing and Kermits mug or ankles for Animal and stuff like that.

Then again i can understand big projects like this cost money and time and with so many chinese manufactors giving up its hard to find new ones to even produce stuff to sell.

Im still wondering why so many companys die because of the finacical crisis. Hope the guys that caused it burn in ****.

We like MR.

The posers and discussions about them have been around for years. Nobody is bashing anyone. MR really tried to bring the designs of Terry Angus to the market place the best they could. There were mistakes along the way.

One being that their promotional product photography on Gonzo and Animal was atrocious and they chose not to change it even after acknowledging it could be hurting sales. This was remedied by many fans, myself included, flooding the web with their own nicer product photos. The accessories issues along with other material discrepancies occurred during the development process and were explained in detail (sometimes after fan input could have helped).

No company is perfect and even though there were some perceived issues that could have been handled better - MR took a chance and delivered on three posers that no body else dared to try. We like MR and the posers here. Many of us just wish things had gone differently so that we could be buying more of them.

The pricing of them is another matter altogether. Limited edition items are tricky. You see, much of this has been discussed in length. For what these cost to make they should likely cost over $600 each! But there isn't really a good enough market for that and MR can't likely afford to warehouse items until they sell due to their line of credit with the manufacturers.

As for the financial crisis and companies like MR being in trouble - well, toy and collectible companies have difficulties regardless of the economic climate. It does relate, but is only one of many factors. Muppet items (no matter what the quality or price) can be a hard sell these days. Fan input tempered with a great deal of restraint and business savvy is crucial. And that is what many fans here have offered - input, not bashing. Hope this helped outline the many posts of years past.
(at least how I saw it)

Oh, and to iterate - it is clear that MR is not doing well at the moment, but they have not gone under. In fact they just revamped their site.

 

[Ignohippo]

I should have chosen my words better. I posted that very, very late in the evening!

No, they haven't gone under but are clearly on life support. Having laid off all of their employees besides two and basically halting production or selling off most of their lines unfortunately pretty much means the writing's on the wall. I certainly hope they can come out of this situation but I don't see how unless they are able to get enough cash for the properties they sell off and I doubt anyone would pay more than MR did in the first place.

That statement was part of a larger statement but I decided to edit it because I didn't want to repeat what I've already said about a million times. As usual, Frogboy is on the same page and picked up where I left off.

I don't want to sound like I'm attacking anyone personally, but there were certainly similarities in the poor job of marketing with the Palisades and MR Muppet products. I am personally tired of hearing that Muppet products are too hard to sell. Neither Pal or MR did the job that needed to be done to get these products to their fanbase – and that has absolutely nothing to do with having cash or not. The Smurfs are selling at retailers for heaven's sakes!

The pictures on the MR website is a perfect example.

Websites such as these are another example of resources available to sell the product that were never fully utilized. Unlike other products, MR had a product where much of their fanbase could be contacted and advertised to without any cost whatsoever. They did absolutely nothing to try to generate excitement or word of mouth about their product.

There were also opportunities of doing things like putting inserts in the dvd season box sets advertising the posers. I would expect the cost would've been somewhat substantial, but these are high dollar products and a single run of inserts could've generated the traffic to sell the line for the entire life of the license.

I also look at DisneyWorld. I remember seeing Kermit set up in the Muppet shop at Hollywood Studios (poorly posed and not broken in). MR could've worked out a deal with the buyers at Disney to use the posers as an incredible display for the shop and it would've been a phenomenal marketing opportunity for MR.

After speaking with buyers from retailers working with Palisades, I can tell you that no one from Marketing ever even talked to them or did anything to try to sell the product – either to them or to help them sell to the consumer.

My frustrations don't come with anything about the products themselves. Lord knows both Pal and MR gave us the best product we could've ever been given. It comes from the direct link in **** poor marketing that led to the (possible) demise of both lines and companies.

 

[frogboy4]

You're right. There did seem to be so many missed opportunities. They reported to have thought of them all, but that's hard for me to believe. It very well could be true.

I did feel that some of the MR staff resented the fan input which is a shame but it didn't really represent the company as a whole. I guess it's a personality sort of thing. Creative criticism can be tough. Some level of fan involvement can be a very useful component. Muppet fans are fickle.

MR is definitely in trouble. It may just be reduced to a brand name rather than an actual company. It is very admired in the collectible industry. They are known for quality. It would be a shame for that to be a thing of the past. I'm pulling for them - Muppets or no Muppets.

 

[Ignohippo]

Amen.

Ya' know some of the animosity could've come from their Star Wars line which is totally understandable. Everyone thinks they own Star Wars – it's a way of life to most people. I'm sure they received a lot of input and criticism for products that (as far as I can tell) are perfect.

Everything about the Muppets posers were different than that situation and they needed to embrace the fan community for sales as well as input from folks that may be able to actually help come up with solutions to the problems they were having.

Besides, I don't remember anyone ever saying anything negative about the products themselves once they'd received them!