So...Any Muppet Stuff At Toy Fair?

[Drtooth]

The one thing that seems to be getting lost in all this is what will come from Hasbro's new deal with Sesame Street. I'd love to see them market figures like they've done with Star Wars. Better quality, of course, but man...think of all the characters on cards and pegs at Target.

I mentioned this in another thread, but it seems that Mattel was trying to do that, but failed by reusing old sculpts, and having a limited variety of characters. Indeed, there were only 3 sets (Grover and Oscar, Cookie and Elmo, Ernie and Big Bird) and they managed to use the same Elmo in the playset and bis, along with the same Big Bird and the same Grover, albeit with a different paint job. It's too bad they didn't step up and have some not too rare fan favorites like Sherlock Hemlock and Guy Smiley packed in with Elmo and Ernie... the popular characters would sell the fan favorites. The 2 figure buddy pack did revolutionize the toy industry... and it's a same that Mattel did such a shabby job with this set.

 

[Luke]

I thought Mindstyles Fraggle stuff looked great, other than the blind boxing etc. It'll be interesting to see what exactly they are doing with The Muppets.

 

[frogboy4]

I thought Mindstyles Fraggle stuff looked great, other than the blind boxing etc. It'll be interesting to see what exactly they are doing with The Muppets.

Personally, I'd like to see stylish Muppet maquettes from MindStyle since they're bound to be pricy. Action poses of Muppets in classic scenes would be cool. Just nothing like those bland Electric Mayhem things MR wanted to put out. Well, maybe something like the Janice one.

 

[MrTheFrog]

I spoke with the Mindstyle guys at D23, and I know one of the plans is to have Kermit decorated with all different/colorful designs, similar to their Stitch line. My hope is that they'll do classic versions of a bunch of the characters as well, but nothing was mentioned. Also, the plan is to still release the Fraggle line, but I guess they're dealing with alot red-tape for some reason.
-Artie

 

[frogboy4]

I spoke with the Mindstyle guys at D23, and I know one of the plans is to have Kermit decorated with all different/colorful designs, similar to their Stitch line. My hope is that they'll do classic versions of a bunch of the characters as well, but nothing was mentioned. Also, the plan is to still release the Fraggle line, but I guess they're dealing with alot red-tape for some reason.
-Artie

Ooh! Thanks for that scoop, Artie!

I think the Kermit shape would make for a better Muppet pattern template than the Mickey Vinylmations. I'm excited. It's also good to hear the Fraggles will still come out. They were pretty. Henson is very particular about their characters in figural form so maybe their suggestions are being factored in. Great scoop!

 

[beaker]

The one thing that seems to be getting lost in all this is what will come from Hasbro's new deal with Sesame Street. I'd love to see them market figures like they've done with Star Wars. Better quality, of course, but man...think of all the characters on cards and pegs at Target.

Hasbro is taking over from Fisher Price? THANK GOODNESS.
They've destroyed the Sesame brand name for wayyy too long(Heck Tyco was way better in the late 1990's by a long shot)

 

[beaker]

http://www.mindstyle.com/blog/?p=2248

$89.99 nifty sculpted Muppet toys, here we come!

 

[Drtooth]

Also, the plan is to still release the Fraggle line, but I guess they're dealing with alot red-tape for some reason.

AH... the fact that the license was originally sub-negotiated under HIT may have been the problem. I'm sure they thought it would be wise to get them out when the movie was farther in production, but I don't think anyone realized it would take so long to get anywhere with the project. If they can get these out (which I'd love a LOT more than the flat, uninteresting Symbiotes line), I'd pick at least ONE up. Just wish they'd label each box, so you know which ones in which box. I'm sure comic book store owners aren't too thrilled with people opening up boxes and not buying them. There's only so much fun a surprise can be.

Hasbro is taking over from Fisher Price? THANK GOODNESS.
They've destroyed the Sesame brand name for wayyy too long(Heck Tyco was way better in the late 1990's by a long shot)

I can get on a big long thing about what I think about Mattel, a company that thinks that too much of itself and puts out such poor quality junk (they seem to have gotten their act together with the DC line, but not by all that much) in the last several years, and then freaks out when no one buys their overpriced lead paint poor sculpted mess. Hasbro had some trouble, bad trouble, in 2002 or so, but once they rebranded their Star Wars merchandise, and started getting more licenses, they really became the comeback kid of the toy industry. I think their "Galactic Heroes" and variants thereof really made them a powerhouse... even though recently, I'm not too thrilled with their stuff either.

And on the subject: Playmates, any company that would drop the TMNT licenses to do Terminator Salvation toys needs to have an Eisner ousting of their CEO... Ban Dai doesn't know what the heck they're doing in this country, except for Power Rangers... The toy industry sucks all over, and I blame business practices that say "Movie licenses are KING," leading to unsellable junk on the store shelves long after the DVD's are out. I Miss TV show merchandise.