There was that Christmas ornament... in fact, the ornaments started with Statler and Waldorf, had the Swedish Chef the next year, then went on to Animal, going back to Beaker, and then Fozzie. Only 2 of them are the main 5, and they weren't even the first ones in the set. If Disney thinks that strategy works for Christmas ornaments that always sell out by November, it should work for T-Shirts and plush toys and stuff.
I love Animal, but he's on EVERY clothing item ever, even out numbering the frog in chief. Why don't we have any Chef shirts is beyond me, since The Chef and Beaker were featured the most in the viral videos. Everyone loves the Chef. We should have Chef overload almost as bad as Animal does.
Of course, what confuses the heck out of me is that Pepe had a meteoric rise in the Muppets since the 00's, but there's hardly that much merchandise of him. It took us until now to get a general retail plush (seriously... what a plush it is! I love it!). I find it curious that he's only got one scene in the final movie, but he's all over the promotions. Still, I was very disappointed the Pepe shirt was for kids.
Big Mean Carl... I'd LOVE that to happen, they're trying to make him a main monster, but that's either going to take some time or barely happen at all. Carl would require a Palisades Toys like ambition to make every character possible.