Ask Ken at Palisades

[ResidentLilly]

Originally posted by Louis Kazagger
I'd have no problem doing this in the future for the Muppet Show line, if there were some obscure characters that you guys had done all the tooling for but couldn't justify releasing in a wave because the sales would tank for the mass market.

That was my thinking too...someone obscure this would be a good way to go. Have to remember that. Yeah...you are witnessing theft right now...but hey, a good idea is a good idea...

 

[ZootandDingo]

MTI Sam

Originally posted by ResidentLilly
Sam Arrow (MTI)

Ehhh, I suppose this is all good news. I just hope all Muppet eras that will be covered get equal space.

But anyway, I just have an anal retentive point to bring up. I may be going crazy, but I could have sworn Sam's character name was not identical to the "Treasure Island" literature character of Mr. Arrow and was altered in MTI so that it sounds like "Aeral," making it sorta like a flight pun (since....he's a bird).

Does anyone have a MTI storybook or something handy that gives a spelling?

 

[Louis Kazagger]

Yeah, Playmates doesn't have a collector's club though, so I guess you'd have to weigh the pros and cons vs selling an obscure fig directly to your fan base, or giving it away for free to boost retailer confidence in your product. I guess if you're preventing "buy back money" from going out of your coffers to retailers, then essentially you are getting paid for the figures though, and at the same time you help maintain current retailer order levels.

This Simpsons deal is an online only offer, meaning there's no pack in info advertising it at any retailer. You have to learn about it through word of mouth and get the form off the net. MWC is spreading the word to the toy industry mags, the big action figure news players online, etc.... so the demand will be there. And Playmates plans on producing a certain allotment of the figs, then going back to the molds if there is a demand for more, so there should be enough for everyone who wants them. I'm glad to see that they're going to maintain their interactivity and still come with their accessories.

The only real bummer is that tentatively now Playmates is looking to shortpack two figs in Wave 10 (Smithers and Flanders possibley) to make way for the mass release of the third celebrity figure from the canned line, Scorpio. It was so nice to count on even packed cases from Playmates for so long.

 

[Zack the Dog]

I think the EM Bus is a really great idea with janice! Rizzo in his present day look is the best idea as well!

now, the only reason i DON'T like MTI Mr. Arrow Sam idea, is because no other muppets will be out from MTI at this time, i mean this is becoming a mixed muppet line now, but i would think to have most of the regs out first or a simalr version of that reg character like the tux Rowlf, it's rowlf but in a tux, now with this YES i know "it's sam"i know it will always be Sam, but as as Mr. Arrow from MTI. i would actulay like Sam from MCC in his profesor suit with capp, i mean how long would it be fore the rest of the MTI figs to come out? and then reg sam as well now? or how about sam in a tux like what is being done with Rowlf.

i think it's great to experiment with the movie figs in to the line but Mr Arrow will stick out like a swore thumb, what if the line dosnt do well and your stuck with just Mr.arrow and no other MTI charaters at all?

janice and the Bus fit in the TMS line, this is are reg jancie with a "movie prop" the Bus, but this is because it was reg jancie in TMM just as she would be on the MS, it's not like she wouldn't fit in with the rest of then band unless she was in her MTI outfit in which then she would not and we would have to wait longer for a reg Janice. TMM is the story of how the muppets met and then went on to doing TMS after becoming rich and famous.

i don't now i guess i just would like the classics first and the classic movies first before some others, would we still get beau, the news man and gonzo with camilla and in series 5 along with janice in the EM bus, there could be room for PEPE then in series 5! or reg rowlf if whatever is planed for his ready by then it would be nice if he could come with an up right piano this time so we could have both a grand and up right as people were hoping for.

i just feel he would be two outta place and not fit in with the others now, what if you swiched it around and everyother series you did you did a muppet movie series and then reg muppet show/and or MT,

say this after series 5 or say after series 6 , they do TMM with kermit being able to sit and stand( it would work with the EM bus too) with banjo and log to sit on, fozzie with sudabaker(it would be the playset) gonzo fig with a bunch of balloons and pulmming equment and Miss piggy with a small beauty contest stage,with flowers and crown and stuff "simaler to a desk with backdrop for the newsman, it wouldn't be a playset )

then you go back to the TMS with staler and waldorf, DrBob Nurse Piggy and Nurse jancie in Vets playset,

then say the great muppet caper would be the next series

pops with either happiness hotel playset or how about double decker bus playset? miss piggy in a high fastion modle outfit, kermit in pizza twins out fit and fozzie in pizza twins out fit,
and beau with taxi, if that would be possable

then lets get out clifford, pepe, dr phill and bean with MT studo set with bobo.

then go back with the next series and do maybe TMTM?

lets not forget about bear on partol!

this way things are aren't mixed at random but placed in diffrent seires in which you get both out at diffrent times but all the figs work together in that series

you could even change the packaging around like having it with a TMI theme and have Sam as Mr Arrow, Kermit asCap Smolit, Miss Piggy as Bengania(sp?) Culeless Morgan with pack in polly lobster and hispanola with maybe fozzie or gonzo with rizzo packed with. bunsen and beaker would be great to with a cannon that beaker could fit into and be shot out of!

i kinda like things a little more organized Rowlf in a tux still works with it but Sam as mr Arrow doesn't. i say either sam in a tux or professor out fit because he wore both on TMS

 

[ResidentLilly]

Here's why that won't work. If you release a line that is all MFS, and some people hate MFS, or if the retailer hates MFS, well then you tank that series. If you treat it like Star Wars and put scattered stuff out, you strengthen your overall brand by having a single successful brand. Star Wars can have ONE fig from TPM, one from AOTC, one from ANH and two from TESB and it is a collectible line that is succesful based on the name Star Wars, not on the name of a single film. Same concept here. That's the simple explanation, but I could give you the much longer one if needed.

It is a patience thing. Do you want to collect a line over a period of years and build a collection of characters? That's what this strategy is. If you feel the line won't last and we need to get all the standards out in case it does not...well, I won't go down that road again but where's the belief in the brand? You gotta have that from where I sit.

I think this is the best overall strategy for the line.

 

[incredeeble!]

To add to Ken... Look at what the Simpsons did. They released all of their main characters in the first couple of series and series 7 and 8 supposedly tanked...

I don't mind waiting a couple of years to complete a core set. The interest in the line will surely pick up in time as word of mouth gets out to consumers that there will still be chances to pick up core characters...

 

[MrTheFrog]

Zack

I see your point Zack and agree that if the line ended and we had variants as opposed to the regular figures that it would stink, but you have to remember that loyal Muppet fans aren't the only ones this line is marketed towards.

Lets say a casual Muppet fan, we'll call him Joe, goes into the store and gets one of each character in their traditional garb early on. What is bringing Joe back to the store? He has all the regulars, so why go back for an MTI variant? So after series 4, the line tanks and dies an early death.

Now lets say they do it the way they're doing it. Joe goes into the store and gets Rizzo, the Pigs in Space crew and Sam as Samuel Arrow. Well he still wants the regular Sam, so he goes back to the store, and now the store has sold two Sam figures instead of one. On top of that, now Joe has a Sam Arrow that has no MTI friends to hang with. So when Captain Smollet or Benjamina Gunn come out, he has to get them too to hang out with his lonely Mr. Arrow. Now the store has sold 2 Sams, and a Kermit and Piggy variant to Joe, who probably would have never come back if he would have gotten all the regulars in series 1-4.

It works the same for Rowlf Tux, and Gonzo Daredevil. These are two figures that people want, but not as much as the regular versions. However, they will buy them because they're the only choice available at the time, and in all likelyhood they'll come back when the regular versions are released. Now the store has sold four figures instead of two This is how you guarantee the longevity of a line. It's frustrating and takes alot of patience, but if all goes as planned it works out for the best for everyone involved.
-Artie

 

[kansasteen14]

I have a question,is the Muppet theater still coming out in series 6 and are statler and waldorf.I am glad the line is being done this way as I like to play with the figs and can do some wierd stuff when you a bird from the 1700's and a pig from outer space interacting,I mean imagine what would happen.that would be FUNNY

 

[Zack the Dog]

Ken

Yes, i do see your point now, very good thinking, it's not a "i supose your right" you really convinced me with that now, thanks!

i don't know figure sales at all, this is my first time collecting any type of action figure other then Nija Turtles when i was young, but that was a case of "mommy mommy! can i get splinter ,a foot sollger, and April Oneel, for my brithday!?!"
and then i'd play with them and chew on there weponds and stuff then loses all the pieces. i was young...they were toys.

i don't collect any star wars or simpsons so i know nothing about any of the lines or how they work,but thanks for your explantion Ken it opened my eyes to the figure world now.

 

[frogboy4]

I am for a mixed assortment!

I am for a mixed assortment! Why? Because it ensures the strongest pieces from each project.

An entire Muppets Tonight set might tank because it wasn't well known, but when peppered in with other assortments makes something for everyone. It will also keep up momentum with fans. What if somebody really likes The Great Muppet Caper but has to wade through five other movie waves and a couple of show waves to get any of the figures? Lame, lame I say!

If it is a mixed series we could have Smollet Kermit MTI, Popcorn Scooter MTM Clifford MT, Uncle Deadly TMS and Bean some sort of MCC playset. [Just an illustration - not saying Bean would carry a playset].

If it were an all GMC assortment there may be weaker characters not really needed - do we really need Piggy in every wave and every possible version of Kermit? I don't think so.