Ask Ken at Palisades

[Luke]

Yeah there would be no chance of having 2 packs in more or less every wave and the exclusive needs to be a character in (or around) that wave but with Count's he did hit on the idea of Angus McGonnicle - now obscure character yes, but that'd actually be a very interesting sculpt that'd stand out on it's own.

I also liked the 'Pepes Surf Shop' logo on the surfboard idea earlier, it would take out the whole Muppet chronology if Pepe was mentioned pre-Muppets Tonight but who's to say that Pepe couldn't have owned a surf shop or soemthing prior to meeting the Muppets.

 

[Foreignman]

Ben Greene's undeniably brilliant figure release schedule

Hey Everybody! After hours of consideration, mixing a fine brew of my own sweat and blood, and drinking not one, not two, but eleven cans of V8 Juice, I bring you "Ben Greene's undeniably brilliant figure release schedule" for series seven to eleven. I tailored it exactly to Ken's rules, unlike some of you other "draw-outside the liners", I'm a "1984" conformist all the way. When creating the schedule I felt I should create a list of characters that would settle the biggest Muppet fans of all time, while at the same time be profitable for the company. Most all of my series follow a pattern I've set out, which sort of follows the pattern Palisades has been going with which gets more difficult as time goes on. You have a mainstream character such as Bean Bunny, a previously released main stream character in a different form ala Naked Rowlf, you've got a fan favorite such as Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphones (I don't think the fan favorite can be too obscure. I would love say "Angus McGonnicle" but I just don't think that'll sell). Finally you have a monster, for the fourth slot, people remember the monsters from the Muppet Show, they stood out, I think they're funny enough that even those who weren't so familiar with the show will go for them. The series plan goes slightly different in nine due to Johnny and Sal being sold separately. I believe there are reasons that we cannot make them a two-pack, pertaining with budget, so I took into account restrictions like this I foresaw. Other differences you’ll notice between my list and others are the absence of characters from Veterinarians Hospital and Muppet Treasure Island. I don’t think one of the playsets should be VH, and thus I don’t feel VH figures would make sense, nor from a marketing perspective do I believe they’d do well. In terms of Muppet Treasure Island I only want Clueless Morgan, a great new character from the movie, the big comedic relief other than Mr. Thimble. Without the Hispaniola Kermit as Captain Smollit seems out of place within my display, same with Benjamina Gunn, MTI Gonzo and Rizzo, etc… Well, I think I’ll stop the yap, yap, yappin’ so you can get to the rea-, rea-, reading:

Series Seven

Bean Bunny
Naked Rowlf
Marvin Suggs
Sweetums

Exclusive: Sweetums with movable eyes

Series Eight

Muppets from Space Bobo
Naked Sam
The Zucchini Brothers
Thog

Exclusive: Elton John Episode Sam

Series Nine

Johnny Fiama
Sal Manilla
The Muppet Movie Kermit the Frog
Robin

Exclusive: Frog Scout Robin with Miss Appleby

Series Ten

Clueless Morgan
Great Muppet Caper Biker Piggy
Uncle Deadly
Doglion Beast

Exclusive: Great Muppet Caper Fantasy Piggy

Series Eleven

Muppets from Space Dr. Phil Van Neuter
Muppets Take Manhattan Waiter Rizzo
Seymour
Boppity

Exclusive: Muppets Take Manhattan Yolanda the Rat

Playsets: Backstage Playset with many character pack-ins (rather than one big character I would have guys like Gaffer, Penguins, Chickens, etc…)
Happiness Hotel with Pops

 

[WiGgY]

I really like some of these ideas but I think some people are all over the map. I think first and foremost the line should stick to a theme as far as MTI goes. I think every wave should have at least one MTI main cast memeber such as Kermit, Fozzie etc. Also, there needs to be some tux action going on. Though there are many figures that would be cool I think completing the themes that have already been started is a priority.

For example. Many have said sweater vest Gonzo, however I think GMC Gonzo would satisfy that as well as give news reporter Kermit a character to be next to when he isn't on Koozebane. Also, when MTI Piggy is in a regular line, perhaps a GMC Piggy as an exclusive would be cool. That would basically give us a fairly complete GMC set. Fozzie wouldn't have his press thing but I think we can live with that.

And when dealing with playsets try to imagine how they would look all alone without figures. A VH set would not really look appealing on it's own. That's why I feel a theater stage should replace it and maybe keep the VH figures out of the line. I have a feeling the lincense will be renewed. Why? I dunno. Call it a gut feeling. And when this happenes Palisades will need things like VH to keep the line diverse. Also, if the line doesn't continue, wouldn't you want a theater stage set instead of a VH set?

These are just little things I think we and Palisades should consider when making series 7-11. We're looking to complete the themes we have and try not to start new ones. Also, we should stay away from variants such as MTM Rizzo, anything MCC, or anything that would start another theme. I do like the idea of an Usher Scooter from MTM because that would really look cool and since we have Lew and the Chef you could create a whole scene.

This was just a little rant and some observations about how I think the line should finish up. I do love the ideas that people are comming up with but I think looking at the line as a whole is best.

 

[kansasteen14]

Originally posted by Super Scooter
Because Clifford is a much better character than Bobo, and has been much too ignored since Muppets Tonight.

well that isnt really what I meant ,I meant for my list since I put clifford,and Clifford isnt really a better character,I mean was he even in the latest muppet production? but Bobo was and Bobo is a much better character

 

[Super Scooter]

Okay. You prefer Bobo, I prefer Clifford. Justt personal preference. That's the one thing I was upset about with IAVMMCM. No Clifford. I don't really like him as the host of a show, but I think he really is a good character, and besides, it's Kevin Clash's only non-Sesame character.

Who has Kevin Clash really played? There's Elmo, Natasha, and Clifford. Anyone else?

 

[WiGgY]

Well, he has Sam now. Personally I like what I call Sun Glasses Clifford. That is the "real" Clifford. MT Clifford was all weird. I hope the Clifford figure has sun glasses and a bass. I would hate it if he were dressed in that stupid suit and tie with no glasses.

 

[Crazy Harry]

Originally posted by Super Scooter
Who has Kevin Clash really played? There's Elmo, Natasha, and Clifford. Anyone else?

Well, there's his two other Sesame characters Hoots the Owl and Benny Rabbit, Leon from JHH and Polly Lobster from MTI.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Baby Sinclare. Not sure if he counts as a muppet though.

 

[Lorde Pompeo]

Hi...

First of all let me congratulate Palisades and the Muppet Fans from this Forum since the Muppet Line wouldn't be anything without you guys!

Now... I think I might I have conviced my mother to use her company Credit Card to buy me a figure or two... However, at this time I only have 2 regulars and 1 exclusive from the First Series, and I would like to have at least all the regulars... Am I still able to buy the rest of the First Series through the Internet?

Is Janice really coming with a "round thingy with little bells on the border that you tap to make tching tching tching" like I once suggested?

Please reply! Bye bye!

Thank you!

 

[redmans]

Some thoughts from me...

1. If we do get a Marvin Suggs figure (and I hope we do), could he come with a stand that would allow him to spin in place?

2. As to how visually interesting a VH playset could be, I think many of us wondered how visually interesting Muppet Labs or the Swedish Kitchen could be. If you go strictly by what we saw on the shows, those sets were fairly plain. This is where the imagination of Ken and his cronies comes in, and I don't think they've disappointed us yet in that respect!

3. If we get a Muppet Theater playset with detachable cardboard backdrops (a great idea), maybe we could also have backdrops available to download and print from the website?

4. I was looking at the cover of the MTI Storybook and that gave me an idea of a possible playset: the crow's nest of the Hispaniola. I think the one on the cover had a whole bunch of the characters in it, plus it wouldn't be as cost-prohibitive as the entire deck of the ship. And if we keep getting MTI figures we're going to need SOME place to put them!

Anyway I just thought I'd toss those ideas out. It certainly is an imaginative group of people around here!

Tony

 

[The Count]

Lord Pompio, if you head over to ebay.com then you'll find all the S1 and S2 figures available. Just plug in "Muppets" in the Edit field and click on "Action Figures" once you get all the total items available. Also, Janice will indeed come with a tamborine when released in Series 5 according to preliminary scheduled listings from Palisades. Hope this helps.