Ask Ken at Palisades

[Luke]

Originally posted by Hat Sharpener
so I am worried that Luke is right... :eek

I devoted two paragraphs to say why i thought Disney wouldn't bother spending the money to finish up the Palisades license, it didn't happen with WCW/WWF. I didn't know then what Jamie said though about all the licenses being liquidated before the first Henson buyout - thats scary. I have a hunch it won't happen, but i guess there are possibilities. By 2005 though, Palisades would have made 14 waves and may not want to renew the license so if they get past the initial sale it might be a mute point. I didn't want to scare anyone or anything .... well besides the Frogboy. I mean what would happen to his Palisades shrine !

 

[frogboy4]

What I remember happening (and I could be off) but Henson liquidated its licenses by paying off the deals at a big loss. I think the liquidation was part of the contract with Disney. This is partly what hurt the company after the Disney deal fell through and why there was an absence of product for a while. I guess it takes a while to mend the relationships with licensors and get the product back out there.

 

[radionate]

Originally posted by frogboy4
What I remember happening (and I could be off) but Henson liquidated its licenses by paying off the deals at a big loss. I think the liquidation was part of the contract with Disney. This is partly what hurt the company after the Disney deal fell through and why there was an absence of product for a while. I guess it takes a while to mend the relationships with licensors and get the product back out there.

You are correct (as far as my memory serves as well) in what you said. It hurt them in multiple ways.

 

[Luke]

Jeez, didn't know about that. Shows how close that Merger got, i bet Henson Co was way p*ssed !

<< Disney (TM)

 

[Hat Sharpener]

Ouch.... I hadn't realized that had happened!
That does not sound promising for the future of Palisades Muppets...

Seems like the Muppet Products have finally gotten off the ground recently... would be a big shame to see them get sucked into the Disney Machine.

Maybe I will buy tux rwlf after all...



- Derek

 

[bizarreblair]

Hi Ken,

I've been picking up all the Toy magazines with nice pictures of all the Muppets figures, and I can't help but wonder what in the world you're going to be showing in these magazines the rest of the year? You've already shown so much, is there anything left for all of us to look forward to seeing this year? I wish I could by figures like Beau, Statler, Waldorf, and Pepe right now!!

 

[King Prawn]

Ken, just a tiny question

we've got Tuxedo Kermit & Rowlf and are expecting Tuxedo Bunsen & Beaker & Dr. Teeth. And Fozzie use to be on the rader with Chucky (is he still on?). So my question is actually it's two. If you ever produce a Tux Gonzo would you use the purple tux sculpt and just repaint it black and white or would you make a whole new sculpt, I ask this because I was comparing Tux Gonzo to Tux Rowlf & Kermit and the design of his tux is different, even if you unbutton the jacket. So where does Gonzo stand, will he get a resculpt or just a repaint of the purple tux.

And it's been awhile (since toyfair actually) that we've had our blood rushed with excitment could you possibly tell as atleast (or more if you wish) one character you're considering in tux form.
Scooter, Pepe or Rizzo would look great in a tux Lew Zealand would be a fun tux version with that white flannel thing still on him.

Oh and one more question, I swear it's the last, seeing as Toyfair has already past and you aren't saving anything new to show us there could we please see a sculpted Clifford (if he has already been sculpted) it would make a great Daily Bit along with the Swine Trek Crew displayed on the Swinetrek with the new different coloured hair First Mate Piggy.

Oh, oh and one more thing... just kidding

thank's

 

[Luke]

Yo Ken,

Just got a mail shot in my email from Forbidden Planet Home Shopping (Sci-Fi Warehouse) in the UK. Seems they will be selling Tux Bunsen & Beaker at retail here. It says the set is limited to 1000 pieces worldwide and it comes with extra accessories. Is that true or slightly wacky ?

Also nice idea selling club exclusives at retail here, it does make it slightly (only just, but still) cheaper than paying the high international club shipping charges here so shake ol' Travis' hand for me !

 

[Gorgon Heap]

Ken, a Newsman question-

When you say that he's too yellow, what does that mean? Does that mean he's going to be more pale? More orange? I thought his skin in the Toy Fair prototype was fine- what's the final going to look like?

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[ResidentLilly]

A few answers while I wait for 9:30 dinner reservations. 9:30! Who eats dinner at 9:30! Best I could get...that's what I get for waiting til the last minute...anyway...

When you say that he's too yellow, what does that mean? Does that mean he's going to be more pale? More orange? I thought his skin in the Toy Fair prototype was fine- what's the final going to look like?

The one at Toy Fair is the one that went to the factory. The one we have here was the first one done and the colors were whacked. So that was all we had to photo at this time. Basically the colors will be more orange in the skin and lighter on the jacket. The tie is supposed to not match the jacket. Kind of a joke.

Just got a mail shot in my email from Forbidden Planet Home Shopping (Sci-Fi Warehouse) in the UK. Seems they will be selling Tux Bunsen & Beaker at retail here. It says the set is limited to 1000 pieces worldwide and it comes with extra accessories. Is that true or slightly wacky ?

True and False. True that we decided to sell some exclusives directly into the UK to allow a chance for UK'ers to get them without even having to resort to Club shipping prices. May also allow some to go into Australia. We do love the international customers! False that there are extra accessories. Nope. Nada. The Steppin Out Bunsen and Beaker have NO accessories. We did re-do the glasses on Bunsen though. You can see those in some pics in Greg's new Muppet section. However...those Beaker eyes are whacked and I know it already...they were fixed before production.

we've got Tuxedo Kermit & Rowlf and are expecting Tuxedo Bunsen & Beaker & Dr. Teeth. And Fozzie use to be on the rader with Chucky (is he still on?). So my question is actually it's two. If you ever produce a Tux Gonzo would you use the purple tux sculpt and just repaint it black and white or would you make a whole new sculpt, I ask this because I was comparing Tux Gonzo to Tux Rowlf & Kermit and the design of his tux is different, even if you unbutton the jacket. So where does Gonzo stand, will he get a resculpt or just a repaint of the purple tux.

If it were up to me (oh wait a second it IS up to me...) I would resculpt the torso on Gonzo and give him a tail tux jacket to match the rest and not just paint the tux black. But who knows? If the B and B do well enough then perhaps that will result in more tuxedo versions. I hear mixed reaction on that so I am not convinced yet that it's a good way to go or a bad way to go. I love 'em...but ultimately is it what the people want who are actually buying them?

I've been picking up all the Toy magazines with nice pictures of all the Muppets figures, and I can't help but wonder what in the world you're going to be showing in these magazines the rest of the year? You've already shown so much, is there anything left for all of us to look forward to seeing this year?

Well, we do have other stuff than Muppets to show all year for sure! But we haven't really shown full body stuff in the Incoming section of Series 6...and there is Clifford and Jim Henson. We'll figure something out. Haven't shown the MCC PVC in the Incoming section either.