Ask Ken at Palisades

[BigDumbWookiee]

I was just making the point of how it sold from a retail standpoint and that large ticket items are capable of selling in a quantity that makes it economical to the company.

Some other large items that have sold quite well in the past (some of which were exclusives): 12" Speederbikes (Luke and Scout Trooper), 12" Taun Tauns, 12" Kaadu (even though it was a TPM set).

21st Century Toys also makes some incredibly large items, most of which sell enough to make it worth the companies time and so much so they continue to release the items. The XD line has a lot of 1:18 properly scaled vehicles and buildings, and take up a lot of retail shelf space. For the most part, they all sell pretty well.

When we talk large, how big would a scale theater be? Kitchen set, three times over (That is, as tall as three kitchens stacked, as wide as three kitchen sets)? Or is that way out of the ballpark?

 

[ResidentLilly]

Originally posted by BigDumbWookiee
I was just making the point of how it sold from a retail standpoint and that large ticket items are capable of selling in a quantity that makes it economical to the company.

I understood your point. My counterpoint was that if they had to TOOL that item today, it never would have happened. At the quantity they produced and sold, it would have lost money big time.

Dunno how big the stage would be...haven't given it thought as far as absolute sizes yet.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Hey Ken, I'm nosey:

What all are you working on now?

Kev

 

[ResidentLilly]

You mean...what am I doing, like, TODAY? Or in general? You gotta be more specific than that!

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by BigDumbWookiee
I was just making the point of how it sold from a retail standpoint and that large ticket items are capable of selling in a quantity that makes it economical to the company.

Not a Muppet product - if you put an $80 Muppet product into a store like Target it might as well be put straight into the clearance bin. If Star Wars and other more visible licenses can't shift, what makes you think the Muppets can ? The consumer base and also the brand visibility is just not there for the Muppets - they're even struggling with the $20-$30 playsets and Mega's. It's not just Palisades either, pretty much any licensee who's put out anything over the $15 mark has struggled to get a decent amount of sales. This is the point where people will think twice about 'impulse buying' and your line turns from one that can attract casual fans and nostalgic general browsers to being a 'collector' orientated specialist line. Being dumped into the latter category means a dramatic decrease in sales potential and distribution that someone like Palisades couldn't take, because they are making high quality collectable figures but at high street prices.

The Muppet Theatre (as one huge piece) is something Palisades are never gonna make a massive profit on, and i'm sure they're well aware of that. It would be for show, as a compliment to the line, and as something for the more dedicated consumers like the folks on the internet. Trouble is, there aren't that many of us (say a few thousand tops, and i don't think you could depend on more than 15% of them to actually pay up) so it means that somehow they'd have to make back the massive sculpting, tooling, painting and manufacturing costs between very few sales. That would probably push the price up to a point where it is an unrealistic thing to make right now.

I think that Palisades should just forget anything about the Theatre for at least another year and continue what they are doing best. Remember Waves 8-14 are still tentative, it's the longetivity of what they are already doing that they should continue to work hard on - not embark on huge new projects that they'll be taking a massive risk on and will actually do little for the line as a whole. Sure in a year or so look again at how the line has developed and see if it then is a financially viable thing to do but don't risk what we have now for it.

There are of course other ideas than doing a deluxe Theatre like Jamies modular idea of putting modular parts of the set out as regular playsets and thus spreading the cost. I tend to support that more but i'd prefer just to see two playsets make up the set - backstage and stage. I'm not sure the consumers could be relied on to buy into anymore than that and we would be talking a year as it is for those to come out.

 

[Fozzie]

Where can I find a S4 Rizzo for pre-order? EB Games is sold out.

 

[frogboy4]

Ebay. LOL! That's why I order as soon as I see it. I'm no help, but you can find repaints on Ebay for near reasonable prices.

 

[Wander McMooch]

Ken, I just wanted to let you know that the Muppet figures seem to get better and better. I recently got the Tour Animal in the mail and, am I seeing things, or does Animal's head look more detailed than the regular version? Anyway, Tour Animal looks awesome; he's currently raiding the Swedish Chef's kitchen for sausages!

Is there a possiblility of additional Tour figures somewhere down the line? I think that a Janice with a Palisades baby-doll tee would be pretty sweet!

 

[The Count]

Ken stated in the "Muppet Questions?" thread over at Palisades' forum that there will indeed be another "Tour" figure next year. Furthermore, he said that it's already been chosen and has started getting the treatment to make it into the figure form. And he said that he's not telling who it'll be, but it'll blow our minds away. Hope this helps and have a good day.

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by The Count
And he said that he's not telling who it'll be, but it'll blow our minds away. Hope this helps and have a good day.

Tour Crazy Harry ? Naaaaah !

I like the idea of Tour Janice in the Baby-T !