Ask Ken at Palisades

[Gorgon Heap]

Ken,

I think you may have missed the post (on page 57) but what do you think of the idea of Rizzo coming with talking food?

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[ResidentLilly]

Gorgon Heap
I think you may have missed the post (on page 57) but what do you think of the idea of Rizzo coming with talking food?

Still working out what Rizzo will come with.

frogboy4
It seems that neither of your emails are working. I've been trying to get in touch with you for several days - before I go out of town this Thurs (until the 1st of July). I have a question to ask, but there is no emai. Frustrated frogboy.

Got your mail. Replied. Sorry about that. It is a maddening situation to be cut off from e-mail.

matleo
Was wondering if you knew where and when we might get to see some of the following...
1) an update of the Plaisades site to include the Series 2 gang
2) Some of the Seires 2 accessories
3) pics of the series 2 exclusives
4) the new Animl scultp (the back of the unpainted prtotype looks great!

1. Sometime in the next month most likely.
2. Look at figures.com or RTM or action-figure.com...they all have pics of the accessories for Series 2. Any more pics will be shown in the next coupld of weeks on the Daily Bit. Got plans to show a bunch of stuff there.
3. Both Fozzie and Gonzo will be shown on the Bit in the next week or two.
4. That will debut on the cover of ToyFare #62. That's why I can't show the front of the sculpt yet. They should be allowed to have the exclusive first look at that...it is a cover after all.

dan Hi Ken
1. Got my Piggy exclusive today and she is really awesome even though she won't stand up.
2. This is probably way too late but I was thinking about the upcoming Rowlf and thought how cool it would be if his head was on a ball joint so that he could tilt his head like the actual puppet. Any posibility of this?
3. You know, these action figures are super cool and you guys are doing a great job. I personally am not one for variants however. I really only need one Piggy etc. But you know what I would buy? I know its been brought up on here before, but I would buy a "disgruntled Kermit." One where his face is all scrunched up in frustration. I don't need him in different outfits all that much, but a different facial expression is something I would need to have. Any thought?

1. Use the base. It's there for that very reason.
2. Probably not on Rowlf the regular, but probably on the tux version...that was the plan anyway.
3. Henson does not want that. They feel that a face locked in that position would be too weird. I tend to agree. They want us to keep the heads similar on each version we do.

MaxGoof
How is Vanishing Cream Beaker going to be handled? I fear that you'll stick all 1,000 out Friday morning and the scalpers will overflow and they'll be gone before the weekend even starts... Any chance that you'll divide up the Beakers so there's some for each day?

We will allocate some for each day. Just get there first on the day you come to the show.

Drtooth I'd hate to be whiney, but how sure are you that the future series figures will be released? Particularly series 3-7 (and beyond). I ask this, mainly because a certain toy company (Playmates) always has figures and second series toys planned, but never release them. They had a second Series of Earthworm Jim and an entire line of Ripping Friends figures coming out and never released them.

Regarding this and the Simpson's debate. I never believed this would be the next "Simpson's" and in fact I don't really want it to be. BUT...I have this planned out on paper through series 10 at least...and each series has big guns, fan faves and interesting sets. Whether it continues at retail is anybody's guess...but it certainly has the universe of characters to be at least as interesting as some other lines out there.

I buy Simpson's and to tell the truth I am a casual Simpson's fan....I don't know who half these people are on my shelf. And that does not mean that others will shop the way I shop. BUT, certainly something that I think will get us to Series 8 or 10 or whatever is that the figures will be good, we won't flood the market and the regular assortment is 4 compared to Simpson's 6 and one playset instead of 2.

It's an interesting debate...from this side of the fence I hope it continues...it's been a fun project to work on.

kane31666
If you set up something so that Muppetcentral members can pick up extras for other members, do you think you could do the same for the simpsonscollectorsector? We do have many of the same members. Myself, jara19, Michael Crawford, and others.

If something is set up it is for all...no matter what board you are on.

Ken

 

[Luke]

I think you hit the frog on the head there Jamie - there does need to be something done to keep these 'hot' amongst the public at large in the long run. The problem that i see is that as you say, some 'main' characters to us might not be 'main' characters to people who haven't watched the show for years.

I know as collectors we want all the different characters but thinking about sales and the brand as a whole, it seems a mistake not to do a lot more Kermit and Piggy variants or at least keep those two regular figures out there rather than stopping production. People are ALWAYS gonna want and look for Kermit and Piggy. I doubt they are gonna buy the Newsman or Lips once they can't find it - those really are for dedicated fans of the show and nostalgic adults but i can totally see the point in making them.

I think kinda as fans we are a bit selfish. By asking for all these background characters we are probably shooting ourselves in the foot because if they didn't sell well to the general public then there'd be a chance of no more figures period. Thats why i think we have to kinda give some concessions to the non-fans and let them have more main characters. Just my thoughts though !

Anyway as you and i have both said, doing something around the times of the new shows debuts would probably be a good idea and you can jump on any publicity that the Muppets get at that time. Possibly also doing figure signings with the Muppeteers at somewhere like TRU in Time Square or FAO might also be a good idea ?

As for me - i have ordered some from that online store in the UK i pointed out to Warrick though at this rate i'll probably recieve them in like 2004. I'm not gonna be a completist on the line seeing as i have no idea who half the characters are but i really rate most of the first wave (besides regular piggy) and i can't wait for Fozzie and Animal - they look superb. Gonzo in the superhero outfit i'm not too fond off but i love the canon idea. I'd likely wait for him until a 'normal' variant comes out. Rizzo and Pepe will be cool too and must haves for me. I think the playsets are probably going to be too expensive over here for me to collect them but we'll see how my 'party fund' is doing at the time. (all donations gratefully recieved via paypal) ;-)

 

[Michael Crawford]

Longevity of the line

As to the longevity of this line (and in comparison to a line like WOS). While I think that many of the WOS comparisons are useless, this is particularly a comparison that does apply.

I don't think Palisades has to worry about keeping the general public happy. When Playmates first released WOS, the first series was packed unevenly, much like the first series of the Muppets. Homers and Barts were heavy - Lisa's and Grampa's were light (and Mr. Burns). The thought was the same as with series 1 of the Muppets - the general public will want more Kermits and Piggys that Dr. Teeth.

Here's the problem - the general public aren't going to buy these. Not in any real quantity, and not such that decisions on lines, pack outs or character selection should be dictated by them.

Playmates quickly realized that the Simpsons was NOT a general public line, but a collector line. They started packing everything evenly, knowing that most collectors wanted to buy one of each, even of the obscure characters. Yes, some characters last longer than others, but we have wave eight on the shelf right now, and if you can find much of anything before wave 7 hanging around, you're in the minority. Sell through on these continues to be very strong.

There's something else to keep in mind. Palisades is not a big company - it's not even close to the size of Playmates, and Playmates is far from a big company. They don't have to make hundreds of thousands of figures to sell. The runs can be much smaller than you'd expect, and a show like the Muppets has enough serious fans to support it. Hopefully.

Average figure runs in WOS are around 50k-60k per figure. For comparison sake, in it's heyday, any figure that McToys ran less than 120k of was an instant sell out. It's not quite that way today, but you see my point. Palisades is selling these through far fewer retailers, since TRU is the only major bricks and mortar retailer carrying them right now. I suspect that will change once they catch on, but with the size of the runs that Palisades must be doing, they should be able to do far lesser known characters and the large fan base will carry them through.

If Palisades manages this line well, it should be no trouble to see wave 10 and beyond. The single biggest mistake they can make is to try to appease both the general public and the collectors/fans. Doing so will end up not pleasing either in the long run, and will kill the line with retailers.

Michael
MWC

 

[matleo]

Re: Longevity of the line

Originally posted by Michael Crawfor

- the general public will want more Kermits and Piggys that Dr. Teeth.


MWC

I don't entirely know about that. I mean, it's true to an extent but around here I know of at leat one store where all their Piggy's were still there while Kermit was mostly gone and Teeth and Bunsen were completely gone. And the pattern is prety much along those lines in other stores. Although I know that the store had two cases (which seemed ot be what they had) that meant four Piggy's and four TOTAL for Teeth and Bunsen. But I think some of you more known obscures (your secondaries) will do well. As you get into guys like Uncle Deadly and such then yeah your gonna need some Kermit's and Piggys (maybe some Fozzie's and Gonzo's) to balance out and looking at what Ken has planned for '03, that seems to be the way Palisades is headed.

--Matt

 

[kane31666]

Let's put that in different terms, more people recognize the heavy hitters over the more obscure people. To make a simpsons reference, Homer and Bart are more popular than Cletus or Mrs. Krebapple.

 

[Michael Crawford]

No...

Your missing my point - I don't mean I think more people will buy the Kermits and Piggys, but that it's the general thinking when doing a line like this. I am trying to say that it's wrong, and that the general public won't be the majority of the buyers of this line.

The fans/collectors will be, and those folks are going to want one of each including the more obscure characters. What will happen with this first series is that the Teeth and Honeydews will disappear fast along with an equal number of Kermits and Piggys, but the additional Kermits and Piggys will take longer to sell through.

Another reason why even packing a case makes more sense with a line like this is net sales. Palisades is selling a large percentage of the figures through on-line retailers right now, and a place like New Force can move a TON of product, believe it or not. But they prefer even cases, because they can sell sets of the figures rather than one here or there. This is particularly crucial for pre-orders, which is at the heart of a successful on-line business.

I suspect that Palisades will change the case pack outs on future waves to be even, even if they don't realize it yet ;-)

Michael
MWC

 

[Kedrick]

Also, consider this: The regular Piggy is gonna be a peg warmer now that the Exclusive (and far superior) Miss Piggy is available. Many collectors have voiced their desire to skip the regular line Miss Piggy in favor of the EB Exclusive (and I wish I had followed that train of thought. I have 2 regular Piggy's that I don't even want to look at now!)

Kermit will sell well, because even though he also has an exclusive figure, the regular version remains true to the character and the sculpt is dead on. The exclusive is just icing on the lilly pad (yech!).

Clint

 

[Luke]

Michael

I think you are totally wrong on many points. Of course these figures are meant to be popular with the general public - otherwise places like TRU, FAO Schwartz and other general toy retailers wouldn't have placed orders and they'd be left to the smaller comic stores and things.

The Simpsons at the start was really meant for collectors and was the reason why they used smaller stockists but when they got popular thats when the bigger retailers picked the figures up. You'll notice also they've done lots of Homer & Bart variants to keep the more recognisable figures out there on the shelves. With the Muppets the whole process is kinda reversed but i think its a big mistake to have the two main players - Kermit & Piggy just totally disapear from the line over the next couple of months. I know the other wave one characters have been very popular but then it's a very strong line up - some of the other later waves are a lot more obscure and weaker.

I do agree that a large amount of the people buying the Muppets will be collectors and the dedicated fans - but you have to remember that nostalgia is very 'in' right now and i think the average joe would be tempted to buy these in the shops, especially when the Muppets come back on TV soon.

You are right that Palisades are smaller and so can probably manage on fewer quantiities and keep the line going longer but i think it's very decieving about just how much support for the Muppets there is on the internet. There are only a few hundred members here and this is the largest Muppet site, i think the Henson people before have researched the hardcore fanbase is only between 600 and 1000 people. If you translate it into figure sales it would mean that the sales to 'normal' people in the 'real world' would be VERY important to Henson and Palisades and have a big thing to do with how far the line goes. I also think it's a bit early to start judging how 'hot' the line is when the figures have only just been released - of course the first batches have sold out quickly, they will do - the moment of truth is when all the stocks have hit and there are large quantities available for people to buy.

 

[kane31666]

Luke, your second paragraph is a little off. In the beginning Playmates clearly stated that they didn't consider the Simpsons line a collectors line. They didn't admit that until Toyfair of this year. And yes, they've had many Bart and Homer variants, pretty much at least one in every wave, except for wave 7, which had a Marge variant. They did this for the reason you stated, to keep the more popular characters on the shelf, but also to help extend the life of the line itself, so as to not use up unique characters in early waves. The last sentence of your second paragraph, I'm not sure if you're referring to the Muppets or WoS line. If it's the Muppets then I have to agree with you, because they get obscure right away in waves 2, 3, and 4. Wave 5 is even more out there. If you were referring ot the simpsons, then I'd have to disagree with you because those lineups have been solid from wave 2-7. And about the last paragraph, I'd have to agree, because the visible fanbase is under 1,000. (BTW- the simpsons message board has over 2300 members). And because of that, Palisades has to draw in the guy who walks in front of the toy rack, without beforehand knowledge of the line. They need to get people who walk into a toy store with the thought of a different product, and then walk out with Muppet figures. I don't think with Crazy Harry, Lew Zealand or Dr. Strangepork that they can do that.