Ask Ken at Palisades

[Louis Kazagger]

Question for Ken:

Did TRU Canada take any Muppet Labs playsets? I have yet to see one. Did they decline this piece like they did the Tux Kermit? Maybe I've just missed them and they've sold out already, or maybe they haven't arrived yet.

 

[MaxGoof]

Ken, can I have a pat on the head and a "Good Boy!" for being the first to pick out the movie licensing information from the new Toyfare? I was really proud of myself for catching that! Also, got my Club Package--everything was beautiful, beautiful. I especially love my Vivi doll (surprise!), but when did Palisades make her? Also, those multi-colored stickers are SWEET! Can we have some of those with every collector's club purchase? Pleeeeeease?

 

[ResidentLilly]

First the outstanding questions:

MaxGoof
Ken, can I have a pat on the head and a "Good Boy!" for being the first to pick out the movie licensing information from the new Toyfare?

Pat, pat, pat...

Louis Kazagger
Did TRU Canada take any Muppet Labs playsets?

No. They decided they did not want the product.

grail
Toyfare bit, did you guys dictate what they could and couldn't show? or did you jsut send them a punch of photos, and they used what they wanted? and did you read the Dr. Teeth vs Dr. Mindbinder bit in the priceguide? priceless...

We spoke on the phone and talked about what we had and did not have to show. We wanted the Chef in, but the Kitchen was not done when they needed to go to press. They also have Regular Rowlf in there, and we had made the call to release Tux Rowlf first after they went to press.

incredeeble!
Forgive me for asking this if this has already been asked, but I'm just wondering... How many muppets, if you're allowed to say, do you have planned for the line???

We have a tentative plan through Series 14. If people want them and buy the lines, we will continue to make them. That simple really.

SuperGrover
Now here's my question for Ken. What is the chance of possibly eventually having a Miss Piggy with one of those ball joint necks so she can do her classic "Moi" pose?

Slim to none. Doing that would alter the sculpt to such a huge degree that I doubt we could ever make it happen. She has a really thick neck and it would have to be that way each and every time.

Also, I don't remember if Pops is being considered as a figure. What was the story with Pops?

He is being considered heavily.

kansasteen14 ken is there any chance of there ever being a mail away figure? and for the deluxe playsets is there a chance that you could make say the audience or orchestra pit and have it interlock with the stage?

I think we will probably do a website exclusive but probably not a mail away. As for the stage extras, too early to tell.

beaker Hey Ken!
1. How many inches long are the Lobster Banditos?
2. Will the lobsters have any articulation?
Just wondering if they are a one piece face down thing, or have any joints or ability to display standing?
3. How long does it take to sculpt/make a prototype like the new figures shown in the article, or the accessories?

1. About 2-3.
2. None. They will be just like you see them, except each will have a gun in one claw.
3. Various. Depends on so many factors. There is no way for me to answer that.

Any of the others will be answered in a follow up in a little bit...slammed with some stuff right now.

 

[kansasteen14]

thanks for answering all those questions ken.I sorta figured it was to early to tell but it never hurts to ask,and a website exclusive would be really cool.

 

[ResidentLilly]

Now The Skinny...

OK, so we are now able to make versions of the characters based on the six movies and Muppets Tonight. You know that. It's been hinted at before, and yeah we knew for a while and even put out Invisible Spray Fozzie, with Henson's permission, before anything was official. But it's official now, and so the line-up for the year got tweaked and adjusted. Well, more than it NORMALLY gets tweaked and adjusted.

So in addition to a lot of new characters now being available to us, we also have the two new categories in addition to the figures. You know of the Mega Muppets, and now we will also be doing PVC figurines. This has been in the works for some time, actually about 2-3 months. Not a lot to say about them just yet but they will not be articulated small figures. They will be posed, PVC statues, and the plan is to try to provide people with something that is totally different than the figures and to try to have them placed in places you don't normally see the figures as well. It should be a really fun product. They will most likely be released in sets, in between releases of the figures. Lots of detail and lots of suprises.

This is early in the stages of planning, and we will probably put together a press release type thing when we have more info on it and then can really be more specific about the upcoming sets.

At this point, you heard on the grapevine that Janice was being bumped from Series 4. That is true. She will come with the Series 5 playset, which will be the first for us based on a movie. The Electric Mayhem Bus, from The Muppet Movie, will push Koozebane to Series 6. Koozebane is NOT canceled, just moved one series back. Rizzo replaces Janice in Series 4, in his MT incarnation. One other change in Series 4 is that Sam the Eagle will be moved to something special later and Sam Arrow takes his place, from MTI. (Hold on while I put on my environmental suit before the flames start on that one) It is an echo of the reason we are bumping regular Rowlf for Tux Rowlf. There is no reason to rush to put out the standard version of every character, especially now.

That makes your Series 4 line-up as follows:
Link Hogthrob (TMS)
Julius Strangepork (TMS)
Rizzo (MT)
Sam Arrow (MTI)
SwineTrek Playset with First Mate Piggy (TMS)

As of Series 4, this line ceases to be called "The Muppet Show: 25th Anniversary" and changes to "Jim Henson's Muppets". It will stay Series 4 though, as even though it is changing names it is still in the same scale, style and all that as the first three series. The card will change looks significantly. With that change, this line turns into a Star Wars: Power of the Force type thing. With the overall brand of Muppets and characters from all different sources in each assortment.

And that is about all I can tell you. We need to have some new stuff to share as the time passes, so the definitive list of Series 5 through whatever will have to wait a while. Suffice it to say that I think this is a great thing for the longevity of the line and a really fun thing to be approaching in this manner with all the versions and new characters being available to do cool stuff with. On a personal note I am thrilled about the PVC line too...there are some really cool things you can do there that you just can't do in the figure line.

So anyway that's the skinny.

Remember when I said there were three things to announce? This is two of them. There is still a third...but that will have to wait. It's a small thing really, so don't freak...but it is VERY cool and I think you guys will really be stoked about it.

 

[incredeeble!]

that's it... I'm gonna need a bigger display wall....... (and a second job to fulfill this addiction!)

 

[grail]

i know it's probably a little late to ask, but can Sam come with a "very safe" rowboat? because that'd be hilarious, and easier to do than a set of keys

(is actually a FAN of MTI, and wants figures badly)

and BTW Ken...i would like to point out how much of a good boy i am...

 

[kansasteen14]

now I cant wait for series 4 because my favorite role of Sam the Eagle is Sam Arrow,but I REALLY was looking forward to vet's hospital and now I will have to wait even longer.oh well as long as it comes out.I was thinking of a movie playset that would be really cool The muppet boarding house from MFS.I know alot of people dont like it but it would be really cool as a deluxe playset.

 

[Luke]

All great news Ken, especially for the longetivity of the line - if you can keep up the consumer interest in all the different areas, you could likely carry this on to retirement ! LOL !

I don't see it as a bad thing about MT Rizzo and MTI Sam - they are both good choices, especially the Rizzo. I'm getting this psychic feeling right now that Pepe will be in Wave 5 ! Hmmmm ....

The name change sounds cool too - i'm especially stoked that the Jim Henson name will be prominent.

 

[ResidentLilly]

grail
and BTW Ken...i would like to point out how much of a good boy i am...

Yes you are, and so are a few other folks around here and there who knew about this for weeks and kept it a secret. I know it was tough to do and I appreciate the trustworthiness of these folks who helped me out and who listened and provided feedback. To sit on that info was a HUGE deal, and I appreciate it more than I can ever really express....