Ask Ken at Palisades

[grail]

Originally posted by Squigiman
one of the most awesome Muppet-related things I have to report, is that a teacher of mine this semester was apparently THE INSPIRATION FOR ZOOT! Yeah, I know anyone can say it, but I believe him. I've seen him credited as a sax player on various albums, as well as hearing from my girlfriend, who already took the class, about his story of his first contract negotiation, WITH KERMIT! Yeah, Jim actually pulled out the green one, and made him talk to him. Pretty awesome, and reassuring to hear my teacher's respect and appreciation of the genius that was/is/always will be Jim Henson.

what's your teacher's name? i was always under the impression that the inspiration for Zoot was "Blue Lou" Marini.

if HE is your teacher than you have just become my new best friend as he is freakin' AWESOME!!! he was the Sax player in the Saturday Night Live band, back when Paul Shaffer was the band leader (which puts him there when Jim was around, correct?) AND he is most well known as the Sax player for the Blues Brothers in both movies and all the music.

 

[Aerosmith]

I thought Zoot was inspired by Jim Morrisons later years. You know like he was on acid all the time.

 

[Joe]

I got my IS Fozzies today, and I just have to say, that not only did fozzies hat stay on and the ducky stay in his hand through the 'shake' test, but fozzies hat even survived the "little sister test"! this guy is just as amazing as VC Beaker! thanks again Palisades!!

Joe

 

[MuppetVison]

Just wondering if any one has any news on Muppet Babies? Am I being to impatiant? I hope not.

And An Eating Gorgan Heap figure would be AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[grail]

as far as i am aware, they are not yet planning any Muppet Babies figures, and if they did, they would have to be from TMTM only, not the show (so no Skeeter) because the show is a totally different license. and because the Muppet Babies WERE their own show, it may be difficult for Palisades to do them, even though they were in TMTM. personally, i wouldn't be against it, but there are quite a few that would. i may not be a HUGE fan of them, but they are still part of Muppet history, and should be treated as such.

but then, so should the Fraggles...

(hey, i just realized, when Palisades' Muppet license runs up in '05, they would be just in time to pick up the Fraggle license and get things ready for a Fraggle Rock 25th anniversary line! not that i want them to STOP making Muppets, mind you...but by then, there could be room in the market for both!)

 

[ResidentLilly]

Anyways, on to the toys and Ken and stuff. I was thinking about the Chef, after checking out some pics of the figure and playset over at Raving Toy Maniac, and there still seems to be something not right about him. I know I'm just one fan, but everyone's opinion counts, and that's why there's this thread, right? Anyways, I was thinking, since the look of a figure goes through so much change from the original concept designs to the store shelves, that maybe my worries were unfounded, but Ken, I really think that the face in your avatar looks a heckuva lot better than the Comic-Con one displayed so often these days.

Exact same figure. Two different pictures. Won't be changing it actually...one photo often isn't enough to make an accurate judgement of anything unfortunately.

I also always look at the Sideshow stuff, which is great. Two different products though, and there are a lot of limits we have that they don't and vice versa...think of it this way. We make toys, they make art. So...doing the best I can on Gonzo within those limitations.

Will give a complete update (since Luke asked) later tonight on the skinny over here. Your morning time...

 

[grail]

personally, i think what people might see as the "problem" with Chef is that his hair (what little he has), eyebrows, and mustache are darker than they look on-screen. my guess is that this is due to the same problem Bunsen had...the color is washed out by the camera, and so it looks lighter than it really is.

or maybe i'm completely off base...

 

[ResidentLilly]

Originally posted by grail
personally, i think what people might see as the "problem" with Chef is that his hair (what little he has), eyebrows, and mustache are darker than they look on-screen. my guess is that this is due to the same problem Bunsen had...the color is washed out by the camera, and so it looks lighter than it really is.

or maybe i'm completely off base...

Not entirely. What happens is you have a brown hair that is thin and wispy and light passes through it, making it appear lighter in color on a Puppet. You put it in plastic, use the same color specs, you have a much darker looking hair. Same way on all prior Chef merchandise...the stuffed Chef's seem more accurate in that respect because of the same light penetration. You are assuming that he meant color, not sculpt of course!

 

[grail]

well, it was the only thing that struck me as..."off-putting" from the pictures so far. but even that was one of those things that after the first couple times looking at it, you go "you know...that's not so bad". but yes, i'm assuming. and you know what that does...

 

[ResidentLilly]

What can I tell you?

So far, this China trip has been like every other...hot, sticky and full of problems. Some have been solved with minimal fuss, some have not been solved, or were solved to something much less than my satisfaction. Not necessarily on Muppets though, which is the funny thing. Yeah sure it has had it's share of issues, but nowhere near the amount the other three figure lines we are working on getting out the door. Oy...

Some interesting Muppet stuff though (the only stuff you care about!) has come up. Some news tidbits are:

1. Electric Mayhem neon will be opaque, not semi-clear.
2. Wild hair version of Animal is a go. Henson saw it, approved it and now we are putting the finishing touches on it. So anyone who got their hands on the toilet head version has a REAL gem...cause it ain't gonna be released.
3. Gonzo has a new cape. Because of a factory inability to get access to material in the quantity we need that is all red, we had to go with a red with a white inner lining. That actually looks cooler if you ask me...and matches the packaging pic on the card. The variant version does still have the same blue cape.
4. Variant Floyd has a variant guitar color. White with black highlights and a medium grey amp. Lighter color wood. Rocks with the figure colors.
5. Henson did decide on a two toned head for Floyd...lighter color for the moustache, darker for the hair itself.
6. MEGA Beaker will not have high pile hair. In this scale, integrated into plastic, it looks like...well, nether regions come to mind. So the only way to really do it is to stick with sculpted hair. We did tweak it with more detail and sharper hair clumps...maybe you saw the test shot pic on the Bit last week.
7. Interesting outcome with Gonzo's cannon. The first spring failed safety tests, as did the second. A third, much weaker spring is what we had to go with to pass safety tests. EXCEPT in Europe. Gotta love those Europeans...they only ask for a special label and let us use the stronger spring. So you guys will get a really good cannon firing mechanism, and the states will get one that is considerably weaker.

Other than all that, the paints are approved, the pre-production samples are all worked out. Hopefully they will start getting some stuff out the door by around mid month. Hopefully...you know how that goes. Biggest thing to QC is making sure the factory gets the magnets the correct way. Makes me mad, because it is cool with the magnets, but with the holes in the head it is certainly easier to control in production! One of my main goals is to keep the screw-ups to a minimum on that.

Series 3 will be finished tooling at the end of the month, at which time I'll get to see some test shots, but I'll be home by then. We also started prototyping the next five MEGA Muppets to be released next year. The plan is for one of them will be a summer show/club exclusive. We'll sell it at each of the summer shows, not just one, and also offer it through the website collector's club. We'll decide that for sure in the coming months.

Oh yeah, got the tooling patterns here on the three Pigs in Space figures. WOW. The photos I have seen and reviewed do not do these guys justice. Same group that sculpted the Swedish Chef did these, and they are really very good. Rizzo is approved and being cast, along with most of the Series 4 accessories. Sam Arrow is almost complete. I expect him to be complete and in casting next week. Same with the playset, which has some really neat features.

Can't think of anything else right now, unless anyone has any specific questions. As for the Gorgon Heap figure suggestion, anything is possible I suppose. I have no idea how I would figure out a figure eating figure...would be quite the challenge though.