Ask Ken at Palisades

[The Count]

My opinion, and that's all it is, Vet's Hospital should be held back a while. If the VH playset gets released, then Dr. Bob would be released either with the playset or in that proper series' regular lineup. The reason for my opinion, we'd have two Rowlf variants and still no regular Rowlf figure. Even Beaker got his regular figure with the variants, so I'd like to see regular Rowlf before another specialty version of the piano-playing dog hits the shelves. Depending on what you've got under wraps Ken, I think that either Happiness Hotel or the Hispañiola should be the playsets with Pops and MTI figures respectively. I nominate Pops for the Hotel after you suggested regular Sam the Eagle for the Muppet Show backstage. For the MTI mastership, either Captain Smoolit or the pirate figures could be packed-in, depending on which would be featured in that series' lineup. Just my 2, 2 cents in for additional fodder.

 

[Sideroad]

My #1 want for a Playset is the Backstage. To me it is the one set that really embodies the Muppets. But thats just my thought. It would be cool if it came with Beauregard. I really want to see him somewhere!

 

[simon42]

I agree 100% with Sideroad: I vote backstage with Beau.

 

[Joe]

Originally posted by ResidentLilly
...has not been officially decided upon yet, although I can tell you that there is a list of about 5 or so ideas that we are currently debating...

I'd think it would depend on the sale of the EM bus to decide what to go with, because if a non 'playset' sold well, then the boat would definatly be the way to go (as long as it included Mr. Bimbo ) I think it'd be better to release the stage before the backstage (of course that's only my nonsence reasoning) and should you decide to do the happiness hotel, just make sure there's no kitchen (Beau's taxi would be cool though )

Joe

 

[Zack the Dog]

The Count

My opinion, and that's all it is, Vet's Hospital should be held back a while. If the VH playset gets released, then Dr. Bob would be released either with the playset or in that proper series' regular lineup. The reason for my opinion, we'd have two Rowlf variants and still no regular Rowlf figure. Even Beaker got his regular figure with the variants, so I'd like to see regular Rowlf before another specialty version of the piano-playing dog hits the shelves. Depending on what you've got under wraps Ken, I think that either Happiness Hotel or the Hispañiola should be the playsets with Pops and MTI figures respectively. I nominate Pops for the Hotel after you suggested regular Sam the Eagle for the Muppet Show backstage. For the MTI mastership, either Captain Smoolit or the pirate figures could be packed-in, depending on which would be featured in that series' lineup. Just my 2, 2 cents in for additional fodder.

I would think there would already be room for Rowlf out anyways i mean we don't know who is coming out in series 6 or 7, we could see reg rowlf then with maybe with an upright piano, it would be cool if his mouth could be movable, we don't yet know what ken & Crew and in store for old brown ear's i highly doubt they would take him to the pound and hold him off for too too long,

i just ment to beging with that on the box of muppet labs it mentions VH's and i wanted to see if it was an idea that would not be passed over or forgotin,because it's on the box, doesnt mean it will come out soon, but would come out no matter what "As long as the line is doing well and gets that far, this i hope also goes for bear on patrol, thouse as well as backstage and the theater are what i'm looknig forward to the most.

 

[Gordon Universe]

I agree, Beau is the perfect character for backstage since Kermit and Scooter will already be out.

 

[bc-fraggle]

Here's a question... and let me apologize first hand if it has already been answered, but there is too much stuff to keep track of. On the back of the Lab playset, we know the the VH playset is mentioned. Why is it now not a consideration for 2003 if it was mentioned on the back of the Lab Box?
I would be happy to see the pirate ship come out as a playset, as well as any other playset that includes a Rowlf figure. Does anyone know yet what is planned for Nekkid Rowlf? Will Toy Fair shed some light into his momentary "disappearance"?

 

[The Count]

Hi, bc-fraggle. Though I'm not Ken, for the first time I actually have a chance to sub in for him and hopefully answer your questions!
1 No, we still don't know just what's planned for the regular Rowlf figure.
2 It's quite possible that Palisades' presentation at Toy Fair 2003 may shed some light on the surprise for Rowlf.
3 The reason that VH won't be in the lineup is because all four playsets for that year have already been planned out. Here's what we'll get:
a. The Swedish Chef with the Swedish Kitchen in Series 3,
b. First Mate Piggy with the bridge of the Swine Trek in Series 4,
c. Janice with the Electric Mayhem's bus in Series 5, and
d. Reporter Kermit with Planet Koozbane in Series 6.
Hope this settles your fears as we await the coming release of Series 2.

 

[Luke]

I didn't realise Koozebane was still locked for wave 6 ? It sounds so weak now compared to the other playsets because of all the other cool stuff that can be done instead with the movie licenses. Is it really such a good idea for the line to have a set hardly anyone remembers being sandwiched between things like the EM Bus, Pigs In Space and the Backstage Set or Theatre ?

I know people are gonna kick my butt for being a Muppet fan and not sticking up for the totally cool but obscure Koozebane but i really feel it's going to take down the momentum of the line quite a bit. The Labs seems to have been a slow seller so you can imagine the peg warming capabilities of this - it just doesn't have the 'wow' factor - and i thought the ethos of the line was about making the next line up stronger and more exciting than the last ? It just doesn't work for me - i'd much rather they did Vets Hospital for Wave 6 and then went onto the Backstage or Hispanola for wave 7 with the Theatre coming in 8.

 

[GWGumby]

I agree with what Grail said a ways back about needing the figures to play with the playset. However, that doesn't mean we can't get multiple characters with a playset, doesn't it? We're not just limited to one pack-in per set, are we? I mean the Koozebane set will have a whole bunch of different Koozebanians along with Kermit. If we got a Hispaniola, who says it can only come with one or even two characters? (Well, it would be Palisades who says it, ultimately).

I know each additional character would eat into the budget for accessories and other detail, but I do think it would be a bad idea to release a playset without at least a few appropriate figures to interact with it. The exception being things like the Swedish Chef kitchen and (if it were to happen, but won't) a Muppet Newsroom. But both of those would require plenty of props to make up for the lack of interaction with other characters.

But otherwise, if the figures were too obscure to sell individually, then I think multiple B- and C-list characters appropriate to the environment could work together to sell a playset.