Authentic, Fully Licensed, Muppet Replicas Coming!

[MuppetDanny]

I wonder if the replica will have accessories like a banjo? perhaps dress-Up outfits like for the fisher price dolls

 

[tioandria]

Hello All,

My name is Kevin Eslinger and I am the Product Designer for the Disney Division at Master Replicas. I will be arrogant and say I am the guy who came up with the Muppet Replica idea for Master Replicas. Or at least I am the one who pushed it through the system and politics. I believe Palisades came to the idea a couple years before me but could not get done at Henson. It was kind of like Calculus being invented by two people at nearly the same time. The truth is it is just the next logical step in Muppets products if you think about where the high end collectible would go. I guess we could have made high end statues because Sideshow never did but Palisades figures were just too good to justify statues.

There was as everyone knows a Henson company policy that the cut patterns would never be duplicated. But soon as Disney took ownership of the Muppets everyone knew that new rules applied. I was being driven around LA by a licensor representative at Disney (we were looking for the prop house that currently had all the POTC props) when I first heard that Disney was now the proud owners of the Classic Muppets. I said that it was always a dream of mind to own a Kermit Puppet. From that moment on it was my mission to get this project moving forward for Master Replicas. I went through 4 bosses at Master Replicas before I was able to get a prototype complete.

When Palisades Muppets products came out I was a product designer at McFarlane Toys. I was always disappointed I did not get the opportunity to work on the Muppets action figure line. Although, it was not for a lack of trying. I sent Ken Lilly my resume a bunch of times when I was at McFarlane. He didn't want me. But now that Travis works for Master Replicas I can try to hit him up for some Muppets swag. I gave Mike Horn a Cinderella Glass Slipper after Toy Fair last year. I thought it was going to be a trade...but I digress...


I have been watching this thread grow over the past few months. I did not want to make any comments because I know there are some very strong negative feelings against Master Replicas making the Kermit Photo Puppet. I did not want to deal with the negativity while I was trying to think positively about the project. I understand the argument against that having the Kermit Photo Puppet replicated. There is a fear that recreating the Photo Puppet will ruin the character. All of the sudden Kermit would not be special.


I would argue that the reason Kermit was special not because of the the antron fleece but because of Jim Henson creativity. Watching the Muppets as a young kid, owning a Fisher Price Scooter as the first Toy I can remember, was one of the things that led me down the career path I have today. Looking back at 2005 meeting Heather Henson at Comic Con was one of the highlights of my year. Probably second only to the trip I took around the world. So to start something that would be seen as an attempt against the Henson Legacy is something that really bothers me. I think this will be a product that will end up being a center piece in homes. Hopefully parents will take Kermit out of the box and let their children play with him. Hopefully, it will inspire some kid to kick me out of my job in 10 years or so.


Lincoln said something about making people happy and I think it certainly holds true on collectibles forums. If Master Replicas ever does something wrong I most certainly hear about it. At times I like speaking to the public about what we are working on at times I like to crawl back in to my shell and never open the forums. Man we are getting a lot of negative heat these past few days. But the thing is we do take the comments positive or negative seriously. Last week I was in or CEO's office and he had a print out of the discussion on the forums about Master Replicas. The stack of paper two inches tall that he was reading it!

Despite all the negative feeling about the Kermit Photo Puppet Replica I am proud that Master Replicas is making the Kermit. I hope we are doing it in a way that Jim Henson would be happy with. It was bound to happen sooner or later and I can tell you everyone at Master Replicas who is involved with this project is really working to perfect it out of respect to Kermit and Jim Henson.

So here is a little bit about the Kermit Puppet... First of all, it does stand on it own. It is fully possible and it is going to be manufactured exactly the way each Photo Puppet is created at the Henson Workshop. I went to China to demonstrate the Henson stitch to the Factory. We order the Antron Fleece from Hampshire Textiles. The mouth will have the rubber gasket inside. The eyes will have the flocked adhesive. The head will not be over stuffed. The collar will be the correct color in production even though our prototype photos does not have the right colored collar. The feet will be corrected as well. The feet in the prototype are not correct. They should be about half the width. It will not be packaged with a banjo; however, there has been a lot of talk internally about doing it. I would love to do it, and may make one on my own.

To date we have only received one sample from China. It was a blue Kermit but it show me proof that Kermit can be made authentically overseas. At the time they did not have the antron fleece so they made it out of a blue sweater type fleece. Pretty cool.

The first antron fleece sample that I will see from China will be on display at New York Toy Fair. I believe I will be getting the sample sometime this week. Andrew Wen is the project manager for this project and he as been over in HK for about three weeks now making sure all of Master Replicas projects are on track. Andrew was the man behind our FX lightsabers this year. He is the reason why they are now so durable. He is an amazing guy, a brilliant project manager, and a really good person at heart. He has told me about four times that the Kermit Photo Puppet is is favorite project of 2006. I am working on some Marvel stuff that is pretty cool but I would have to agree with him. Kermit really blows all the other things we are making away. And yes I am including a 33 inch replica of the Millennium Falcon.

I just got finished designing the packaging for Kermit this evening. It will go to Disney for approval on Tuesday. I will have a mock up at Toy Fair so I am sure you will see photos soon. I think you will like it. The styleguide Disney has created captures the personality of the Muppets well. Kind of retro, kind of modern.

So you can throw some questions my way. My email is kevineslinger@masterreplicas.com. I most likely wont have time to answer everything and will have to download with Travis so he can address the public. I just wanted to get on here and let everyone know that there is not an evil corporate empire behind this idea to bring Kermit to the public. I live in Colorado. I eat a lot of butter noodles at Noodle and Company. I listen to Nirvana while I work.

If you knew our CEO Michael Cookson personally I am sure it would ease all of your fears about where we will be taking the Muppets license in the future. He is the first company owner that I have worked for who is driven by the challenge to create successful toy/collectible company with quality product rather than the money. He is also unusually obsessed with customer service and keeping our "core" customers happy. We at Master Replicas are all pretty much in this business because we love the stuff we do and the money is a great bonus.

One thing I would like to get started in here is your opinion on which Muppets to release next. I was thinking Animal then Rowlf. Tell me your opinions...

peace
k

 

[muppetperson]

Thanks for giving us a great run down.I think most of us are dying to get Muppet Replicas.I think most of the concerns relate to replica Muppets done illegally or unofficially.So it's great that this is official.I would probably like to see Gonzo or Fozzie next after Animal.And Even Miss Piggy before Rowlf.By the way do you have pictures of Kermit's wire skeleton or able to describle if it's one piece wire per limb or two wires to form a join?

 

[zns]

Nice to meet you Kevin. I must say that this is truely exciting news that you have given us. I'm really looking forward to seeing what other ideas you come up with, especially . I have two questions for you. When will the replicas be released and what will the price be?

 

[King Prawn]

Hello Kevin

I am very pleased to have seen you post here and reading your post has got me more excited for these than I already was, you have put many of our fears at ease and just the thought of knowing your company would be willing to release such a character such as makes me very happy.

I love the idea of Animal being released next and am looking forward to seeing how he turns out. Rowlf has always been a favourit of mine especially since he's hardly used anymore so i'd love to see a Muppet Replica of him but if I had to be honest i'd much rather see Dr. Teeth, Floyd or Zoot I could just imagine how cool a replica of one of thes guys would be. I'd also love to see a Sam the Eagle replica and especially a Piggy replica, there are many products based on the pig but many, hardly any manage to get her right, i'd love to finally have a decent looking Piggy (in this case replica) in my collection.

Though don't get me wrong i am so happy that Rowlf is on the rader, I'd have thought we'd see a bunch of overly used muppets such as Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie and Animal before seing others but i'm glad that's not how things are looking.

thanks for listening

 

[Kermieuk]

Welcome to the board Kevin.

Thanks for the detailed guide of where you are at with the Kermit Replica. I am as excited now about this product as I was when I very first heard of it. Firstly, I would like to say that I think its great these days how company's involve the public/fans when working on a product, I know the net is a helpful tool with this, I remember years ago writing to a company for info on a Muppet product and not even getting a reply!

I feel slightly frustrated about all the negative comments about this, and how they could have affected this product being made. Basically if you dont agree or dont like something.............dont buy it. But the amount of positive comments has out weighed and won through.

My own personal opinion on the next Muppets Replicas would be to have two or three core characters first, Kermit followed by Fozzie, Gonzo and Piggy, then start adding secondary characters. Rowlf for example, I love Jim's character Rowlf, but as a product, does he have as much universal appeal as Kermit, to sell enough to warrant making him? Im not being negative here, I'd love to see Rowlf, but would hate to see a secondary character not sell as well as the others and mean the line ends due to poor sales. Another thing I was thinking, which hasnt been mentioned on here yet, is HOW COOL the smaller Muppets will be when made as replicas!! Rizzo, Pepe, and imagine a Robin Replica, sat on his Uncle Replica Kermit's lap!!?

I would also probably have to say, I would love to see Miss Piggy made next, a totally biased opinion, as I love Piggy as much as I love Kermit. I also totally agree, I dont think many products come near to actually capturing Miss Piggy's likeness and magic!!?

It would be interesting to see the Blue Kermit prototype, I expect we never will though?? Great news that work has started on the box, can we have a hint as to what type of box it will be...........hoping for a window box!!

I have also been meaning to say, that on looking at the pictures available so far, it looks as if the base of Kermit's Thumb is quite thick, compared to the original Puppet poser?? May be just the way it looks, I was wandering if anyone else agreed??

FLOCKED EYES?? I guess this means the blacks/pupils of the eyes, the white is shiny.............right!!?

What happens with Master Replicas products in relation to having the Copyright/ Maker info on it, I mean a Kermit doll has a plush tag stitched into his hip or back, or something embroided on his foot!! Does this info HAVE to go on the replica and if so, how will this be done? A tag would surely ruin the look of a replica, maybe small tucked away under his collar? Or a card certificate which comes with him?? Are these Limited Editions??

As earlier mentioned, a hint of a release date and cost would be great.

With regards to Kermit's banjo, this would be a great side line, surely a Replica of Kermits Banjo, as used in the Muppet Movie could be sold as a replica in its own right!!

I think this is the longest message Ive ever typed on here!! Lol.

Have a Good weekend all.

Chris

 

[tioandria]

Hello All,

Wow a lot of nice responses already!

What price, what price, what price? I just completed a sales kit that said the Kermit Puppet is going to be $249.

When, when, when? Our sales team would yell at me if I told you guys. I can't steal their thunder.

The internal construction? Andrew (the project manager) has been doing a lot of testing as to the materials to best use as the skeleton structure. The prototype has a wire skeleton. The wire ran through out the body, arms, legs, finger, and head. The wires also went through the face so you give Kermit expressions. Andrew had a concern that using wire in production would not be good. If you ever had one of those bendy toys when you were young you know that after you bend a leg over and over the wire inside breaks. Andrew tried making an internal ABS plastic structure but the cost was too high. Just before he went to China we spoke about the internal structure. He is back on using wire but he is working to finding the correct wire (or braiding of wires) that can be bent over and over again a long time. Most likely it will be a braiding of wires similar to how picture framing wire looks.

Thick thumb? I will check this out in the next sample. From what I can tell in the photos I have the thumb is about three times the size of the fingers though. That was just taking a real quick look though.

Flocked Eyes? Yes I mean the blacks/pupils.

Copyright information location? I don't know if this was Andrew's idea or mine. I think it was Andrews. But the copyright information will go under the collar. I think this is a great solution.

Want a Window Box? I think you will be happy.

Here are some more of my thoughts on the line list. My two next favorite Muppets past Kermit are Gonzo and Animal. However, these characters are generally the same size. Animal has long limbs but the core construction is relatively similar to Kermit (at least in the body). There has been a lot of concern in making the larger figures because of the size. Every time I hear that concern I start taking about the giraffe stuffed animal I saw at FAO in New York and confidently say, “oh it can be done.” I have found that with product development and most things in life if you just act confident people believe you (even if you are not sure yourself). Once you get permission to move forward the figuring it out is the fun part. So how do we tackle the larger figures? Rowlf is by far the easiest larger figure to tackle at 1:1. He is also one of the oldest Muppets and one that was always close to Henson. I also have a concern that the line will fizzle out if we release the “best” Muppets first. I want to be working on this line for at least the next five year! There is still some time before we decide the line up so please be very vocal about this.

Well I'm hungry. Time for some buttered noodles.

k

 

[King Prawn]

For the next five years!

That's great, I never actually thought how long the line would run but this is great, we'll be able to have a nice little collection on our hands, I see the next Palisade line approaching except in Replica form.

I'm glad to see that bigger sized Muppets are just as possible as say Kermit sized puppets.

The more i think about it the more i'd like to see a Dr. Teeth or Piggy. It would be great to finally own a good proper looking Piggy, in my opinion Piggy is a must. Dr. Teeth has also always been a very beautiful puppet and i'd love to see him at some point in the line actually i'd love to see the entire Electric Mayhem. Floyd would also look very appealing and imagine how nuts everyone would go if a Zoot was announced.

Rowlf is one of those characters who i'd want to see get made for sure as much as Piggy & Dr.Teeth but i'd like him for th sakes that he's Rowlf not because of how appealing he looks if you know what i mean.

As i mentioned before Sam is another character i'd love to see and Pepe would also be a nice pick maybe a Pepe/Rizzo two pack. Would that be possible?

thanks

 

[rtgentry]

We have to have statler and waldorf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[muppetperson]

Thanks for telling us the price,Kevin.That is great value, because a few years ago I was talking to someone at Hensons regarding the Photo posers and he let it slip that he found out the dolls cost $20,000 to make!!!!!!