Diamond Select Toys to Produce new Muppet figures and mini mates!

[MuppetSpot]

I honestly want to know if any accessories were nixed for series 1.

 

[jvcarroll]

Here comes the waambulance again. In the classic words of Robin, "I don't care what anyone else says, I'm having a good time!"

I honestly don't know what happened between the proto and the final Kermit but I'll probably touch up the pupils. Most Muppet fans are crafty that way.

The Robin pupils are good. A tiny, tad smaller, but nicely placed and I might tweak those too. The Palisades Robin pupils were nowhere near the accuracy of DST's, but people are used to looking a them.

I have a feeling that if they did ever scan the actual puppets (something that's actually very expensive and difficult) the same fans would complain about which puppets were used, how they were posed and then, of course, there are factory issues that always happen too.

Whateves. I like 'em! Yay that!

 

[jvcarroll]

OMG! So, a friend just got me these figures for my birthday. I have some coming to me from another source, but they've been dragging their feet (hint, hint).

I have some intimate knowledge of these fellas, but I can't talk much about that so I'm just going to tell ya what I've seen from the Palisades to the proto pics of these to the final ones in my little fanatic hands.

Kermit - the articulation is amazing. It more than makes up for the large pupils on him. I'm going to customize mine anyway. The one break out thing about him that few people will notice is the "knuckle" between his eyes. This is probably the first figure to ever show that indentation from the puppeteer's hand. It's subtle, but it's there.

Robin - virtually perfect rendering. The pupils are a tiny bit small, but the eye focus on all of these is spot-on. I'm very impressed they were able to do that at the factory. Yay. I don't know why folks are complaining about his arm pose. It's somewhat limiting, but he can raise both arms up. Rather cool for such a tiny figure. They even included a little "fabric fold" in his neck area. Robin doesn't really have much of a neck, hence that signature fold.

Bean - that guy is the best of the bunch and far more articulated that I imagined. While they seemed to have truncated the paint apps slightly, there are so many different subtle shades on his face and it makes for a nice, nuanced figure that most resembles the puppet.

Fozzie - amazing. A little cone-headed, but that's for the non-magnetic hat. The eye focus and everything are very impressive. I love this guy. The articulation is also rather impressive. This is very much the early 80's bear.

Scooter - the glasses issue is kind of wonky and I wish the eye focus in the glasses were a little more on the mark, but he's an impressive sculpt. They also truncated some of the paint apps in his mouth, but in general, he's very close to the puppet once the glasses are tweaked.

Gonzo - he looks so much better in person. This is not a replica of the last figure. He's an all-new sculpt and very impressive. The paint apps on his nose were truncated and the paint obscures the foamy texture underneath, but he's an attractive fella. I wish they'd included the airbrushing and pink swipe on the bottom lip, but that's getting nitpicky. They got the mouth shape right. Yay that.

Camilla - she's just about perfect. They neglected to paint her mouth, but at this size, that's not surprising. I thought the neck would be articulated. Apparently not. Hmmm.

All in all, these are rather tiny. Wonderfully so. I'm very pleased (and proud) of these figures. First series' are very much like first pancakes. There's a learning curve. It's impressive and I can only imagine that series two will be even better.

That's my review and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Blue Frackle]

Don't get me wrong ~ still good figures.

I honestly want to know if any accessories were nixed for series 1.

I'd say no; if anything, I think we got more than we could ask for.

I have a feeling that if they did ever scan the actual puppets (something that's actually very expensive and difficult) the same fans would complain about which puppets were used, how they were posed and then, of course, there are factory issues that always happen too.

I mean that's a little extreme. It's a completely valid criticism and in no way nitpicking; something went wrong on Diamond's end.

 

[jvcarroll]

Don't get me wrong ~ still good figures.


I'd say no; if anything, I think we got more than we could ask for.


I mean that's a little extreme. It's a completely valid criticism and in no way nitpicking; something went wrong on Diamond's end.

Fans will pick apart anything. It takes so much to bring a product to market and there's no one method that's better than another. There are always challenges. No matter what happens in the process. Kermit's pupil issue and the bit of glop with some of the paint apps are really the only legit criticisms here. The rest is personal fan perspective (and a lot of that isn't supported by the research).

 

[jvcarroll]

My first candid Fozzie photo. I think he turned out great. Soo friggin tiny!

 

[jvcarroll]

Here's another photo someone left on my timeline. Good comparisons here. Not fair since it's like apples and oranges, but interesting. And the people remarking about Scooter, um...

 

[MuppetSpot]

Just got Fozzie, now just Gonzo to track down.

 

[floydnjanicefan]

Here's another photo someone left on my timeline. Good comparisons here. Not fair since it's like apples and oranges, but interesting. And the people remarking about Scooter, um...

Fascinating! I prefer some from each set better. I prefer Scooter, Camilla, and Kermit from Diamond, and Robin and Fozzie from Palisades. I am glad I collect both!

 

[jvcarroll]

Fascinating! I prefer some from each set better. I prefer Scooter, Camilla, and Kermit from Diamond, and Robin and Fozzie from Palisades. I am glad I collect both!

Ha. That's cool. All very good reasons.

I'm biased because, well...stuff. Hehe. Here are my picks.

I prefer the Diamond Select Fozzie because his facial ratios are more 80's, but it's a very close toss-up. Palisades' Fozzie was actually on many best-of figure lists.

I prefer the Palisades Kermit because, well, the eye printing. It's all in the eyes for me. Any time I work on a figure, I create an extensive eye focus guide.

I prefer the Diamond Select Scooter because the closed jacket is accurate and the facial ratios are on point once the glasses are adjusted.

I prefer the Diamond Select Robin because he's more puppet accurate and the eye focus is a little better.

I prefer Diamond Select Camilla because she's puppet accurate. I worked on Palisades' Bernice so that would have probably been better than this Camilla if I were shooting for the resemblance.

I prefer the Palisades Gonzo. I worked hard on that and we got to do some fun and subtle things with the paint apps. For a while, Disney actually used it (and not the puppet) as a guide to how he should look in products. Diamond's version is very good too. The relaxed lids are great. It just misses some subtlety at that scale.

And Bean, well there's no Palisades Bean, but even if one did exist, it would be hard to beat the detail and nuance they pulled off from Diamond Select's Bean. Beautiful figure!!