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

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In this recent YouTube, Zach talks a lot about their Muppets figures. It sounds like Deadly and Pepe are now supposed to ship in February, and Lips and Lew Zealand will go up for pre-order in March or April. I'm not excited about the long and continued delays, but I am excited that we still could have figures of Deadly, Pepe, Sweetums, Lips, and Lew Zealand by the end of the year. It sounded like the production issues that have caused delays for all of Diamond's figures are getting resolved, which I'm hoping means we'll get Sweetums and Robin this summer and Lips and Lew before the end of the year.

Zach said work hasn't started on the set they'll make after Lips and Lew because production is so backed up, but he did throw out some possibilities. Link and Strangepork seemed to be top of the list. It sounds like as a two-pack without Piggy. Then maybe Pops and Beauregard or the Newsman, Vets Hospital 3-pack, Christmas Carol variants with Michael Caine, and maybe Bobo and Walter eventually.
 

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Well, this doesn't look good for the company.


It's still possible that product makes it out, but the future isn't too bright.
 

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Well, this doesn't look good for the company.


It's still possible that product makes it out, but the future isn't too bright.
That is bad news. For the sake of the employees and the dozen of additional Muppet figures I want them to make, I hope this bankruptcy and potential acquisition process goes smoothly and quickly. I'm not sure if those folks will continue working and products will continue being produced for the time being or if everything has halted. With the long delays for Pepe and Deadly, it seems like maybe production halted awhile ago. I feel so bad for Zach and the rest of the DST and Gentle Giant teams and wish them luck!
 

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I was reading a little about the closure of Palisades to see if it could provide any indication of what is likely to happen with DST. It seems like Palisades didn't file for ch. 11 bankruptcy but was still trying to sell off assets before eventually closing what remained of the company. I guess other companies didn't think the Muppets line was profitable enough to purchase. Since DST filed for ch. 11 bankruptcy protection, I'm not sure how similar the two situations will be. Does anyone have any more information about the Palisades closure or more insights about DST's situation? I feel bad for all the DST employees and would be so bummed if Lips and Lew Zealand don't get made.
 

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I was reading a little about the closure of Palisades to see if it could provide any indication of what is likely to happen with DST. It seems like Palisades didn't file for ch. 11 bankruptcy but was still trying to sell off assets before eventually closing what remained of the company. I guess other companies didn't think the Muppets line was profitable enough to purchase. Since DST filed for ch. 11 bankruptcy protection, I'm not sure how similar the two situations will be. Does anyone have any more information about the Palisades closure or more insights about DST's situation? I feel bad for all the DST employees and would be so bummed if Lips and Lew Zealand don't get made.
There hasn't been much said. It's possible that this only affects the comic distribution side of things. I suppose we will see what kind of showing they have at Toy Fair, if any.
 

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There hasn't been much said. It's possible that this only affects the comic distribution side of things. I suppose we will see what kind of showing they have at Toy Fair, if any.
Unfortunately, Diamond Select also filed ch. 11 bankruptcy, in addition to Diamond Comic Distributors, though the filings are being handled under the same case. DST's filing indicated they have higher liability than assets. I'm hoping a large portion of the liability is obligation, like sculpts or distribution for other companies, and not debt. I'm also really curious if they are at Toy Fair in March.

I really hope Lips and Lew Zealand go up for pre-order on February 21st because I think that dramatically increases the likelihood they get made. Though, I am trying to temper my expectations and have little hope they will. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed!
 

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That's too bad. Their Marvelmstuff has been better than a lot of Hasbro's for the last few years. I like their Ghostbusters stuff as well. Great dioramas.

That being said, their releases are few and far between. While I would love for all of the planned muppet releases to come out, I wouldnt mind seeing NECA take them on and give us an updated Palisades like line to go with the new Sesame Street stuff. Though, I don't see anything Muppets related doing all that well these days.
 

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Around the 55 min mark in the video, DSTZach says that Lips and Lew Zealand are about to be solicited for pre-order. I assume that means they'll go up for pre-order in March. Around the 70 min mark, he says that Lips and Lew will be on display at Toy Fair this weekend. Throughout the interview, he talks as if DST will keep making figures, at least the ones already in development. I really hope that's the case. I'd love for them to make Lips and Lew plus any more Muppets Zach has discussed in previous interviews.
 

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Here are some additional photos of the new Lips and Lew figures. Overall, I really like them both. I like the Palisades head sculpt for Lew a little more than this one, mostly for how the corners of his mouth look. Lips almost has too much hair, but I like that more than the Palisades, which I think had too little.

On one or the the booth tour YouTube videos, Zach said they would go up for pre-order at the end of this month and supposed to ship by the end of the year. The end of the month is when the auction for the bankruptcy will be happening, too. I'm curious how that will all play out. In the videos, he also notes several figures that will be shipping on Wednesday. That's a good sign that DST figures are finally going out. He didn't give definitive dates for the Muppets figures, just that Sweetums and Robin are supposed to ship this summer and Pepe and Deadly will be before that.
 
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