eFX Collectibles to produce Muppet Replicas

[Luke]

I thought the market would be bigger to include everybody, rather than just targeting one group or area, which is restricting sales.The more people, the more sales.

Yes, you do need overall marketing, but you have to make sure certain groups are targeted a bit more specifically as well to make sure they are aware - coverage in a gay lifestyle magazine/site (Piggy) and a teddy bear collectors magazine/site (Fozzie) would probably sell them out instantly believe it or not. Obviously only so many dollars in these companies marketing budgets and its often something they either don't understand because they don't have the research or just cannot afford.

 

[Reevz1977]

Marketing them in general would be a step up from MR efforts

ONLY JOKING...but not

 

[Bear Man]

Um...he never said that the characters were only for the gay community, just that they are particularly big in the gay community which is true. Don't understand the knee-jerk reaction to that on your part, but to us, Miss Piggy is up there with Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. Of course all of these entertainers are for everybody. We resond to the diva factor.

A Miss Piggy poser should be marketed differently than the rest of these characters for various reasons. Miss Piggy has her own following.

Really, you think so? Hmm. I've never really noticed much Pig-love in the "community" (there are jokes to be made there, but since this is a family site I'll move on)...definitely nothing on the level of Judy or Madonna. I'd even suggest it was maybe a generational thing but we're around the same age so that's not it - but most of the reactions (if anything) I've seen to Miss Piggy in the gay community have been very ironic, and/or parodies. I think the muppets' positioning as entertainment for all ages has prevented Piggy from ever actively courting the gay community to capitalise on her diva status. While she has the potential, I would certainly never give her the title of gay icon.

 

[TML]

"Really, you think so? Hmm. I've never really noticed much Pig-love in the "community"

Well perhaps not to the youth of today, but to people growing up in the 70's and 80's, Miss Piggy was the definition of "diva". Anyway, the plaque in the eFX booth says that it will be making Kermit, Rizzo, Pepe, Fozzie, and of course, Miss Piggy. Let's hope they all see the light of day.
P.S. I never thought about Fozzie in the teddy bear market, but I agree with frogboy4 in that Piggy should be marketed differently. You don't see Tonner making Fozzie or Kermit dolls, because the dress up opportunities are not the same.

 

[frogboy4]

Marketing the Miss Piggy Poser

Suppose I have to clear this up like is always the case when the word gay is mentioned on MC these days. Gays should be able to be mentioned here without fear of this sort of weirdness that happens all too frequently in recent years.

(The bolding here is merely for context since this is a long post, it should not be considered the raising of my voice as I did laugh a bit when writing this.)

All marketing means is product and advertising placement - not necessarily content.

It's a well-known licensor fact that the pig can be a hard sell when evenly placed in a Muppet assortment no matter how good the likeness as Luke said. However it's been an inside fact that Miss Piggy products can do quite well in shops that the other characters would not - this includes places like gay community shops. I've seen that many times.

As a person who has been out for over 18 years and lived in San Francisco for over 14 of those I can assure you that Miss Piggy is most certainly considered an icon to us along with her normal movie star status. She's not as big as Judy, but who is? Order of priority is different for each person. We are individuals after all – but the pig makes the list.

Of course the character isn't gay, she isn't only appreciated in the gay community and she should not only be target marketed at the gay community and that was never stated in any post. TML mentioned marketing inclusion. It saddens me that inclusion of gays automatically translates into exclusion of others in the minds of some. Maybe that wasn't the intention, but it happens frequently. I've said it before - the biggest fans of Muppets are gays and Christians. Gays particularly like the pig, personally, I prefer the eccentric, yet loved Gonzo. Honestly, I think advertising of these posers should include the Christian community as well.

Also, a funny little fact - the partial reason for the name and beginning of the Tough Pigs website began as a "friends of Piggy/Dorothy" comment. Their whole main page graphic plays a little off that notion too.

Nonetheless, if head sculpt is any indication of the product, this Miss Piggy product could actually break the usual Piggy marketing rules. I can't wait to see more updates on her progress. I wonder how they will choose her outfit.

I love getting back to topic.

 

[Bear Man]

Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree Jamie! As an out gay man myself who's lived in London, NYC and Sydney (probably only San Francisco beats any of those three for its pinkness! ha) I just have never come across any real love for Piggy as a gay icon - in fact the only Muppet reference I can remember in recent years was a drag queen in a Pride parade in NYC whose headdress consisted of kermit sitting on a toilet! I hope that nothing in my post was taken combatively by you, I just have heard the Piggy as a gay icon reference a few times and wanted to express my opinion that I've just never seen it.

 

[eFX]

Everything you always wanted to know about our prototype posers shown at Comic Con

First, I would like to thank everyone for their feedback to our first prototypes that we displayed at Comic Con this past week.

Rizzo
This poser was based on the original patterns supplied to us. We actually made 2 prototypes. We were actually allowed to compare the first prototype to one of the original puppets! There were many tweaks that had to be made in order to capture the true “character” of Rizzo and thus made a second one. Many of you may have noticed that the color of his fur is different than the original puppet. They are updating Rizzo and some of the colors are not exactly the same as the previous puppets that we have all seen. Also, the technique to get the “ratty” look of the fur is going to take some development.

Also, due to the shortage of time, there are details on the jacket and T-shirt that need to completed.

Reporter Kermit
As many of you know, and as we had told people at Comic Con, the Kermit on display was actually my MR Kermit. Anyone who “knows” Kermit, like most of you, can identify a MR Kermit immediately. However, we were able to get a trench coat and prototype fedora done. The shirt and tie was actually purchased from Macy’s! (Kermit’s tie is actually burgundy with thin gold stripes) And, you may have also noticed that Kermit did not have pants! (No microphone, either!)

The trench coat was made from the actual patterns supplied to us, but we did not make any alterations to it, since this is not the actual Kermit in which it has to fit properly. We are working on having “our” Kermit ready to be displayed at D23 in September.

Miss Piggy
What we showed was simply the start of the sculpt of the head. It was not intended to show materials or anything else.

Pricing and Availability
We have not established the price or availability of Rizzo or Reporter Kermit, since we are still in the beginning stages of the development and have not submitted the full product specifications to the factory for costing and schedule. We are hoping to have this information by D23.

Choice of Materials and Construction
As all of you already know, making product one by one in a workshop is very different than in a production environment in both the construction and the materials. Unfortunately, ALL fabrics and components are custom made. There is no store or warehouse where you just go and purchase the materials. There are many factors that we must take into consideration. Most of them have already been discussed in this thread. Will there be compromises, of course, but we will evaluate the pro and cons of every option. But rest assured, we will do our best to deliver a product that you will be proud to own!

I hope this answers many of your question. So please do not read more into what you actually see in the many photos now floating around.
Thanks!

Bryan

 

[frogboy4]

Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree Jamie! As an out gay man myself who's lived in London, NYC and Sydney (probably only San Francisco beats any of those three for its pinkness! ha) I just have never come across any real love for Piggy as a gay icon - in fact the only Muppet reference I can remember in recent years was a drag queen in a Pride parade in NYC whose headdress consisted of kermit sitting on a toilet! I hope that nothing in my post was taken combatively by you, I just have heard the Piggy as a gay icon reference a few times and wanted to express my opinion that I've just never seen it.

Kermit toilet wha?

Sydney is (actually) the gay capital of the world from what I've heard. I think you're right that the Muppets' walking a fine line has kept the Pig from getting too big in the gay community. In my experience gays do give the pig a lot more love than the rest of the characters. If there were to be a list of 100 divas, she'd be one of them, but somewhere in the middle. That's mostly what I've been saying.

Miss Piggy was generally bigger in the 80s in every household. Popular culture of today has a two-minute attention span. However, I have found our community perpetually honors things both retro and new alike.

Palisades' Swinetrek is amazing, but sales of it are still sluggish! I work in a toy shop here (almost late for work, actually) and we have had plenty of them taking up space, but even the ugly series two Gonzos (when priced at a $6 difference) fly out of the store. It's funny to see the commentary people have with the Muppet items in the store. You can't always peg a Muppet fan, however, if our store were located in the Castro area we'd have sold out of the Swinetrek a long time ago at a premium price.

 

[frogboy4]

First, I would like to thank everyone for their feedback to our first prototypes that we displayed at Comic Con this past week.

Rizzo
This poser was based on the original patterns supplied to us. We actually made 2 prototypes. We were actually allowed to compare the first prototype to one of the original puppets! There were many tweaks that had to be made in order to capture the true “character” of Rizzo and thus made a second one. Many of you may have noticed that the color of his fur is different than the original puppet. They are updating Rizzo and some of the colors are not exactly the same as the previous puppets that we have all seen. Also, the technique to get the “ratty” look of the fur is going to take some development.

Also, due to the shortage of time, there are details on the jacket and T-shirt that need to completed.

Reporter Kermit
As many of you know, and as we had told people at Comic Con, the Kermit on display was actually my MR Kermit. Anyone who “knows” Kermit, like most of you, can identify a MR Kermit immediately. However, we were able to get a trench coat and prototype fedora done. The shirt and tie was actually purchased from Macy’s! (Kermit’s tie is actually burgundy with thin gold stripes) And, you may have also noticed that Kermit did not have pants! (No microphone, either!)

The trench coat was made from the actual patterns supplied to us, but we did not make any alterations to it, since this is not the actual Kermit in which it has to fit properly. We are working on having “our” Kermit ready to be displayed at D23 in September.

Miss Piggy
What we showed was simply the start of the sculpt of the head. It was not intended to show materials or anything else.

Pricing and Availability
We have not established the price or availability of Rizzo or Reporter Kermit, since we are still in the beginning stages of the development and have not submitted the full product specifications to the factory for costing and schedule. We are hoping to have this information by D23.

Choice of Materials and Construction
As all of you already know, making product one by one in a workshop is very different than in a production environment in both the construction and the materials. Unfortunately, ALL fabrics and components are custom made. There is no store or warehouse where you just go and purchase the materials. There are many factors that we must take into consideration. Most of them have already been discussed in this thread. Will there be compromises, of course, but we will evaluate the pro and cons of every option. But rest assured, we will do our best to deliver a product that you will be proud to own!

I hope this answers many of your question. So please do not read more into what you actually see in the many photos now floating around.
Thanks!

Bryan

Very good news! Thanks Bryan! It's also interesting to hear they are updating the puppets.

 

[Luke]

Re - Piggy. I'm in London and have definitely seen the gay fanbase, and she's been referenced on clips shows counting down top gay icons. There is definitely widespread love for her, if not the most well known icon. I think it all comes down to her character - very diva'ish, very flamboyant, very loud. She is just about every gay stereotype there is and very different from most characters young girls were used to, ie :- sweet innocent Barbie. The Muppets were never created with marketing in mind, it was less of an issue in those days.

Posers are mainly for the hardcores Muppet fans anyway tho so maybe its more a case across the entire line of are there really enough of us around prepared to buy into these, without much marketing for anyone else to see them. The lower edition size with eFX will help.

Yay for the news from Bryan. It's all good. If Rizzo is anything to go by, we are talking quality likeness of serious proportions.