Hasbro's Sesame line to be unveiled at Toy Fare

[minor muppetz]

I'm thinking they should start with everybody who was a major character this past season: Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, Zoe, Rosita, Telly, Baby Bear, Ernie, Bert, Murray, Cookie Monster, Grover (perhaps in his Super Grover 2.0 form), Mr. Johnson, Two-Headed Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, The Count, and Oscar the Grouch (maybe also the characters from Abby's Flying Fairy School). Okay, so maybe a few of those characters weren't too major this year, but I'm sure are known to some. Mr. Johnson seems to appear every season these days, and they did say they wanted to include all the main ones. Also, was Prairie Dawn on the show at all in season 41? I'd include her, too, regardless.

And then for a "series 2" include some characters who the adults would definately know and the kids would have a good chance of knowing: Guy Smiley, Herry Monster, The Amazing Mumford, Barkley, and Hoots the Owl. I don't know if any of those characters appeared this past season, but those characters have been used recently. I think Hoots still makes occasional appearances, and while Herry is rarely given a significant role on the show, it's still fairly common for older segments where he plays a major role to be shown on the show, and Herry is in many still-in-print DVD releases. I feel like Guy Smiley, Hoots the Owl, and Mumford also have a similar presence on DVDs.

 

[Animal31]

If Hasbro's improvements and surprises in their SW line are any indication what they plan for Sesame Street, I have no doubt we're all in for some pleasant days ahead.

That being said, we have to keep in mind their target audience. Highly detailed figures would be nice, but the reality of it is if "Little Timmy" can choke on it, they probably won't produce it...

 

[Drtooth]

That's all well and good... but let's not get too disappointed if the rarest character is Telly, and there's no major hint to if they make him or not yet. Toyfair's a few days away, we might have some great surprises or some massive disappointments.

But danggit... I wanna see a Sesame 2 pack PVC line that's half as obsessive compulsively completest as their Star Wars or even their Marvel lines.

That being said, we have to keep in mind their target audience. Highly detailed figures would be nice, but the reality of it is if "Little Timmy" can choke on it, they probably won't produce it...

Yeah, but these would presumably be slightly larger PVC figures... we've had dozens of them before with NO complaint. I don't even care if they're detailed myself... as long as we don't just get wave after wave of Elmo crap.

That said... I wonder what the potential would lie in having girl specific Sesame toys. SW killed themselves to make Abby to get more girls interested, and yet I don't see very much of Abby as a toy. Especially under Mattel

 

[minor muppetz]

If this line is successful, I'd like to see a "Sesame Street Old School" line, even if it's a big multi-pack collection of PVCs (smaller buddy packs would be better). Maybe repeat some of the main characters, but have them look like they're from the early 1970s (either resembling early puppet versions, early illustrated versions, or early toys of the characters). Or have the main characters doing something representing a classic moment. Like Big Bird on rollerskates or his unicycle, Ernie either holding a banana in his ear or playing the saxaphone while holding his Rubber Duckie, Bert either wearing a pot on his head or wearing his pigeon cap in a "Doin' the Pigeon" pose, Cookie Monster either perched behind a giant C, dressed as "The Cookie Bunny", or as Alistair Cookie, and Oscar in his trashcan being carried by Bruno (two characters in one figure!). Maybe some classic Grover, The Count, and Snuffy variants as well (Snuffy could be dressed as a cloud).

And then for older secondary characters, include Herry Monster, Barkley, The Amazing Mumford, Forgetful Jones (maybe riding Buster), Biff, Sully, Roosevelt Franklin, Guy Smiley, Hoots the Owl, Prairie Dawn, and Sherlock Hemlock.

Or, when it comes to smaller "buddy packs", a genius idea would be to pack Ernie with Biff and Bert with Sully. Two different duos, paired differently. Because many casual fans would probably want an Ernie and a Bert, but they might not know that Biff and Sully go together.... GENIUS!

This may (or may not) be Palisades quality, but I haven't been this excited about Toy Fair news coverage since 2002 (or perhaps each following year of the Muppet line). I hope this Toy Fair weekend also reveals a good portion of Disney's plans to promote their new Muppet movie.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

I hope this Toy Fair weekend also reveals a good portion of Disney's plans to promote their new Muppet movie.

They might even get real crazy and make toys for the new Muppet movie too.

 

[Drtooth]

There were plush they unveiled last year, but for some reason said they would release them closer to the movie. I'm guessing they entered them last year because they initially thought the movie would have been in production by then.

 

[Starchamberfall]

That is one swingin' Cookie Monster!

Hasbro is a name that says a lot. At least in their golden age, they combined imagination with practicality, amazingly, and brought great things into peoples' lives.

What do you think is the greatest toy company of all time? Guess Hasbro would not be quite number one, for most, but close. What is the big three?

 

[Drtooth]

I'd hate to say Mattel. They are long past their golden age, and they've just had so many problems recently. Their Shonen Jump line (One Piece, Naruto, Shaman King) was a JOKE. I'm not a big Naruto fan by any stretch... but years ago, I bought a Kakashi figure (one of the only 2 characters I really like) and it snapped in half when I opened the package. I got a replacement that was ALREADY BROKEN in the package. I spent like 3 bucks for it, and all, but the fragility had NO excuse. The One Piece line (I LOVE One Piece) was a joke. The one GOOD figure was recalled (Yeah, right... I was about to send it back, even though I paid even less for it), and Usopp wasn't even in the line up... not even in the unproduced second series. I'd like to say something about their Shaman King Line, but it was impossible to find.

And really... 10 bucks per each figure? They were barely worth 5 bucks a figure.

Add to the fact they were struggling to compete with a hooker ripoff of Barbie, and had multiple lead paint issues (only shoddy, cheap sweatshops use lead paint, what does that tell you?), they were completely lost most of last decade. They failed to relaunch He-Man, one of the biggest 1980's franchises ever, when Hasbro has barely had G.I. Joe and Transformers out of sight. They singlehandedly refused to make any girl characters (Mira Nova of Buzz Lightyear never finished off the crew), and the only stuff they made of good quality was online exclusive He-Man toys that cost a fortune. HOWEVER, when they got the DC license, they turned a sharp corner, and they've been doing pretty good ever since (though their The Batman and Brave and the Bold line left much to be desired).

Hasbro had some tough times too... 2001 or so, they just couldn't make profits, they laid people off... but it seemed that when they started adding classic characters to their Star Wars line, that started a set of events that helped them recover. Soon after, they got the Marvel license, Transformers came back with a movie and 2 new cartoon shows, and they started up the Buddy Pack line, something everyone from Dr. Who to Scooby-Doo has copied. Comeback kids of the year!

That said, Playmates is run by idiots, BanDai doesn't know what the heck it's doing in the US (they are a juggernaught in Japan), and everything else is just that.

 

[Starchamberfall]

What about Lego, Doctor?

 

[Drtooth]

Lego's doing its own thing and they have been for years. They're different from the rest, and far more international than the rest. They're their own genre of toy, and have so many variations on a single theme and it all works wonderfully.

They were losing money no thanks to sales slipping of the really large 40-100 dollar sets. I don't know if little kids really buy them. Older kids and adults like 'em fine. They're like model kits. They require a LOT of time and effort to make something that you'll just proudly display. Of course, Daddy would probably have to put the things together.

And no matter what pathetic knockoff company comes out (Mattels Trio for one), they always come out on top.

However, I wish that somehow they'd sell the minifigres separate. They sell some of them, and they have a blind bag collection... and some of the licenced Star Wars and Spongebob stuff is available at their stores as key chains... but I don't wanna buy these big bad sets for just a tiny figure when I;m not going to build the thing anyway.

Plus, I hate that because Mattel has their own Trio line, like I mentioned, Lego Batman was that short lived outside of the video game. Though they still sell T-shirts.

But then I never truly followed Lego. All I know is, out of every single toy out there, if you step on them barefoot, they cause the most INTENSE PAIN I've ever had in my years of stepping on toys on the floor I don't see barefoot. I haven't stepped on one, thankfully, since I was a kid... but those things HURT!