info on future figs

[Mr. Piggy]

hi all, this is my first post. I have been reading for a little while ago but haven't posted until now....

First of all I have to say how impressed I have been with the figures. I remember seeing Bunsen's figure first and was blown away by how awesome he looked. The most impressive thing I remember was that his skin had/has such a realistic texture to it. With each series, I continued to love almost everything that came out, but i didn't actually start buying anything until after series three was out! Now i have all three series, plus the exclusive piggy, tux kermit, invisible fozzie and the first two playsets. (Each bought a fortnight at a time).

Which brings me to now - I am hanging out for the Kitchen playset!

Anyway, the reason I wrote is to put forward a suggestion. I am impressed by the "ask ken" topic and thought it would be a good idea to compact all the info somewhere. On a He-Man website, they have a question sessions every so often and then have Mattel answer the questions. It is a great way to give Mattel feedback. or maybe we could run a poll as to what we would like to see... (sorry if I am covering old ground).

here is my opinion (for those that care); I am really looking forward to Swine Trek and would REALLY love to set the animal hospital done in a similar way. I would love a sweetums (sp?) figure and stage playset, but understand if they are too big to warrant. One figure i could care less about is Samuel Arrow. Of the mentioned upcoming figures, he is one I would suggest turning into an exclusiev only fig (so I would then not bother - LOL) I am only really interested in getting my favoutire characters, so when it comes to the ones I am not too concerned with, it will be their aesthetics that win my money. the original miss Piggy and Tux Rowlf have been disappointments. A "naked" Rowlf MUST be released!!!

I would really be interested in seeing what everyone else's opinions of the upcoming figures are and I would also love to also hear what other figs people would like...

here's mine;

Will buy;
Kitchen playset - Looks awesome. Dying to get one
Dr. Strangepork
Link Hogthrob
Swine Trek
Gonzo In Tux with Camilla
Janice - one of my faves
Newsman
Statler
Waldorf
Beauregard

Not a huge fan. Will see what the fig looks like before buying;
Rizzo
Pepe
Clifford (although I have a gut feeling this fig will look awesome)

No interest in getting;
Samuel Arrow - See no need for this (is there a huge fan base?)

Exclusives;
Super Scooter, Koozebane Kermit & Patrol Bear Fozzie - looks good. perhaps too expensive and too difficult to obtain. unlikely purchase
Rizzo, Jancie & Clifford Repaints - not interested in variants that only have diff paint job (especially when original has correct paint job). i didn't get the zoot or pepper repaints and they are easily obtaiable for me
Jim Hensen – would LOVE to get this, but most likely can’t afford how much it’s likely to appear on eBay.
Collectors Club variants (Bunsen & Beaker, Statler & Wladorf, Chef & Lobsters) – if they were easier to obtain (I’m an aussie), I would consider.

Mega Muppets - look good, but not interested in mega's (money & space limitations)

Sorry for such a long post... hope you bothered reading... would love to hear other opinions...

 

[frogboy4]

We have an FAQ here and line-up plan for the figures. All of this has been covered several times, but with the lengthy threads on the issue (that begun on the old board years ago) it's hard to search the answers out. That's why we compiled an FAQ.

Quick answers to some of your questions - Sweetums will be made. His place in the line-up has changed several times and still isn't solid.

Samuel Arrow was put in the line-up at a time when Palisades acquired the rights to the film versions of the characters. They can't release all the standard versions in the first year because it would slow the momentum. *It's all about pacing. There will be a regular Sam in the next year or so. They have the rights to the figures through 2005, but whether they utilize that option depends upon the success of the line. Many fans want the standard versions first, but it's just not that wise if we want the line to continue and to get some more obscure characters skattered in the mix. It's hard to come up with a good successful mix of characters each wave. Anyway, have you seen Sam Arrow? He rocks.

Most of the pictures are up at www.palisadestoys.com

http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2003/tms_figures.shtml
http://www.muppetcentral.com/help/faq/palisades.shtml

 

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Okay, you're an Australian, and,

"Janice - one of my faves"

Can I just say that you're one o' muh fav'rite people now?!

 

[Mr. Piggy]

Originally posted by Janice & Mokey's Man
Okay, you're an Australian, and,

"Janice - one of my faves"

Can I just say that you're one o' muh fav'rite people now?!

ha ha.. thanks! I have always loved the muppets, but never knew of the fanbase that janice has until i looked on the net.

frogboy4, thanks for the response. I have skimmed through the 400-odd posts in the "ask ken" topic and have seen the pics of samuel arrow (and you're right, the fig does look good - but then again, the original piggy is perhaps the only one that doesn't look good).

I am just thinking about the non-die hard fans. (Actually I may fall into that category - although I love the muppet show, i only vaguely remember Muppet's tonight and haven't seen any of the movies all the way through). Truth be known, the quality of the figs sparked my interest BACK into the muppets. Anyway (back onto the topic), I am just concerned that due to all of the staggering of the characters, that interest may die down and we may miss out on a 'normal' rowlf and sam.

Although i have almost every figure to date, I doubt I will be getting many of the figures as the series' progress. From what series 7 sounds like, i may get only one (perhaps two) from that series...

I know that by series 7, there aren't many main 'Muppet Show' characters left, but i would rather see new versions of old figs (biker miss piggy for example) than lesser known characters. (I know I just contradicted myself then becuase samuel arrow IS a different version of an old fig - oops)

 

[Luke]

It is correct that most of the information is hard to find in the 'Ask Ken' topics, and the FAQ and Release List does a lot to help things. For people to really put their questions though the occasional live chat session would be GREAT with Ken and Mike. Whether it be here or at the Palisades site.

If we were to do it here it needn't be a bandwidth heavy regular chat room - it could just open for special events. If the Palisades ones went well, you could have some other licensee's in here too like USAopoly, Sideshow and the other new one's. We could also get Karen Prell and Terry to do a Muppeteer chat or two !

 

[frogboy4]

Mr. Piggy

By the way, welcome to the board. Forgot to say that.

I completely understand what you're saying. Palisades is trying to please all perspectives, but that's tough to do. I know Ken is really interested in doing a Biker Piggy and neato versions of regular characters - expect them. However, hardcore fans would die to see Uncle Deadly and Lips. Here are the loose stats Ken has used so far for each wave:

1. Big Gun character (Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Sam, Rowlf, Scooter, Animal, Rizzo etc)

2. Another Big Gun character

3. Secondary character (Janice, Zoot, Teeth, Bunsen, Beaker etc.)

4. Fan Fave (Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Marvin Suggs, Lips, Bean etc.)

...and a playset every-other wave. What constitutes each kind of character is open to interpretation. So there's kind of something for everybody in each wave. Expect different versions of big characters like Kermit and Fozzie. But the wave shouldn't be entirely in that mode. It's great to sneak a more obscure character into each assortment and some secondary ones too.

 

[The Count]

Well, if you like, there's always the master table of possible future ideas for Muppet figures that I made for Ken. If you're interested, swing over by the Palisades forum and dig up the thread "Possible Future Muppet Line Up" in their Muppets section and access the attachment in the thread's first post. If that doesn't work for you, drop me a line with your full name and E-mail address to add you to my address book of forum members, along with sending you a copy of the table itself.
Hope this helps and have a good day.

 

[The Count]

Mr. Piggy, got your E-mail message this week. Please forgive me for not responding sooner, but I was a little wary about the message since it didn't say "Muppets" or "Muppets Table" in the subject line. I'd be happy to send you a copy of the massive table I made for Ken as soon as I get back home, cause the file's in my home computer. Please drop me a line with your full name and "Muppets Table" in the subject line and I'll send you a copy post-haste. Hope this helps and have a good day.