Master Replicas Gonzo Photo Puppet

[theprawncracker]

Wow... Travis, I was on the fence before, but whoo, now I am SOLD! Those pictures you took are GREAT! I absolutely love the nose now, the color is spot on! And the suit is to die for! Head shape is great, eyelids are gorgeous, eyes are really the only minor fault, and can be fixed I guess. I absolutely LOVE him. Thank you for doing my favorite Muppet of all time justice and I'll place my order as soon as I have the cash!

 

[Luke]

The texture of his beak is integral to the character’s look and that appears to be lost here.

Bada Bing, we have a winner! Yeah, totally with you here. It's the nose and the eyes that especially make Gonzo into "Gonzo" (the character), not a wierdo lifeless Muppet poser. What we have here is the wierdo lifeless Muppet poser .... now he may well get a lot better once people start re-doing the eye focus but realistically it was never gonna be "Gonzo" with anything but a foam beak (or at least something hard to simulate the foam look). I kinda get the idea that Disney had a bee in their bonnet once the words "reticulated foam" were used and went through the QC motions as if he's a plush, and thus we have a sock nose. Would Henson have passed this? I would say no after seeing how hard they were on Palisades but then again.,we've had some pretty bad plushies in the past so who knows? I really do think the nose is terrible - even if they had to use a sock nose, its very badly designed with that seam. Saying that, it does look better from the side, or from far away, like across the street whilst wearing shades. (joke!)

I have to say though, much respect and appreciation for Travis braving the rabid fans here and taking such great pictures. He does look soooooooo much better, aside the two criticisms above. The suit is absolutely perfect, the mouth and fur a lot more sharper - and the photos show you can have a lot of fun posing him, which is a big part of this replica thing. Although personally i prefer the updated modern Gonzo, he is a fairly good representation of an early TMS version and i know thats what most people wanted. I'm more on the fence than ever, but i doubt i'll be getting him as i think the past two (and hopefully Fozzie) are soooo good that its kinda noticeable in a group when one isn't. Thats what worries me about Piggy, ive got more faith now Travis is more onboard but she's gonna be so hard to do - i'd so much rather have them put out totaly nailed Beakers and Scooters but i can see the reasons behind their character choices, though the support for them here was overwhelming. I am majorly looking forward to da bear though, i am 100% confident he will be the best yet by far.

 

[doc hopper]

ooh - - the new pics didn't pass the fiancee test. She took one look at them and called Gonzo... how did she put it... "horrible."

ouch!

 

[Ignohippo]

Jamie, you're alterations make all the difference in the world.

For you puppet making people out there: is there something that can be sprayed or added to the nose that will give it more of that "muppety" texture? Obviously, it would have to be re-airbrushed but I winder if there's some sort of rubber type spray that may work.

 

[Reevz1977]

Awwwww, I hate to do this (and have my popularity take a dive) but, I hate it. Wait hate? Maybe...severely dislike or have an aversion to it. It's soooo not Gonzo. Theres one image, taken from the side where I can kinda see him but, on the whole, no, no, no! I really REALLY wanted to like him. With Kermit there were moments when I looked at him and thought how much he resembled the real thing (except the awful collar and slight eye issues), with Animal, I feel he's exceptional and can find very few problems other than when you hold a picture up against him and then... well he'll do. BUT this one, he really has lost all of his Gonzo-ness. He could comfortably sit as one of the other 'weirdos' from MFS but pales to the real Gonzo. It feels like such a missed opportunity. Like people keep saying, it's the closest we'll ever get to owning a real Muppet and yet it feels not close enough. I'm a truly picky b******, I know that! It's part of me and part of my profession and I truly understand all the positive comments people have made. To some THIS IS GONZO, yet for me, oh well! I will still be buying him but, unlike the others, will stop at one. He will always represent what could have been, at least for me! Really really sorry Travis

 

[uppitymuppity]

Hmmm...

When served lemons - make lemonaide! Get creative people - Henson would! The recovering of that nose with another fabric may prove to be too difficult but, what about applying adhesive to the entire surface of the nose & etc. and adding some type of thin shredded furry purply foamy material? Durability issues aside - it might look better.

 

[Reevz1977]

Although a relatively unfair comparison, this kind of reaffirms the point I was trying to make...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23001839@N02/2234433699/sizes/l/

 

[MuppetCaper]

Jamie, you're alterations make all the difference in the world.

For you puppet making people out there: is there something that can be sprayed or added to the nose that will give it more of that "muppety" texture? Obviously, it would have to be re-airbrushed but I winder if there's some sort of rubber type spray that may work.

I don't know as of right now. I want to wait and see Gonzo before I make anymore conclusions on what I want to do with his nose. Who knows', it might just be right.

 

[Ignohippo]

I don't want to continue to bag on the weirdo – he's obviously "challenged." I am curious though, why his eyes appear to be such a weird shape! The actual puppet's eyes are much more round, but these appear to be, well, not.

Jamie's PS alterations really give me hope for him.

At least future Muppets will be under the direction of Travis. I've been critical of the MR marketing, but I know they'll be in much better hands now with Travis looking over them from a product standpoint and things are much better now that we are getting communications.

My biggest concern is that I have him pre-ordered but know that MR will need to drop the price on these guys eventually in order to get them to sell.

 

[antonydavanzo]

I am actually pleased with his look......the wide eyed shot looks spot on, I think that as soon as we can "play" with him all will be forgiven with the sock nose. My only issue is the pupil placement and that can be fixed. So well done MR, you will keep my pre order for Gonzo.