More Non-Muppet-Shaped Muppet Toys

[Hubert]

Well...these are interesting...strange that unlicensed Muppet products are getting by like this, but hey, more Muppets around. That can't be a bad thing.

(And though these are poorly made, I like that Rowlf a lot. )

 

[Drtooth]

What are Munnies? Do you mean Mummies? Found them-Munny figures.

Small monkey shaped blank figures. Sometimes made to be customized (as the case here). They're from a couple years back. They also had Bunny shaped ones, if I can recall. I think those were "Dunnies."

Essentially, these are Munny figures (you can tell by the bodies) with Sculpy Muppet heads on them. Their heads are wide, probably to cover up the ears of the original toys underneath.

 

[Slackbot]

Some of them might be based on the Bub figure, which has a narrower head with small ears at the top.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Small monkey shaped blank figures. Sometimes made to be customized (as the case here). They're from a couple years back. They also had Bunny shaped ones, if I can recall. I think those were "Dunnies."

Essentially, these are Munny figures (you can tell by the bodies) with Sculpy Muppet heads on them. Their heads are wide, probably to cover up the ears of the original toys underneath.

So then they REALLY aren't worth the price if someone is taking another figure and slapping clay on it :/

 

[Drtooth]

You realize you unwittingly said something that would totally tick a figure customizer off, right? I've heard it's not exactly a cheap hobby. The paints, molds, clay... all that does kinda cost a fortune. Not to mention the man hours putting it together.

I used to be on a M.U.S.C.L.E. board, and someone was selling custom figures made out of special kinds of plastic. He sold them for something that sounded insane for a small minifigure armyman type thing, but it was justified because the special plastics and silicon for the molds was hyper expensive.

I'd say the cost of these figures is justified in so much that, if you were to try to customize these things yourself it would probably work out to slightly less than what they're charging. Remember, retail toys, even though the price has gone up to a shockingly high degree, they deal in selling massive volumes where the molds and prototype and license pay for themselves as they usually expect several thousand units to sell. And if they don't, a big company can take a loss and just sell the remainder to clearance outlets. Big difference, there.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Well, I'm not a toy customizer, so how the heck am I supposed to know what it costs? I don't understand how, if they are customized pre-existing figures, that it is legal to sell them.

Look, I'm not saying people shouldn't buy them. If you have the cash to blow, more power to you. I'm saying in MY opinion, it's a waste of money when you can buy something of better quality and official for cheaper....although when it comes to the muppets I'm not so sure about the "quality" part

 

[Drtooth]

The legality is all I'm wondering about. I'm sure they're not going to sell thousands of these. Probably a small, limited quantity. I honestly don't understand the legal loopholes that let custom T-shirt companies have thinly veiled parodies of pop culture icons (to the point where it actually is pop culture icon drawn ever so slightly different). I'm pretty sure I could go on one of them right now and see perfectly drawn Adventure Time characters with some small variation that keeps them in the thin Parody law. That's why I'm too afraid to do DA prints.

It's not the Munny/Dunny thing that bugs me, so much as this is the copyright of an infamously protective company. The one that sued a Day Care center. That protective. I don't think it's in direct competition of actual Muppet Merchandise due in part of the cost (and the fact there's so little of it out there... I mean, Dog clothes yes, but small collectible figures no?)... I just keep seeing cease and desist letters when I see these things.

And they don't look that bad. They look like something customized... rough around the edges, Kermit's a weird color... you can see the clay sculpting details. It's not as polished as an official piece. Still, I can't imagine they have that big a profit margin for these.

 

[jvcarroll]

The legality is all I'm wondering about. I'm sure they're not going to sell thousands of these. Probably a small, limited quantity. I honestly don't understand the legal loopholes that let custom T-shirt companies have thinly veiled parodies of pop culture icons (to the point where it actually is pop culture icon drawn ever so slightly different). I'm pretty sure I could go on one of them right now and see perfectly drawn Adventure Time characters with some small variation that keeps them in the thin Parody law. That's why I'm too afraid to do DA prints.

It's not the Munny/Dunny thing that bugs me, so much as this is the copyright of an infamously protective company. The one that sued a Day Care center. That protective. I don't think it's in direct competition of actual Muppet Merchandise due in part of the cost (and the fact there's so little of it out there... I mean, Dog clothes yes, but small collectible figures no?)... I just keep seeing cease and desist letters when I see these things.

And they don't look that bad. They look like something customized... rough around the edges, Kermit's a weird color... you can see the clay sculpting details. It's not as polished as an official piece. Still, I can't imagine they have that big a profit margin for these.

Rough math of 18 figures (unknown, but probably 200 of each) = 3600 at $40 a piece = $144,000 gross. If only 1/3 of that is profit, then they're netting $48,000. Not huge, but substantial enough.

Again, I love this sort of stuff. It perplexes me that the legalities escape scrutiny, but it doesn't bug me that much. I just wish things like this had Disney's official blessing. They're more open with independent artists than one would think.

 

[Drtooth]

And that's if they sell a lot of them. I don't see them selling too many of these, unless there's a lot of custom figure buyers out there. Then again, I'm sure that most of the Palisades figures cost at least that much now.

I really wish that Disney would give its blessing to a similar idea. I could see Kid Robot Muppet figures around that style going for 10 bucks each and doing fairly well like the Fox animated sitcom assortment they have.

All and all, I'd rather a second series of Funko Pop figures.

 

[jvcarroll]

And that's if they sell a lot of them. I don't see them selling too many of these, unless there's a lot of custom figure buyers out there. Then again, I'm sure that most of the Palisades figures cost at least that much now.

I really wish that Disney would give its blessing to a similar idea. I could see Kid Robot Muppet figures around that style going for 10 bucks each and doing fairly well like the Fox animated sitcom assortment they have.

All and all, I'd rather a second series of Funko Pop figures.

Interestingly enough, right now I'm having trouble with a perfectly legal composition for a company sanctioned contest. I played by the rules set forth, but a week's work is likely down the toilet because of legal confusion over conflicting properties owned by the same company. This is not the first time I've run into weird circumstances within sanctioned, licensed product. I actually enjoy the challenge of navigating through the system so I don't understand how people can totally circumvent it. I guess lawsuits cost money so most small-fries are overlooked and they think it's somehow kosher. A lot of people do it and these figures are really cute. Also, I don't think the Kermit coloring is to evade trademark. Pantone# 376 just seems like a brighter green than he should be. There was along Palisades conversation of that.