New Muppet Whatnot Kits at Toys R Us

[muppfozz]

I just bought the blue whatnot from toysrus and was able to buy the red hoodie too on the same order. I have not taken it out of the box yet. I am wondering if I should get the orange one too.

 

[RockSTAR girl]

Does anyone have both the TRU and the original FAO ones? I really wanna know if there are significant differences and if its worth it to get one over the other.

 

[beaker]

Jackpot! I went to a real TRU today and got two Whatnots for $90 and got a $10 gift card too!

Ouch! They're $59.99 where Im at

 

[Brian Kendig]

I have an orange FAO Schwarz Muppet Whatnot from a few years ago, and today I bought the orange Whatnot Kit at Toys 'R' Us.

First, to set a basis for comparison: The original, from a few years ago, is a great puppet. There are only three flaws with it. First, it's very small for my adult male hands; it's tight to fit my wrist through the puppet's neck. Second, the pieces were hot-glued onto it without as much care as I would have liked - the eyes are too far from the nose, and the eyes aren't aimed well, giving it a vacant stare. (I fixed that by removing the pupils and putting on new ones with adhesive flocked paper.) Third - and most seriously - the puppet's mouthplate is made from a disc of plastic bent in half, like a taco shell. It took a lot of effort to close the puppet's mouth ... until one day when the plastic snapped and broke, and then the puppet wasn't usable until, with a lot of effort, we removed the broken pieces and sewed in a new mouth plate.

I now keep my original Whatnot stored safely away for special occasions, because he's difficult to work, though he looks very Sesame Street.

Now, as for the new Whatnot Kit. The puppet is somewhat smaller than the original Whatnot. The neck isn't as tight, so I didn't have any trouble fitting my hand into it, but there's really not much room in there. Immediately I noticed that the mouthplate is still made of plastic bent like a taco - it's stiff, it's difficult to close the puppet's mouth, and that plastic *will* break one of these days after enough use.

This puppet is made as a toy for kids to play with. It's fun to change the features (three sets of eyes, one set of eyes on eyeglasses, three sets of hair, three noses, a mustache, and a goatee). They stick onto the puppet's head with Velcro, and they come off easily. But it's definitely not the same quality as what you'll see on Sesame Street or the Muppet Show. The eyes don't follow the curve of the head, so their edges are raised off the head. The puppet comes with an arm rod (the same rod that comes with the original Whatnot), but it was very difficult for me to hook that into the puppet's hands. (I had to use a small screwdriver to very carefully straighten out the hole in the puppet's wrist.) And the mouth is made rather poorly; even when you close the puppet's mouth, you still see the edge of the red fabric from the inside of its mouth. You're not going to fool anyone into thinking this is a Muppet from a TV show. I feel that $60 is overpriced for what this puppet is. It feels more like it belongs in the $30-$40 range.

But, it is fun to play with. I just wish I didn't have to worry about the mouth breaking.

 

[Jeff Bragg]

The funny thing is.. if you know your way around the FAO website.. you can actually order a blank Whatnot body from the workshop for 45$ plus S+H..It's all about manipulating the suggested products tab..

I looked and looked at the FAO site and couldn't find the blank bodies. I couldn't even find a "suggested products" tab. Do you have URL?

 

[Walter]

I looked and looked at the FAO site and couldn't find the blank bodies. I couldn't even find a "suggested products" tab. Do you have URL?

Sorry Jeff..But FAO removed the tab last month..I blame myself for posting the tutorial..FAO must have seen it..

 

[Herry Grail]

I became aware of these a bit late, having been out of "Muppet" touch a while, and just this week decided to bite the bullet and get an orange one. I already had one of the hot-glue Whatnots (a Christmas gift a couple of years ago), and I was glad that it's a blue one because the blue kit is girl-themed while the orange one is male.

Since I only have the orange one to compare to the older version, the only difference I really see is that the material is very different; the older one won't "accept" the Velcro parts. Everything else appears to be the same...including the finishing of the hands and the unique type of control rod used. Of course, the kit is best for simple, classic "human" Muppets...the coolest (and most monsterish) parts are still only available for the hot-glue Whatnots.

That said, I am amazed at how awesome it is. I had an Anything Muppet when they first came out over 35 years ago, and I loved it for many years. It's funny how the sticky Velcro still falls off of some parts (hair back then, the glasses now)...some things never change! But the quality of the new version is just incredible. When I set it up, I just can't believe it wasn't hundreds of dollars. It looks like a real Muppet...absolutely amazing.

I wanted the suit outfit but they didn't have it, so I got a "leather" jacket and switched out the Tux from my blue Whatnot and put that on my new orange Whatnot. (The leather jacket looks better on the monster, and I was able to secure the moustache and goatee from the new kit, which diminish the cheap-looking foam fangs I wasn't thrilled with and adds to his monster-biker look!) I don't see myself switching things out much...just keeping him on display with the most authentic-looking Muppet features—the rounded, lidded eyes and the same-color pointy nose.

While the quality is very good, I was glad there were four of these left at one of my local TRU's. (They only had the orange ones, and my other local store had none of either.) The craftsmanship of the eyes varies a lot, and you have to be sure you aren't getting poorly-assembled ones (excess glue around the flocked pupils, inconsistently-applied lids, etc.). Also, I wasn't pleased with the wrinkly, loose finishing inside a couple of the puppets' mouths. Fortunately I was able to get a kit that had everything just about right, but it was the only one of the four. (I also bought some more Velcro and applied it to the hair, the outer ridges of the eyes, and the upper part of the nose so they'd lay down flatter...it's a very valid criticism that some of the features, especially the Ernie-type eyes, are not well-fitted to the face for such an expensive kit.)

I have seen several of the blue kits in a TRU about an hour away, and others I've been to haven't had any of these kits. I can't believe I missed them over Christmas...I just don't go through the FAO Schwarz section. Among the five or six TRU's I've been to since the first of the year, only two have had these kits left (and both had them hidden on endcaps), very few had any of the clothes, and only one had any of the Muppet puppets...and just Kermit at that one. I wonder how these did, and if they'll be restocked. If they had a display with one of them assembled, I can only imagine how much better they'd have done...$60 seems outrageous for what you see (it held me back for several weeks), but once assembled they look like they're worth twice that or more. I also think the $20 clothes were overpriced...the same for the hoodie as for the business suit, which seems ridiculous, and knowing you had to add that to the cost of the puppet made it seem like an indulgence. It did to me, but now I'm so glad I did it:

 

[DannyRWW]

Just a side note. I think they are on sale for buy one get one half off. I have both Toys R us kits and love em

 

[Herry Grail]

Until last weekend all FAO toys at TRU were BOGO 50% off...I got the jacket as the half-off item. Maybe some places are still honoring it?

 

[DannyRWW]

oh well Still happy I got mine. My 5 year old has kind of claimed the blue one but thats okay...got to get her started on her puppetry skills. I already have a blue fao one