Preorder the Animal Muppet Replica

[MWoO]

But if you look at any animal ever made you can clearly see that the eye balls are right next to each other. I mean the pattern is obviously wrong on this.

 

[frogboy4]

I'm sure the pattern is more of a guideline. Alterations are probably made Muppet-by-Muppet by the puppet builders. That sort of thing likely can't be done on a production line without adding much expense and man hours. Going strictly by the pattern is probably the best way to go in most cases.

I do remember in Jim Henson's day that the Muppet builders would very slightly cross the eyes of each character to give them the best eye-focus. I'm not certain if that sort of thing can be measured.

 

[MWoO]

Couldn't they have just altered that part of the pattern? I mean this isn't something change that got made over they ears. Animal's eyes have always been right next to each other with very little space. There must be some pattern that has them like that.

Edit: It just bugs me that Animal was so close to being totally perfect but a little thing like eye sapcing is throwing it off. And whats worse is that is could easily have been changed.

 

[MWoO]

One more thing to add, if they can make Gonzo's eye lids with foam why not his nose?

 

[frogboy4]

Eye = Nose Foam?

Good observation. I wonder that too.

I would really like to hear a little about the manufacturing process. Not guarded trade secrets, of course, but just a little of how the posers are made - from conceptual art to shipped product. It would be interesting.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

It's not that they can't make Gonzo's nose out of foam, it's that the type of foam used on Gonzo's nose is very susceptible to becoming brittle and crumbly. As I said earlier in this thread, there are other kinds of foam with a much longer shelf life, but they wouldn't look right, either. For instance, L200 is very dense, very white, smooth foam, but it doesn't have the same look as reticulated Scott foam, which is very "airy" and textured.

They need to mold something that has the same texture as Scott foam, but would last a lot longer. As Travis said, even at Palisades they did a good job of copying textures.

 

[chequepoint]

I personally feel like, if they can't produce a "replica" of the puppet due to the materials involved, don't create that character. At the very least, I'm not going to buy it. Can't make Gonzo's nose right, Don't make Gonzo. Can't make Piggies head right, Don't make piggie. Make Scooter, Make Rowlf, Make Beaker, etc. Essentially, make the characters that were primarily constructed of fur and fleece.

The only people that are going to shell out this kind of cash for these items are the hardcore people that hang out in places like this, so the "Secondary characters won't sell" argument doesn't hold much water. You're not going to sell it to a casual muppet fan at K-Mart. Anything less than a replica is a Doll. I don't need a $200 gonzo doll. When someone walks into my house, I want them to go "Hey, this guy has a real muppet" not "Hey, this guy has a life sized gonzo doll".

The only way we can keep the quality of these up, is a flat boycott of the ones that fall short. To me, animal looks "OK". With a little work, it will probably be spot on. Gonzo looks like a toy. And if you go and add a plastic palisades nose that some people are calling for, it's going to look even worse, because when someone looks at it without a direct reference, any kind of fabric solution may be passable, but they know his nose wasn't hard plastic.

I don't have a solution, other than, "don't make gonzo". Because if you make gonzo, and it looks like crap, I won't buy it. If gonzo looks like it does on Terry's myspace, I'd pay twice as much for it.

 

[MuppetCaper]

I think we are taking this a little too serious don't you think? They are just collecters pieces and we haven't even seen the final product. I think we are going way over our heads, boycotts, protest........over a collecter item. Travis is working his himself to death to make sure that we have something that we all love to have. It is not going to be perfect. No one said it was going to be. He wants us to have something that we can have to cherish for a long long time. So he is doing the best he can. If he is or was reading these right now he would be shaking his head. You are not going to make everyone happy and everything is not going to come out what you expect. That is life........but over a collecter item? This is a little over the top and really sad to hear. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Let others enjoy it for all what it is worth.

 

[frogboy4]

I'm still bewildered about the difficulty of finding a durable foam-looking replacement for the nose. By the way, will the eyelid foam on him become a problem later on? I really want that Gonzo Terry made. It is just so fantastic.

 

[MWoO]

Yeah I saw pics of that Gonzo prototype and remember just how amazing Gonzo was originally. They HAVE to find a solution. The current nose just looks bad. Animal's eyes still bug me, but some of the extra space may be from the eye brow fur. The prototype is again far superior. I mean I get that these are costly to do, but they have to be worth the extra money. Kermit seems like he is.