Rumor: Reporter Kermit Replica in 2009

[Luke]

Unofficial news, but i have been trying to obtain a Kermit replica within the UK, and emailed a well known collectibles store. The owner emailed me back and said that he had been in contact with the distributor today. He was told although the stocks of regular Kermit are gone, Master Replicas will be releasing a Reporter Kermit in his trenchoat next year. Bear in mind that Master Replicas and its distributor in the UK are both owned by Corgi so the two companies are connected.

Kinda makes sense, seeing as Kermit sold well for them. If they have future plans kinda makes things a little more solid for Fozzie too.

 

[muppetperson]

I would rather that they concentrated on different characters.It doesnt look good that they are already looking backwards as if they have more faith in selling something that they have already made, rather than making a new character and that will be when they would have only produced 4.They could make just Kermit's outfit and keep making new characters because as it is, it will take a very long time to build up the gang without delays of repeated characters.
PS We worked out that cards inc was sold to Esdevium Games so Popco Distribution(formerly
Corgi international) no longer connected to the distributor.

 

[Luke]

PopCo Entertainment and Master Replicas are Corgi's remaining two companies still operating. It wasn't sold off with Cards Inc, just the trading card side licensed off i think.

I think its a smart move. There are a lot of fans who prefer Kermit as the reporter and may get this either additionally or if they missed out or didn't want classic Kermit. Travis had mentioned they might slot in another before Piggy, so perhaps this is something to do with that as it sounded like they were holding off on her a bit. Maybe this is just a little "extra" to fill what what may have been a delay while they developed her rather than being instead of anything. If the sales from re-releasing a character without all the huge development costs and time these take helps the line and bringing out new ones then its not a bad thing at all. That is of course, if this distributors info is correct!

I wondered about them just releasing the outfit or offering both options. I guess they ideally want people to buy a new replica, but if they could release a standalone outfit (could it work with Kermits collar on the classic one?) they might, we'll see i guess.

 

[KermieBaby47]

This is interesting to me if only to satisfy my curiosity as to how a Version II Kermit would look. Don't get me wrong, I love my MR Kermit, but there are several small details that could possibly be fixed this time around.

Pupil size, lower lip/chin thickness, neck length, collar, fully-flexible legs, etc. Hmm...

 

[MuppetCaper]

Unofficial news, but i have been trying to obtain a Kermit replica within the UK, and emailed a well known collectibles store. The owner emailed me back and said that he had been in contact with the distributor today. He was told although the stocks of regular Kermit are gone, Master Replicas will be releasing a Reporter Kermit in his trenchoat next year. Bear in mind that Master Replicas and its distributor in the UK are both owned by Corgi so the two companies are connected.

Kinda makes sense, seeing as Kermit sold well for them. If they have future plans kinda makes things a little more solid for Fozzie too.

Quite interesting. I wonder if they are planning on using the new company to make the Kermit. If I had my way, I would rather them rework on Animal so we can get his mouth closed and other things worked out on him. Just sell me the coat and hat for Kermit and I will be happy with that.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

Well, Comic-Con is now only about 6 weeks away. If Travis is even there this year, then we'll finally find out for sure what is going on.

 

[MuppetCaper]

Well, Comic-Con is now only about 6 weeks away. If Travis is even there this year, then we'll finally find out for sure what is going on.

We can all hope so. This is such a waste though when there are other characters to tackle. Why do something that is already done and why can't they just make us the clothes and leave it at that. I am not really sure if I want to buy another Kermit when I have one...just without the coat and hat. I'd much rather them make another character that we don't have, or would like to have. This is insane if true.

 

[Luke]

Why do something that is already done and why can't they just make us the clothes and leave it at that.

I would guess they'll just offer both options as they always talked about doing clothes and accessories, and it makes sense if there is demand for more Kermits, plus it brings in the Sesame fans. It really worked for Palisades. If they can make this line hold out until any new Muppet TV show or movie it could be an opportunity to make loads of new ones.

 

[Doug&Rodney]

...plus it brings in the Sesame fans. It really worked for Palisades. If they can make this line hold out until any new Muppet TV show or movie it could be an opportunity to make loads of new ones.

If this is coming out it probably isn't the Kermit that reported news on Sesame Street but instead the "KOOZEBANE KERMIT" like the palisades action figure because MR is employed by Disney not Henson or Sesame Workshop. However, I wish it was with Sesame Workshop as well so then we could have Sesame characters and a relationship with Sesame Workshop may possibly lead to a relationship with Henson (Can you imagine having fraggles)! Also, when a new movie or show is made I don't think it will affect the market for these things. The replicas are collectables and for collectors, the hardcore muppet fans, us. I don't think Segal's Muppet movieor a new TV program will make any hardcore fans.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

We can all hope so. This is such a waste though when there are other characters to tackle. Why do something that is already done and why can't they just make us the clothes and leave it at that. I am not really sure if I want to buy another Kermit when I have one...just without the coat and hat. I'd much rather them make another character that we don't have, or would like to have. This is insane if true.

The problem with making the accessory packs, as I understand it, is that they only made 2500 Kermits. Out of those that bought him, how many outfits could they sell? If it's not enough to justify design and manufacturing costs, then it's not worth it for them to do it.

On the other hand, if they make another limited edition Kermit, the extra cost of the clothing is minimal (compared to the total cost of making the replica)... and maybe they could make a few extra sets of clothes to sell separately.