Series 3 action figures retooled

[Luke]

Hey Jamie,

Yeah as i said, i appreciate your honesty about the background you come from regarding the figures - you knowing more about them helps a lot when we are focusing on something like the evolution.

Obviously, once they are released to the stores it would be cool to get a review from someone totally 'untouched' by the 'Ask Ken' phenonmena though. Annika did a good job of this but i'd really like to see someone do it who has never even been to the site before or had any background knowledge of the line. That way we know, as an unbiased and independant fan site that all props are 110% deserved and the work that has gone into the figures should get even higher esteem !!!!

Anybody got any long lost cousins in remote places ?

 

[grail]

actually, that's a pretty decent idea. when series three hits (or series 2, whatever) i think i might take a couple of the figs, and submit them to my prop building friends. i'll take their comments, and build a review out of that. it's kind of a more thought out version of what i did with He-Man...

 

[frogboy4]

Intriguing idea. I don't know how practical that is because you will always get a fan point of view in an article an a fan forum and any fan would likely know about these figures so there is little that can be done to escape that but it is definitely something to look into. All the Muppet forums have had the pleasure of inside information for about a year. A fresh perspective in the articles could be just the thing. Although there are plenty of alternate figure sites out there with reviews - and I do enjoy reading them.

I originally planned this article about Scooter but received so many images that I had to include the entire wave. Can't hold back on the lobster bandits! By the way - here are some blown up images of them. I wish they could have been bigger on the site, but it didn't work out that way: www.jamesvier.com/muppets/wave3.html

Check out the detail!

 

[grail]

i was talking about my review for Zen...i have friends that spend all their free time building prop replicas (i'm even trying to help one start a company), so when i was wanting an unbiased opinion of He-Man, i went to them. i took what they said, added it to what i was already thinking, and wrote a review. maybe i could do that kind of thing again. i can only think of one of them that is a "fan" of the Muppets (though they all did dig the Muppet Labs playset). they're all Trek nerds (which i am too, so i can say that)

 

[Luke]

Jamie,

I think we can just get someone who isn't a hardcore Muppet 'fan' , not a hardcore figure collector, and doesn't visit the figure or Muppet sites. Kinda like giving them to your nostalgic twenty-something best friend who has a social life other than the net and might find revisiting some Muppet stuff cool. I think it could be easily arranged.

Actuallly i am going to suggest someone who we all know anyway - Scott (dancing cheeses). He can write well, he isn't too hardcore about either the figures or the Muppets yet he has a fan interest, and he is an occasional visitor to the site who doesn't particpate as much day to day as the rest of us. I wonder what the possibilities are about loaning him a set of review figures ? I also take it there are no objections site wise to members being able to submit reviews for publication on it ?

 

[frogboy4]

Luke

I don't see what would inspire a non-hardcore fan to write an article? Has this been suggested on other fan sites and should these random people's articles be applied to all the other topics? It seems you have singled out this topic. It would be good to invite other people over to view the collection and give feedback, but to have an anonymous joe all of a sudden write an article is kind of strange. Should distant cousins do the Muppet Central movie reviews? I see some logic to it, but it doesn't seem to carry all the way through in the context it was written. This is a fan site after all and fans are going to have inside scoops. It's still an interesting idea, but I'm not sure how it fits exactly. This being my second article - I am not that familiar with the protocol.

 

[frogboy4]

Scott would be a good choice. I still don't think the article would be much different - he is quite a fan, but it's always good seeing different voices in the articles.

 

[Louis Kazagger]

I remember Roger Ebert's review of Star Trek Generations. His complaint was that it wasn't a standalone movie and that you'd feel very left out if you didn't know the history of Trek, like who Spock was (he was referred to in the movie but didn't appear), etc..... It was a review by someone that the film wasn't made for, obviously a non fan. A Muppet review by a non fan would have about as much impact for me. "This guy looks cool, but I don't remember him from the show at all....."

 

[Luke]

Jamie

Yeah sorry, i went back and edited Scott in. I'm glad you agree he is a good choice.

Basically i think when it comes to the figures, they are the most important Henson merchandise to hit this year, and for many years. Also 'Muppet Central' has a daily relationship with Palisades like it has had with no other licensee. Thats why i think it is most important in this case, but you are right, i agree with you that it's always good to hear different voices in reviews and i would certainly have no objections to this being the same with all Henson merchandise released no matter who is making it.

The way we used to do reviews was invite people to send them in, whoever they were, and they would all get published together (see the main site - something like 'Muppets From Space'). Somehow this doesn't seem to have happened with the figures and so actually they have already kinda been singled out. I guess one option would be to do this with the figures as well, or the other option, besides just using Scott, is to have a 'Muppet Central Reviews Panel' where we have 3 people each with varying levels of Muppet interest all giving their opinions and Phillip or another moderator combining all their comments into one article. The panel could change every six months so we got differing viewpoints.

I'm sorry to have brought this up slap bang in the middle of the figures thread - it just kind of came into my mind and would have been an entirely new thread otherwise. I'm not soley suggesting this for the figures, but that everything gets the same treatment - right now it isn't getting that.

Louis

Scott actually IS a fan, just with a less intense daily intake of 'Muppet Central'. Other than that i am suggesting getting fans of varying levels of interest, and compiling the different opinions so you get all aspects - hardcore, general fan, and occasional fan ! I think it would really work well around here and be a fresh new way of doing things.

 

[Louis Kazagger]

Originally posted by Luke
The way we used to do reviews was invite people to send them in, whoever they were, and they would all get published together. Somehow this doesn't seem to have happened with the figures and so actually they have already kinda been singled out.

Hey, if he wants to pass the prototypes around, I'm sure we'd all be willing.