There is no doubt in my mind that upscale limited edition Sesame merchandise would do big business, but many companies are too blind to the opportunities.
That really bugs me. It really was a shame that the Palisades line never happened due to perhaps the most unfortunate timing possible (I wish somehow they could have at LEAST managed to keep it going long enough to get series 1 on the shelves... I could have done without the parody record accessories myself). But other than that, we really get nothing but T-Shirts. Sure, 5 years ago, Gund released those smaller plush figures of Guy Smiley, Sherlock Hemlock, The Yip Yips and a Super Grover... all we got out of the 40th anniversary were Target exclusive Fisher Price Plush... the only fan favorite being a wrong colored Honker... but Danged if it wasn't the best Count von Count I've ever seen.
I want something middle range. Not very high scale collector, but not more of their kiddy stuff. I feel Mattel FAILED miserably with the 2 figure Sesame Packs in only having 3 sets, reusing figures, and giving them a ridiculous price range of 8 bucks... I would love to see some sort of buddy pack series of new figures, but marry a classic character to a current favorite... say, Elmo with Guy Smiley or Cookie with Forgetful Jones. Maybe Hasbro can do that... heck, they made making background characters in Star Wars even the hard core fans forgot about into buddy packs marketable. Even some lesser known Marvel characters are in buddy packs. And Kids still buy them. I think that's the best we could really ask for from them. Though, I hope they're not stylized....