The future of MR photo puppets.

[MuppetCaper]

See...isn't nice to have cold hard facts instead of rumors? Thank you Terry for giving us the info. It is nice to know that Fozzie is still a go. As for the next poser, I agree, I would love to see Piggy next, then Scooter. But I love them all. Whoever comes next is fine with me.

 

[Bear Man]

I do worry about this statement:

"The sale of the Corgi die cast collector business will allow us to focus on our key licenses (Harry Potter, Nintendo, Beatles, James Bond, Disney, Star Trek, Halo) and two, strong Pop Culture brands (PopCo and Master Replicas) that concentrate on the younger consumer and retailers that cater for the younger gateway collector."

(http://www.hornby.com/news-events/h...ge-with-7-5m-acquisition-of-corgi,36,HNS.html)

There is no mention of the Muppets in there - I know they reference Disney, but MR (on their web site at least) separate Muppets and Disney out as two different lines.

It's definitely great to hear that there was indeed a factory that was working on him at some point, but we have no evidence that they are still doing so...it was quite a while ago that Travis said the prototype was going to be coming in from China - I know that I'm sounding very negative, but I don't think we can assume that he is "still a go"

 

[Reevz1977]

Reevz1977 - You have a very interesting imagination. It would be a very scary combination.

Scary? Not sure we are singing from the same hymn sheet...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23001839@N02/2460254064/sizes/o/

See!

 

[muppetguy]

Reevz...

That is hilarious! I think i'll have to pass on the piggy/scooter hybrid poser...LOL.

 

[Reevz1977]

That is hilarious! I think i'll have to pass on the piggy/scooter hybrid poser...LOL.

Pass, c'mon, I need support here!

 

[KermieBaby47]

I think the most logical move for MR is to skip Piggy & Scooter altogether and just go with Rowlf. Yeah, Rowlf.









Hee-hee.

 

[Ignohippo]

It sounds odd to me that the company would sell it's namesake. It sounds like a last-ditch effort to get some quick capital save the company from bankruptcy.

I hope it works out for them but it sounds to me like their days are numbered. It stinks that this is the time they're working with a new factory too. To guarantee we get the Bear, we'd better hope he gets on the production line pretty quickly. It reminds me of what happened with Palisades and the SS figures. If we could've just gotten them into production a little sooner, they may have come out before Pal went under.

Well, hopefully the sale of Corgi will put the remaining company in a position to thrive for many years to come.

 

[muppetperson]

Hi all,

Sorry I didn’t get back to you guys as soon as I got back. The trip I took was nothing really. I was getting my car paint fixed up and my Mother knew of a guy in Amherst Nova Scotia that could do the job for a good price. Sorry if it sounded like something was up. I grew up 20 miles outside of Amherst and that’s 2 to 3 hours from Halifax. I also used that time to bury the ashes of our cat of 19 years on the farm where he was born and I grew up. He had been very sick and we had to put him to sleep on April 14th. It was very hard to do but it had to be done. Yes it has been a hard month as my Aunt also passed away and of all things on the same day the 14th.

Now I will try to answer a wee bit about the Master Replicas business. As Bear Man correctly pointed out I don’t have 100% insight into what is going on at MR. All I know is what was told to be by Travis on the phone and that was that MR will not be ready to green light Miss Piggy for another two months or so and I made this call early in April. In fact they still don’t know if they will put Piggy off and do another character but he told me that so far the Muppet line is still on. It makes it hard for me because I have to get other work on the side as I wait for MR to figure out what they want to do.

Travis had also gotten the first factory prototype from China and he is not happy with it at all. Travis has decided not to show it as he does not want anyone getting upset about it and I think that’s a good idea. I had to give him Fozzie naked foam head pictures to help them over in China. So far that’s all I know.

As far as Corgi selling off thing I’ve got nothing on that, sorry.

Kevin I am very glad that you like the way I take my pictures of the posers that I had built and the reason they are good is because I am a puppeteer too and working with Henson on Fraggle Rock as a performer I know how the puppets are suppose to look in pictures. I know about the focus and the fact that the puppets have to be tilted in such a way to work. The puppets should never be strait up in the shots. Anyway you know what I’m saying. Now I have offered to help them out in the picture taken department way back before Travis came along but they turned it down and I think it’s because of the $ plus they have a guy on staff I think.

Now as for your other question Kevin yes I have been surprised on a few things but in most cases I understand why they did what they did and I will leave it at that. Well I guess that’s it for now.

Take care everyone and have fun,

Terry

P.S. I almost for got that I have a new web site up now and it’s a simple address http://www.anguspuppets.com

Enjoy

Thanks for your input, Terry.Sorry to hear about your Aunt and Cat passing away.Was your cat the inspiration for Butch?

 

[antonydavanzo]

OK all, I am a little worried now. FP Uk has put their Muppet stock to 60% off. So both Animal and Gonzo are now only £79.
Why am I worried, well my experience with retail is strong and you generally only discount items like this when they are either slow movers OR discontinued stock. I am a little worried that there is more to FP reducing the MR line. Also its bloody annoying to think we all paid twice as much....which wasnt that much considering.

 

[Ignohippo]

Thanks for posting that AD. I'm trying to be optimistic, but it doesn't look good.

Hopefully, FP are just wanting to clear their stockroom out (remember these are very large items) and want to get as much of a rebate from MR now on the unsold and discounted product just in case MR should get into trouble in the near future.

I don't know what it is about Muppet products – it seems they're jinxed! Everyone could say that the Muppets don't sell well if their product was marketed the way it should be but, to this point, they haven't been.

Once again, we're left to wonder about what could have been. ****, and all I'm hoping for is the Bear! I'd truly feel like this line were complete (enough) if we could get Fozzie.