The Muppets Figures Have Problems!

[uncleduke]

Originally posted by ResidentLilly
My only regret is the low number on the Dr. Teeth....

I agree, you should get offline this moment, and call the factory and have another 1500 made up for the collector's club. (joke ) -- lord only knows what would actually show up. D)
I would offer to have them picked up and delivered, but that would put me in an akward position, she wouldn't know if I was happy to see her or the toys.....
however they would keep the kids busy while dad was ........um, er preoccupied LOL!!

 

[bhg738]

I dont think people mind exclusives etc as long as you can get them (Merman & Captain C)!

This WAS my point. I felt the club WAS set up becuse they did not realise that doing low run figures was a mistake.

That is my overall point - things which are produced in low numbers = problems!

If this was due to underestimation of the popularity then so be it. Call is a mistake or a screw up but whatever they have made a realisation.

So do we agree now?

 

[Luke]

I think this is all a bit silly. Of course Palisades have to do show exclusives - it's their way of getting industry people interested in the line and a good way to get people through the convention doors and upto the Palisades booth - perfect sense ! Yes there have been a fair few variants but then theres been a fair few shows at this time of the year - Palisades having never dealt with the Muppet fans or brand had no way of knowing how popular these would be, and having never stated they were aimed at the hardcore figure collectors, did not know if those people would take to a line like this or not, it's a million miles away from the Simpsons.

Once they realised all this, they made the changes to offer the exclusives through the club and chase figures in with the regular crates of figures so this problem would be solved. I think they have handled it totally right.

If the hardcore collectors strive to be 'completsts' then thats entirely upto them but whoever said being a 'completitst' should be a piece of cake ? It should be a title to strive for and you should actually have to put some effort into being one, who on earth would want to be one if everybody was ? ;-)

 

[BlueFrackle]

bhg,

I just noticed that you are in England, you got no reason for not being able to get the figures.

Ive got all that have been made by Palisades so far...

And im in England too.

See ya

 

[Emmy1500]

I agree with most of bhg738 statements, most.

I'm a toy collector in canada, AKA the deadzone for toy collecting.

I collect star wars but know at least 2 dozen people up here that have given up collecting star wars because of the USA only exclusives. I have been unable to find the last wave of the figures up here and am starting to wonder how much longer I will collect the line.

I have been very interested in these muppet figures for a while now and have already gotten the EB exclusive piggy. But I wanted to say too the poster who said it is so easy to find the exclusives, TRU canada will not be getting the tux kermit. I really wanted to get this so now if I want it, I need to find someone stateside to pick it up for me and ship it to me. This ends up making that a very expensive figure. This ticks me off because it was the one exclusive I realy wanted.

Sometimes people on here forget that not everyone lives in the good ole US of A.

I would have joined this collectors club but I havn't been online much lately so I missed the posting about it, whenever it was. I had just gotten back to work after a 6 month layoff and working midnights I have been unable to check in as often.

I am going to continue collecting the regular muppet figures but if any playsets or figures(other than repaints) are given too american only stores then I will be done collecting them. I don't mind searching for them in stores up here but certainly don't have the money to go the states looking for toys.

Well thats about it but just for an example I will list the star wars toys which weren't available at cdn retail stores. Ken will know what I'm talking about since he collects star wars.

Y-wing , b-wing .( target exclusives) No targets in canada.

Tie-bomber, crashed snowspeeder, new cantina sets with exclusive figures. (USA walmart exclusives)

AT-ST with speederbike. (TRU exclusive) Not carried by TRU canada.

Up here the last three lines of star wars toys have been discontinued early so if you wanted all the figures from that line you had to get them stateside. This was the POTF2, Episode 1 and POTJ lines, and it is starting to look like the Saga line will end up the same way.

This has caused a lot of diehard star wars collectors to give up on the toy line. Were not talking about simple repaints here but vehicles and figures that only were sold in the US.

I sometimes wonder why I collect toys, between the exclusives and short packs it's almost more hassle than it's worth.

The only good thing that has happened lately as far as collecting goes is that I won a toyfair vader from the sandcrawler workshop. It will be a nice addition to my collection although I wish I had some of the stuff I listed above.

In the end this is just a warning to pallisades that nothing turns off a toy collector than exclusive figures or playsets which they can't get.

Learn from hasbros mistakes which by the way they are still making.

I hope that maybe I've shed a little light on what it is like trying to collect toys here in canada.

Thanks

Cory

 

[supertulip]

Just be glad that you aren't trying to get these in Australia, you can't even get the Muppet movie DVD's over there as far as I know let alone the Muppet figures.

I'm lucky enough to be living in the States at the moment though so I am very aware of how good the US has it at the moment in regards to Muppet merchandise.

~Tulip

 

[MaxGoof]

Obeying Ken's wishes, I'm gonna shut up now.

However, I'd first like to note one thing: Mattel is making an ultra-limited exclusive He-Man figure for the San Diego Comic Con. DUN-DUN-DUN! The line is most assuredly doom-ed.

 

[dlphntat]

I don't know if I agree with this thread. I like the Muppets toys, and I have 'collected' toys for many years.
I used to collect the Simpson's toy line, but stopped and sold every one of them.
Why?
It wasn't because of the exclusives (though I did get sad that I couldn't get the Pin Pal Mr. Burns, radioactive Homer, or Boxing Homer) It was becasue it just became too much. More figures being released all the time, and characters that few people even cared in (Not to mention 23 variants of Homer and Bart.)
The line continues on and seems to be doing strong, not even missing my few dollars.
The muppet line has GREAT quality, and is wonderful! It compares really well to MacFarlane toys. (Arguably, one of the best toy companies out there. Behind Palisades, of course!) They have amazing attention to detail. They aren't the most articulated toys out there, but that's the choice you make. High articulation OR high detail. Would Kermit have been better with bending knees and elbows? I don't think so.
MacFarlane also offers exclusives and variants, and even offers special figures through their collector club. They remain a strong to company regardless of all of this (or maybe even because of it.)
I'm a huge Muppet fan, Kermit in particular. But as the toy line continues, I may not be buying all of the exclusives, or even all the regular figures. I'll just get what I like. (again, a lesson learned from the Simpson's toys)
It all boils down to you. If you want an exclusive, then by all means, find a way to get it.
If not, be happy with what you have.

 

[ResidentLilly]

Well said ALL...well said. Love this forum...

 

[CaptCrouton]

I'm not a toy collector. Toy Story 2 spoke it all for me in that respects. I buy the toys I like, leave the ones I hate, and my wallet suffers a little less. I take them out of the package immediately and let kids play with them (with some warning)

But I thought that part of the joy of collecting is the great search to complete that collection. The fulfillment of finding that one hard to find toy. It seems to me that if you got the entire collection in one place, it would be kind of a bummer. Like the Missing Piece book by Shel Silverstein. You know.

But I don't know. I got no axe to grind. I'll keep playing with my toys.

Markus