Your Thoughts: Authentic Animal Replica

[MuppetCaper]

I think a lot of the photos with Animal's eyes pinned so widely and wildly back help fuel the Crazy Harry resemblance. I tell you, my Animal looks better each day. I actually trimmed (very slightly and sparingly) a few stray hairs on the replica today and it improved him so much.

As for the bags under his eyes - in the puppet they are made of foam. Here they are fleece covered sacks. That gives them a slightly bigger and puffier appearance, but I think he looks fine. I am just so happy with this item. It’s been a week and a half and I feel even more excited than the first night – and that was exciting!

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I agree with you. I love my Muppet posers!

 

[MWoO]

I think the mouth not being able to close and the eyelid issues should have at least knocked off a whole star. Also I don't think Jamie should have done a review after making alterations, no matter how small. Fluffing the hair is one thing, actually taking a black marker to the eyelids is another. It's like doing a review of an actual figure after you've added your own dry brushing. How can you accurately represent the product if you've changed it?

 

[frogboy4]

I think the mouth not being able to close and the eyelid issues should have at least knocked off a whole star. Also I don't think Jamie should have done a review after making alterations, no matter how small. Fluffing the hair is one thing, actually taking a black marker to the eyelids is another. It's like doing a review of an actual figure after you've added your own dry brushing. How can you accurately represent the product if you've changed it?

There were no multiple "alterationS". There was one minior one. All I did was swipe the brow rim with a marker and admitted to that. That process was simple and took all of about 25 seconds. If you think that negates my review than so be it. I disagree. That one portion is where I "drew the line" so to speak. He he.

I thought about taking off an entire star for the articulation issues and actually did starting out, but so much other factors boosted the score back up. At the end of the review is a rating per factor. Every good and bad point are noted in the article.

 

[Luke]

I agree that the mouth error in production and the eye rim issue should (in my own opinion) have meant a whole star deducted, but it is the reviewers personal opinion, and there was quite a strong paragraph about that issue so star or no star it was well noted. It kinda read to me like if they want to charge the RRP they should have had at least had all those issues sorted during the initial factory QC process which i totally agree with. The fact is these could have been made without those flaws, and should have been, but they are still amazing items and well worth it as they have turned out.

The thing about the eyebrow rim being painted over isn't really a big issue, its not like he had trimmed the hair and removed the tongue as well, and what he had done is clearly mentioned. If anything thats gonna help people see what can be done to easily sort the original fault, and along with the photos (which they really needed to have on that site) it gives a good representation of what this item actually looks like at its best. It's a very honest review, enthusiastic but constructive - without being overly in danger of being seen as "cheerleading" which then just looks like a PR thing. If anything it's gonna make people realise these are worth getting into even if they do need a little time spent on em to get em looking perfect.

 

[frogboy4]

I agree that the mouth error in production and the eye rim issue should (in my own opinion) have meant a whole star deducted, but it is the reviewers personal opinion, and there was quite a strong paragraph about that issue so star or no star it was well noted. It kinda read to me like if they want to charge the RRP they should have had at least had all those issues sorted during the initial factory QC process which i totally agree with. The fact is these could have been made without those flaws, and should have been, but they are still amazing items and well worth it as they have turned out.

The thing about the eyebrow rim being painted over isn't really a big issue, its not like he had trimmed the hair and removed the tongue as well, and what he had done is clearly mentioned. If anything thats gonna help people see what can be done to easily sort the original fault, and along with the photos (which they really needed to have on that site) it gives a good representation of what this item actually looks like at its best. It's a very honest review, enthusiastic but constructive - without being overly in danger of being seen as "cheerleading" which then just looks like a PR thing. If anything it's gonna make people realise these are worth getting into even if they do need a little time spent on em to get em looking perfect.

That's what I really was going for. I was cautious about the rating and was back and forth 4-4.5 a bit, but after living with Animal for another week I stand by the 4.5 because he really is that good.

I was possessed upon opening Animal. I went straight for the Sharpie. I couldn't help myself. It was like an out of body experience. It reminded me of the series one white arm plate issues with Palisades figures.

 

[MWoO]

Series three white arm plate issue.

poor Zoot will never look right...

 

[MWoO]

To me the mouth error is so obvious and error and so easy to fix that it's just inexcusable. If thumb articulation was restricted that's a non-issue, but the mouth? Huge issue, I think. There is so much expression in the mouth of a puppet that having that restricted really throws off the quality. Plus the eyes are too far apart....

I dunno. I like the replica, I really do, I'm just so disappointed with such glaring problems. I mean, how did they not notice the mouth issue? How did they not think to make the eyelid piece one piece instead of two?

 

[Ignohippo]

I don't know. The mouth issue wouldn't have been an issue until the tongue was in place so it's very possible that the thickness of the tongue was a mistake too late in production to fix (see: the incredibly undersized Gaffer the Cat from Palisades as a great example).

As for the rim on the eyelids, yeah that's pretty bad. How they chose to allow him to go into production like that I'll never know.

As for the review, it's all subjective. I give Jamie a heck of a lot of credit for a really, really well written and thought out review. Personally, I'd give Animal's likeness a 3 out-of-the-box and maybe a 4 with alterations. I would recommend his purchase to anyone (I truly love him – in a completely non "I want to hump you leg" kinda way), but there a glaring mistakes in his likeness. Animal would almost certainly be one of the hardest Muppets to get right and it's a shame because he is so close that a perfect version could've been made without much more work:

(A) The tongue issue. Cannot close his mouth without removing the tongue.
(B) The lower jaw plate only being the size of his tongue, with no side to side movement. This could have been easily fixed with a wire inside his bottom lip.
(C) The bags under his eyes are way too big.
(D) Nose is too small.
(E) His eyelid being made out of foam so there's no way to close his eyes or keep them completely open (c'mon, Fisher Price got this one right thirty years ago).
(F) Oy, the hair! MR should've figured out a way for him to look decent without alterations by the customer. Even with alterations, his hair will never look quite like the real muppet. My Animal would've greatly benefitted from more feathers on the back of his head.
(G) I firmly believe the upper jaw plate is at severely the wrong angle. It slopes down too much as it moves to the back of his head and should have been a bit closer to a right angle when compared to his eyes. He can look decent from the front but looks way off from the side. I think this and the hair are biggest keys to him not looking quite right.
(H) The lack of the collar.

I'm not too bothered by the two separate eyeballs. Many current pics of Animal show two distinct eyeballs. The pupil focus also isn't perfect, but it's close enough for me. They could have done a much worse job on pupil focus. I would change it, but I'm too afraid I'd mess up something that's pretty good as it is now.

All of this said though, I still dig the **** out of him! I have to say, the fun of having him is getting him to look just the way you think he should. I've never felt like working with him was frustrating, annoying or a waste of time. The MR Kermit, to me, is as close to perfect as it gets – but the MR Animal is a lot more fun!

 

[frogboy4]

Series three white arm plate issue.

poor Zoot will never look right...

Oh yeah. It was series three. That's about when I started to step aboard.

As for the eye placement mentioned - maybe I'm just getting used to him but it looks better every day.

Out of the box Animal's likeness gets a 3 at best, but that's why I planned to wait. I really didn't do much to him - and only the eyebrow Sharpie seam in the pictures I took. He really can look great!

 

[Reevz1977]

All I did was swipe the brow rim with a marker and admitted to that. That process was simple and took all of about 25 seconds.

LIAR I just did my Animals brow rim and it took almost 30 seconds! My language at that point turned the air blue - shame on you Frogboy4, shame on you