MINDstyle to make 25th Ann. Fraggle figures!

[Redsonga]

Cool idea! Finally a children's toy that actually doesn't cause damage!

And I wish I was kidding! The US has a big problem in this area as we know. The government turned a blind eye to bad working practices overseas, and we here at home were content with cheaper priced toys.

You mean a problem with making toys out of things that become trash that does'nt break down easy? I think, by making doozer sticks out reused plastic it would also be true to the soul of Fraggle Rock. I always thought it had a homey down on the farm in the good ol' days feeling to it

 

[beaker]

Excellent news! Am loving rhe size, price point, distributor and most especially the LINE UP! I wish these were plastic and not vinyl and the blind boxing isn't great for us (but needs to be done probably to sell enough) but well, the possibility of chase characters makes me giddy. Hopefully although vinyl they will be detailed enough.

Ive become the master of blind boxed Japanese figures, very rarely do I not get the figure I want. But yeah, I do wish they were blister packed.

Still, this is absolutely amazing. We're not talking Kubrick block figures, we're talking vinyl Fraggle action figures in a collectable Japanese market style under the $10 price point with AT LEAST 14 characters starting off(as its a given there will be 1 or 2 secret chase figures)
This is exactly what we as Fraggle Fans have been waiting a quarter century for.

*soooo cannot wait for NY Toy Fair pix!*
There hasnt been something for Muppet fans to be excited about Toy Fair wise since Palisades.

Oh, and I am LOVING the announced 3-4" size!

I don't remember ever seeing him in the series

Its weird how he could be in so many of the Fraggle Episodes, yet never actually be seen...no doubt as Doc's inventor rival, he put a lot of stress in his unusual dynamic with ol Doc

 

[beaker]

It has to be said, the letters idea is the most pointless idea ive heard in a long time. They would have been better off including doozer sticks to put together to build little constructions from. I doubt any Fraggle fan wants the letters and they oughta just ditch that bit at toy fair and bring the price point down a buck or something - they'd likely make a few more sales.

I agree totally about having a premium option to buy the complete sets, big money to be made there. These do have a lot of potential to sell, maybe even more than Muppets in the comic shops as Fraggle does seem to be very well remembered amongst the casual fans, especially at the moment.

They'll be a huge item for certain collectors, but yeah..

more than the blind box plan, the connecting letters thing IS pointless. Thats Sesame Street.

Why NOT each figure comes with a part to make a BIG Gorg figure
OR part of a playset?

surely MindStyle thought of this, no?

It has to be said - blind boxing exclusives is one thing, but doing so for the regular lineup is disrespectful of the fans.

I admire MINDstyle's stunning work but am not wild about their price points or business practices as relates to customers. This will just create an Ebay market and fan frystration. Companies need to understand how such things make their customers feel. I think Fraggle figures would sell just fine without this blind boxing (which I see as another form of bait-and-switch business). Muppet and Fraggle fans aren't the typical collector. Things done with Star Wars and other such genre figures might not work with the average Henson fan.

I'm not sure about the letters thing. It sounds more like Sesame Street than Fraggles to me, but we'll see.

That being said, I am still very happy about this. And the Trash Heap! Wow!

Also - do you think there will be a way to skip the blind box if they package the entire sets together?

Yeah, I agree in part, but hey...maybe we can set up a fan exchange program? heh.

If thats what they need to do to guarantee sales, Im all for it. I mean look how many characters are coming out, thats nuts.

Btw, anyone remember the Skrumps vinyl figures? I SO wish I could have gotten those

Sprocket! *is happy*
But the king and not Junior? Playing with them won't be as fun without him

Yeah but thing is, the figures will be 3-4 inches, so the gorgs wont be much taller. Anyone remember the big 4" Schleich Gorg family pvcs?

Now that's really mean. All that means is they want money money money! Even if i have to but each box by taring every box i see then so be it but i hope this doesn't happen.

A massive amount of the Japanese anime figure market is now done that way now. I agree that it's not as easy as blister packages, but if fans work together people can get whatever one they want

 

[Redsonga]

Oooo a trading topic sounds like a good idea !

 

[Drtooth]

What, no Ned Shimmelfinney figure? *weeps*

{Choke AKKK AKKKK! AKKKK! gasp!}

No NO! He doesn't look like that at all! He's a nice man.

A massive amount of the Japanese anime figure market is now done that way now. I agree that it's not as easy as blister packages, but if fans work together people can get whatever one they want

As much as I love the Japanese figure collecting (Hugs Robin Mask fighting Junkman figure... then recoils in pain because it's so pointy), this "look at how cool we are, stealing another country's idea because Japan is in right now" type blind boxing I'm not too thrilled to see in figures today. Besides, I usually just buy the real Japanese ones- Specially if they come with candy.

Now what I'd like to see, which would never happen, something like Kinder Surprise eggs. The toys would be in a plastic sepperator and surrounded by a hollow choclate egg. that way, if you get a figure you have or don't want, you at least get a chocolate egg out of it.

But I will buy a couple of these. I think they're off their stick by offering King Gorg and not Junior. These toy marketers are crazy.

 

[Redsonga]

Or they could put a bottle of raspberry flavored soda with it and call it sweetwater

 

[DTWolf]

I'm certainly not happy about the blind-boxing. I very much hope there's some option to buy a complete set. However, I'm thinking if I end up with Fraggle duplicates, I may have to customize them into Sesame characters like Abby Cadabby or Zoe. (Boober has the least clothing, he'd be the easiest to work with . . .) Won't they be the right size to be those characters in scale with the Palisades figures? With fuzzy-fluffiness pre-sculpted in. . . .

What other furry little monsters would these be good for? (I'm ignoring Elmo on purpose, of course.)

Then again, if they end up with no articulation I doubt I'd bother. I might not buy any in that case, not with blind-boxing and a $10 price tag. I don't ask for much--swivel shoulders and hips, minimum, and hopefully the neck; a swivel tail (turning where tail meets body) would be great.

 

[beaker]

I'm certainly not happy about the blind-boxing. I very much hope there's some option to buy a complete set. However, I'm thinking if I end up with Fraggle duplicates, I may have to customize them into Sesame characters like Abby Cadabby or Zoe. (Boober has the least clothing, he'd be the easiest to work with . . .) Won't they be the right size to be those characters in scale with the Palisades figures? With fuzzy-fluffiness pre-sculpted in. . . .

What other furry little monsters would these be good for? (I'm ignoring Elmo on purpose, of course.)

Then again, if they end up with no articulation I doubt I'd bother. I might not buy any in that case, not with blind-boxing and a $10 price tag. I don't ask for much--swivel shoulders and hips, minimum, and hopefully the neck; a swivel tail (turning where tail meets body) would be great.

I see a gluttony of Abby, Elmo and Zoe merchandise actually. Tho I *could* see how a Fraggle could be customed to look like Nigel from the Muppet Show.

I am very much hoping these figures have articulation, absolutely no reason why they cant have it. The "Dark Crystal toys" are not figures, theyre hard resin statues if I read correctly. These are spose to be figures. But yeah, I think these myght end up being $10 blindbox assortments, in where if you paid 50 dollars you could end up with three boobers, a doozer and sprocket.

Knowing how the online market goes, there will be many places including ebay where you can buy each one individually or as a full set(including the special and chase)

Hopefully these will be out by summer time, if not sooner.
And its quite possible were going to hear of even bigger Fraggle news before these are released.

OT, *squints* eyes...what's this Jamie? Do I see two new emoticons?

haha, that rocks man!

 

[frogboy4]

(Thanks! New emoticons include Rizzo, Swedish Chef, Big Bird, Cookie, Grover, Sherlock, Count, Wembley, Doozer and Skeksis, along with a few getting a shine-up like Gonzo's snazzy bowtie.)

I think these figures are going to be small vinyl statues. I don't expect them to hold a true scale to one another or to the Palisades Muppet figures. I have a hunch that Kermit will be smaller than Boober.

I'm very curious about the letter inclusion. I think packaging each of the fraggle five with an alternate character would have saved this horrid blind boxing idea.

Gobo with Sprocket, Wembley with Junior, Red with Ma Gorg, Mokey with Pa Gorg, Boober with Trash Heap, Uncle Matt with Storyteller Fraggle, Doozer pack one (each includes 2 Doozers) with Cantus, Doozer pack two with (insert Fraggle here), Doozer pack three with (insert Fraggle here).

They could have rarer chase figures like the minstrels. I don't like it but that part makes sense. Each pack could run $15-35 and released in a rotation of 2-4 at a time with cheaper package deals to buy entire waves.

This chase irritation exhausts the customer and harms a product's momentum. Heck, and costs could be spared in nixing the letters thing. Just my thoughts. I don't know how MINDstyle's business is structured.

 

[Luke]

I don't think they should do them in sets like that, as they don't seem to want just us collectors but by going through Dark Horse want to get the retro fanguys and fangirlies browsing round the comic shops and $10 is probably a realistic figure for them to spring to on a whim. I agree blind boxing is wrong though - here in the UK we have a 3.5/4" Simpsons PVC line called "Greetings From Springfield" where they sell the collectors the whole set in a big blister package, and the retro fans them individually just sitting loose in a counter display, mainly in comic shops and music shops. I think that might work well.

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