FAO Muppet Whatnot quality

[davidandora]

I purchased a Muppet Whatnot at the workshop in NYC just after they opened shop. Sure, there are seams and it's more of a toy than a professional puppet, but it felt worth the money. A friend had one made via the internet recently and the results were astoundingly terrible. The quality of the body (the blue one, in this instance) was terrible and not the same as the one I have- also blue. The shape was a bit off, and when the mouth closed the red interior wrapped significantly around the outside edge of the mouthplate, so it has "lips" and looks overall like a sloppy mess. I've seen this on the images of cheaper TRU versions. The glue-gun assembly was just a mess too. Terrible placement. Too much, or too little glue in places. I understand their no refund policy, but they had better provide a product that you won't feel so ripped off. I can not understand why they refuse to sell you the kit parts to allow you to assemble the Muppet yourself- and also freeing them of the responsibility of the outcome. Are glue guns too much to expect people to be able to handle? Even the option to assemble the parts would be a blessing. If the bodies are now as cheap and messed up as the one my friend received, that won't make much difference. Has anyone else had this experience from FAO? Have they replaced all the bodies with the same cheaper TRU version? Where is the quality control protecting the Muppet brand? My friend was VERY lucky to get a refund after an incredible amount of effort, but I wonder if his in-store FAO experience would have any better results.

 

[DannyRWW]

My first what not I ordered was when they first came out...really nice quality for what it was....A couple years later one of my students ordered one and it had the 'lip' problem you mentioned but still a decent quality over all...then I bought two of the toys r us ones...they are wokable but the mouth plates seem cheaper and they seem smaller over all...thankfully this was for my six year old daughter and then just an extra to have on hand because the face changing factor was nice to have...but yeah it feels like the quality is going down...but I haven't had a chance to see newer ones odered from the site....its a shame to see a really creative idea just kind of deteriorating...I was kind of hoping they would introduce new bodies after a whole too

 

[davidandora]

I wonder if the new bodies that TRU made for their kits, which are smaller are the now the same bodies used at FAO? Can anyone confirm that the recent FAO whatnot bodies are the same/different than the TRU kit's?

 

[DannyRWW]

Wish I had a new FAO one on hand (no pun intended) because it would be easy to tell...the fabirc is different....it's 'flatter'...doesn't look as muppetty (though I think partially so the velcro sticks to it)