Ask Ken at Palisades

[Gonzo]

Luke,

RE: Sherri and Terri....

I bought the twins, and LOVE them! I mean, two figures for 4.99--can't beat that. I've also decided to just collect the kids of Springfield though, so that may have some bearing on my love of the purple-haired freaks.

Quinnnnnnnnn

 

[beaker]

simpsons figures:

I had no idea simpsons was on wave 8, dang!
as far as the simpsons line debate...

a lot of people on here collect Simpsons figures. Let me ask you...what line when ya first saw them hanging on the sheleves got you more excited? Sculpt and packaging and anticipation wise? Also, the answer is so obvious itd be lame to even say it...but still, virtually all the simpsons figures are yellow. I mean after awhile doesnt the neatness of Groening characters wear off? The Simpsons episodes are very hit and miss in the last season or two, as its hard to keep up with 3am offbeat obscure humor. Lately(well least the last year) the Simpsons episodes are just plain creepy. They should just come out with the film already, as its been 12 years since the Simpsons were ultra popular.

Anyways, the argument should not be in the longevity or recognition...but in the sculpts. Which gets you more excited?

///beaker///

And yeah, its amazing Playmates was able to make virtually all characters, just like the star wars line. Though c'mon, ya must be
a tad sad bart and others arent as jointed/moveable as the 1990 line.

 

[beaker]

>>>I bought the twins, and LOVE them! I mean, two figures for 4.99--can't beat that. I've also decided to just collect the kids of Springfield though, so that may have some bearing on my love of the purple-haired freaks<<<

Yeah, you cant beat that! Thats why I love the Beaker figure, two figures for the price of one! I know its unfeasable, but I just really wish there could be more packins Muppet figures for the series.

Is it me, or would the Simpsons line sell better if they werent so expensive? The sculpts arent as involved or are the accessories as the Muppets, so they should be like $5. They are usually $7 round where I am.

Finally the other big line, potf/star wars is finally at $5(or $4 at walmart) for the aotc episode two line. wow, i guess it wasnt as big as lucasfilm had hoped! eek

///beaker///

 

[Luke]

Re: simpsons figures:

Originally posted by beaker

Anyways, the argument should not be in the longevity or recognition...but in the sculpts. Which gets you more excited?

Personally speaking, neither really made much more impact than the other but asking this on a Muppet forum is kinda lame anyway because there are more Muppet fans here. Obviously the Muppet sculpts are a fair bit more detailed and all the extra stuff is lovely but the average kid on the street isn't exactly going to analyze each figure for points of articulation. I don't think it's just about the sculpts anyway - i think the promotion and recognition play massive factors in how well they will do.

With the Simpsons i don't remember there being a long build up to the release of the line, nothing like the Muppets anyway. To tell you the truth i was (and i know many others as could be seen by some of the posts here and at Toughpigs complaining about the shipping) sick to death of 50,000 mentions of the figures and continual questions about them by the time they were actually released. They were hyped far too much here - it would have been much more exciting to have heard about them and seen them released soon after. I guess there are pro's and con's to the stuff that was going on here though but to me, knowing every single detail about them spoilt it a bit. I'm very glad that this didn't translate into the 'real world' becuase i think the promotion was just about right there.

Also i don't think doing exclusives at the shows PRIOR to the main release of the figures was all that great either - it just frustrated people that they couldn't get their hands on them and probably had a bad effect on how they viewed the line as a whole. I think judging from the reaction here, Toughpigs and at that Simpsons forum, Palisades need to be very careful not to alienate the audience too much with regards to the exclusives and their availability - i guess the collectors club they are talking about is a good solution to that and a very good move. It wasn't great to see so many people at that other forum say they wouldn't be collecting ANY of the line because too many variants were being made.

As for Sherri and Terri :- I guess at $4.99 they may well have been tempting for some people. Trouble round here is that we pay over double that price internationally so the really low popularity background characters don't seem to sell well. Personally, those two girls didn't exactly ring my bell !

So anyway - getting off all this idle chit chat - anyone have any plans for any customisation of their Muppet action figures ??????

 

[frogboy4]

Luke

I get what you're saying. I think that since the Muppets line is much more of a limited run that it could be quite popular within these "specialty" perameters.

However, even I am concerned that some figures may not do well. I am glad to hear that Honeydew is getting singles out for raves by collector's mags so hopefully this will carry through to other lesser known Muppets. But that's kind of the thing - he really isn't a lesser-known Muppet. Many may not know his name, but they know him.

I am certainly not trying to say that Palisades shouldn't release The Newsman, Pops and others - on the contrary - but maybe higher profile guys like Pepe would be a good idea a year from now when the new show hits the air and the aniversary is over. It is clear that if he isn't a high profile Muppet yet - he soon will be and he's already more known thatn many others.

That's the thing about these - that they still have to have some degree of momentum throughout the non-fan community. Who knows - maybe Johnny, Sal and Bobo would be good choices for the Big Gun assortment a year or so from now and other less popular classic characters could be mixed it. Just an observation.

On another note - I wish these had come out sooner. I guess I am guilty of contributing to the Figure Thread overkill (as many are others) because of anticipation of the release. But I still hope to hear more about them. I want to see series 3 Scooter so bad!!!!!!!

BTW - Have you gotten your set yet?

 

[gorry]

you guys are right.some of the lesser know characters may only sell to people who know them like us-but that is just a small possibility.on the other hand we have the fact that these things sell "like hot cakes".

 

[Boom Oy!]

Series One Figures

Having opened up and taken a long hard look at the series 1 figures, I gotta give a big kudoe to the team at Palisades. Great work. Dagnab great work. Kudoes to you all I say! Kudoes right smack dab in the middle of your resume under that filler job from when you were fifteen and worked in a Kinkos for a year and a half and called yourself a "Presentation Output Specialist."

Good work Palisades.

 

[dan]

Hi Ken
Gotta couple things here:

1. Got my Piggy exclusive today and she is really awesome even though she won't stand up. I don't care, I just put some kneaded eraser under her high heels and shes fine. ( I can't beleive the drawer works on her dresser! Thats crazy!) Really great sculpt though.


2. This is probably way too late but I was thinking about the upcoming Rowlf and thought how cool it would be if his head was on a ball joint so that he could tilt his head like the actual puppet. Any posibility of this? You know how when the Muppets sing they tilt they're heads from side to side?

3. You know, these action figures are super cool and you guys are doing a great job. I personally am not one for variants however. I really only need one Piggy etc. But you know what I would buy? I know its been brought up on here before, but I would buy a "disgruntled Kermit." One where his face is all scrunched up in frustration. I don't need him in different outfits all that much, but a different facial expression is something I would need to have. Any thought?

Thanks and keep up the outstanding work!

Dan

 

[matleo]

Hey Ken

Was wondering if you knew where and when we might get to see some of the following...


1) an update of the Plaisades site to include the Series 2 gang
2) Some of the Seires 2 accessories
3) pics of the series 2 exclusives
4) the new Animl scultp (the back of the unpainted prtotype looks great!

Thanks.

--Matt

 

[frogboy4]

Ken

It seems that neither of your emails are working. I've been trying to get in touch with you for several days - before I go out of town this Thurs (until the 1st of July). I have a question to ask, but there is no emai. Frustrated frogboy.