Ask Ken at Palisades

radionate

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Originally posted by The Count
Well, you should! After all, you're the guy who's partly responsable along with Warrick for convincing Ken on including the Avocado and boosting the total figure count of this ever-impressive line.
I think you aren't understanding some previous posts Count.

Jamie, all on his own, got Ken to do the avacado.

Warrick just gave Ken the lines from the Avacado's scene on the Muppet Show. He wasn't part of getting the Avacado included in the line.

Warrick has had a hand in many of the other figures (Invisible Spray Fozzie), just not this little veggie.
 

The Count

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OK, I feel the need to defend myself again. RadioNate, I value your opinion as a valid one. But if Warrick only contributed by giving Ken the lines of the character, then why would he get a mention on the Palisades website's daily bit? And besides, just by giving Ken the Avocado's lines in the episode where it appeared, he's contributed to help get the figure get made cause he supplied a piece of information as small or banal as it may seem. Jamie sent Ken the photos and that's the main reason as to why the piece's getting made, I understand that. It was just some instant acclamation confusion on my part which Ken explained away and now it's been squared away. But then again, props go out to all whohelp make contributions to this ever-growing and ever-impressive line, even if it's sending pictures, supplying quotes, or constantly coming up with more and more ideas for possible future figures. Hope this helps clear up any lingering confusion and have a good night.
 

Luke

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Originally posted by The Count
But if Warrick only contributed by giving Ken the lines of the character, then why would he get a mention on the Palisades website's daily bit?
Because Ken used the lines in that Daily Bit, he credited Warrick for giving them to him.
 

Gorgon Heap

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Boy oh boy!

Ken, I gotta hand it to you once again.

First Koozebane Kermit, then the great turnaround from proto to final on Series 3, then the Swedish Kitchen, my reaction to which included having to restrain myself from promising you my firstborn child, then the Jim Henson Muppet, then the playbill (a suggestion that I think might've been mine originally- have to sort back through this thread but I remember I made a massive post where I suggested tons of accessories for S & W and I think it was the first post on the subject of their accessories) for Statler or Waldorf instead of scorecards for both, and NOW another fine fan nugget, the Avacado pack-in paying homage to yet another specific episode! Putting stuff like this in for the fans is one of the many things that separates this line from others of lesser quality.

Restraining self from... promising... firstborn... to Ken...

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole
 

ResidentLilly

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Alright let me set the record straight here.

Warrick and I Instant Message each other from time to time. As I was writing the Bit that day I needed some text for it. Warrick was on-line and I asked him if he remembered the Pearle Bailey episode. He did, and told me about that scene. Prior to that, Jamie contacted me about something else and threw in the pitch for the Avocado with a photo and I was convinced we could include it somehow.

That's the way it went down. Jamie supplied the idea. Warrick and I chatted about it. Warrick was in the Bit because I happened to be on-line with him at the time. I should have probably credited Jamie in the Bit to avoid confusion...but you gotta watch out for that guy...you know that EGO of his...LOL. (Easy James...just yankin' yer chain...:smile:)

The truth is, Jamie and Warrick both, as well as many others including Phil and Annika, always are very helpful in helping guide the line in the right direction. It would not be what it is if it weren't for these people and also these forums including all of you. I can't imagine what guys like me used to do before the Internet.

I mean, yeah...I gotta ultimately make the calls of what happens here or what happens there based on a million and two factors and I generally handle most of the development aspects on a day to day basis...but the truth has been and will always be that the real "heart" of the line, in my opinion, is pumped by the blood of the fans of the original material, that's these guys and you guys and people from other boards too...
 

Luke

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So Ken, does the line change much now that you have someone like Target onboard ? Now you guys really need each wave to sell strongly to mean the next ones up after 7 get commisioned, is it more important to have the variants of the main characters back out there rather than putting the really obscures on the streets where the store browsing public are unlikely to know who they are ?

Also you mention about all the knowledgable people who help you out with info - but they are Muppet 'buffs' and personally might be more interested in seeing things come out that the average consumer wouldn't. I remember all the blind fan enthusiasm convincing you (when you were very new to this) to make a Koozebane playset and pretty much no realistic feedback that it was something very remote and unlikely to sell at like $25. So aside from having the brains and experience of a very skilled product developer, how additionally do you make a good call from a bad one ? Is it intuition, does Henson advise you on what the market is really like, or is it just that you've got a good Muppet knowledge now and also know the people so you can get a vibe of how the average fan on the forum feels compared to say one of the big Muppet nuts ? You seem to be doing ok lately !
 

ResidentLilly

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Luke, the line will change a little, especially in the choosing of the Series exclusive product, if Target happens to be the one taking it. You WANT high-profile characters on the shelf, like Koozebane Kermit, at the same time as Link or Julius. That's why Koozebane was bumped up so FAST. In fact, we may have set a record for tooling and production on that figure to get it out for Series 4. It was not sent to the factory until the other S4 tooling was almost done.

Regarding your other comment. As far as how to plan the line and take advice or suggestions that might be too fan heavy...it's always been give and take in the implementation of any suggestion. You want to throw some nuggets out there and at the same time try to plan the line to be general consumer friendly.

It basically works like this. There are the following factors that go into the planning of the line, in no particular order:

1. What do the fans seem to want to satisfy their unique perspective?
2. What do I want to do based on my own knowledge of the characters and Muppet universe (which has grown by leaps and bounds since S1) and my perspective as a product developer in an action figure market?
3. What do the people I work with want or need to see?
4. What does Henson want to see?

All this then gets filtered together and then factored with timing, budget, marketing trends, stuff like that, and the line is created. A great deal of it is intuitive.

Most of the time you would be suprised how many people say, here and elsewhere, that "This would be cool to see, but it is a little obscure". Most people know on their own whether something would be a smart move or a bad move as far as weighing the line too heavily with obscure stuff. They have their own sense of "development" especially since everyone generally gets to see a lot of inner workings of how lines evolve.

Remember how frustrating it used to be? How people got so mad when stuff slipped on the schedule, got re-arranged, canceled, postponed, altered in some way? But now most people who have been around here since the beginning have recognized that it is a part of the product development process. How long has it been really? I'm talking from way back when the forum here was a Delphi forum and I started posting there.

How do I make a good call as opposed to a bad one? I don't. I've done both with this line in my opinion. But that's life. But as we move forward, you try to learn from the mistakes you might have made, or thought you did, previously and get it right the next time. It's an evolution.

I still believe a Kooz playset would have done well...under the conditions that existed when we made the decision to make one. At that time, the Lab had come out and had been doing very, very well. Then we planned out one playset per series. But then when Animal came out the playsets started dipping in their potential so we had to rethink the playset per series ideology. So what I am saying is sometimes you can make a decision that seems correct at the time and then turns out to be weak under different conditions.

Ultimately? Worked out for the best, as the current Koozebane SKU is pretty tight.

Sorry...didn't mean to turn this into a novel!
 

King Prawn

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Nice insight Ken, long but that makes it all the better,

Ken if this doesn't give away much on what playset(s) we could expect to see next could you tell us had everything gone as planned and The Swedish Chef Kitchen had come with S3 and the SwineTrek with S4 what were your ideas or actually planned playset for S5 & S6.

And could you tell us the ammount of stickers that come with the News Man, i'd like to have one of each sticker on display so if eight were to come i'd buy two Muppet Newman figures, so can you tell me the number of stickers please :big_grin:

thanks
 

Phillip

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Ken, you joined our Delphi forum in October 2001. Hard to believe time has gone by so fast. You have been a highly valued member and contributor. Never before in the Internet age has any Henson developer taken such an active role interacting with fans.

At a time where we rarely see characters outside of Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal and Rizzo, you have helped to make many of our Muppety action figure dreams come true. The fact that the line will extend into 2004 (and possibly 2005) is a huge tribute to Palisades hard work and your personal dedication to the line.
 

radionate

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Hooray Ken and Company!

I do have a question though, I looked but didn't see this addressed anywhere (but with so darn many threads, who knows)

Will Target be carrying the Kitchen Playset? Or is that a no go?
 
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