Top 5 Muppet Product & Character Ideas

[frogboy4]

This is how it works. Sure, we all like Kermit and Animal on grocery totes and tees, but there's a wealth of other character and products out there. This thread is to name up to five. One should be a high-end product, one of medium expense and the last should be something every fan can afford. This is for the Muppet Studios brand only. It's not about releasing things on DVD, new TV ideas, CDs or the replicas we know are coming. This list is Just a spit-balling of other practical store-stocked product goodies.

1. High-end = Scooter's Muppet Show Jacket Replica
2. Medium-cost = Rowlf & Piano Candy Dish
3. Inexpensive = Quality Mini PVCs in popular/fan-fave pairings (Gonzo & Frackle) etc
4. Maquettes reenacting classic Muppet Moments (like Miss Piggy's motorcycle through the window in GMC)
5. Fossil-quality watches and wallets featuring the Mayhem members

Just a few ideas. What are yours?

[dwayne1115]

How about a new in depth look into the Muppets and what has gone on with them in the past 20 years or so. Or a book about the whole 50 some odd years of the work of Jim Henson and the Muppets. Kind of like Street Gang for the classic Muppets.

A nice replica of the Muppet Theater would be nice as well.

[Kermieuk]

1, Swarvoski lead crystal Muppets figurines, they alreay make Disney/Pooh Characters!
2, Something I have really wanted for a long time is also a book. Not really another Biography book on Jim Henson although that would be great but a book of The Muppets, either a Large Art Book, with 1000's of colour Photos. Or a Muppets History as in a Muppets biography, like The Muppet Movie, how it happened in The Muppets World. It would contain a brief chapter about the early days, Sam and Friends, Sesame Street, then The Muppet Show, Movies, Specials, appearences, photos, and would go beyond Jim Henson the Works and contain Chapters on The Muppet Xmas Carol, Treasure Island, Muppets Tonight, Xmas Specials, etc, you get the idea. A huge part of the Muppets while owned by Henson was the publishing division, but since Disney acquired them there have been no Informative Books? Maybe one day.

3, Adult belts with metal buckles, ie The Muppet Show or The Muppet Movie logo.

Chris

[dwayne1115]

Sure the book idea is really a thing that everyone could get into I think. I also think something like a user guide to the Muppets. What I mean is a deatailed book about who the Muppets are. Like one chapter be about Kermit and so on. That would help re intorduce who the Muppets are.

[frogboy4]

Originally Posted by dwayne1115

Sure the book idea is really a thing that everyone could get into I think. I also think something like a user guide to the Muppets. What I mean is a deatailed book about who the Muppets are. Like one chapter be about Kermit and so on. That would help re intorduce who the Muppets are.

That is a good idea. What fans really want is some glossy new pictures too! How about some sort of Muppets Guide to the World. All of the characters could be featured in a less clinical format while all could easily be included and introduced. We know it would be witty.

I'd also like to see Disney capitalize off the Muppet monsters and create a brand for them down the line.

[dwayne1115]

Oh I know what you mean. You almost could branch out the Muppets a bit and make a lot of money off of them. Here is what I mean.


1. All classic Muppets: You could use them all in this catagory but there would be seperete ones.

2. The Electric Mayhem: They could really be used more for CD's Te shirts all kinds of things and not just use Animal.

3. Like Jamie said the Muppet Monsters, can be used a lot more in marketing they all look really cool and a lot of teens would love them on Te shirts and such.

4. Muppet Labs should and is really staring to be used a lot. Everyone loves Beaker.

I think if they really used each group wisly that Disney would make a killing.

[frogboy4]

Originally Posted by dwayne1115

Oh I know what you mean. You almost could branch out the Muppets a bit and make a lot of money off of them. Here is what I mean.


1. All classic Muppets: You could use them all in this catagory but there would be seperete ones.

2. The Electric Mayhem: They could really be used more for CD's Te shirts all kinds of things and not just use Animal.

3. Like Jamie said the Muppet Monsters, can be used a lot more in marketing they all look really cool and a lot of teens would love them on Te shirts and such.

4. Muppet Labs should and is really staring to be used a lot. Everyone loves Beaker.

I think if they really used each group wisly that Disney would make a killing.

I also like the idea of themed notebooks and school supplies for Muppet Labs, Muppet Monsters and Electric Mayhem. They could really brand a coolness factor if done right. These three brandings also beg for little plushes and doo-dads. Think of the popularity of Ugly Dolls. Think of Beaker, Dr Teeth and Muppet Monsters styled in that way.

[dwayne1115]

Jamie me and you should really draw up a plan and send it to Disney/Muppet Studios. We both have a lot of great ideas and seem to be on the same page on most of what we have come up with. Wow wouldn't that wild if two die hard Muppet fans met on Muppet Central and helped re launch the Muppet sells.

[frogboy4]

Originally Posted by dwayne1115

Jamie me and you should really draw up a plan and send it to Disney/Muppet Studios. We both have a lot of great ideas and seem to be on the same page on most of what we have come up with. Wow wouldn't that wild if two die hard Muppet fans met on Muppet Central and helped re launch the Muppet sells.

The unfortunate thing is we now know all-too-well that the Disney reps dismiss any proposals not received through an agency no matter how spectacularly Muppetational they are. I'm just hoping that there's some online Disney-bot that catalogs these suggestions. Well, that's how it works in frogboyland.

I wonder just what the next stage of this push is going to be like. I think Hallmark has the right idea to quit throwing the same old Kermit and Barbie-fied Piggy out there and focus on the fan favorites like Statler, Waldorf and the Swedish Chef.

[dwayne1115]

Makes me think is Chef and Beaker more popular then Kermit?

[frogboy4]

Originally Posted by dwayne1115

Makes me think is Chef and Beaker more popular then Kermit?

No Muppet is more popular than Kermit. If he isn't selling then the Muppets aren't selling.

And if a store has a Muppet assortment - the Kermits will go first and the others will straggle until the Kermits are restocked. However, that's not to say that the other Muppets aren't popular.

I listed an order a while back that is fairly accurate for the current "general public" tastes when faced with an assortment: Kermit, Animal, Beaker, Gonzo, Pepe, Fozzie, Swedish Chef, Statler & Waldorf and Miss Piggy. It's close to an accurate order from what I know selling toys.

[dwmckim]

Maybe not the most scientific method of measuring Muppet's popularity, but still nothing to sneeze at either and certainly very interesting to look at...
which Muppet pages get the most visits on Muppet Wiki? The top 10 (or 11 since one of these is a pair) of the Classic Muppets are:
Kermit
Beaker
Miss Piggy
Gonzo
Statler & Waldorf
Swedish Chef
Animal
Sam the Eagle
Janice
Rowlf the Dog

As per the initial question, i'm not going to think of different price categories because quite frankly thinking of high-end products which i would not be conceivably able to afford at this time in my life (even the replicas remain out of the question despite their price breaks) does nothing but further depress me so i'm not even going there.

But what i so want to see these days are:

more non-childrens' books. We had the Lewis-penned Kermit, Piggy, and Pepe books and the forthcoming S&W book, but in all honesty, these do nothing for me. They're basically slightly-more-than-random jokebooks, many of them list-based and while slightly amusing in small doses, just don't hold up to a whole book. The Kermit one at least was better because of the first (less than) half and the book would have been better if it just stuck with that. The comics (and the complitations of them) help fill that niche a little, but i'd like to see humor books that weren't just groups of lists and jokes which may or may not work in the context of the Muppet-in-question's voice or as has been suggested a more indepth behind-the-scenes book or coffeetable type book that was more a focus on THE MUPPETS as opposed to being built around a Jim Henson biography. (Kermit Culture is a step in the right direction and one i've wanted to see happen for ages but because of its elusiveness, i've not yet had the chance to read a copy)

I'd also love to see them tap into the trivia market. Things like trivia books and especially games like a card and/or board game, or dvd "Scene It" style game. I feel this is a huge way they can get the brand out there, re-affirm its place as a pop-culture icon and not only get people (re)introduced to the Muppets but such products (in its sales or even its presence in stores) encourage people to subconsciously declare themselves Muppet Fans (or sends the signal that this is a brand with a dedicated fan base).

While this may not be a "product" per se, it still falls in the promotion/merchandising realm somewhat - i'd like to see Disney incorporate the Muppets more on the Disney Channel - Studio DC was a good first step (despite how well-received it was from die-hards) but besides that there should be various promos and short bits - advertisements for muppets.com on the channel (and heck why not some of the muppets.com bits shown as interstitials?) The Muppets should have at least a minimal presence there but aside from Studio DC and the occasional MWOO showing, they're non-existant - they didn't even break out any of the six "I'm (Muppet) and you're watching Disney Channel" spots from several years back when they broadcast Studio DC (though they still use these with the other Disney stars) nor do i ever really see ads for other Muppet products like the dvds or anything on there (i don't even think any of the Give a Day promos have aires there though i've seen them on ABC).

Now you know we're all thinking it - you know i've said it so many times before that one would think it shouldn't have to be repeated - but i'm gonna say it for no other reason than for the benefit of any Disney insiders that may be lurking here looking for free market research: whatever products they put out whether suggested here or already on the schedule - ALL MUPPET PRODUCTS NEED TO RELY MUCH LESS ON THE MUPPET POSERS IN THE PHOTOS - or at the very less, take new pictures and not use the same ones over and over. We all may drool over clothes, posters, keychains, etc in theory but if they do come out and they're just Yet Another Product With A Dreadful Lifeless Muppet Poser Photo We've Seen Countless Times Before, fans go from being Exteremly Excited and ready to buy the second we can to Extremely Disappointed and putting the wallet back in the pocket. Think of how awesome a poster or promotional photo would be done with the Muppets (the real ones, though i still wouldn't mind seeing something this awesome done with posers) like what Roger Langridge drew for the cover of The Muppet Show Comic Book #1? A well-planned very creative group photo that's not some photoshop nightmare?

Finally i'm quite disappointed that with all the hooplah about Disney's latest Jim Carrey version of The Christmas Carol, that they aren't doing anything in regards to new Muppet Christmas Carol products, re-release or airings. Whatever happened to that legendary Disney Synergy?

[tomahawk]

Jim Shore Figures
Walt Disney Classic Figurines http://www.disneystore.com/art-colle...ction/c/13827/
More mens hoodies
I also second the Scooter jacket idea and the fossil watch idea.

[Drtooth]

Here's my list

Expensive: Muppet prop replicas.. not just to go with the Muppet replica sets... but unique muppet props and gadgets made and sold the same way collectible Lightsabers or replica props from other movies.

Slightly Less expensive: Artwork prints by different artists and different interpretations of the characters.

affordable: Well, we all want PVC's, action figures, etc. of rare characters... but how about Die Cast vehicles in different scales (one about the size of the larger Nascar Muppet cars, ones the size of the Johnny Lightning collectible vehicle assortment/standard Hot Wheels), featuring reproductions of various cars and spaceships from Muppet movies and TV shows... e.i. the Happiness Hotel bus, the Mayhem bus, Fozzie's Studebaker, and the Swine Trek.

other: More Pez... new sculpts and characters
a great new Muppet coffee table book.