Palisades Muppet Show and Sesame Street

*The Muppet Show* was one of the most beloved toylines graced by Palisades Toys and there were nine series released in total. But while there were more planned waves and products that never saw the light of day, Palisades also wanted to do a toyline based on Jim Henson’s other iconic franchise: *Sesame Street*.

## **Summary**

From 2001 to 2005, Palisades released several products based on Jim Henson’s loveable Muppet characters from the likes of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, Beaker & Honeydew, Statler & Waldorf, Electric Mayhem, and more. Action figures weren’t they thing they did as they also produced minifigures, lunch boxes, diorama sets, and variant figures that could only be found online or at exclusive conventions. Some of the figures were used for stop motion sketches on *Robot Chicken* and in an interview for *The Muppets* (2011), Walter claims he owns every single figure manufactured by Palisades (except for the Wizard World variant of Dr. Teeth).

## **Cancelled *Muppet Show* Series**

As I’ve already discussed in the company’s page article, Palisades went bankrupt in 2006 and this along with retailer disinterest cause *The Muppet Show*’s toyline to close their curtains for the last time. Though before we cover Series 10 to 14, we must go over a few Muppet products that were cancelled before the company’s downfall. Both Angus McGonagle “the Argyle Gargoyle” and Benjamina Gunn (Miss Piggy’s persona from *Muppet Treasure Island*) were announced for Series 5 and 7 respectively, but were replaced by other characters and never went into production. In 2004, Palisades hosted a contest on their message board where fans could nominate a pack-in character or accessory, and after a round of rejecting certain characters and a few polls, the one with the most votes would be made in 2005. The winning pack was a cow, but due to declining retail interest that lead to the figures becoming exclusives only, the cow was never made.

Once The Muppets said their goodbyes to Palisades fans, Ken Lilly posted the entire lineup of what could’ve been Series 10 to 14 on the company’s message forums. Starting with #10, this line would’ve included Baby Kermit and Miss Piggy from the *Muppet Babies* cartoon and dream sequence from *Muppets Take Manhattan*, Rowlf as Dr. Bob from the “Veterinarians Hospital” sketches, three variant colours of Sal Minella with Robin and Penguin pack-ins, Uncle Deadly, and a “Special Test” figure of Gobo and a Doozer which may have been a sign that Palisades was attempting to try a *Fraggle Rock* toyline. The exclusives for Series 10 would’ve been Statler and Waldorf in their tuxedos. As for Series 11, the proposed nominees were Baby Gonzo and Rowlf, Nurse Janice, Bobo Bear from *Muppets Tonight*, two variants of Louis Kazagger, and exclusives of RoboBuster Beaker and Bunsen Honeydew. Onto Series 12 which was pallned to have Baby Scooter and Fozzie, Nurse Piggy from “Veterinarian’s Hospital” with Bean Bunny from *The Tale of the Bunny Picnic*, Mahna Mahna with the Snowths, and Mulch from the “For Me and My Goyle” segment. Series 12 would’ve had the highest number of exclusives with vacation Animal and Swedish Chef, Super Gonzo, Rizzo, Statler & Waldorf, and Wonder Pig (Miss Piggy’s alter-persona from *The Muppet Show* episode with Lynda Carter). Carrying onto Series 13, the plan was to have figures of Patrol Link Hogthrob, a second version of Doctor Teeth, Clueless Morgan from *Muppet Treasure Island*, the Rat Pack from *The Muppet Musicians of Bremen*, and an exclusive figure of Sam the Eagle with tuxedo. And the 14th final series was to include Reporter Gonzo, Swamp Kermit, Seymour and Pepe the King Prawn, Randy and Andy Pig, exclusive figures of Fozzie as Squire Trelawney from *Muppet Treasure Island* (Mr. Bimbo also included) and Holiday Kermit with Robin the Frog. Out of all the aforementioned figures, only Uncle Deadly, swamp Kermit, naked sitting Robin, and the Penguins were produced. Everyone else never made it past the planning stage. Another figure that was planned to be made, but was never given a proper released date or assigned wave was Kermit as the Scarecrow from *The Muppet’s Wizard of Oz*. Accessory packs themed after Swine Trek, the Swedish Chef, and Electric Mayhem were also planned yet cancelled.

Alongside action figures, Palisades pallned to make playsets for *The Muppet Show* toyline. The first one was the Muppet Theatre Stage which was originally planned for release in winter 2002 and later moved to summer 2003. It was going to be bigger than most sets was to include fabric curtains that could open, Statler and Waldorf’s balcony box, the back wall of the stage and removeable backdrops, such as *The Muppet Show* title card. The set was planned to be big enough to fit one existing stage at a time and being able to connect to a possible Backstage Playset that would have included figures of Statler and Waldorf. But after deciding Sweetums would be too big to fit into a single carding, Statler and Waldorf were released individually and their roles would be fulfilled by Sweet and Robin. Due to poor playset sales and the sheer ambitious size, the project was let go. A Planet Koozebane set was meant to come with the Koozebane Kermit action figure including tons of Koozebanian creatures, the Meridrop aliens, the Phoob, and the Hugga Wugga creatures. It was slated for release during Series 5, briefly moved to #6 when the Mayhem bus was announced, and quickly moved back to its previous designated line before it was ultimately cancelled. Koozebane Kermit would be later released as a Target exclusive with a few Meridrops and Koozebanians. The Electric Mayhem Bus playset was planned as soon as Palisades got the rights to license products inspired by the movies. The bus was to include a figure of Janice alongside Series 5, but was never heard from again. The Happiness Hotel from *The Great Muppet Caper* was announced in Series 7 which was to include a figure of Pops and Veterinarian’s Hospital from Series would have included the Nurse Janice figure, but neither of them came to be.

Mega sized figures of Beaker, Animal, Gonzo and Camilla were made for the line, but some of the ones that were announced yet never released were Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (the only one that was sculpted), Swedish Chef, Rizzo the Rat, Rowlf, Pepe, and Kermit the Frog. A Mega version of Vanishing Cream Beaker was sculpted and planned as an exclusive to all 2003 conventions, but was never released (though one is on eBay for $376). At one point, a repainted Gonzo in his checkered suit from Muppets Tonight was planned to be an exclusive, but never released, though a regular sized version was released as a Collector’s Club exclusive. As for the Mini PVC figures line, Series 2 was originally planned to have Bean Bunny who was later replaced with Fozziwig. Series 3 was going to include Kermit in the pajama robes he wore in Muppets in Space, Rizzo, one piece Seymour with Pepe, and Nigel. These were replaced with Bunsen & Honeydew and Swedish Chef. Prototype sculpts of Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Janice, Animal, and Rowlf were made for a proposed yet never realized Electric Mayhem set.

## **The *Sesame Street* Line**

In October 2003, toy company Fun 4 All announced they would be doing a series of action figures based on the PBS (now HBO) distributed Children’s Workshop Television series *Sesame Street* as part of its 35th Anniversary. Each one wold contain a fan favourite character along with accessories and latters with Muppet eyes. Series 1 would’ve had Ernie with his rubber duckie, a banana, and the letter E, Bert with a pigeon and the letter W, Cookie Monster with a teacup & plate of his favorite snacks and the letter C, Super Grover in his cape and helmet with the letter G, and Oscar the Grouch who would be permanently sculpted in his trash can with a permanently installed Slimey worm and “SCRAM” sign along with the letter O. These toys would have had special features as Grover’s arms would be bendy, Ernie would have been able to move his arm up, Cookie Monster could move his arm and head, and Oscar could have been pushed into the trash can. Series 2 would have included Guy Smiley, Count Von Count, the Two Headed Monster, Big Bird, and Telly Monster. But nothing ever came out as Fun 4 All would file for bankruptcy the year they were to come out.

On that same year, Palisades acquired the license and sweared to finish what the previous company once started. The first series was revealed in 2005 including figures of Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, the Two Headed Monster, and Guy Smiley with an exclusive figure being Bedtime Bert. Ernie and Oscar had almost the same accessories as the figures from the other company, though Ernie’s letter was now D instead of E, included a brick counter backdrop and framed photo with him and Bert, and Oscar’s letter was now C instead of O with an additional suitcase, newspaper headline, and fish. While Oscar was still permanently sculpted into the trash can and had a “push down” feature, one gimmick would have allowed you to remove his arms so you could push him in better and was going to come with removable add-on legs so you could recreate whenever he walks around on the show. Guy Smiley’s accessories included the letter B, a microphone stand, signs that read “THE TRIANGLE IS RIGHT” and “seek the time,” and the countdown clock. Two Headed Monster’s only accessories were the letter A and some sort of book. Series 2 was planned to have figures of Elmo (was originally planned for Series 3), Grover (originally planned for Series 5), Bert, Count von Count, the Yip-Yip Martians (repaint planned) an 11 inch Big Bird that came with a Little Bird figure, and the exclusive figure being Bedtime Ernie. It is unknown what their display bases, letters, or accessories would have been. A playset that was set to be featured in the wave was 123 Sesame Street which was modelled after the famous large, two-story brownstone apartment building with the inviting door front stop that appears as the most prominent set piece on the show. Each part of the diorama would be given to a figure that when all collected, would assemble the playset. While no prototypes were completed for the next three series, Series 3 would have included Cookie Monster with cookies, Sherlock Holmes (repaint planned), The Amazing Mumford, and a planned exclusive of Waiter Grover. Series 4 would’ve been Telly Monster, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, Fat Blue, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Betty Lou (Prairie variant), and an exclusive of Bathtime Ernie. Series 5 was planned to have Rosita, Herry Monster, Alice Snuffleupagus, and an exclusive version of Bathtime Bert. Comic convention exclusives and incentives that were planned inbetween were an Anything Muppet Play Pack, Gladys the Cow, “Steppin Out’ Bert and Ernie, Honker and Dinger Pack, and Grundgetta. Palisades’ contract with Sesame Workshop also allowed them to make wooden block figures, but they never got around to making them as the entire *Sesame Street* line was axed. The first four figures in the series were listed online for retail, but were soon recalled upon cancellation. Everything else besides the Series 2 prototypes were never even completed and the only surviving relic of this aborted toyline is an action figure of Super Grover which was sold during conventions and costs a fortune to find these days.

## **Other Cancelled Muppet Products**

Palisades considered releasing an Anything Muppet which would have had removable facial parts, but never got produced.

In October 2005, Palisades Toys announced plans for an action figure based off Jareth the Goblin King as portrayed by David Bowie in Jim Henson’s *Labyrinth*. It was developed, shown and placed up for pre-ordering online with a planned release for the spring of 2006, but Palisades ended up shutting down before it had the chance to land on collector shelves.  On the bright side, NECA and McFarlane Toys have each produced their own versions of the Goblin King to fill in the void left by Palisades after their bankruptcy.

## **Gallery**

Prototype of Kermit the Frog based off his Scarecrow portrayalFun-4-All Cookie Monster prototypeFun-4-All Oscar the Grouch prototypeFun-4-All Bert prototypeFun-4-All Super Grover prototypeFun-4-All Ernie prototypeThe hard to find Super Grover figure released by Palisades in 2005 comic conventionsPalisades Cookie Monster prototypeWhile Uncle Deadly was nearly spared from Series 10 cancellation, this black and white version along with a clear variant were never released.Palisades Count Von Count prototype123 Sesame Street and Brownstone Apartment playsetsPalisades Big Bird and Little Bird prototypesPalisades Grover prototypePalisades prototypes of the 123 Sesame Street playset, Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Two Headed Monster, and Guy SmileyPVC figures of the Electric Mayhem BandPrototype versions of Miss Piggy, Rowlf, and Janice as they appeared in Veterinarian’s HospitalJohnny Fiama and Sal Minella prototypesMega Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker figuresMega Kermit the Frog in tuxedo figureConcept art for unplanned Muppet Show accessory packsPlayset based off the Electric Mayhem bus from The Muppet MoviePalisades Toys’ action figure of Jareth the Goblin King that came so close to release
## **References**

1. ↑ https://muppetcentral.com/news/2003/102703.shtml
2. ↑ https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Unmade\_Palisades\_Toys#Unmade.2FUnreleased\_Megas
3. ↑ https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/DEC053798
4. ↑ https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Jareth\_the\_Goblin\_King\_Action\_Figure
5. ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Jareth-David-Labyrinth-Funko-Exclusive/dp/B01JYX4TJG
6. ↑ https://mcfarlane.com/toys/jareth/