Review of Dr. Teeth, Kermit, Bunsen Honeydew
Muppets series 1 action figures

Introduction

One of the most anticipated lines for 2002 is now hitting stores - the Muppets series 1 from  Palisades Toys.  I reviewed the Miss Piggy figure almost a month ago, so she won't be redone here.  I'll cover the rest of this series - Dr. Teeth, Bunsen Honeydew and Kermit - in detail.
With up to six waves already in discussion, various retailer exclusives, and a whole range of play sets, the Muppets line looks posed to be the major hit of the year.  Average retail should be around eight bucks, but only one of the 'conventional' toy retailers is carrying them - Toys R Us.  There are plenty of other on-line and specialty stores though that you'll find these at.  I have a whole list down at the end of the review.

I picked up this set at Electronics Boutique. They will be carrying an exclusive Miss Piggy, which is currently available for pre-order, and Toys R Us is carrying the exclusive Tuxedo Kermit.  The exclusive Miss Piggy should be at most EB stores this week, and has started shipping to pre-orders as well. 

2015 Update: Thirteen years later I can honestly say that this turned into one of the best action figure lines ever produced. If you're a fan of the Muppets, this series is a must have, and the good news is most are still readily available. There are some of the exclusives that are pricey, and some of the play sets go for crazy money, but most are still reasonable and a very nice collection can be completed without breaking the piggy bank.

All these years later, the paint work and sculpting still remain above the bar. Even with today's improved production techniques and advancing technology, these figures can hold they own - and win - in a competition against any modern line. And the accessories! I wish we could get pretty things like this for eight bucks now...

With the new show on television, I suspect we'll see a resurgence in interest in this line and that might drive prices up. Diamond Select Toys has been talking about doing figures (and they do have the license), but I haven't seen any prototype photos as of yet. A dream would be a company picking this license up again and producing new figures again, but in this same scale and style.  NECA did it for the Simpsons, and produced three dozen more figures before they were done, so it's not unprecedented.  The odds are certainly against it, since most companies can't see past the idea that they have to release 50 variants of Kermit and Piggy, but we can always dream.

As always with these updates, I upped the size on the photos slightly, which does make them a little less clear. I may get around to re-shooting all these old reviews someday too, but I'd bank on the previous paragraph coming true first.

Packaging - ***1/2
The card art and style are very attractive AND it stands out well amongst the sea of carded figures on the pegs.  There's a nice bio on each figure on the back, along with photos of the other characters in the series.  (The Beaker pictured on the card comes with the first play set, due in the next couple weeks).

It's not collector friendly in my definition of the word, but that's pretty rare for bubble/card packaging.  The theme of the package meshes with the license very nicely, and catches the eye. A great package convinces you to buy the product and this package works in that regard.

Sculpting - ****
While Piggy seemed to have a slightly large nose, I can't fault a single one of these three figures.  Dr. Teeth is dead on, with his classic facial expression.

Honeydew looks just like the little egghead should, at least from the sculpting stand point (I'll get to the paint ops in the next section).  All three are really fantastic, but Kermit knocked my socks off.

They nailed him, right down to some of the wrinkles in the material that you'd expect around the neck or elbows. Both Kermit and Honeydew have that textured appearance, making them look more like cloth than Miss Piggy does, with her smooth skin texture.

The longer I look at the sculpts, the more pleased I become.  There's a tremendous amount of detail in both the Honeydew and Dr. Teeth body sculpts, and all the work is done to perfection.

Paint - ****
Thankfully, I have absolutely amazing paint ops on my set.  I have heard some reports of people seeing troubles, either with Miss Piggy or Honeydew, but all the ones I've seen have been perfect.

And that's tough to do, particularly on Honeydew and Dr. Teeth.  There's so much detail, and so many different colors being used, that it's pretty incredible that they came out this nicely.

The only complaint you might have is with some of the particular color selections.  I know lots of folks feel Honeydew is too green, but I believe Palisades has stated that it's the exact color Henson Productions requested.  I know that with the Simpsons figures, Playmates was often forced to use colors from ancient licensing model sheets that look little to nothing like the characters do today, so I can imagine something similar could happen here.

Also, I think Kermit is a *smidge* too dark, but that's a tremendously close call, and one I rack up to personal taste.

Overall, the paint ops made my jaw hit the floor, and that's pretty damn unusual.

Articulation - Kermit ***1/2, Honeydew and Dr. Teeth ****
Kermit has the least amount of articulation, probably because it would have been the hardest to hide (and his legs and arms are so thin).  He has neck, ball jointed shoulders, and hips.  Without wrists or elbows, it does limit his posability a bit.

That's even more obvious when you start playing around with Honeydew and Dr. Teeth.  They both have ten points, although different ones.  Dr Teeth has neck, ball jointed shoulders, wrists, waist, hips and cut joints on the calves.  Honeydew has neck, ball jointed shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist and hips.

The joints are well placed, and there's all kinds of posing you can do with both figures.  Dr. Teeth can play his keyboards just fine, and I can't wait to see what you'll be able to do with Honeydew in the Lab play set.

Accessories - ****
Dr. Teeth comes with two accessories, technically, although one is pretty crucial to the basic figure.  While his hat is removable, he looks pretty silly without it (poor guy has to hide that bald spot!).  The hat fits his head perfectly, and Palisades did a terrific job designing the perfect way to attach it without being cumbersome.  To round out his accessories, he has his keyboard, which will come in pretty handy with the announced Electric Mayhem play set.

Kermit also has two accessories - his coffee cup marked 'Kermit', and a Muppet Show television camera.  The cup fits perfectly in his right hand, and shows the attention to detail - there's even a little chip in the top.

The camera is great as well. The top half turns, while you can also move the handle.  The only way it could have been improved is if you looked inside and saw a little frame from the show, but now I'm really reaching.

Honeydew also has two accessories (do we see a pattern here?).  He comes with a neat little book that can be opened and closed, and his robotic bunny.  The rabbit has eight points of articulation - neck, lever, shoulders, hips and ankles.  Be careful though - the shoulders and hips have a tendency to be stuck with paint, and I snapped a leg trying to free it.

All the figures come with the 'Muppets 25 Years' base to stand on, although I had no trouble getting any of them to stand on their own.

Quality - ***1/2
Overall, I'm pretty impressed by the quality.  The construction seems solid, and the use of the bases makes them far less likely to shelf dive.

My only concern is that some of the plastic seems very soft.  Both Kermit's legs and the rabbit's legs seem likely to wilt over time ("McFarlane disease"), and that would be too bad.

They happen to share one other quality with McFarlane - the paint smell is going to get you buzzed if you open all four at once.  That could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how your day is going.

Value - ***1/2
The price on these seems to be averaging around $8, although some places are charging up to $10 each.  At eight bucks though, this is a great deal.  Sure, at $7 they'd get a solid four stars, but even at $8, you're getting McToys quality sculpts (for 'cartoon' characters) with excellent accessories and articulation.

Overall - ****
Homina Homina Howaaa!   These figures are simply amazing!  I can't believe how well they turned out, and I had pretty high expectations.  If you're thinking about maybe, possibly, being interested in this line, then pick these up NOW.  You can always get rid of them later, but I'll guarantee that three months from now these will be impossible to find.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - Kermit ***1/2, Honeydew and Dr. Teeth ****
Accessories - ****
Quality - ***1/2
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ****

Where to Buy 
Toys R Us is the only conventional toy store carrying these, but Media Play, Sam Goody, Musicland, Electronics Boutique, and other specialty stores will also have them. You can always search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
I covered Miss Piggy from this first wave as well. You should also hit the Search Reviews page for reviews of other releases in the line that were done after this one was published.

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