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Introduction
Ah, The Muppets from Palisades. Here's a truly amazing line, and a huge thrill for the Muppets fan. They should be thanking the Gods above that Palisades got this license, and not Mattel or Hasbro. I shudder to think.
The end of the year brings us a ton of Muppety goodness too, with the Pigs in Space, Christmas Carol Mini-Muppets, Toyfare and Musicland exclusive Vacation Pepe's, and Muppets series 6 figures all hitting from Palisades. And next week I'll also look at the latest set of Sideshow Muppets busts!
There are four regular figures in the set - Statler, Waldorf, Fozzie in his Patrol Bear outfit, and Clifford (the host of Muppets Tonight). Clifford also comes in a repainted variation, one per case.
These are hitting Target, Musicland, Media Play, Sam Goody, and Electronics Boutique stores right now. I also have some on-line options for you at the end of the review. You can expect to pay around $9 each.
2016 Update: Since I just reviewed the new Diamond Select Toys versions of Statler and Waldorf, I thought it fitting to reformat this old review of the terrific Palisades pair. While they remain two of my favorites from the line, after market prices on them are not all that bad. You can pick up carded examples for $30 - $40 each with a little patience. You can get Clifford and Patrol Bear Fozzie even cheaper, barely over original retail in some cases. Considering how great these figures are, they're a steal.
Packaging - ***1/2
They aren't quite works of art, but close enough. I love the clam shells, and they almost guarantee a nicely packaged one will arrive at your door. They
stand up great to shelf wear, a huge plus for MOCers, and they show off the figure and all his accessories quite well.
Sculpting - ****
I can't find anything to complain about in this department. Every one of these four characters is excellent, although my favorites are Statler and Waldorf.
This is them in their classic outfits, just as you remember them from the show.
I'm not a big Clifford fan, but they've done a marvelous job with him. The wild 'hair' is tough to pull off, but they did a good job with it, and his expression fits him well.
Statler and Waldorf are really works of art. Both look like they just stepped out of the TV, and the attention to detail in their clothing and textures makes all the difference in the world.
Finally, there's Fozzie. Always a fan favorite, this variant of Fozzie is one of the best. The soft tie is sculpted separate, and there are holes in his belt to hold all his accessories. The hat fits great, and although he has less articulation than the others, he still stands great on his own.
It's also important to note that the hand sculpts work fairly well on all four figures, and they can hold at least some of their accessories properly.
Paint - ***1/2
The Muppets line has two difficult aspects to their paint ops - there's lots of detail, and there's a huge variety of color. Those two things combined make
getting good paint applications even tougher for Palisades.
They have done a great job this time. It's always tough to tell unless you see a large number of figures, since there are always some variation in quality. But the set I picked up, and the few others I've seen, all look extremely good.
The Clifford repaint was toned down quite a bit from the original prototype photos, and I'm a little disappointed. Oh sure, that paint scheme was a little wild, but what we did end up with wasn't that big of a difference. However, all the work that went into the various colors and details is great.
Statler and Waldorf wear their usual suits, and while they have less color, they still look good. Of all the figures, they were the only ones to have some issues with the consistency of the dark colors, but it wasn't too bad.
Fozzie also has some excellent quality paint operations, with lots of little details in the buckles, patches and badges. The dark blue of his uniform is more consistent than the old geezer's suits, and there's very little bleed between the detail colors and the overall uniform paint.
Articulation - Fozzie ***; the rest ****
Statler, Waldorf, and Clifford have tons of articulation, and can stand nicely on their own. More importantly, all three can sit in their chairs.
They have neck, ball jointed shoulders, cut biceps, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, and knees. Clifford also has ankles, and S&W have those cool split crotch hips that allow for easier sitting poses for old men with pot bellies.
Fozzie doesn't have quite as much articulation, although you can pose him in a number of ways, and he stands great on his own. He has neck - but none of the bobble head issues of the past - ball jointed shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, and hips.
Accessories - ****
Wow. This is one category where they always excel, and this series is no different.
Fozzie is the big winner here, with a ton of nifty cop accessories that all fit in small holes on his belt. There's a peg on each accessory - or a bag to hold them - that pops into the small hole. Fozzie has his flashlight, night stick, bag for his handcuffs, handcuffs (that open and close), holster for his radio, hand held radio, and two small sculpted packs that look like the type that hold pepper spray or other tube like items. He also has his hat, which fits nicely on his head and stays in place with the magnet, and the usual Palisades stand. All the figures come with stands, but none of them need them.
Statler and Waldorf come with the most important accessory - their chairs. The two chairs are identical, but look amazing. There's all kinds of Victorian goodness, with terrific detail in the wood carvings and upholstery. Using a slightly different texture differentiates the two nicely.
They also come with a variety of talking vegetables: two tomatoes, a carrot, and something green between them. These go great with the Kitchen play set of course.
Statler comes with a cane, and Waldorf has a set of 'voting' cards, all low numbers. Both figures also have the Muppet Show playbill, another identical accessory.
Clifford has a chair as well - a director's chair. It doesn't fold, but is all hard plastic. The seat looks so good you'd think it was cloth at first glance! He also comes with sunglasses that fit nicely into two small holes in his hair line, a cell phone, microphone on a stand, and clacker board for starting a scene. The repaint is identical in all aspects except for, obviously, the paint.
The sculpts and paint ops across the board with all the accessories are great. This is the type of quality you've come to expect, and they don't let you down.
Value - ***
At the current market prices, $8 - $9 is a decent, reasonable price for these. You aren't getting an amazing value, but you aren't paying too much either, and you
won't feel ripped off when you get these home and open them up.
Overall - Clifford, Fozzie ***1/2; Statler/Waldorf ****
I have to be honest. Clifford is not a big favorite of mine. I was never a big fan of Muppets Tonight, and Clifford was one of my least favorite
characters from the show. But I have to admit that Palisades managed to produce a great looking figure with excellent accessories just the same.
The rest of the line is fantastic. This might be my favorite Fozzie so far, upsetting the Vacation Fozzie for the top spot. And Statler and Waldorf are not just perfect, they are critical to your entire display. While I loved the Vaudeville versions, your collection wouldn't be complete without this show accurate pair.
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - Fozzie ***; the rest ****
Accessories -****
Value - ***
Overall - Clifford, Fozzie ***1/2; Statler/Waldorf ****
Where to Buy
The Musicland family, Electronics Boutique, and Target have already been putting these out. You can always search ebay for a deal.
Related Links -
I've covered a ton of Muppets, particularly from Palisades, so your best bet is to hit the Search
Reviews page to look them up and find any other applicable reviews done after this one was published.
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.
