Muppet Stuff - Joys & Toys and More!

Join Dave (AKA Cinema Sickness) and I as we search through Joys & Toys in Hatboro, PA and a local Goodwill for muppet stuff, movies, and more! 

Correction: The Sesame Street toy is supposed to be a radio, NOT a camera. Oops!

Be sure to check out more videos on our Youtube Channel.

Hallmark Unveils 2023 Muppet Ornament(s)!

Leaked images of Hallmark's 2023 Dreambook reveal the company is releasing not one, but two Muppet ornaments this year.

As you can see above this year's Muppet ornaments are Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker.

There's a catch however, as they will packaged together in one box. 

This marks Hallmark's second Beaker ornament - the first being Beaker with a metronome that plaid "Ode to Joy" from the YouTube short. 

Sadly, it looks like neither of these ornaments have any sound features. Hopefully they're decently sized and last year's Animal ornament was MUCH smaller then previous installments. 

Interestingly, there was no mention or any images of this year's Sesame Street ornaments(s). 

Muppet Talk with Joe & Chris # 1

Join "Krazy" Joe and I as we begin a new series of monthly live steams to discuss current Muppet news and events.

Tonight's Topic: The Muppets Take Mahoning

Tonight's Guest: Gene Barretta 

Special Appearance: Virgil from the Mahoning Drive-in. 

More Krazy Joe Adventures

More muppet stuff on our Youtube channel.

Adam Savage’s Tested "How Henson Puppeteers Bring Muppets to Life"!

Adam Savage visited Jim Henson's Creature Shop and talked John Tartaglia, Donna Kimball, AKA Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock's Gobo and Mokey Fraggle to learn how Muppets work. 

John and Donna show Adam just how complex (physically as well as mentally) it is to bring Muppets to life on film, drawing from the methods developed by Jim Henson himself. You'll never look at a Muppet performance the same way again!

 

You can see more Adam Savage’s Tested on his Youtube channel. 

Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is streaming on Apple TV+.

EW "Muppets Mayhem" First Look!

Entertainment Weekly got an exclusive first look at the upcoming Disney+ series Muppets Mayhem including photos from series!

Below are some highlights from the article. 

As we know, the so was co-created by Muppets veteran Bill Barretta and college friends Jeff Yorkes and Adam F. Goldberg.

For Goldberg and Yorks "it was about going deep on familiar, but largely unknown characters instead of using the panoply of the Muppets world to tell a story. "This is just about the band specifically," Goldberg says. "We don't have that deep bench of characters like when you do The Wizard of Oz or Treasure Island or A Christmas Carol. You could tell this giant story with the hundreds of characters that they have. We're telling a very small story about this band and where they've been and where they're going. It is about the band and not the tone of a variety show."

Adds Yorkes: "We have the freedom to go anywhere with these characters — they're not as well known as the core characters. People recognize them, but we have the freedom to fill out their backstory and do whatever we want."

Because it's all about the music, an art form near and dear to late Muppets creator Jim Henson's heart, audiences can expect a lot of clashing of styles between the new world order of music producing and the '70s jam band vibes of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. 

"They get along better than Fleetwood Mac," Yorkes says with a laugh. "But they're definitely from a different era. The conceit of the show is bringing this old school band to the modern age and way of making music. That's the comedy of it. They're a group of characters that have no real goals or ambitions. Whatever you want to do, they roll with it. So, when you have a character that's really determined to get them to do something, that's also the comedy of the show. It's Type A wrestling with Type, I would even say, C."

Barretta echoes this notion that the series' main conflict point will come with the band's determination to go with the flow and please everyone. "They want to remain true to themselves, but they don't want to leave anybody out," he explains. "How do you find that balance? That's every musician or artist's struggle — they would love everybody to love them. What's fun about this band is we like to take the creative approach that they can play just about anything. That allows us to dip ourselves into different types of music and be silly and have fun with it."

To that end, the show will boast an epic soundtrack. Goldberg estimates the first half of the ten-episode season is nearly all covers, particularly a lot of classic rock of the era in which the band was first introduced to audiences (they premiered in 1975 as the house band on the pilot of The Muppet Show). But there will also be plenty of original songs too as the band writes their album.

With that in mind, the show also promises lots of fun surprise cameos, as is always the case with the Muppets. But don't necessarily expect your favorite Muppet to pop up. "We are telling a regular story in the real world with Muppets," Goldberg says. "So we tried to ground everything and keep it realistic as opposed to all of a sudden there's talking fruit in your fridge."

 

Barretta notes that sense of balance and grounding is key to what makes the show (and the Muppets at large) work. As we get to know the history of the band and the backstory of the members, we also learn the challenges and dreams of the story's human characters, threading a lot of heart and emotion across the storytelling.

"We've found a real balance," Barreta reflects. "It's not Muppet-heavy and it's not human-heavy, which is a difficult thing to do with the Muppets. You want to keep everybody interested. The Muppets have fun little beats and punchlines and good comedy and sight gags, but the storytelling [is key]. What's really helped is to have some humans who are truly connected and have real conflict with them — conflicts that they experience together and separately and with each other."

 

The show will also delve into family and the complicated relationship between Nora and Hannah, fraught with the history of Nora's surrogate parenting of Hannah. "Sisterhood is a key ingredient in this show," Chaudry says. "Nora and Hannah go through a lot together. They grow as people, but as sisters as well."

Another new element to the series is the diversity of the human cast. Traditionally, in a reflection of the industry itself, the Muppets have starred opposite white actors. But The Muppets Mayhem offers audiences a much more colorful world beyond mere shades of felt.

 

"When I was auditioning for the show, one of the really big reasons I wanted it was because the Muppets are so iconic," Singh says. "Everyone has a memory of seeing the Muppets for the first time. Everyone has a love story with the Muppets. I had never seen myself in those stories. I know other people probably don't see themselves. I really wanted this role so that it could look different."

In just about every way, The Muppets Mayhem won't look like any Muppet story that has come before. And that's pretty darn groovy.

No release date has been announce yet, but can read the whole article at EW.com

Muppets Mayhem will starts streaming in May only on Disney+.

"Kermit Day” Oris ProPilot X Watch!

Oris teamed up with Kermit to release a special edition “Kermit Day” version of their ProPilot X Calibre 400 watch. 

Oris and Disney’s The Muppets Kermit the Frog get together for a bit of fun and to create “Kermit Day” with a very special edition of the ProPilot X Calibre 400. 

We’re inspired by what we call the Joy of Mechanics. The first function of every Oris watch, in the purest emotional, feel-it-in-yourbones sense, is to bring joy, to make people smile. That’s it. If an Oris watch can make someone’s day better, we’ve done our job. 

 

For some time, we’ve been trying to find the ultimate expression of this and to make a watch that’s pure joy. And then it hit us. A collaboration with the easiest guy on the planet: Kermit the Frog from The Muppet Show. Kermit’s role is to entertain, to put a smile on our faces. He’s been doing it for generations. Could we do a watch with him? 

It turns out we could. And we’re delighted, grinning from ear to ear, and so proud to introduce you to the ProPilot X Kermit Edition. 

It’s based on our 39mm titanium ProPilot X Calibre 400, only it’s got a green dial – and a twist.

On the first of every month, the date window at 6 o’clock will be filled with a Kermit the Frog emoji.

 

“Kermit Day” is all about not taking life too seriously. Having some fun. We’re seriously unserious about it.

 

We all know high end watches aren't cheap. but this is "seriously" one of the most expensive Muppet items ever produce, retailing at a whopping $4,600!

For more info and to purchase your “Kermit Day” watch head to Oris.

DCappella Perform "Rainbow Connection" with Kermit!

DCappella teamed up with Kermit the Frog on a new acapella reedition of "Rainbow Connection." 

You can watch the lyric video below:

And download/buy/stream the song at https://dcappella.lnk.to/ArtistPage

Animal Loungefly Backpack Coming Soon!

Loungefly recently unveiled some of their upcoming products and our favorite drummer, Animal will be featured on a new mini backpack. 

 

This Loungefly The Muppets Animal Plush Cosplay Mini Backpack features Animal, a wild and frenzied monster Muppet who loves to play the drums. He serves as the drummer for the Muppets' resident rock and roll band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. A crazed percussionist, Animal has three styles of music ― loud, louder and deafening. 

No release date has yet to be announced but it's expected to retail for $90, which is similar in price to Loungefly's previous Kermit and Miss Piggy mini backpacks.

Boss Fight Shows Fraggle Progress - Teases Wave 2!

As part of their 10th anniversary Boss Fight Studio held a live stream where they showed off the progress of their Fraggle Rock line and even teased wave 2!

 Below you'll see the progress on the Cotterpin and the Architect:

Gobo:

Red with her confused expression:

and Uncle Traveling Matt:

Boss Fight also teased that they're working on a Sprocket figure for wave 2 that may or may not be in scale with the rest of the line!

No release dat has been announced, but they are expected to be released later this year. 

You can see what they'll look like when painted and with their accessories in our post from January.   

You can pre-order all of Boss Fight's Fraggle Rock figures from BigBadToyStore.com or directly from Boss Fight.

Muppet Stuff - Zolocon 2023!

Join Me, Dave aka Cinema Sickness, and loads of surprise guests as we hunt for Muppet stuff at Zolocon 2023!

 

Be sure to check out more videos on our Youtube Channel.

Watch The Masked Singer's "Sesame Street Night"!

Last night The Masked Singer had "Sesame Street Night" and in case you missed it you can watch some of the highlights below. 

Sesame Street Night (Preview):

  

Sesame Street & Judges Perform "Dynamite" by BTS:

 

Squirrel Performs "Just The Two of Us" by Grover Washington Jr.:

 

Fairy Performs "You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt:

 

Jackalope Performs "Whenever Wherever" by Shakira:

 Squirrel Reveal: 

 

 Jackalope & Fairy Battle to "On Top Of The World”:

  

Jackalope Reveal: 

The full episode of The Masked Singer  "Sesame Street Night" is available on Hulu. 

First Henson, Now Sesame NFTs - PLEASE STOP!

Back in 202, the Henson Company started selling NTFs. At first we were excited for the possibility of something new for collectors. Then we learned not only were these items "virtually" worthless they are also horrible for the environment. 

Now Variety is reporting that not only is Sesame Workshop launching Sesame Street NFTs, they'll be priced at $60 each. 

In case you don't know, here's how NTFs work. 

Since Henson related NFTs began being "produced" we've learned even more about NFTs.

As an investment, Moneyunder30.com said "NFTs are an exciting new medium for collecting digital art, but they're no good as investments. The odds of losing some or all of your money on an NFT investment are extremely high. And with Blue Chips and index funds still around, you simply don't need NFTs to become independently wealthy."

NFTs are also terrible for the environment since they use the block chain technology that consumes lots of energy to keep running. 

Wired said "The major marketplaces for NFT art, which include MakersPlace, Nifty Gateway, and SuperRare, conduct their sales through Ethereum, which maintains a secure record of cryptocurrency and NFT transactions through a process called mining. The system is similar to the one that verifies Bitcoin, involving a network of computers that use advanced cryptography to decide whether transactions are valid—and in doing so uses energy on the scale of a small country."

Our friends at ToughPigs wrote about how bad this idea was for the Henson Company to be a part of  in 2021 when the started selling their Labyrinth NFTs and then again a year later when Fraggle Rock images were added. 

We know Jim Henson was a big proponent of technology and exploring new possibilities but not at this expense to the environment. Henson making Labyrinth NFTs was a bad decision, the irony of allowing Fraggle Rock NFTs is impossible to ignore, but for Sesame Workshop to make the same awful decision after all we know now is unconscionable.

So please don't buy NFTs - Henson related or otherwise and Henson and Sesame if your reading this, please stop supporting this worthless product that's horrible for the environment. 

It's definitely not in line with keeping Jim's vision alive. 

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Wins Best Animated Feature Oscar!

After wining a slew of awards and accolades the last few months, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at last night's 95th Academy Awards. 

This marks the Henson Company's very first Oscar after being nominated in 1966 for Time Piece and 1979 for "The Rainbow Connection." While Disney / The Muppets won Best Song for "Man or Muppet" on 2011, the Henson Company didn't have any involvement. 

You can watch Guillermo's acceptance speech below where he was once again joined on stage by Lisa Henson.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is steaming now on Netflix.

The Masked Singer "Sesame Street Night" Sneak Peek!

Last year The Masked Singer had "Muppets Night" and now this year they've invited the Sesame Street gang to sing along with the masked celebrities.

 

Based on the promo it looks like Oscar, Big Bird, Elmo, Abby, Cookie Monster and the Count will be featured.

Watch the promo below:

The Masked Singer  "Sesame Street Night" airs Wednesday, March 15 on Fox and the following day on Hulu. 

Super7 Electric Mayhem Figures Now Available!

Super7 unveiled their first look the final packaging and figures for their Muppet ReAction Dr. Teeth And The Electric Mayhem line. 

This is the first of more planned Muppet figures and, as you can see above, this wave consists of:

Animal

Animal may be a bit excitable but music soothes the savage beast, and as drummer for Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, he’s got the perfect outlet for all that energy! Packaged on a cardback with gold foil accents, this 3.75” scale articulated Disney’s The Muppets ReAction Figure of Animal features his signature torn pants, chain, and spiked wristbands, as well as his drumsticks. Don’t let your Muppets menagerie miss a beat, pick up the ReAction Figure of Animal and keep your collection on tempo!

Dr. Teeth

“Golden teeth and golden tones. Welcome to my presence!” Dr. Teeth is the leader of the band and, like light through a kaleidoscope, all of Electric Mayhem’s groovy tunes flow through him! Packaged on a cardback with gold foil accents, this 3.75” articulated Disney’s The Muppets ReAction Figure of Dr. Teeth shows off his decidedly unique style and comes with a keyboard accessory. It takes one cool cat to get The Electric Mayhem Band to all boogie to the same tune, so don’t miss out on the Dr. Teeth ReAction Figure!

Floyd

He may sing and play bass guitar for Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, but Floyd’s most important role with the band may be setting the vibe and keeping Animal in line! Packaged on a cardback with gold foil accents, this 3.75” scale articulated Disney’s The Muppets ReAction Figure of Floyd features his signature red marching band jacket and comes with a guitar accessory. Add the self-proclaimed “hippest of the hip” musician to your Muppet menagerie!

Janice

As the lead guitar player and singer for Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem, Janice is always ready to jam with the band, like totally fer sure! This 3.75” scale articulated Disney’s The Muppets ReAction Figure of Janice comes with her guitar accessory and is packaged on a cardback with gold foil accents. The band wouldn’t be the same without this totally groovy gal, and neither will your collection!

Zoot

As part of The Electric Mayhem Band, Zoot prefers to let his saxophone do all the talking! Packaged on a cardback with gold foil accents, this 3.75” scale articulated Disney’s The Muppets ReAction Figure of Zoot depicts the laidback sax player in a tunic top and shades, and includes his saxophone accessory. He’s more than willing to let the other members of the band take the spotlight, but there’s no doubt that the Zoot ReAction Figure has a role in any Muppets collection

Scooter

Scooter is going to earn his keep trying to manage all the wacky personalities in Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem! Dressed in his signature green jacket and glasses, this 3.75” scale articulated Disney’s The Muppets ReAction Figure of Scooter comes packaged on a cardback with gold foil accents. Without Scooter, the band might not even make it to their next gig, so be sure to get his ReAction Figure to keep your collection hitting all the right notes!

It's a shame Super7 didn't use the actual Dr. Teeth logo, like they did on the back of their limited edition Dr.Teeth and Animal glitter variants.

I'm also still surprised Disney let them include Scooter as the band's manger from The Muppet Movie instead of Lips, especially with the new Muppets Mayhem series on the way. 

The Muppets ReAction Wave 1 - Electric Mayhem Band are available now individually at the links above and as a set. 

Fright Rags Labyrinth Collection!

Fright Rags unveiled a line of Labyrinth inspired shirts and apparel.

Their offerings include:

THE GOBLIN KING shirt with artwork by Zachary Jackson Brown.

Also is available in womens, baseball tee, and a hoodie

SHOULD YOU NEED US shirt

LABYRINTH SOCKS featuring Jareth:

A very 80's esque ELLO worm shirt

and a classic LABYRINTH poster shirt. 

You can find the whole Labyrinth collection at Fright Rags.