Help Make "Street Gang" a Movie!

Street Gang is an upcoming documentary based on Michael Davis' best selling 2008 book about the history and making of Sesame Street.

Just like the filmmakers did for I am Big Bird did two years ago, Macrocosm Entertainment and Citizen Skull Productions, the team behind Street Gang have started a crowd source campaign to to their raise the funds needed to make the film.

As with many crowd sourced campaigns, you can also get some perks for donating certain amounts.

The perks the creative team has prepared are pretty incredible, including a visit to Sesame Street itself!

They even have a few stand alone perks. Which means lower tier items aren't included. 

The filmmakers are also donating 15 percent of the proceeds Sesame Workshop's Yellow Feather Fund, which benefits vulnerable children around the world.

Head over to their Indiegogo page and help support Street Gang!

"My Favorite Item" Celebrating The Muppet Show's 40th Anniversary - Part 3!

To celebrate The Muppet Show's 40th Anniversary we continue our look at the Muppet communities favorite Muppet Show related items.

Chris Harris (The Muppet Cast)

Editor's Note: You may recall seeing Chris Harris in part one, but we wanted to included his second submission as well...

My second favorite item has a lot of sentimental value. It is my “The Muppet Show” lunchbox I carried in elementary school. I must have been around 5 or 6 when I got it.

James V Carroll

My first phone was this Kermit phone in the early 80's and I still have it today. It's a gorgeous sculpture that I've actually referenced for some of my legit work in Muppet products.

David Stephens

When I was asked to write about my favorite piece of “Muppet stuff,” it was a real challenge to choose just one. I have been a collector of Muppet memorabilia for over 30 years and the collection is quite extensive. Ultimately, it came down to one question: if the house was on fire, which item would you grab as you ran out the door? Answer?

Well, there's a story:
In 1990, I was a seventh grader at Foley Middle School and even more of a die-hard Muppet fan than now. I knew Muppet trivia like other kids knew baseball stats. And I was always thirsty to know more.

These were the days with no internet, no Muppet Wiki, no YouTube, no ToughPigs or Muppet Central, and the mom-and-pop video rental place in town had only three volumes of the Playhouse Video “Best of the Muppet Show” series (which I would check out incessantly).

Christmas break had come and gone and school was well into full second semester swing in February when I was tapped for the National Honor Society. For a sixth grader in rural Alabama, this was kind of a big deal because it meant your name would appear in the Mobile Press Register (as if I needed to date myself even further). And so it did appear and my parents gave me a gift one day as a kind of additional award.

I opened the wrapping paper to reveal a copy of “Of Muppets and Men: The Making of the Muppet Show,” written by Christopher Finch. This book instantly became my Bible and it was nearly impossible to pry it from my hands. I took it to school with me every day through the rest of my middle school years. Eventually, I had to fashion a butcher paper cover to (sort of) protect the dust jacket. I poured over the books amazing behind-the-scenes photographs as well as the text, which was a revelation as to how “The Muppet Show” was created. It also gave me glimpses of the performers whom I held in such very high regard.

This book was probably so important to me at that age because I was crossing over into a different mode of fandom. While still enchanted with the show at face value, my curiosity for how things were done was growing. How were the Muppets made? Who were the people who made them? How were certain effects accomplished? How many voices could Jerry Nelson perform? What did it actually look like below the camera lens? So many of these questions were answered in the pages of “Of Muppets and Men.”

Years later, my parents admitted to me that they had just used my acceptance into the National Honor Society as an excuse to give the book to me. They had apparently been wandering through a used book store after the holidays and found it. But Christmas had already passed and my birthday wasn't until July. They said they could not have waited that long to give it to me. I think they were as excited to give it as I was to receive it. So, this also illustrates the support I have always had from my parents to pursue my interests.

It's also a bit bittersweet to look at the inscription date my dad wrote inside the title page: “February 1990,” and know that in just a few short months, Jim Henson would die suddenly. Though I never met him, my interest in Jim's work and his person would never fade. “Of Muppets and Men” started my journey into becoming an even more serious Muppet fan as well as becoming a puppeteer in my own right.

Steve Swanson (The Muppet Cast)

I have two favorite items. First is the figure from 2004. It captures Jim in an appropriately fun and silly way, with his banjo, director’s chair, and even a little copy of Muppet magazine. The likeness for the figure is taken from his “Jim” puppet from the Muppet Show Country Trio. I especially love mine because it was given to me by a very dear friend who worked alongside Jim. 

The other is a plush Scooter, which used to be sold at the Studio One store outside MuppetVision 3D. This one looks quite a bit like Scooter, which isn’t always true for the plushes they sell there. And again, this one is special to me because of who gave it to me: Jane Hunt, Richard Hunt’s mother. It was sitting in a box in his bedroom for years and years, and she gave it to me as a memento when I visited her several years ago.


Kevin L. Williams

My favorite Muppet Show item(s) has to be the Fisher Price action figures from 1978. As a kid, I built my own cardboard Muppet Theater for them to perform in. I also let them cross-over to my Fisher Price Sesame Street Playset, but that's a story for another series of "favorite items."

Look for the conclusion of our series next week!

Muppet Stuff at NYCC 2016 Round Up!

We're still recovering from all the craziness that is New York Comic Con. This year we were able to attend three days instead of one, which made for a much more enjoyable and alos more exhausting experience. 

For a convention that didn't we didn't expect to see that Henson stuff going in, there sure was lots to see anyway!

New & Upcoming Action Figures!

There was plenty of new action figures on display including the crazy hard to get Funko NYCC Exclusive Dark Crystal Kira & Garthim set.

The Diamond Select booth had series one and two of the Muppet action figures and glasses. 

Statler and Waldorf were sold out by day 2 and Bunsen and Beaker were sold out Day 3!

They also had a look at series 3 of their Muppet action figures:

and series 3 Muppet Minimates:

Upcoming Books!

Insight Editions had their upcoming book "Labyrinth The Ultimate Visual History" on sale before next week's official street date. If you were at the con Thursday, you might have been lucky enough to get it signed by Cheryl Henson!

Older Toys!

We spotted many dealers selling Funko Pop! figures, but none had this many Muppet ones!

Pretty sure these are Sesame Street jibbitz made into magnets:

Miss Piggy Vinylmation:

Fozzie Hot Wheels:

Japanese Elmo cars:

Assorted Animal and Sesame plush:

Disney Parks Statler cast pin:

Go to Bed Fred:

Muppet-Vision and Disney Store plush:

Vintage Fozzie and Grover's, Disney Store Constantine and Swedish Chef:

Sababa mini Fraggles:

Comics!
Boom! Studios had a selection of their Henson comics available including the latest Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, and Storyteller graphic novels. 

They sold out of the Labyrinth Anniversary regular cover by day 2,

and only had a few copies of the variant available.

Vintage Toys!

Dark Crystal trading cards:

Child Guidance Bert and Ernie puppets at Toy Hunter Jordan Hembrough's booth:

The Muppets Take Manhattan movie program:

Official Fan Art!
The Henson Company licensed their properties to a few established artists who had their work for sale. 

Zen Monkey Studios did a great job with their word based Fraggle Shirts a few years ago, now they've expanded their Henson offerings to include Labyrinth and Dark Crystal items!

Their new Dark Crystal hoodie is fantastic. The back features this gorgeous image of the main characters:

While the front features the Dark Crystal itself - with a shard missing!!

They also have pins featuring the Labyrinth Worm and Jen, Kira, and Fizzgig:

All expect the hoodie are available on their website.

Update: The pins are now sold out!
Hero Complex Galaxy had these amazing limited edition licensed Dark Crystal and Labyrinth posters. 

Unfortunately, they aren't offered on their website, though a different Dark Crystal poster is. 

We spotted the new limited edition ''Green Is All There Is to Be'' Giclée canvas by Tim Rogerson among a bunch other expensive cels and artwork.

It looks MUCH nice in person then the pictures on Disney's website. 

Unofficial Fan Art!

Buzz Bunny had this painting of Kermit:

Drew Blank, whose previous Muppet offerings included a Muppet Alphabet, now has a pho-Fozzie vinyl album!

Jesse Rubenfeld had this Labyrinth print,

as well these Muppet prints. He's such a Henson fan, the back of his card even has a Muppet version of The Last Supper. 

Over in Artist's Alley, Ashleigh Popplewell had some Dark Crystal and Labyrinth prints:

As well as Labyrinth and Muppet stickers:

and Labyrinth bookmarks:

Colin Lawler expanded his Muppet prints of the Swedish Chef and Bunsen and Beaker to include Jareth and Sarah:

It was great to see that Amy Memberson and James Silvani who both worked on the Muppet comics, continue to draw Muppets in their spare time as well!

By far the craziest non-licensed Muppet item we saw was this "Muppet Masquerade" book by Ian Leino. 

The book features the Muppets dressed as various horror and sci-fi characters. Along with Muppetized quotes from the movie or book they're parodying. 

Kermit as Cthulhu:

Bobo as Sloth:

Gonzo as Ash:

Animal as Frank N. Furter

Lips as Napoleon Dynamite:

Bunsen and Walter White:

Uncle Deadly as Darkness (Legend) which makes that 2 Tim Curry characters for those keeping score at home:

Adult Skeeter as Michonne:

and Chip as Egon Spengler. 

There's plenty of other great Muppet crossovers included and I highly recommend you pick up a copy. Unfortunately, it's not available on his website. 

Autographs

In addition to James Silvani, Amy Memberson, David Peterson, and Jay Fosgitt signing our Muppet and Sesame comics,

Cory Godbey was kind enough to sign copies of the Labyrinth comics as well. 

We spotted Frank Oz's autograph was for sale:

And while technically not a Muppet, we met Mark Dodson who provided the voice for Salacious Crumb in Return of the Jedi and most of the voices for various Gremlins!

Cosplay!
Over the course of our 3Days at NYCC we only spotted two Henson cosplayers. One Super Grover and one Jareth. Neither of which we could get a good photo of before they disappeared into the crowd. 

Elsewhere in NYC:

As in past years, we also like to show you our Muppet related finds outside the confines of the Javits Center. With both FAO Schwarz and Toys R Us' flagship locations closed. We ventured to other locations around the city.

Forbidden Planet: 
Had the first series of Diamond's Muppet action figures as well as these Muppet Keychains, 

and a Labyrinth shirt:

MidTown Comics:

Series 1 and 2 of Diamonds Muppet action figures (Minus Animal and Statler and Waldorf), a few of the Muppet Minimates, The Muppet Show logo glasses, Muppet Show Comic Omnibus, Labyrinth 30th Anniversary comic, and the Grand Jester Kermit bust:

Disney Store

Disney had the just released Muppet Tsum Tsum mini collection, but surprisingly not the medium sized versions.

Nintendo

Yes that Nintendo. At Nintendo's Official Store in Rockefeller plaza we spotted the actual Henson puppets used last year for Nintendo's Star Fox video!!

We even spotted this ad on the subway that featured an owl that looks suspiciously like the Goblin King!

Fans & Friends!

In addition running into Craig Shemin at Jay Fosgitt's booth we got to sit a spell and talk with Chris Smig! 

Conclusion:
At the end of three days, we picked up many new items for the Muppet Stuff museum including original artwork and prints by James Silvani, Amy Memberson, Colin Lawler, Ashleigh Popplewell, Ian Leino's "Muppet Masquerade" book, and some of the great new offerings from Zen Monkey Studios.

 Phew! Seeya next year NYCC!