*Watch Full Episode 1 of "Which Sesame Street Figures Do We Want?" Below:
Can you tell me why we don't...why we don't have this Toyline yet?
Seriously though...HOW? We came THIIIIS close from Palisades toys a handful of years back and even got our first magical glimpse of what this COULD look like with both the Super Grover San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive, the first wave, prototypes of the second, and a list of who the options would have been all the way through wave 5 with con exclusives. Wave 1 was shown, it was BEAUTIFUL and STILL needs to happen.
The first wave, which we got a sneak peek of at comic con years ago was going to consist of Ernie (with Rubber Duckie), Oscar The Grouch (also with an Orange variant and Slimey), Guy Smiley, Two-Headed Monster, and an exclusive "Bedtime" Bert.
Wave 2 would have been Bert (with Bernice the Pigeon), Elmo, Grover, Count Von Count, Roosevelt Franklin, YipYip Martians, an 11 inch Big Bird (with Little Bird), with each figure coming with a piece that would build a playset that would be a replica of Sesame Street, wave 2 exclusive was to be "Bedtime" Ernie.
Wave 3 would have been Cookie Monster, Sherlock Hemlock, and The Amazing Mumford, with waiter Grover as the exclusive.
Wave 4 would have been Telly Monster, Zoe, Prairie Dawn (with Betty Lou as the variant), Fat Blue, Mr. Snuffleupagus, and the exclusive was to be "Bathtime" Ernie.
Wave 5 would have been Rosita, Herry Monster, Alice Snuffleupagus, and an exclusive "Bathtime" Bert.
Comic-Con Exclusives were to be: An Anything Muppet Play Pack, Gladys The Cow, "Steppin' Out" Ernie and Bert, a Honker/Dinger 2 pack, Grungetta.
Palisades dissolved as a company but the demand for these figures has only grown louder with time.
We at SpeekyGeeky first off still want EVERYTHING that Palisades was set to put out, but would go even further with what our vision for a Sesame Street Line might look like.
We would do one of two things. Either A) We would make this a Henson Universe line similar to what World of Nintendo was before it became the Mario Bros line that would see each wave consist of not just Sesame characters, but also Fraggle Rock, Storyteller, and Sam and Friends, or B) We would go the route of expanding it well past JUST Sesame Street, but rather one that would include characters from EVERY iteration of the franchise from every corner of the world, like Sesame Tree, Furchester Hotel, Sesemstraat, Rechov Sumsum, Barrio Sesame just to name a few.
If we went with this second option, here is how we might organize it. First off, we're talking fully collector-style figures here, highly articulated and coming with a barrage of fun deep dive extras. For the sake of simplicity, we created concept images of what it might look like if it were something akin to World of Nintendo, but make no mistake, we would Ultimately like to see these as something along the lines of a Super 7's Ultimates line, with perhaps an exclusive only available if pre-ordered by a certain date.
This is a line near and dear to our heart, and one we are so incredibly hopeful for, we drafted up conceptual images of what this line COULD look like. But, our list of possibilities is so long, that we'll just go ahead and call this part 1 of many, and plan to see more characters as the year rolls out as part of our "Which Figures Do We Want" Series. We would also expect that this series would grow in scope as it continued.
With that in mind, our picks for a wave 1 breakdown are fairly modest and would consist of: 8 Figures altogether. One Retired Figure, Two Classic Staple figures, One Modern Favorite Figure, Two International Figures, One Variant, and One Exclusive Figure that would be an oversized.
With so many fantastic options and such a long history, we would attempt to appeal to the modern fans as well as the classic ones, making it as comprehensive as possible. So we're not JUST talking classic characters here, we're also thinking about how we can bring in concept characters and sneak in first appearance representation wherever possible in logical ways as well. Retired Characters? ABSOLUTELY! Bringing in an appreciation for characters who are no longer a part of the show, but probably SHOULD be, yup, that is 100% factored into this.
So again, just to reiterate. We have put A TON of research into this, we have conducted polls over Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, and Twitter, and gathered thousands of YOUR responses, all of which have helped to shape who made our decisions for this series.
We cannot stress enough, IF YOU WANT A SESAME STREET CLASSICS SERIES MADE, please share the heck out of this article and video series so that the right folks see what an enormous and dedicated fan base there is for something like this, it certainly wouldn't hurt if you like, subscribe, and comment as well to better the chances of more folks being suggested this video.
Yeah, we get that we're being slightly shameless here, but we at SpeekyGeeky already know this series is one that would be incredibly well-received, because WE ARE THOSE FANS WHO WOULD BE BUYING THE HECK OUT OF THESE TOO, and we want nothing more than to finally see some of our favorite characters on our shelf in a way that we have ALWAYS wanted them. With that said, this will act as PART ONE of our "Which SESAME STREET Figures Do We Want" Series. A line we like to call, "THE SUNNY DAYS COLLECTION."
#1 MODERN FAVORITE:
ELMO
Yes, we are fully aware that for many, Elmo is the benchmark of a different era of Sesame Street. Many look to the introduction of that character as the physical chapter marker between classic era Sesame Street and modern, so for this first wave, it is only fitting that this easily identifiable and modern favorite be included as the very first modern-facing choice.
Though we certainly see other iterations of this character appearing in later waves in some of his other very distinct iterations, we envision this Elmo looking like he just jumped right out of his “Elmo’s World segment, and with an included Elmo’s world backdrop, he can do just that. We also see Elmo coming with his fish Dorothy, his blanky, and his stuffed animal Baby David. It would be a blast to eventually get to see a Mr. Noodle Figure down the road too in any one of his various classic costumes.
#2 RETIRED CHARACTER:
THE AMAZING MUMFORD
We’ve been hoping for decades now that if we just repeated the words “A la Peanut Butter Sandwich” enough times this classic favorite character would magically appear before us, and all these years later, we’re just saying the phrase a little louder but our hope is still going strong.
We see our favorite occasionally effective magician coming with a Rabbit, a removable top hat that can be affixed with a magnet in his head, a magic wand, two sets of hands (one for gripping and one as if saying “ta-da!”), and naturally, a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich. The Amazing Mumford would also come with a background that would give him the appearance of being on stage.
#3 CLASSIC STAPLE:
TELLY MONSTER
Our favorite triangle-loving neurotic monster, exuded such a nervous nature that when he was able to be calmed, it managed to put all of us at ease as well. Here’s a funny side note about Telly, he originally got the name Telly which is a nickname from his initial vision of being a Television Monster, with swirling eyes and metal antenna coming out from his ears like a walking TV, though this depiction was quickly dropped when it became clear that this wasn’t an example they wanted to be setting for children.
That said, we haven’t forgotten and would absolutely include that additional swirly-eyed alternate head. We would also have him packed in with a monster on the spot microphone, tie and hat to display as his jittery reporter persona, a giant triangle, a Pogo stick, his doll Freddy, and hamster Chucky Sue. And yes, before anyone asks, we 100% would plan to include a “Grouchketeer” Telly variant, as well as one for his hilariously different depiction in the very first illustrated appearance of the character in “circus of opposites”, both of which would be released as the series would expand.
#4 CLASSIC STAPLE:
OSCAR THE GROUCH
Who better to pair in the same wave as Telly, the trembling water to Oscar’s Piss and Vinegar. Oscar, Sesame Street’s resident Grouch has been there from the start, even if he may have looked a little less green around the edges in his early days. Though we have seen Oscar in many iterations over the years, very seldomly (if ever) have we been able to have a version of him that sees him outside his trash can.
Much like the Palisades version, this figure would have the ability to have his arms easily removed, and would have an easily removable lower torso much like NECA’s recent Dirtbag figure from the Fred Wolf TMNT line, in order to place Oscar easily onto a peg set to a lever on the back of his trash can, so he can be lowered into the can as far as we want to display him.
The figure would have two heads, one with a trash lid affixed and one without, as well as a detached trash lid so folks could allow for it to burst off if they want him to rise out of the can quickly. Oscar would also come with Slimey, his dog Preposterous, an attachable “Scram” sign, a muppet version of the letter “O”, and a couple of attachable Oscar expression faceplates to show his varying degrees of grouchiness.
#5 VARIANT:
FIRST APPEARANCE OSCAR THE GROUCH
As many long-time Sesame fans probably realize, Oscar hasn’t ALWAYS looked the way we’ve come to know and love him over the years. In fact, in the first season of the show, Oscar was a completely different color. It’s true.
Oscar originally started out as an Orange Grouch, and a few iterations of the series around the world, like Moishe Offnick in Israel’s Rachov Sum Sum, actually kept their primary grouch character Orange long term. If we want to get even more technical, his original concept was even more colorful, envisioning him as purple with a much longer neck that almost had him resembling an angry-looking bird.
Though that concept version is firmly on our radar as well, for simplicity's sake, the version we would cast as this wave’s variant would be a simple orange first season Oscar. Essentially all would be the same other than perhaps swapping out Perposterous for an also Orange Oscar The Crab from When Abby Cadabby briefly transformed him in episode 4632.
#6 INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER
GOOGLY
(From Gali Gali SimSim)
Nope, not the search engine, in fact, if you type Googly into that aforementioned browser, you’ll be hard-pressed to even find this lovable unibrow book reading muppet from India’s Gali Gali SimSim pop up.
Why Googly you ask? Well, besides the fact that he’s adorable and would make a fun first venture into the international characters represented in this line? How about the fact that this character just got an additional series based off his likeness for a 2d cartoon called Chamki Ki Duniya, which is one more amazing reason fans of Sesame Street en large might want to know him a little better. We see Googly coming with his good friend Denchoo the Donkey, a book, and a backdrop for Gali Gali SimSim.
#7 INTERNATIONAL CHARACTER
FUNNELLA FURCHESTER
(From Furchester Hotel)
The sister of Elmo’s father Louie, Funella is the incredibly friendly co-owner of the Furchester Hotel. Basically, if you remember the Furry Arms Hotel from Sesame Street, Funella is the UK version of Sherry Netherland. Aside from having the direct tie to Elmo toward helping to world-build, Funella is such a fun personality and presence that she fits to represent that iteration of Sesame Street incredibly well until we are able to bring in some of that series cast as the series continues. Funella would come with a Furchester Hotel backdrop, the front desk bell muppet named Isabel that could have the ability to make noise if tapped, and a small scale Gonger who is the hotel’s chef and also a recurring character now in Sesame Street proper.
#8 EARLY "ALL IN" EXCLUSIVE CHARACTER
HUMAN JIM HENSON
We know him, we love him, and without him, there would be no Sesame Street as we know it. What better draw to bring in as an early exclusive than the artist who helped to make this conversation even possible. The humans in this line, by the very nature of their being well…human, will have to stand taller than the muppet characters, so though Jim wouldn’t be as tall as the eventual Big Bird (who we’d expect to stick with that 11-inch size), he would certainly be closer to the 7 or 8-inch mark in order to give some noticeable size differentiation when displayed with his sesame street character counterparts.
We see this as being very early days Jim Henson, with a makeshift puppet theater, and an extra arm that would have a 1st appearance partial body Ernie over it so we could pose Henson on the floor with arm up in the stand to recreate our favorite scenes. Jim would also come with a banjo and a muppet letter “J”.
We imagine you’ll have some favorite Toy Lines that top your list too, so make sure to make your voice heard in the comments below.
And if you haven’t already, don’t forget that “S” is for SUBBING, that’s good enough for me. “L” is for LIKING, which you all can do for free, “S” is for SHARING, share for everyone to see, OH SUB and LIKE to SPEEKYGEEKY.
We have no doubt you have some characters that top off your list as well, so make sure to make your hopes known and join the discussion in the comments below.
We realize you could have gone anywhere and you chose to nerd out with us... and we appreciate that, so…
As always, I am Mr. Geek-E and Until Next We Top Toy Line Speeky, Keep it Geeky Folks!
#SpeekyGeeky #MrGeekE #SesameStreet #SunnyDaysCollection #Concept #ToyLine #NECA #Super7 #Actionfigures #Wishlist #CanYouTellMeHowToGet #ChildrensTelevisionWorkshop #SesamePlace #Muppets #JimHenson #Ernie #Bert #CookieMonster #Elmo #Grover #TheAmazingMumford #BigBird #TellyMonster #HerryMonster #OriginalArt #Art #fanart #Toys #Geekblog #YoutubeSeries #WhichFiguresDoWeWantSeries
Comments