Muppets: Koozebane Kermit

In the decade I've been collecting, I've seen some great 6 inch toy lines. Mattel's DC Universe Classics, Toy Biz's Marvel Legends, and NECA's Nightmare Before Christmas are all towards the top, but - let's be clear - they're vying for second place. Because first place is owned by the now defunct Palisades, which produced a legendary line of Muppets action figures before going under.

The detail of the sculpts, the creativity in the articulation, and the sheer genius in the accessories and designs added up to a quality of action figure that's never been matched. And, frankly, almost certainly never will be, since rising costs make it more or less impossible to duplicate this level of quality at a profit.

This figure (really more of a playset) is a good example. It's a toy I never expected to get my hands on, actually: last time I checked, these were commanding a lot of cash on Ebay, and I haven't seen one in person since... well, possibly ever. Then, on Labor Day, Lindsay and I stumbled across this in Midtown Comics for $20. I'd gladly have forked that over for this set, but they were having a sale and everything was 20% off. So, in the end, this ran me about sixteen bucks.

The sheer amount of thought that went into these toys is staggering. Sure, Palisades made a point of advertising some of their other figures on the back, but they also included character accurate bios with appropriate humor. On top of that, the credits list the artists involved. Makes perfect sense to me: if I worked on this, I'd want my name attached, too.

Kermit's awesome, but the real stars here are the Koozebanians. The two larger figures have articulated arms. Only the Merdlidops (the ones with blue eyes) are attached. The rest can be moved around to your heart's content.

The base is extremely cool, though I kind of wish there were pegs to stabilize Kermit. But I can appreciate that Palisades always viewed their toys as, you know, TOYS, and wanted them played with.

I'm thrilled to add this to my collection.