GONZO & CAMILLA

THE MUPPETS (DST)

“Now technically speaking, uhh, let’s say, put me down as a… ‘Whatever’?”

On the list of “Greatest Toy Lines of all time,” Palisades’ The Muppets will pretty much eternally rank rather highly.  And this is coming from someone who owns two figures from the line.  The depth of characters offered, coupled with the level of attentiveness paid to each individual figure, and the impressive array of accessories and playsets offered across the line means that it still a vastly impressive line, even though it’s been more than a decade since it wrapped.  Sadly, Palisades fell on some hard times, resulting in all of their lines being cut short.  Since the last line ended, a number of the figures have picked up a decent aftermarket value, leaving a hole in the market for a new line.  DST picked up the license last year, and, though they have some big shoes to fill, they’re certainly giving it their all.  Today, I’ll be looking at Gonzo and Camilla.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Gonzo and Camilla were released in the first series of The Muppets figures from DST.  They’re technically a multi-pack, but really Gonzo’s the main figure here, with Camilla being more of an accessory.  For their Muppets, Ghostbusters, and Nightmare Before Christmas  lines, DST has been offering two versions of every figure/set.  There’s the more deluxe specialty model with more accessories or larger display stands, and then there’s something of a discount line available at Toys R Us, which offers the figure and a more basic selection of accessories at about half the price.  The Gonzo figure reviewed here is the TRU version.  The figure stands 3 1/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation, which is quite impressive for the scale.  For those that are curious, Gonzo’s size means he (and the rest of the figures from this line, for that matter) are not compatibly scaled with Palisades’ stuff.  That’s probably the best move on DST’s part, as it allows them to avoid comparisons between the two and make the line all their own.  Gonzo is seen here in his purple tux, which is one of his signature looks from the show.  The sculpt does a pretty impressive job of translating Gonzo into plastic form.  There are a few spots where he’s a little off, but he’s an overall solid recreation of the Gonzo puppet from the show.  You won’t be mistaking him for any other muppet.  He truly is a great representation of a… “Whatever.”  As far as paint work goes, Gonzo is pretty solid, certainly on par with, if not a bit better than, DST’s other “Select” style figures.  The colors are nice and bold, and the application is all-around pretty clean.  I do wish there was more variation on his beak/nose/whatever it is.  It’s just straight lavender right now, but on the show/in the movies it was actually a yellow/cream sort of color which was covered in some blue fuzz, which gave it a rather unique color variance.  Obviously, it’s not the easiest thing to pull off, but it would have been cool.  Camilla is obviously the largest accessory here (being large enough to be considered a second figure on the packaging).  She’s pretty well sculpted, and matches her appearances on the show.  She’s also well-scaled to Gonzo, which is certainly a good thing.  Her paintwork is alright, but my figure has a bit white splotch on her left wattle, which is rather annoying.  Gonzo also includes a thing of popcorn and a mug, which are both fun little extras.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, obviously, I grabbed Gonzo from a TRU.  Back when the Palisades line was in full swing, I always wanted to get into it, but never really did.  Gonzo was one of my favorite characters (I grew up with the movies, where he’s sort of at the forefront), but I never saw any of his figures.  The DST releases gave me another shot at this guy, which is certainly nice to have.  The figure’s actually not a bad product.  While DST may not have toppled Palisades, they’ve certainly created a worthy follow up, and that’s certainly an impressive feat.