I hate Disney!

Ok, I know it's been a while since I posted and I don't really have an excuse. But I had to say something about an issue I was made aware of yesterday.

I realize that there are much more important issues to be concerned with, but I wanted to bitch about this one especially.

Robin (I love this woman!) and I collect toys. By that I mean we rabidly acquire toys from several different lines, either with sentimental value or pieces pertaining to favorites of ours. We collect Muppets, Star Wars, Star Trek, Superman, Batman, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Transformers (original generation only), DC Direct, Marvel Legends, PEZ, Anime characters, Spawn, the list goes on and on.

To the point, please....

I was aware that Jim Henson's family sold the muppet rights to Disney. It irked me then, but I was oblivious to the ramifications at the time. Disney has the tendency, as we all know, to buy well-established properties and mangle them in the interest of making money. But in the end they remove all the qualities that attracted customers in the first place.

So it goes with the Muppet franchise. As my readers may or may not know, Palisades Toys (palisadestoys.com) has been producing action figures based on the various Muppet endeavors for the past couple of years. Robin and I are great admirers of the line and own many of the figures. We delight in seeing the skill with which the accesories are designed not to mention the meticulous attention given the figures themselves. Kermit is the exact shade of green and Animal has that cuddly, ferocious look that made him so appealing to children everywhere.

Well, it seems that Disney has put the kibash on the latest line of Muppet figures that Palisades had coming. The items were already promoted, produced and in the warehouse. But Disney has halted the mass distribution of the figures. And although Palisades has the rights to produce this Muppet entity until the end of 2005, they can't fight Disney.

This really aggravates me. I know that there are many more collectors out there that we hoping to see a huge universe of Muppet items and now who knows?

Now that I've riled myself up some more, I'm going to end here and go find a corner to grumble in.

Later!