Review: Muppets Select Action Figures Series 1 (Diamond Select)

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Travis D.

It’s time to raise the curtain, it’s time to light the lights…

Ever since Diamond Select announced that they were creating a Muppets line of their popular Select brand of action figures, I was excited. I was an avid collector of the Palisades Toys line of figures back in the day, and the sense of community that centered around that collection was amazing. Today I share with you a look at Series 1 of this new line.

Series 1 consists of three sets: Kermit, Bean, & Robin; Gonzo & Camilla; and Fozzie & Scooter. Each set comes with articulated figures and a bevy of accessories.

Kermit, Bean, & Robin

The Kermit set comes with a director’s chair, a stool, and guitar, a banjo, and a log. The last two accessories make it able to recreate the “Rainbow Connection” scene from the original Muppet Movie.

Gonzo & Camilla

The Gonzo set comes with a spotlight, popcorn tub, coffee mug, trumpet, and stunt poster w/ easel.

Fozzie & Scooter

This set comes with Fozzie’s hat, fake mustache glasses, rubber chicken, megaphone, and film clapper.

The good? I love the articulation of these figures. So many more points of articulation makes a lot more of poses possible, such as the Fozzie shot above. Also, with Palisades Toys closing up shop well before they finished what they had plans for, some beloved characters were left out, such as Bean Bunny. To have him finally in action figure form is awesome.

The bad? The only thing I can say is not on point with these figures is the paint application on some of the figures. For example, the pupils on Kermit looked spot on with the prototype, only to show up in final product enlarged and a little more muddy. Also of note was the paint application on Scooter’s head… it was not very well done.

The ugly? Unfortunately, these figures are in a much smaller scale than the Palisades Toys’ line. I understand and accept that Diamond Select wanted to keep them in scale with the rest of their Select lines, but it would have been awesome to have them in the same scale. How much out of scale are they? My Palisades Toys figures are in storage, but here is a Gonzo and Camilla scale comparison from Action Figure Attack on Facebook. You can click here to see more of the comparison shots.

As you can see, scale is a lot smaller. However, I feel the likeness to the characters, especially Gonzo, resemble closer the look of today’s Muppets (e.g. the ones from the new TV show).

Overall, I love this series, and cannot wait for the continuation of the line. Series 2’s lineup, which we got a first look at during Toy Fair, will feature Bunsen & Beaker, Animal with his drum set, and Statler & Waldorf (which come with their own balcony box).