Muppet Busts, Series 5 (2004)

Produced by Sideshow Collectibles

Features:

• Each limited to 3000 pieces
  

Asking Price: $50.00 each.

My Advice: Fans must own.

If there's anything that we almost universally love, it's Muppets stuff. Since their untimely demise in the form of a sale to Disney earlier this year, we've been looking at each new item that comes across our desk with a kind of morose whimsy. Sideshow, however, has lifted our spirits with this latest series of Muppets busts.

The thing that always blows my mind about accurate Muppet gear is how they're able to mimic the texture of Muppet skin. So it's not just the sculpt itself and the pose (created by those maniacs at Weta Workshop) that are excellent--it's the look of their skin. You know what I'm talking about.

The Animal bust features the character in a typical pose--trying to get his collar off. The chain attached to said collar dangles down from his neck as he appears to struggle. He's also wearing his red and gold shirt that laces in the front. More impressive than anything else is the character's hair. Each individual strand is sculpted, and as I look at it while typing this, I keep thinking that it's somehow fabric hair that they've managed to permanently attach to the polystone. Seriously, it's that real and accurate looking.

Next up, Crazy Harry. Even more startling than the accuracy of the sculpt is the fact that if you turn him to the side, he looks almost like a Basil Wolverton drawing...but with better teeth. This is my personal favorite of the series just from a character's point of view. He's captured in all of his bug-eyed glory, just about to shove the plunger down and blow some shit up. Ah, what a life. The devil's in the details: the plunger box is a nice metallic blue and you also get that same Muppet skin texture and amazing hair, although this time around you've got the beard as well. Shaun Bolton did the sculpt work for both Harry and Animal.

Dr. Teeth is my favorite of the set from a just sheer artistic point of view. The sculpt is phenomenal. Not only do you get the skin texture and the hair right for the character itself, but his shaggy vest is just that: shaggy. Just like his floppy hat looks seriously like you could reach over and squish it. It's that impressive. You've also got the additional "fabric" around the wrists and the feather in his hat. The feather is flexible--a little--but don't push it. Although there's not a bad artist in the bunch, John Craney's work on this character really is amazing. The only caveat is that the arms are very thin (and accurately so) so just treat this one with all the care you would anyway. I've never had the pleasure of finding out just how durable polystone figures are.

Miss Piggy, while she's not as flashy or as manic as her felt fellows in the series, is captured perfectly by Steve Unwin. The skin texture is there, but softer than the other three. Most impressive is the paintwork, where the gloves have a nice sheen to them, and the shawl a bit less. Beautiful contrasts. The hair detail isn't as pronounced here as on the other sculpts in the series (and again, rightly so), but the curls at the bottom of her hair are quite good.

The series has already reached its close, and they're won't be any more. And at only three thousand pieces each, you might want to grab them before they're gone completely. All four busts capture in a single pose the essence of the character. Well, mostly. I mean, between Miss Piggy acting sweet and demure and doing a karate chop, you can't have both, right? But regardless, each of the artists has distilled the characters and because of that, owning these is a no brainer. They're not just good for Muppet fans, but they're solid pieces of art as well.