Sweetums
It’s really ironic when I think about it. Yes, you probably know I’m a recovering Star Wars collector. But, the two lines I was really collecting that caused me to create TVFT were The Muppets and World of Springfield Simpsons. Strangely, there aren’t a whole lot of reviews here for either of those. So I thought I would take a look back and check out Sweetums from the Palisades Muppets line.
Sweetums is one of the large Muppets that comes out and walks around during The Muppet Show intro. He’s gotten screen time in most of the movies, and while being a bit gruff, has quite a few fans.
One thing Palisades did well with this line was scale. It would be easy to make a Muppet line and vary scales make a bunch of six inch figure approximations. But the Muppets aren’t like that. To that end, Sweetums is an oversize figure. While the rest of the line was blister carded, Sweetums came in a box exclusively through OMGCNFO.com
Let me just say, if there is an intruder in the house and you are going to throw an action figure, throw Sweetums. He’s heavy. Very Heavy. Yet, even without a stand, he stands up pretty well. Of course, he has two massive feet to stand on, which helps.
The main body is a bunch of tattered clothes. He looks like he’s wearing a monk robe with a rope belt that has been around since the middle ages. Which is what he should look like. The majority of this is achieved through a soft rubber piece covering the body. He actually even has a waist joint tucked under there. (Which I just now discovered.)
The robe also hides some ball jointed hips. I’m not really sure why. It’s not like he’s the most athletic of characters. The knees are pin and disc type joints. The joint is hides at the top the really well sculpted feet and furry calves and tucks under some tattered pants.The ankles are cut joints and probably aren’t needed since the calves really don’t have any shape to them other than fur.
The arms are similar with ball jointed shoulders, pin and disc elbows and wrists. I originally thought that he had just cut elbows. I’m not sure if it’s age or not, but he other elbow joints have locked up on mine.
One thing that all of the Muppet figures had in common was a great attention to texture. The texture on the cloth really helps to sell the coarseness of the character.
The head is the selling point here and there is no doubt who this is. There’s a nice double ball joint under that big noggin to move it on that lets him have a better range of expression. However, the beard and hair tend to limit this quite a bit. They also can stick out and look a tad odd when viewing him from the side.
To help the expressions along, Sweetums has an articulated hinged jaw. It includes a couple of teeth and his trademark big lower lip. The texture on the lip gives it a felt type look and is carried over to his big Muppet schnoz.
There’s one more bit of articulation. Eyelids. Yup. They are a rubber piece with attached eyelashes that you can move up and down. It is a amazing how much this changes his look. You can take him from surprised to not amused pretty easily.
Overall:
You can probably tell I dig him. Sweetums is just one of those pieces that made the Muppets line special. He shows an attention to detail that appeals to both collectors and Muppet fans that is missing in the toy aisles today. And well, did I mention articulated eyelids?
The one thing I really wish is that he had some the great accessories the rest of the line came with. Okay. I would settle for a small version of Robin to hold in his hand to recreate the “Two Lost Souls” number from The Muppet Show. That’s the scene I always remember with Sweetums, the monster with the soft side.
Engineernerd Score: 98/100
Category: Featured, Muppets, Toy Reviews
This is an awesome figure! Your review makes me regret not getting into this line back when they were more readily available.