JEREMY'S TOY BOX PRESENTS: SWEETUMS & JIM HENSON

Palisades, Muppets. Palisades, Muppets. Sometimes I swear that’s all I write about in these articles.
Just in case you’re new to my toy rants, there’s this little company called Palisades Toys, and they have this toy property of an old show from the Seventies you’ve probably never heard of called The Muppet Show. They\'ve been putting out Muppet figures for a while now, and they’ve gone and done it again-- created a couple more figures that have blown me right out the window of my third floor apartment. But these aren’t just any Muppet characters. They\'re the Muppet behemoth Sweetums and-- GASP!-- a Muppet version of the man, the myth, the legend... Jim Henson!
Sweetums is not only a triumph of modern toy design, but would also make a handy bludgeoning device to hold off late-night robbers. Topping the toy charts at eleven inches tall, he’s easily the biggest and heaviest figure in the whole line. However, his gigantic size doesn’t affect any of the great things we’ve come to expect from Palisades.
The sculpting of Sweetums is a true marvel. Wonderful detail and care have been given here, especially in his cute little furry face, truly giving him that wooly-mammoth-on-a-three-day-coke-bender look. The paint accentuates his gnarly hair with a brown wash that really brings all those tiny details out.
And if that wasn’t enough for you overly demanding little children, Sweetums is topped off with a wonderfully articulated body. His oversized Bigfoot head even has a large ball joint with an amazing amount of movement, given the size of his Grizzly Adams beard. Even his eyelids and mouth are articulated! All of this adds up to one fine action figure, making Sweetums a jewel in the Muppet toy crown.
Yet, despite his amazing toyness, Sweetums just doesn’t come close to touching the Jim Henson figure on the gushy, sentimental meter.
I can’t even begin to describe the way Jim Henson touched my life. I learned to count to ten in Spanish watching Sesame Street. I first heard \"The Banana Boat Song\" by Harry Belafonte on The Muppet Show. I even got a bad case of ringworm while begging for advice from a heap of trash because of Fraggle Rock. And, yes, I cry every time I hear \"The Rainbow Connection\". That doesn’t make me a girl, you heartless bastards!
Palisades has really given the fans something special with this Muppetized version of Jim Henson. The figure is based on a puppet of Jim that played in a jug band on The Muppet Show. The toy itself is, of course, wonderfully crafted, and comes with a really cool banjo and other re-used accessories. His signature is even on the back of his director’s chair! But all of this takes a backseat to the fact that this figure was even created. It will always be my favorite toy in the Muppet collection, if not my entire toy collection. A sincere thank you goes out to everyone who was involved in the creation of this toy.
Wow! That sounds really hokey, but it actually comes from the heart. Now, if only you guys would have included the Kermit hand puppet that fit over Jim’s hand, like I saw in the original prototype. If he was included, I probably would have been buried with it. Instead, the Jim Henson figure will merely sit on my shelf and be passed down to all of my ancestors or something. Heh. Your loss, Palisades.
So, if you’re a Muppet fan, you better act fast because these babies aren’t carried in stores. The Jim Henson figure is only available at Palisades\' direct shopping site, and Sweetums is only available through omgcnfo.com. They’re both a little pricey, but are most certainly worth it.