MYSTERY OF THE UNKNOWN SESAME FIGURES SOLVED!

Hi Muppet Memorabilia fans! I have some awesome news to share!!! In September of 2021 I posted a request for information about the two mystery Sesame Street figures of Ernie and Bert (shown above). Earlier this month (March 2022) I received an email from a Muppet fan who saw the post. Maddox had recently purchased a 1989 Illco toy catalogue which shows a photo of the Sesame Street Rescue Helicopter along with the figures, all minty in the original box! Thank you Maddox!!!

Here is a closer look...

Comments or Discussion Page

I finally found the elusive Ernie doll to go with my Bert...and it only took 25 years!

 

These are hard plastic dolls of Ernie and Bert with fabric clothes, made by Applause in 1995. Bert is 9 3/4 inches tall, Ernie is 8 inches. The head, arms and legs can be posed, and the shirt has a Velcro opening at the back. The shoes are painted on.

In my experience, both of these dolls are rare and hard to find. I bought the Bert doll new from the store in the late 1990s at Shoppers Drug Mart. As you can see from the price stickers on the hang tag (shown below), the doll was originally priced at $20 but was reduced to $10. I got a sweet deal! Today, in 2022, these dolls are worth at least $50 each. Ever since I bought the Bert doll I have been searching for the matching Ernie and am sooooooooooooooo happy to have finally found one in February 2022! In all that time, I've only seen Ernie listed on ebay twice, including the one that I bought, though it's quite possible that I missed other listings over the years. In any case, at long last 25 years later I have reunited Ernie and Bert!!! 

In my view, these Applause Bert and Ernie dolls are among the nicest Sesame collectables to have been made. If I had to pick only a few items to keep from my Sesame collection these Ernie and Bert dolls would easily be among them.

Another Mystery to solve!!! What are these from???

 

Does anyone know what these Sesame figures are from or what they were meant to be used for???

If you have any info about these, please post your comments on the Discussion Page or contact me by email. Thank you! -Mikey

Can You Help Identify These Vintage, Mystery Sesame Figures?!?

 MYSTERY SOLVED!!! See the post here!

Unidentified Bert and Ernie figure with jointed hips and knees.

Lately I've been working on the Sesame Street PVC figure pages of this blog trying to identify as many of the "unknown" mystery figures that were on my list of "figures that I've seen". Many of them were sold with playsets which makes them even harder to locate and identify as there are just so many different possibilities it's like looking for a needle in a haystack! I've managed to identify many of the figures but there are two which are quite peculiar...

Above are figures of Bert and Ernie which have been popping up every so often on ebay and other websites since the early 2000's. I've never seen any information for them... who made them, when they were made, and what playset or vehicle they were sold with. It's clear by their jointed legs that they're meant to sit inside the compartment of a vehicle, and based on the outfits they're wearing with the wings on their hats, I would guess that the vehicle is an airplane. Or maybe it could be a racing car outfit? 

This photo shows the size of the figures are similar to an

average PVC figure, but with the addition of jointed legs.

If anyone has some information about these, I'd really appreciate if you would share it with me. A photo of the toy in the box would be amazing, though I'd just be glad to see what the vehicle looks like and what company made it. Please post the info on the discussion page of this blog, or contact me by e-mail. Hopefully this bizarre mystery can be solved!!! Many thanks! 

-Mikey

New Page Added for Applause Sesame Street PVC Figures!

 

A small assortment of Sesame Street Applause PVC figures!

Hi Ho Muppet fans! Recently I've found myself focused on updating the Sesame Street PVC Figures page of this blog after adding a few new figures to my collection. I guess that's one way to ride out a pandemic... go shopping on e-bay for vintage Sesame PVC figures! LOL! In doing so, I decided to move all of the Sesame Street Applause PVC Figures to their own page, as Applause has produced such a well made and extensive collection. Hope you enjoy the new updates! As always, feel free to leave Comments or Questions about Muppet collectables on the discussion page. 

Take care everyone, stay safe!!! 

-Mikey :)

Does anybody have one of these?

Hi there Muppet fans! I was just browsing online and came across a neat little figurine of Bert and Ernie on a toy tricycle that I've never seen before. If you happen to own one of these, I'd be very interested to know what company it was made by and when. Perhaps it is marked on the toy somewhere, or perhaps someone will have one in the original package? Any info would be very much appreciated. Please post your comments on the discussion page . Thanks! -Mikey

It's Super Grover!!!

"Presenting the further adventures of everybody's favourite hero, the man who is faster than lightning, stronger than steel, smarter than a speeding bullet! It's Super Grover!"

...and I'm cute too!!!

In the early to mid 1980's Applause made the very first Super Grover PVC figure, shown above left. Roughly two decades later in 2004 a very similar PVC figure was produced bt the Vee Corporation, marked 2004 on the base. This figure was then reissued several times, at least every second year until 2016. The figure shown above right is marked 2010 on the base. The above two figures are so much alike that I didn't notice this variation until recently (in April 2020). Once I found out about this interesting variation, I had to have one for my collection. Below are additional images comparing the two figures.

In 2000 Applause reissued their Super Grover figure for this ten figure boxed set. To my knowledge all of the figures are new original figures to this set with the exception of Super Grover. 

Update, April 2021:

I found another picture online of a boxed set of eight PVC figures that was sold through the Sesame Street Live touring shows in 2008. The shows are produced and operated by the Vee Corporation. What's so remarkable about this set is that each figure is a new sculpt based on a previously produced figure, all of which were included in the Applause box set from 2000, as shown above. 

At a quick glance these figures appear to be the same figures as the originals, but a closer looks reveals that they are in fact entirely new sculpts. The Applause Super Grover figure from the 1980's is one of the figures to have been copied as a new sculpt. The box that the Sesame Street Live figures are sold in was marked 2008, however I have seen the new Super Grover sculpt marked on the base with 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015,  and 2016. The box also lists the full address for Colin Company in Minneapolis, MN USA. I'm not certain if this company manufactured these figures, or was simply the distributor, or if they did both.