Marianne:
Unfortunately the Most Treasured Muppet Possessions I had in mind a little earlier are now outdated, since I just received MR Gonzo for my 16th birthday today (and he’s all adorable in his wittle purple tux, aww, etc.) So it’s a whopping three-way tie between that and the drawing I received from Elmo in Long Island:
And the 500 piece puzzle I glued to my wall (contains Lew Zealand, Angus McGonnacle, Sal, Bobo, Link Hogthrob, AND Clifford: what are the odds)
Mary Catherine:
My most treasured Muppet item would have to be my Fisher-Price Rowlf puppet. Last spring, my mom picked me up in Albany after exams were over, and we went on a road trip to the University of Maryland so I could see the Jim Henson exhibit they had set up, watch Muppet clips at their library, and of course, take a picture at the bench with Jim and Kermit.
On the way there, we stopped in Princeton, NJ to visit my aunt. Before we left her house, she announced that she wanted to pass on a family heirloom to me that she had been saving for almost thirty years. I opened up the bag she handed me...and inside was the Rowlf puppet. She said that it had been a Christmas gift from my dad (her brother) to her when she was in high school and, amazingly enough, a really big fan of The Muppet Show.
Not only is it a pretty cool Muppet item to have, but now I have proof that my dad, for all of his grumblings about my fandom, does not hate the Muppets. Which means that all is right with the world.
Emma H:
My favourite Muppet possession is probably my 1984 baby Miss Piggy doll. I had one when I was little and stupidly threw it away when I was a sulking, miserable teenager. My brother trawled eBay to buy me one for my 21st birthday. It had to be the 1984 version, though - all the others of baby Miss Piggy are hideous. Especially the 1987 version, ugh.
I'm also very fond of my copy of Miss Piggy's Guide to Life and It's Not Easy Being Green because they both contain, in their own ways, some excellent advice... The thing I miss the most from my childhood Muppet fandom, though, is my Muppet Babies wallpaper. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but I remember it being white and covered in Muppet Baby heads! My parents let me choose it when I was about four, and they were worried I'd give myself nightmares. Never.
The two Muppet things I'd like most in the world are the complete collection of Muppet Babies on DVD (a dream that I suspect will be unfulfilled forever) and a Miss Piggy purse I once saw on eBay - it was covered in sequins and was very glam. She would approve. But I've never been able to find it again. Gosh, this was a long post. Apologies!
Tim:
Number 1 is pretty easy, though I have to mention several runners-up. This Kermit was released the year I was born, and has always been one of my most treasured possessions. I have no idea how he's managed to stay in good nick.
I was also terribly fond of my Baby Rowlf, though (like the Baby Kermit I have) the costume change puzzled me somewhat. I also have Piggy and Fozzie. Muppet Babies arrived at exactly the right time for me to latch onto it properly so it remains one of my favourite Henson properties. Much uglier but also holding special places in my heart were the Fisher Price Piggy and Fozzie beanbags. They're fairly horrendous but in the flesh they have a bizarre charisma. Judging from the picture on the wiki, I should be glad that they had to hang out with the larger Kermit instead of his beanbag counterpart.
Alex G:
My most treasured Muppet item is a Kermit wired stuffed animal I picked up in a small shop in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. I was just beginning my Muppet fandom, but Kermit accompanied me on The Ride Across Minnesota, raising money for Multiple Sclerosis.
He accompanied me not once, but twice as I completed the ride. I changed it up for two years, once with a Ernie rubber ducky and an Animal stuffed animal (hehe), but both years suffered problems... Because I didn't have Kermit. For these reasons it is my most cherished and beloved Muppet item, even topping my 1986 Sesame Street figures (some of my first loved toys), or my Palisades exclusive Adventure Kermit, which I draw enjoyment from every day.
Wes:
My Most Treasured Muppet Possession is my Pigs in Space metal lunchbox! When I was younger my grandparents managed a Mini-Storage place and they would pay me a few bucks to clean the abandoned units and if I found anything I got to keep it. Needless to say, I found a Pigs in Space lunchbox and kept it.
Several years later it went missing... I think someone stole it when everyone was in a metal lunchbox craze. Well, last year my brother got me one for Christmas, better than the old one, in mint condition and even has the thermos. My apartment's small so I proudly display it in the bathroom, so everyone can enjoy it when they come over.
Joe:
My MTMP is a Kermit the Frog beanbag doll. I've had it as long as I can remember and it's accompanied me to my first day of school, my first summer at sleep-away camp, college, apartments, and so forth. And it's still with me today. Somewhere along the line, the Frog went all pirate on me and lost his right eye. The eye has never turned up, and I've long since stopped searching. I still expect to find it in an old Cracker Jack box or something one of these days.
A few years back, a friend gave me the Fozzie Bear beanbag that completes half of the full set, which elates me to no end. So, while my one-eyed, droopy, lumpy, never-washed Kermit might not win any beauty pageants, he's a prom queen in my book, and I love him so.
Christer:
My Most Treasured Muppet Possession has to be, as with most people I suppose, my oldest. And that little treasure is the Norwegian version of the Fraggle Rock album, on tape. As a kid I *loved* the Fraggles! Actually I loved most puppetry, but the Fraggles were my absolute favorites, and I nagged and nagged until I got the tape, and then I played it and played it until my parents nearly lost their minds.
Somewhere along the way I managed to lose the cover (how could I lose that cover, and not lose the covers of any other tapes I had at that age!), and the tape is obviously pretty worn now, but listening to that soundtrack just puts me right back to when I was five years old and Fraggle Rock was the most exciting, scary and exhilarating place on earth. I never believed in Santa, I never believed in Jesus, or The Tooth Fairy, but I *believed* in the Fraggles! Just look at Travelling Matt - they were out walking around us!
Some few years later, a little older but still a huge Fraggle fan, I experienced the biggest high and the biggest low, Henson-wise, in my life. I read in my local paper that Mr. Fraggle himself, Jim Henson, was working on a project filming a book by Roald Dahl, one of my all-time favorite authors, and certainly my favorite at the time. This project, of course, was The Witches, a book which I had recently read and loved. The best part was; they were going to be filming in my hometown! Norway in the book was going to be represented by Bergen, and they would be filming right where I lived, in the yawn of a city where nothing ever happened! I was extatic!
Sadly, the joy did not last. Before the movie reached Norwegian theatres, both Jim Henson and Roald Dahl had died, only a few months apart. My euphoria had turned to absolute devastation, and I had to do some pretty quick growing up. Many years would pass without me thinking of The Fraggles as anything other than a show I loved as a kid.
This all changed when, five years ago, I happened to stumble upon my old tape. I put it on, and the memories all came instantly flooding back. After singing along to all the lyrics I still knew by heart, when I reached the end, I heard the instrumental version of All Around The World, a track that featured on most of the European releases. As a kid I always used to skip that track (I couldn't sing along to it!), but when hearing it again as an adult, it was just about the best darned piece of music I had ever laid ears on!
Today I own pretty much every Fraggle music release (as well as a fair bit of other paraphernalia, of course), and have about 10 copies of the 7" single of All Around The World, including mint, sealed and picture disc releases. People tend to describe me as a true Fraggle nut, walking around the office donning my "I Appreciate The Muppets On A Much Deeper Level Than You" T-shirt. Your post is filed with the tag fanaticism, and my Most Treasured Muppet Possession is the single piece of merchandise that truly launched the avalanche that took me from Fraggle fan to Henson fanatic - for the second
time in my life.
I hope I can still get a tape player when I'm 60. Or 80.
Scott E:
This one's easy, because my most treasured Muppet possession is my most treasured possession, period. Several years ago, a group of my friends decided to get me a Christmas present…why… I don’t know. Anyway, one of them is very big into books and frequents a lot of used book sites on the net. On one of these sites, he stumbled upon a copy of Of Muppets and Men. He knew I would love it, so he checked it out only to find that it was an autographed copy.
The woman who was selling it bought it in a huge estate sale and was selling off all the pieces that didn’t interest her. The inscription in the book reads “Christmas 1981. To Buddy with our love, Kermit the Frog, Jim, Dave, and all the gang”. My friend contacted the Henson archive to see if it was authentic and who Buddy was. They responded that it was authentic and that the book had been given as gifts to everyone who had appeared on the Muppet show that year, so Buddy was, in fact, Buddy Rich.
They also asked who my favorite Muppets and sent picture of the main Muppets, autographed by Animal and Pepe with their response. So…as a huge Muppet fan, who happens to be a drummer, and whose favorite Muppet is Animal, this book is by far my most treasured possession. It spends its days on prominent display in my great room.
It's Ryan again. I know this wasn't a contest, but we can all pretty much
agree that Scott won, right? I mean, I'd love to own any copy of Of Muppets
and Men. It doesn't even have to be previously owned by an awesome guest
star like Buddy Rich... I'd settle for one of the lesser ones, like Shields... or
Yarnell.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for the great submissions. And take care of your
Muppet stuff!
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