The Great Muppet Caper is unarguably one of the greatest movies ever made. And the greatest movies ever made deserve some of the best film tie-in merchandise.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot of Muppet Caper-specific stuff out there. There’s a few books, two different games, and for some reason, a set of towels. But there is one famous product that came from the film, and there’s a good chance you have at least one in your own home: Great Muppet Caper commemorative glasses.
If you ate at McDonalds in 1981, you could’ve had the chance to buy one of these bad boys. If not, you likely had your chance to get one (or all four!) at literally every thrift shop, used toy store, and yard sale from the past 37 years. Man, these things are everywhere.
These glasses are the trifecta of perfect merchandise. They’re functional, they look cool, and they hit that nostalgia factor in a way that brings bliss to even the most casual of Muppet fan.
Lately, I’ve noticed a few random people mentioning these glasses online or in conversation. They’re showing off the glasses they’ve collected, or going to a bar that serves drinks in them in that ironic-but-not-really-ironic sort of way. It’s likely a coincidence, but nevertheless, it’s forced me to take some life-saving action.
It’s time for a public service announcement: Those Great Muppet Caper glasses are poisonous.
I mean, we just want you to to be healthy and… not poisoned.
When the glasses were first released, the Massachusetts Legislature Health Care Committee released a statement saying that they didn’t meet the state’s safety standards. There wasn’t anything wrong with the glass itself, but the paint used contained more than 50% lead.
Yikes.
But that’s only one state! And Massachusetts is so small. Plus, we used those glasses for years and nobody said anything about it after that, so they must be fine, right? Right??? Oh please say yes. I’m so worried.
In 2010, a series of Shrek glasses were recalled for the same lead paint issue, and the poison hit the fan. Suddenly, the world was reminded about the dangers of those old glasses, including the ones from The Great Muppet Caper.
But so many Muppet fans own those glasses! What are we supposed to do if we can’t use them as, y’know, glasses???
Thankfully, you have hundreds of options. You can use them to store your other Muppet merchandise, such as pens or cutlery. You can put a small electric candle inside and use them for mood lightning. You can melt down the glass and build your own Bert and Ernie stained glass replica. You can scrape off the paint, boil it down, put it in a centrifuge to separate the lead, and then use it to refill your mechanical pencil. Or you can just let them continue to sit on your shelf and collect dust – hey, this method has worked well for most of us so far!
So what if you drank a beverage from one of these classic cups in the past three decades? Chances are you’re fine, but just to be safe – if someone offers to pour you a Muppet-themed drink in a Muppet Caper glass, just say no. Unless you dig lead poisoning, in which case… still say no. I don’t want to see you get all sick and leady.
Click here to stop drinking lead on the ToughPigs forum!
by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
