Let’s take a quick spin in our WABAC Machine, all the way back to the first half of this decade. The early 2000’s were plagued with ownership issues for the Muppets, some dim-witted cowboy living in the White House, and the horror that is Good Boy. But the glimmer of hope that we all held on to was the phenomenal action figures produced by Palisades Toys.
Aside from the high-quality toys Palisades churned out, they were universally loved for their willingness to reach out to the fans via their own message board. The Palisades board allowed the fans to pose a multitude of questions to the staff, as well as give their input on future figures and accessories.
One of their recurring outreach projects was an art contest, in which fans would create designs featuring the Palisades action figures. Many of the submissions were absolutely brilliant, but none as impressive as Ivan Guerrero‘s. Ivan created some of the most elaborate fan art I’ve ever seen, and he was kind enough to allow us to share his pieces with us, both to give the images a new home, as well as remind us of Palisades’ legacy.
Remember, click on the images to large-ify them. You’re gonna want to see these in full detail.
This first image is called “A Very Scary Muppet Halloween,” and features over 300 Photoshop layers. The picture raises two perplexing questions: Is Lew Zealand inherently evil? and Who killed Rizzo?
The next image is the same as the first, but with its original framing. And no Halloween portrait is complete without Shifty-Eyed Sam.
“The Great Muppet Christmas Caper” sports over 800 Photoshop layers, plus animated fireworks. I had a feeling that Doozers worked in Santa’s Workshop (because seriously, who believes in elves??). The detail work in this image is fantastic. For example, the stained-glass window in the lower right corner, or the Christmas specials on the TVs in the upper right.
The last image may be Ivan’s best known, as well as his most impressive. “Muppet Monsters Ball” boasts over 1200 Photoshop layers and over 230 monsters, aliens, and otherwise creepy characters. Think you can name them all? If you can (and if you want to bother trying), you’re a geekier fan than I.
Of course, I’d be remiss to deny you the legend for the above picture. And now you’ll know exactly where to find the Flabberdragon.
Many special thanks to Ivan Guerrero for his fantastic work!
Click here to find out how many Photoshop layers we use on the ToughPigs forum!
