Remember the TV commercial for Banjo-Kazooie? It was focused on a group of shady criminals being chased by the bear-and-bird duo and featured animatronic versions of the characters.
It was an odd way to promote a cute-and-cuddly 3D platformer, but one which has clearly stuck in the minds of some fans—one of whom has just paid $2,100 to obtain the Kazooie puppet featured in the commercial (thanks, GamesRadar).
The puppet sold for that steep figure at an online auction in December 2024, and its new owner posted about it earlier this month.
According to the original auction, Kazooie measures 34 inches from head to tail and is blessed with a 42-inch wingspan, adding that "its feathers are meticulously hand-laid on foam, allowing for flexible body movement, while its eyes and beak are controlled by servos."
The puppet was made by Los Angeles-based AnimatedFX, Inc., whose founders Norman Templa and Dave Nelson have worked on the likes of Alien 3, Jingle All the Way and Team America: World Police.
Released on the N64 in 1998, Banjo-Kazooie is one of the console's most beloved games. It spawned a direct sequel on the same system, Banjo-Tooie, as well as Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts on the Xbox 360.
If someone is willing to pay over two grand for a scary puppet based on Kazooie, one would assume that there was enough demand for a new game in the series, but it seems that it isn't high on Microsoft's list of priorities at present.