KC Auction Company The largest set in the auction is "The Mikado," based on the comic Gilbert and Sullivan opera. There are 23 characters in the set, and the Mikado puppet stands 93" tall with the rod. Dozens of puppets and sets from Paul Mesner's collection will find new owners in an online auction. Last year, the Mesner Puppet Theater departed from its longtime home in Hyde Park for a new location not far away. Not everyone left, though. A host of characters beloved by children and adults stayed in the old building at 1006 E. Linwood Blvd. Oscar the Grouch remained. So did Cinderella and Jack, the boy who climbed the beanstalk. And many others, in the form of puppets, who stayed behind along with their sets.