WOOHOO!  My boy Shockey looks cool!  And, in an all new pose!

I got the Batman exclusive at Wizard World in Chicago.  Got it signed by the 4 Horsemen, too.  Strangely, though, I don't collect Batman.  Impulse buy on my part.

There's still some ground left to cover in the Original Trilogy, but yes, it does seem more geared towards improvements.  There are very few things that haven't been done that need to be touched on in some form or another.  

The prequel trilogy has a lot of ground that can be covered in the toy lines.  EPISODE I alone has a lot to offer in that area.  Just look at the podrace, and you've got a bunch of vehicles, and a bunch of aliens to pick from.  The same holds true with the Coruscant Nightclub in EPISODE II.

As for how things will carry over following 2005?  I don't know.  We'll have to wait and see.  If Hasbro can continue to put forth some good ideas, then maybe I'll stay interested.  A lot also depends upon what good old GL has in store for fans.

You might take notice, that the power outage problem led to as many as SEVEN nuclear power plants going offline.  Presumably, their reactors scrammed automatically as a precautionary measure.

I really like this vehicle.  The only bad thing I foresee is missiles...EVERYWHERE!

Hopefully this one will sell well, and maybe they'll decide to make the Tank Droid.  Wish I could find an image of that.  Drat!

Okay, speaking as someone who managed to get a Blue Clone bust at Chcicago, here's my take.  I'm not going to gloat, because it's just not cool.

Was I happy with the way this was handled?  No.  There should've been an even split between San Diego and Chicago, or a bigger production run.  The lottery in Chicago left a lot of people unhappy, including several friends of mine who were also in attendance at the show.  Add on top of that the people who were unable to attend AND wanted this mini-bust, and you've got plenty of people who were unhappy.

If anything, I hope Gentle Giant learned something from this summer's conventions.  I think they learned that there are people out there who want their products.  Also, I think they learned that they need to consider higher production runs.  Next, I think they learned that they need to distribute their convention exclusives in a fair manner.  And, as a final caveat, this summer was the FIRST time that Gentle Giant has offered show exclusives.  So they were learning the process.

Do I like the fact that Gentle Giant was effectively using the summer convention-goers as guinea pigs?  No.  In fact, I think the way they handled things sucks.  Peronally, I wanted to see everyone who wanted this Blue Clone Trooper min-bust be able to get one.  I was happy to win my bust, but I was also lucky.  One guy went so far as to offer the winners of Sunday's lottery $150 for their Blue Clone Trooper bust.  everybody declined.  And all in all, I was still extremely frustrated with the process.  Hopefully Gentle Giant does better the next time.

Well, the power outage has been interesting, to say the least, here in the NYC area.  And it seems that people have been handling it in stride.  No reports of any appreciable violence or looting.  More often than not, stories of people helping one another out.

As for all the people on the roadways, they were all just walking home to the outer boroughs.  Some across the Brooklyn Bridge, others across the Manhattan bridge, and so on.  The only people who appeared to be in any peril were those on the upper floors of high-rise buildings (it's a long walk down), those on the subways, or people in elevators.

The more interesting story seems to be the passing of the buck on who was responsible for the power outage.  WHERE DID THIS START?  And why is the system this vulnerable, and in some cases antiquated?

As for the terrorism word being thrown around...who's to say it wasn't, at least initially?  Did anyone really know?  And after September 11th, which was so terribly unthinkable, who wouldn't jump to that conclusion?  Especially in light of recent threats and warnings.

If anything, there was a positive outcome to this.  It showed that the people of New York can rise to the occassion again.  The people  knew what to do in the event of an emergency, and handled themselves brilliantly.  They helped out their fellow New Yorkers, and stood together in the face of adversity.  Even though it stunk to have the lights and air conditioning out for a little while, it's challenges like these that make me proud to be a New Yorker.