This is my lil Sci-Fi Monkey...



Always had a thing for Good Ole Dr. Crusher.

She was so hotter than Troi...  With her bigger than a midget's fist "accents" on her breasts.  Absurd.

No, no, no...  Dr. Crusher all the way.  I've always been curious about the truth of that hair color since I was a young lad first seeing her on ST:TNG.  

RnQR's saying the Greedo scene's likely to have been changed...  I only can hope that and Luke's ninny scream are fixed.  They're the only 2 things that really irked me.

That's how I've looked at it too Brad, but I'm keeping an open mind to the possibility of some Clones in there.

I don't agree with the "They're incompetent Clones though" excuse for their aim.

They blasted the bejesus out of Rebels on Hoth and the Tantive IV, Obi-Wan remarked upon their skill with blasters...  People overblow that BS abut them not hitting Han, Luke, Leia, Chewie, etc...  It's stupid.  They're the heroes, they're not gonna die in the film unless it's pertinent to the story.  No need t explain it then.

Inferior Clones = Inferior Marksmanship is just such a silly answer...  

To me, till I see some canon to the contrary I'm gonna stick with recruits too, but I've got my contingency plan which follows LFL's current "official" stance with there being a mix of recruits and Clones.

I don't know about draftees though...  I think there may be some, especially in the non-combatant roles like Technicians, etc.  

I think the Empire's a master of propoganda...  I envision them arousing anti-alien sentiment throughout the galaxy, and rallying support from millions of systems.  Even sometimes non-human worlds.  I like to think of them as promising a better future to the galaxy...  Taking that which is in a shambles and bringing order to it.  

Cracking down on piracy
Cracking down on lawless worlds
Cracking down on the "Separatist Worlds" which have multiplied and include human worlds like Alderaan and such
Cracking down on Commerce (Controlling it themselves)
Cracking down on Bounty Hunting/Vigilanties
Cracking down on big Industry (In their pocket, or you're against us)

There's a cutscene in the TIE Fighter video game that really embodies what I see as the true "Vision" the Empire portrays to the Galactic public.  They bring an end to the Sepan Civil War (2 human worlds warring amongst themselves) and offer to these 2 worlds the Empire, which will help them rebuild and organize.  They're offered "paradise" within the Empire's Umbrella.

That kind of enticement's the same logic that won the German population's support in World War 2, even if you didn't always agree with the means to the ends.  

I find that parallel to our own world intriguing.  

So I envision TONS of support to the Empire...  It's more remote worlds, fronteir worlds, and those which held the ideals of the Republic above the peace the "New Order" would bring (and worlds which are subjucated because of their resources or alien races inhabiting them) which are the rebellious planets...  And then there's worlds with populations that are torn between one or the other.

There's some good parallels to draw on in the U.S. Civil War and War for Independance as well.  Very good history to look back on.

The 80's had some good years...  I'd nominate the first year of the G.I. Joe ARAH line the best year ever...  198freakin'2 baby.

K-Mart just opened on the hill from me (a big deal then), G.I. Joe was brand new and on that stores pegs in abundance, and I was a wee child loving everything about those toys.

Yo Joe!

I nabbed a busted up Stuka (flying pig) at Toys R Us today fr $24.50...

I had t haggle the price with them on it though.  The canopy's smashed beyond believe, ugh.  The pilots were fine though, as was MOST of the plane.

I stress MOST because one prop's also snapped off.

This is cool though fr $25, and I'm going to do a downed Stuka...  Something to hopefully have with surrounding Russian Infantry someday!  

I was happy with the purchase...  This was one of 21st's finer plane's I think.  A big honkin' pile of plastic for sure.

I wonder where this lone one came from?  Must've been in stock in the back.  The floor personnel at TRU were appauled that anyone put it out even, and were reluctant to sell it to me.  They agreed to $24.50 saying they'd get full price from the vendor if they did a "send-back".

I got news for them, vendors with which you no longer do business are not obligated to take back product.  There's no 21st/TRU contract, so there's no sending crap back.  I felt like pulling that card on them, but figured $25's not horrible, and I can patch the canopy together and claim it as part of the ultimate battle damage I'm gonna dose her with.  

Agreed on Bespin Han, especially considering the ANH one was just out not long ago, and didn't exactly FLY off shelves.  I know I saw him repeatedly...  Sold eventually, thank god.

The POTF2 figures, almost in their entirety, are figures I'd like to see redone in some fashion...

-Wicket...  Needs redone.  I'm sorry, he's oversized, he's POTF2-ish in sculpt and needs that update to really make him pop out.  I'd even pay the $4.99 JUST for Wicket.  No other Ewok, just him...  Spare me this POTF2 rehash.  Not to mention this figure's not exactly ever been tough to find.

-Bib Fortuna...  Easily one of THE tops among my resculpt list, the Bib Fortuna is terrible.  He was terrible when he was first released I thought, with his awkwardly sculpted body, undetailed headsculpt, etc...  Imagine a layered sculpt today, with the robes separate pieces, the Twi'Lek armor thing a separate piece...  Not to mention, once again, he was extremely easy to get all through his run.  Sure he goes well with Jabba, but...  God Hasbro, are you TRYING to make pegwarmers?

-Gammorrean Guard...  Yeah, I know, I like it too...  One of the rare instances I wouldn't care about resculpt or not much, but would changing the skirt piece to have a functioning holster with a blaster (or even the one Luke comes with) be that much of a problem?  Would new arms at least be much to ask, so he could hold a pike?  Or would even a unique "cleaver" axe ala the vintage have been too much?  Come on.  

Are all these decisions poor?  No...  Like I said, I agree on POTJ Bespin Han being a GOOD re-release idea, but some of these are terrible.

The only + I've seen so far is it's a break from collecting in general.

I love the cards too...  And I love Lobot and the Cloud Car Pilot's shaping up to be a top figure barring any unforseen snafu's.  

Short of that though, these repackaged figures are not Hasbro's best foot forward for a DVD release they've known about for some time from what other LFL Licensee folks have said.  

The Vintage OTC are looking more and more appealing, no matter what the price...  I dunno about you all, but come next fall I think I'll be so desperate for new stuff I'd pay $30 a piece for good new figures, much less $10.

All the while, I'll be looking at figures I already own on really nice cards that I'd like to have NEW figures on them.

Personally...   Just looking at it and what I know of horned animals I'd have guessed it WOULDN'T grow back but I'll wager it's an EU cop-out to his horn being cut off sometime in the Clone Wars which the EU came up with.

Proof (as far as I'm concerned) that Lucas treated Clone Wars like all the rest of EU, despite the claims of a few...  It's just EU, not his story.

I rather liked his horn damage, but guess Lucas didn't.  To each their own.

Spuffy makes a good point...  How many people will say "F it!" to this line when they have a long break?

I've seen more peoople drop Star Wars in the last 2-3 years anyway...  I dunno.

I question how many "new" people are in this hobby...  Clone Wars is over, and with its end I see less "kids" in the toy aisles looking at the Star Wars.  Maybe I'm wrong...  I know kids are an important market, but to me without a "film" (not the DVD's) I am curious to see how this obvious pandering to kids is going to play out.

Of course, they could simply be catering to the carded collectors...  I wonder how much is a lil of A, and how much is a lil of B here...  Not to take a shot at the carded collectors by any means, do as you please, but they're the only ones who seem to be roped into these rehashes really.  The "kid" market doesn't strike me as realistic right now.

I'll be curious to see...  I know I'm passing on MOST of these myself.  I'll nab a Stormie maybe or two, and TIE Pilots, and of course the NEW figures...  I'll be miffed if any of the new guys are hard to find though.  Another kick in OUR teeth if they are.