Yeah, but fanatacism should know no bounds right?  And Football's a hell of a lot more expensive here for its short season than Hockey is...  Shorter season, but equally high costs then when you look at season tickets and things.

People SHOULD be coming out to support their team if they are truly fanatical...  They don't always though.  The Leafs wouldn't be selling as well if they weren't so great.  It wasn't that long ago they weren't so great actually, and their ticket sales were down dramatically...

Like I said, I don't doubt canadian fanatacism (and some US too) of Hockey, but the NFL just dwarfs it as I can see.  Even with a shorter season, it's generating more revenue even.  I don't know who has more teams though?  NHL I'm guessing?

I wish Hockey sold out all year everywhere (North and South) but it just never seems to.  Even some solid, winning teams don't sell out all the time...  Including in Canada.

I'm not doubting Canadian Fanatacism of Hockey...  U.S. fans can, and often are just as fanatical...  Something Canadians don't seem to see.  Pittsburgh, even though we're one of the worst teams in history right now, is still drawing SOMEWHAT of a crowd.  It's impressive for here...

But Football fans deal with as many problems as Hockey Fans in Canada often deal with...  Not all stadiums are nice, nor have been nice.

I'm not even a HUGE football fan, just a passing one, but when you look at the attendances of even the worst teams in the NFL...  Bad stadiums, bad towns, bad weather...  You'll see that the NFL is just so damn big here that it's on-par with the absurd fanatacism of European Soccer...  

I don't doubt Canadian's hockey fanatacism...  They love it, and I've spent enough time up North to know they love it both when I was playing and just going up there on my own, but the fact that the Jets weren't selling out (no matter what excuses like a bad arena or weather) tells me something.

The Steelers had a dismal season, but sold out every game...  Rain or shine, Snow and cold, it didn't matter...  It's just that HUGE here.  

Sadly, hockey doesn't get that kind of treatment in the U.S. save for the Northeastern states...  Pittsburgh is a good  hockey town, but support is waning in recent years.

I don't doubt hockey fanatacism up in Canada...  I just think the NFL dwarfs it in every respect.  I love hockey, and simply enjoy Football, but I have to admit that the support cities give to football teams in the NFL (And football in general...  Friday night HS Ball is damn near as big as the NFL, as Canuck HS Juniors and things are as well I'm sure) is downright absurd...  They love football.

Only in the NFL could a city lose a team, and  have one back within what, a year?  I think that's how quick Cleveland got their team back...  

I agree about Bettman with you as well.  he doesn't care, and he doesn't realize there is a market for Hockey up north in the cities it originated in.  He sees dollar signs though, and unless you're selling out arenas you won't compete.  The Jets didn't sell out, no matter how fanatical people were, and that's gonna equate to the team leaving every time.  The Pens are on the verge of this exact same thing actually.

We have the oldest building in the NHL, and quite likely the worst...  Fans don't want to go, the team is losing games and $, Lemieux wants a new stadium...  I want him to get a new stadium, but if they don't start selling out instead of just bringing in 13,000 a game, they will go the way of the Jets and move...  I wouldn't doubt Lemieux would try moving them to Canada actually.  He wants them here, and I want him here, but we're in the SAME boat as you are in Winnipeg where we need a new stadium...  Nobody wants to fund it.  So we're in limbo as to whether we'll have a team or not in the next couple years.

By no means do I doubt the way Canadians love their hockey though, so I think you misunderstood me.  I just see that the NFL outperforms it.  Perhaps it is their salary cap...  Perhaps it is their marketing...  Perhaps they're simply run by a more competent group of people than Bettman and the NHL is, but damn near every NFL team sells out no matter how craptacular they are it seems.  

And it's like Baseball here...

We get TONS of baseball coverage here, just like you get tons of Hockey coverage, and the people are always geared up for the games, but that sport is failing here now as well...  New stadiums and arenas seem about the only thing to keep teams planted.  The pirates are improving too, and attendance was up last year I think, so maybe there's something to that.  Maybe all it would take is new arenas for Winnipeg and Pittsburgh.

No shot to the Hockey fans in Canada, but in 13 years playing and watching the game for even longer (And in canada quite a few times), I can honestly say I've NEVER seen anything that rivals the tenacity of Football fanatics.

Football fans even love their teams when they lose.  Hockey, sadly, doesn't have that kind of support South OR North of the border.  The fact it's an expensive sport just to watch probably doesn't help either, but that's beside the point.

I'd liken hockey more to the US's national passtime of baseball...  The country loves it overall, but a lot don't avidly support it.

You really don't see that problem with the  NFL ever.  

Even when the Browns were leaving Cleveland, I remember seeing their stadiums at least near capacity, if not sold out.  Why they left, I do not know.  And the new Browns pack in the seats again.

The Steelers, even though we had a dismal year, sold out every game I am pretty sure.  

Getting tickets here is like pulling teeth unless you get season tickets.  

Crappy Hockey teams in Canada often go about as well as Crappy teams in the U.S.  They don't sell out the arenas like they need to, to compete with the rest of the league.  Baseball is the same way here.

Pirates have a brand new and GORGEOUS stadium.  I mean, it's amazing if you see it.  And it rarely gets over half full I think.  Pirates suck...  And it shows with empty seats.

NFL though, that is more cmparable with the world's love of soccer...  The way European stadiums are crammed with people.  THat is what I'd cmpare US Football to instead.  It's mind boggling.

I almost expect them to change the US pass-time at some point to football.  It'd make sense, as Baseball slowly fades away.

I didn't get to check the site, and I'm confused, but they WERE selling cases of SW 3.75" figures at the site?

That's a nice gesture if they were...  May have a new home for case ordering since New Force is hit or miss.

Hmmm

I started collecting, if I don't count what I did as a kid when the movies were new, around the early 1990's.  '92 or '93 I'd guess...  I got back into Star Wars because I caught them on TV an evening, after not seeing them for quite sme time.

G.I. Joe had replaced them as my favorite toy as a child...  In 1982 when Joes came out at the then Brand New K-Mart on the hill, I was ecstatic and hooked on that line for years.  I'd spend my $5 allowance on a new Joe, and sometimes a clearanced ROTJ figure for his gear to give to my new joe.  

He was simply a better toy line to a kid I guess.  Still is a great one really.

When I got back into SW though, and into collecting as an adult, I picked up vinty's...  Typical new guy, spending too much on them, haha...  I started custmizing them as well, shortly after getting into it, when I saw pics of custom figures in some toy magazines.  

Some of my first customs were a Captain Antilles Vintage, and RFT Vintage, both based off another's design of them.

I picked up new Star Wars stuff like a madman when it started pouring out...  I was already buying West End Games items as I could...  Minis, books to the RPG, Miniatures Battles figures and books, etc...

I immediately got into the micromachines when they were out, and had a nice set of Bend-Ems...

Then '95 came and I started picking up everything immediately.  Saw them for the first time at the local Hills Dept. Store.  

I watched sites online as I got online...  I was new to computers though, so I wasn't really a net wiz or anything.  Found Rebelscum, and watched it routinely...  Also watched SSG, and then I started watching Collect Star Wars almost exclusively.

I would read the forums, and eventually I saw enough opinions I disagreed with that I thought I had to say something.  I started at CSW then in their forums as member #1215 or something.  I'd not participated at any forum other than lurking up till that point I joined CSW though.

Stuck with Scum after the merger split and GH.com formed...  Joined there too though, and participate at both still.

Was asked quite nicely by Matt to join here and do reviews, and help moderate....  That's where I am now of course.

Over the years I've filled a nice loose vintage collection up pretty well...  I've kept a modern 3.75" collection going, and I pick up oddball stuff from other lines as well.

I have a Tarkin, Imperial, and Bossk focus though, so I do pick up their stuff that isn't 3.75" strictly, like the busts or 12" figures of them.

I've weeded a lot out of my hobby though as well, like MM's, AF, comics, novels, and 12".  

Customizing is my 2nd largest aspect to Star Wars though.  I started in vintage, and moved onto modern...  I'm not the most productive person in the hobby by a longshot, but I have my "skills" I guess, and I like the slow pace I have set for myself.  I figure that when the line's done at least I won't have wasted my time making figures Hasbro did anyway.  

I, in my mind anyway, think I'm one of the oldest members still actively participating in customizing that was on the original Rebelscum Email list-server...  The others that were there when I joined don't seem as active any longer (Stephen Hayford, Tony Collucci, etc.).

I was asked to moderate at FFURG.com's chatroom somet hough, and still do that, and I do make occassional resources up for FFURG as well when I get time.

I have some of my best collecting friends through FFURG, like CorranHorn (Jason) and Doug Schroeder, and Jedi Raven (Justin)...  Good people.

I've made the rest of my best collecting friends through here though I'd say, at Jedi Defender.

I actually didn't originally come here when I was asked to by Matt (and I believe Scott did ask too).  Not that I was being a snob, but because I try not to spread myself too thing and I was wanting to just focus on one forum.  Things at Scum, where I spent most of my time, deteorated to the point that I wanted to know where the people who had GOOD things to say and GOOD opinions and discussions had gone though.

I came here, and am very happy I did.

And that's that then I guess...  

I've had the pleasure of putting some focus in my background in business on the Toy Industry in general then, and have met a lot of people within the industry but at varius levels.  Marketing people often times, since that's one of my current majors, but I had some cool conversations with sculptors before in the past...  You'd be surprised to know some are in the customizing hobby.

So, that's about it I guess...  I posted too much here, but oh well...

I love the conversation though, so no I'm not a collecting snob.  At least I hope not.  Or if I am it's for other reasons.  

My target stores have little to nothing of the 3-packs left.

I was really wanting a set that had Mace in it for fodder, but nothing to be found of that one here in Pittsburgh.

I cannot justify $20 fodder at TRU to get one...  Wish I had one of those to do some hacking up.  I'd take one of each really, to have a Yarael Poof to work with too.  

My one only MAJOR gripe with him is the lack of ball/socket elbows.

If ever a figure would've looked good and could've USED those, it was this guy.  That would've made Luke one hell of a poseable figure.

The cloak is cool to me, but the way it's sewn is just odd.  The vintage one sat a little better...  It was sewn a little better.  Had Hasbro done some better planning on how they'd sew it, I think it would look better...  

Beyond that, I really liked the figure, even with bad paint aps.  And he still pulls off some good poses.  A good "lunging for the gun" pose is my favorite.  Second fav would be the "hands clasped" pose.

of course, I'd still take a SA softgoods version of this figure in a heartbeat.  

I nabbed these tonight...  Had to leave Jabba due to funds, but Target, and TRU had about 4 Jabba's each so I'm wagering he's now a pegwarmer like the Wampa is.

They're decent figures...  Obi's not all he could be, and I'd love a Kamino showdown Super Articulated Obi-Wan someday...  Hell, include a removable "dry" head and he'd be a great vanilla Obi-Wan either way.

I just find the pose a bit much.  Still it's a unique and kind of neat Obi figure for what it is...  His feature sucks horribly.  Jango's works somewhat though, but the figure's nothing to write home about.  The big accessories are more the pride of the set.

When did Obi-Wan chuck a box at Jango though?  I don't get the purpose of his feature I guess.

Anyway, glad to have the set in my collection...  They look decent together at least.  This is almost a "scene" as much as it is a playable set.