I don't think he's alive when the Hobbit takes place.

There's a new Ranger character, a dragon called Smog, spiders similar to Shelob...  Lots of stuff there.

And if I'm not mistaken, the River Folk are involved?  And Warg riders as well...

There's a town with humans in it, and I'm unsure of whether or not they're Gondorians or not...  I seem to recall my brother saying it's a distant Gondorian province similar to the town with the Prancing Pony in it.

I read the book when I was 12 so it's been ages ago.  There's a cartoon that goes with The Hobbit (There's some for LOTR too, but they're not as good as the Hobbit), which is quite nice and interesting.

The LOTR toons are not great.  Fellowship is a good one, really good actually, but the 2nd and 3rd toons are pretty weird.  A good watch, and you'll be left scratching your head after seeing all of them, but not exactly "accurate" when you get to the 2nd and 3rd ones.  Or at least not accurate in my eyes anyway.

BTW,

Screen 1:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/openpic.php?name=..%2Fscreenshots_library%2Fdir_232%2Fvortal_pic_116043.jpg

(Bah, image one won't post, so just go there and you'll see it)

Not looking shabby there I guess there...  Though, take notice that the muzzle flash of the Republic troop rifles is near the trigger guard???  Secondary weapon in an over-under scheme (Set underneath the main/long upper barrel)?  

Also notice the confined "view" in the display...  Simulates wearing a helmet.  That could be irritating and I almost hope it's a feature you can remove by pressing a button, as I like to see the entire screen so I don't miss any pretty colors!

Screen 2:



Freaky...  A separatist alien of some sort?  Merc?  Just an ugly guy caught on a bad day?  

Not the most interesting screen but a good image.  I just hope we get more info on this soon.  

It's due out for PC, and X-Box so far...  So there ya have it.  

Tooting my own horn a bit...  And Jason's (aka CorranHorn) horn since he actually physically posted this at FFURG for me since I'm a complete PC moron.

www.FFURG.com has officially updated with a new reference section by yours truly, Jesse James, pertaining to the PC Flight simulator game, X-Wing: Alliance.  The link can be found right here:

http://www.ffurg.com/references/xwa.htm

and here's a bit of a teaser...  OOOOoooo



I like to think it's a nice little set-up with pictures and descriptions of the main characters heard/seen throughout the X-Wing: Alliance Flight simulator.

The game's a great game, and a not too shabby story either, so it's fun to check out even if you don't plan to do figures from the game even.  It gives you a brief teaser to the game/story anyway.

So please check it out...  Use it to crank out some figures perhaps too.  I think some of those guys would be great to use up some Imperial Dignitary bodies, or Orn Free Tah, or other Senator/long robe type characters.  Just a thought.

And as always, may the FFURG be with you!

PS: Thanks to Jason (Corran Horn) again for posting it and always doing lots of work for FFURG.  More than I ever do anyway.  

Nah, it's cool Famine.  I think it's nice to see a little bit of branching out to other genres...  I've done a few WW2 figures that someday I'll possibly display perhaps and would want to display them with my SW.

Good stuff for sure...  And hope to see more.

Well, my early thoughts are this:

-Lando General...  Wow, what a really nice looking figure.  Colors seem spot-on from what I can tell, and if that shoulder holster is removable that just kicks ass plain and simple.  The fact it is functional is great unto itself!  

Looks like some nifty articulation going on too possibly.  Ball/socket right arm at least, though it almost appears the left arm isn't articulated byeond the shoulder.

Kudos to Hasbro for not sculpting the shoulder pad to the body as they did with the open vest of the Rebel Endor trooper from Saga.  Very limiting to the arm articulation.

Great little officer's blaster it seems too, a nice addition and the cape looks plastic from what I can tell.  It's holding shape in the images, so sadly no silk cape...   That, to me, would be the only major gripe I had with Lando...  His inability to sit maybe would be a second gripe since he did do a fair bit of sitting in those duds, but still it looks great.

Yet another amazing fodder figure.

-General Crix Madine...  Wow, another doozie, but dull as hell.  Still, it's great to see "Old Supercuts" back in action...  (Get it, "old blood & guts" was General Patton...  General Madine's "Old Super cuts"?  It's a joke son!)

His blue color on his Spec. Forces shirt MAY be off, I'm not sure, but it is looking pretty decent.  I can't see his left arm enough to gauge what articulation it may have beyond the shoulder...  His right arm, like Lando's, appears to have a ball/socket joint though, great for posing in some amazing "Look at this diagram" poses.  He could be talking about anything from the latest assault on the Shield Generator to how Hasbro's stocks recently decreased on his handy pie chart.  

Either way he looks more poseable than he probably was expected to be.  

Again, no knee articulation and that limits him some (and Lando who deserved it more IMO), but no biggie.  A tactical thingie maybe would've been nice with Madine, but I'll take an officer's baton and some extra articulation any day over that, if it's between the two.

So, as for shared parts...  I've blown the images up and right now I'm going to tentatively say there's no shared parts except possibly the right shoulder...  

The chest badge on both figures is clearly different when magnified, and not a slight retooling but they're actually set differently on each figure.  The lines and folds of fabric sculpted into each uniform area of each figure also indicate separate sculpts.

So, while parts could've been used I'm gonna say for now that they're both completely separate sculpts as far as I can tell from enlarged images.

So in conclusion...

Both look great (And I still like Han AT-ST too, just from an army building standpoiont alone), and while I'm disappointed in no silk cape for Lando (or so it seems) I'm ecstatic to see his great little holster.  Hell, I'll make my own cape for him if need be.  

Articulation in the knees for sitting officers might've been a nice touch but that still seems like a step Hasbro's not going to take yet...  for now.  Maybe it was Madine's skirt piece and Lando's molded cape that even kept them from considering it perhaps?

Either way, great figures...  This is yet another wave I'll probably order a case of since it's got customizing fodder galore, and army building potential in it.  Head swap officers, and Head swap Imperial Army Regulars (AT-ST Pilots) galore!

Imrahil from Rebelscum says his figure ripped just as I mentioned here in my warning, so I'm glad I posted it and possibly helped a few of you not make the mistake of posing that leg too much....  Or at least being very careful with it when you do pose it.

I'd be livid if I broke the only damn one of this figure I got, that's for sure.

A ball/socket hip should become standard now too.    Super Articulation taken to yet a whole other level!  

There's some pretty shoddy choices in the HOF series it seems...  Namely that Obi-Wan from E2.  It wasn't even good the first time it was released, much less a second time around.

I'll take maybe one Darth Vader from the MOTDS set since I've not found a second one, and I'd take some stormtroopers of course since a simple customizing bit and they're a much improved figure.  I still would like a Super Articulated one though.

Beyond that, I'll skip all of them I guess.  I just hope these aren't mixed in so heavily that they become pegwarmers.  The initial re-releases of these like Han and Leia seem to get sold at some point...  The Maul and Vader moved relatively quickly actually.  Kept in low #'s they're not as big a problem as they could become.  

I feel bad for anyone wanting them for their collection though, like a carded completist.  Yikes...    That would certainly suck methinks.