I've bought some Joes for accessories to use for SW customs mostly, not much else though...  I tend to avoid Joes for customs.

I'm more impressed with the modern Joe line though...  I still prefer the accurate proportions of the vintage RAH but modern Joes are getting pretty heavy with the articulation.

In the "news" front though for 1:18 military...

-BBi's at some toy show going on right now and displayed an F-18...  OH YES!  at approximately 3 ft. long, this is one HUGE Fighter.  Come On Star Wars, compete with that!  I want a scale Y-Wing...  It still wouldn't even be this big.

BBI also displayed their LAV in packaging with a driver that has goggle outlines from the desert sands...  Very cool, and their new Abrams Tank with driver which also looks spot-on scale and DAMN good.

-21st Century was also recently at a con displaying things like their deuce and a half troop truck (The only WW2 item I was gaga over though because I can't collect planes much).  They did display multiple planes though, including the Messerschmitt in winter white which does look sharp, and I believe the new P-47?  

21st is still in the game, but when/where they show up is up in the air because I never truly accept 21st's timeline as the truth.  They say we should see some of the planes at Wal-Mart soon....  I'm more interested in figures though.  Where's my battle of the bulge fgures?  1st series resculpts?  Marines and Japs?  Come on!

-Dragon came out with new images of some U.S. Infantry that look pretty damn sharp...  I hate that Dragon won't go for articulation, and subsequently they don't get as much of my $, but I will buy a set of these.  Great sculpts as always from Dragon and will look  nice in a display I think.

Well, here's to hoping that 21st gets back in the figure game soon because they were putting out the top-notch figures for a while.

BBi's taken the reigns, but have some work to do to get perfection.  I think series one of theirs were better than series two (The marines) as the marines have awkward leg scupts that seem too close together.  They're close to having the BEST figures on the market though so I hope BBI keeps changing things to improve.  And I hope BBi jumps into WW2 here soon too!

hehehe, I saw these too...

Funny line, but damn they're expensive.  WAY overpriced even for TRU who have turned into how KB used to be...

I want the sasquatch though, because sasquatch is fun to say and I want to say "There's a Sasquatch in my Cantina claiming to be Chewie's cousin" or something.

I'm just so shocked at the  price.  Maybe they'll clearance?  They're not selling well it seems.

The Bomber translated into such a wonderful toy that I would agree you can't deny it's an impressive ship, especially since you can hold a to-scale one and just admire it.

The Interceptor was nice too, though the cockpit ball didn't look as nice...  Otherwise I think I'd have held it higher than the Bomber if for nothing more than it's more menacing look with the pronged Solar Panels.

Their "real world" translations ranked lower than some of the EU ships to me though because of the ease of which both can be shot down.  One good quad burst from an X-Wing can take either out, though the Bomber holds out a little bit more.

Flying bombers though is like flying space bricks.  Slow, not maneuverable hardly at all, and your mission designation is always NOT to defend yourself but rather to unload ordinance on a target who's likely to have brought all its guns to bare on you...  Just not a fun ship to be in.  

They're substantially different games, so they're tough to compare without knowing what kinda game you like, ya know?

Rebelstrike's less thought and more action...  KOTOR is a larger game overall, with a deeper storyline and more thought than action.  

one's an RPG, the other's an arcade-style flight shooter.  

KOTOR is set way before even the prequals, Rebel Strike is set during the Galactic Civil War (From the Battle of Yavin to Battle of Endor).  

Neither's perfect, but neither's being given a negative review either too...

So it boils down more to if you like an RPG game, which KOTOR is, or if you like a flight/shooter game, which Rebelstrike is.

I'm not the owner of KOTOR as I don't own an X-Box, but it's coming to PC which I'll buy it then anyway...  Rebelstrike I'm buying HOPEFULLY this week.  Maybe tomorrow night, as it's in the store, but my free time to go over is limited.  

I agree Lando, it's pretty bogus...  A weak design at best.  I'm not sure what EU source came up with it originally actually.  The treads are fairly sturdy though...  As a land vehicle it was "possible", but as a tank/armor piece it looked fragile at best (And a terrible firing arc considering the weapns under the pod wouldn't be able to aim anywhere but where the tank itself was facing).

I saw a neat/accurate custom of one once that was to-scale and did the design some justice.  It's still a bogus EU vehicle that I sorta just disregard.

Hey Lando,

It's a tough one to catch, but watch the one TIE that nails an asteroid while chasing the Falcon.  It's a teeny tiny easteregg type thing, but a TIE Pilot is ejected (And on fire to boot) into space above the cockpit (Meaning he was propelled upward).

The EU's taken it a step further and pilots eject in the flight sim games pretty regularly...  I'd put it at about a 50% ratio actually...

After a hectic battle there's often multiple pilots floating in the dead of space, and the truly sadistic (Myself included) can buzz around and pick off survivors for target practice (A common thing in WW2 actually where pilots would exact revenge on ejected pilots parachuting to safety by strafing them).

It's tough to see in ESB, but it's there, trust me, and one of my more favore moments.

Aquatic Clone is a neat idea...  A red ARC is a nice idea too since I definitely liked the ARC sculpt.  They appear to have the colored markings to indicate rank as well so it could just be a higher (or lower) ranked ARC trooper perhaps.

Maximise the use of that sculpt I suppose.

Lando cranked out the ultimate army builder list though.  Great ideas I think.  

For Jimmy:

BUT when I need a therapist Jesse I'll get one...
In this hobby I have made a few very good friends...
That is good enough for me. I need not be a star and loved by all. That was never my intention.

See like I said I can stare that monster down. I'm much more in tune w/ the realization of me not making the world like/love me... Just don't try to psychoanalyze me thank you very much.

Well, you brought it up...  And it applies elsewhere, but I wouldn't call my words as attempted therapy, but rather advice...  Because around here, the actions that make one not so well-liked aren't going to be accepted like they may be at other sites.  So don't take it so much as me trying to analyze you, but me trying to make sure the warnings are clear as to how we operate here.

I guess people also can not see why we are getting such items as the TRU multipacks... Those are money makers for Hasbro any way you slice and dice it. The molds are all made therefore at this point those sets equal a pure cash cow.

I'm sure lots of people see why we're getting those...  I didn't know this was in dispute really.  They're cheap product for the shelves, I agree, and they're even selling fairly well it seems...  At least well enough to continue them for a little while.

Regardless of what one thinks this is a tough line for Hasbro and YES
LF is not that easy on their approvals. Some pieces may get brought back to them three times before they are ok to run w/...
I have a good friend that worked at LF and told me about some of how they work...

To my knowledge, a single product for 21st Century Toys saw near 10 revisits before it was finally approved...  The approval process is tough all over, not just at Hasbro.  It's short-sighted to think other companies don't have similar processes, even if they don't have a license really.  At least if the company cares somewhat about quality anyway.

As I mentioned over head for a company like Hasbro is much bigger than any of the smaller companies. Hasbro has different divisions around the world...

To me it's apples and oranges...

I'm sure to every company competing in the toy industry though, they aren't apples and oranges, and they realize that comparisons are part of competition.  You may not think so, but that's just the truth about the competing business world I've worked in.

Saturn compares itself to the big three.  Value Jet compares itself to American and USAir.  The generic brand soap at the store compares itself to Zest...  That's competition in business.

And yes, Hasbro's overhead is HUUUUUUUUGE.  We've gone over that.  It's a fact...  But to a small company like 21st Century, BBI, or Dragon, their overhead is EQUALLY huge.  It's maybe less on paper, but in relative terms they've got just as much overhead worry as Hasbro.  That is how things are analyzed and compared.  

Sure they're different companies, but they're in the same game, and they play by the same rules...  They're open to, and need to be compared as equally as possible, and when it boils down to it they're working in the same formats generally, and have strong relative similarities.