No sale here tonight...  

Eh, maybe next time...  Was at least remnants of 2003 figures at Target and Wal-Mart though...  Flying R2 (Bleh) and a lone Total Control Mace Windu...

Oh well, maybe another time I'll find something new.  

I got a bitchin' winter white German Stuka from 21st Century Toys though, and it's simply awesome.  Plus you get a Pilot AND Gunner with unique heads.  

For $45 you really can't beat that considering the size, weight, and complexity of the toy, not to mention the accuracy in deco and the fact you get two pack-in figures with 18 Points of articulation each AND accessories like figure stands, pistol holsters, oxygen masks, and bombs for the plane...

Yup, that's a steal!  What'd I get with the Gunship?  Yup, not nearly as much, and an underscaled ship.  Thank goodness I got it on clearance.  

So my trip wasn't nearly a bad one!

Anything you're changing somewhat is a custom...  Someone telling you it's not needs to pick up a book and kill some of their free time by doing something constructive.

Now whether it's a good custom or not is a separate issue, and unique to each figure...  For instance, my first custom was a vintage Imperial officer head on an AT-ST pilot for an Imp. Tech.

The end result is a simple figure that's accurate, but I would never claim it to be "greatness".  It's just easy and effective.

A custom could be the most elaborate thing on Earth, but if it's got inaccuracies I notice, I'll be a little more critical...  

They're all customs though, and honest and constructive criticism are warranted in all these instances...  Some people don't like honesty though, when dealing with something they feel is important to themselves, and that they "created".  

I will say this, you should try sculpting...  I'm not good at it myself, but it's the only way to make customs start to stand out.

My favorite is Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin...

Tarkin seems, to me anyway, to have a certain level of authority above Darth Vader, and he's cool and calculating...  Something about him echoes that his ONLY flaw was not giving the rebels more credit than they were due.  His assumption the jedi fire was put out was his ultimate downfall...  But honestly, could anyone have expected Luke to be there?  Doesn't seem likely to me either.

Peter Cushing is a personal fav of mine in other movies though as well, so I'm a bit biased in that I just enjoy him as an actor.  I consider his the best performance of Star Wars overall.  

The 2nd Imperial I liked was General Maximillian Veers...  He's the epitomy of a military hard@$$ I think.  He's the General Irwin Rommel of his era and place.  

He's regal, efficient, obedient, confident...  He's also willing to throw on the armor and get in the trenches with his troops.  He's no pansy who makes his subordinates lead an important charge.  He takes the reigns and dictates the battlefield personally.

Some officers work from the BCC, Veers works from the battlefield itself.  

He's also confident around Vader...  No quiver in his voice, no fear...  He knows he's good at his job, and won't be choked...  Or so he thinks anyway.  So did Captain Needa I guess, who did seem confident himself.

Plus, if you follow EU completely (Or just like this part), Veers is one of the few to escape the Death Star to become the prominent officers within the Galactic Empire.

Depending what POV you have, he could still be living beyond Endor, and he could still be the hell on 4 legs (Via the AT-AT, hehe) we saw on Hoth...  Raining death from above on rebel forces for years past the Emperor's demise.

That's how I like to think of him anyway.  

This month's insider is going to feature a picture of the new Fan Choice Concept Stormtrooper, fo those interested (***cough***MisterPL***cough***).



(Got the pic from Here, though there's no other shots of the figure)

It's interesting, and as an "offshoot" trooper it's neat.  I'm certainly going to use it for custom fodder, and if I could somehow BS it into continuity I would.  As it stands, I think it's got good parts for a custom AT-PT walker pilot I believe.  The shield looks neat, and the "glowing" sabre looks to have been pulled off.

His holster's clunky though, as is the armor.  It almost looks like the armor's a separate piece, though I'm doubting this is true.  It just doesn't look as "smooth" as the commtech stormtrooper's sculpt, and there's something odd about it in that regard.  You'll know when you see it.

Overall though, I welcome it...  I do believe I voted for someone else in that election, but this figure appears to be nicely poseable with 3 good accessories (blaster w/holster, shield, and a floor-piece base), with fairly decent (seemingly) articulation, and no action pose.

Not much more I can ask for...  well, except more articulation because I doubt he's sporting 16+ points like I think all figures should.  

He's near enough to blend into stormie ranks though too, for those who don't mind a little "off" look.  I mean, if you use POTF2 figures in your ranks there's no way in the world you WOULDN'T use this figure.  I'm a stickler for detail so I won't be mixing them in myself, but I'll be buying a few for something or other.

I think the shield will make a neat EU/Fan-fiction crowd control device too.

I rahter liked Tigerforce, because of the deco partly, but also the figures looked nice...  A "unique" off-shoot of many characters I liked, such as Recondo.

And seeing the Rattler in Tiger camo, the Dragonfly, etc...  Those looked pretty damn nice like that.    

Battleforce2000 wasn't bad either, and their vehicles formed a fortress...  Not "realistic" like some of the earlier joes had been, but not too bad looking either.  

To me, Joe jumped the shark when the big neon weapons started coming out, and when the "weapons that really shoot" thing was getting overdone.  That was never something Joe was into, and it just made things goofy, and many accessories grossly oversized.

I will say, some earlier items were the first signs of the apocolypse though...  Like the Golobulus figure, and while some love him, I say Serpentor was one of the earlier signs that things were going downhill...  Simply trying to replace Cobra Commander in the first place never struck me as a stroke of genius.

There was some great things though, and to me the first 3 or 4 waves will go down as the BEST waves of toys ever.  I mean, that first time you opened Snowjob, and saw skis that you could have him slide down a packed snow hill, well that rocks...  And having Airborne repel down a rope...  Those first vehicles that tied in perfectly to the first series of figures...  The first glider vehicles that really flew, and they actually would stay in the air a long time and do loops...  The Skystriker with working ejection seats that had parachutes on them.

Come on, that's GOOD toy making.  That's toy making Hasbro seems to have left LONG behind.

I find it great to see that people who collect G.I. Joe often just went for the '82-'89 waves.  It's nice to see so many others who loved that line from those years.

It's a shame what they've done to Joe now, but it's still one of Hasbro's biggest cash cows.  I did a large termpaper on the toy industry last semester, and Joe was (surprisingly to me) one of Hasbro's top brands.  It's really amazing what staying power that line has had...  I just miss the look/greatness that was the ARAH line from when it first came out.  

I had a mess of cobra soldiers, grunts, flashes, etc...  I loved those original figures.

None...

Buy the various Mauls, take them apart, put em back together, and make an "Ultimate" Maul.

Eh, that's what I'm doing anyway.