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Messages - Jesse James

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19396
Other Toy Lines / Re: Army of Darkness?
« on: August 12, 2005, 04:39 PM »
Can't get to Monroeville tonight Dave, but thanks for the heads up...  May have to pick some more up at Suncoast though as the one figure is prone to wrist breakage (the zombie with meat on his bones yet), and thus I have a couple whose hands fell off.  Always worth nabbing more anyway I figure for some rotting battlefield corpses. :)

Thanks Dave! :)

19397
The Original Trilogy / Re: Wimpy/whiney Luke....a SITH?
« on: August 12, 2005, 07:12 AM »


I'll try to touch on points in order as best I can...

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E1-3 who's gets darker then ultimately black? vader(annakin) as sith

Anakin in the prequals doesn't really have much "darker" stages as far as his costume design goes...  The child version of him sports a Padawan's outfit...  But come AOTC we jump right into the robes we see him in even as a Sith...  So there's a hole in your theory as far as Anakin's "change".  The Vader suit as an end result doesn't change that he was Sith before that, and wearing his Jedi Robes he wore for most of one film and most of the previous one...  Not much real change there then with Anakin actually...  At least nothing that correlates with his ACTUAL physical transformation over time that we can witness.

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E-4-6 who does it here?, duh luke. ( and please don't over ANALyze and tell me
          what's a standard uniform ect..  . . just look at the colors simply

As far as Luke, I don't think anyone's overanalyzing you Slothus, and nobody's being "Anal" as you so eloquently put it...  It's a simple fact that Luke's outfits in ESB were uniforms, not really mental choice on his part, which is an important aspect to consider I think.  I'd think over-analyzing it would be implying the colors mean something actually, whereas the simple answer is that Luke's outfit in ESB (well, most of ESB) is just a Pilot uniform...  It's not even terribly darker than his Tatooine clothes, and if you compare it to his pants it's not really a change in color at all hardly.

The more important outfit is his black one from ROTJ though of course, and while it is obviously a dark outfit, no denying that,  The character's level of "darkness" or evil/bad is highly suspect...  Luke's changed but I've never seen him as anything but grown for the better rather than the worse.

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His arrogance and overconfidence are more sithlike- He knows he's a badass now and shows it in his calmer(no more giddiness) speach with his friends, sister
and above all he freakin' confidently threatens jabba on the skiff!

Is it really "over"confidence?  If it was, he'd have been beaten I think...  Palpatine referenced over-confidence being a weakness, but that was based on Palpatine's thought that the Alliance would succumb to his trap.  They didn't, and without Luke's help, so he wasn't even over-confident then either.

Luke went into the Jabba situation, and handled himself perfectly fine...  He freed his friend(s), he gave his enemy ample opportunity to walk away from the situation...  He saved the day.

He didn't even threaten Jabba, Jabba threatened him...  Luke gave Jabba multiple opportunities to end this peacefully, and even with compensation, and Jabba refused...  Was that arrogant to "whip some ass" then?  Hmmm, that doesn't seem right to me. 

Luke was confident...  Not overly confident, and he was downright afraid of his situation with Palpatine/Vader.  As a matter of fact, Luke explicitly makes it clear that he made that last effort to turn Vader to the light side, but he knew it was likely a futile attempt so he was willing to sacrifice himself on the Death Star, so long as he, his father, and Palpatine were destroyed together. 

Self-sacrifice for the greater-good is hardly an immature concept, or something a person with "bad" intents is going to consider.

But let's look at something else too...  You noted his "arrogance and over-confidence" as being "sith-like".

But what about these situations:

-Was Mace Windu "sith-like" confronting Dooku?
-Was Mace WIndu "sith-like" refusing Dooku's offer of mercy?
-Was Yoda "sith-like" when he marched into Palpatine's office, and exchanged what I hardly consider a humble back-and-forth with Palpatine?
-Was Mace Windu (& Company) "sith-like" when they went to detain a suspected Sith-Lord?
-Was Kenobi "sith-like" when he confronted Grievous twice?
-Was Qui-Gon "sith-like" when he told the Naboo to leave and let he and Obi-Wan handle Maul?

The point with all those instances is that each of them showed EXTREME confidence.  Some to the point of legitimate "over-confidence".  I would hardly label Yoda, or Mace as ever being "sith-like" though.  There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance...

Anakin gets the "arrogant" label because he's a brat most of the time...  He openly talks of his superiority to Obi-Wan, his mentor and master...  Someone he even refers to as a father-figure of sorts.  Anakin EARNS that label pretty clearly.

So, is Luke really "arrogant" or confident?  I think he's just confident when appropriate...  He's unsure of himself facing Vader and Palpatine, his ultimate test as a Jedi.  That is maturity as a Jedi from where I stand.  And ultimately he's never over-confident in Jedi...  His plans pan out better than he even imagined at the end when he expected his own death (and hoped for the death of Vader/Palpy).

And there's a number of moments where Luke showed a lot of growth and maturity into a great Jedi during ROTJ besides what's discussed.  It's throughout the film really.

In Empire though, Luke's over-confident going into the tree on Dagobah and is floored by the scenario...   Later, his "attachment" sways his judgment and he flocks to Cloud City to save his friends and confront Vader too early, defying both his mentors who tried to stop him.  He paid for it dearly too, and was lucky to survive the encounter.

If anything...  Luke's character is immature, and flirted with the darkside more consistantly in ESB than ROTJ where he only succumb to the darkside (once again via "attachment") upon Vader's taunt...  He actually bounces BACK from that dangerous edge he walked though.  That's maturity defined I think, in Star Wars terms. [/end nerdy comment] hehe

So these thoughts make me think even less of the notion that Luke's outfits by the films are a visual metaphorical progression of Luke "getting badder".

But, a key to think of is "bad" and "badass" aren't the same thing...  Being "sith-like" is bad...  Being a badass though, just implies you can handle your business and you know it.  What the lines are that divide the two are what's blurred.

The conversation certainly grew and spiraled some, but it's important to understand Luke's state-of-mind in the films to judge how the color of his costume may be some metatphore though, so it's all distinctly related material that's for sure.  Just a very in-depth topic.

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Was lucas trying to show how luke was a lot like his father before him-but then ultimately luke made the better choice?

On this point, Lucas WAS showing some relationship between the black of Vader's costume and Luke's.  I've seen Lucas note this in documentaries involving ROTJ.  But does that mean Luke's outfit can be paralleled to Luke being "bad"?  There-in lies the question, and simplying tying the two characters together doesn't mean one's black outift necessarilly meant he had a "bad" side to him either. 

Of course, Luke does have some bad side to him though...  He's human, he has to, but the question is can he control it?  In ESB he couldn't, in ROTJ he could, so this doesn't hold well to Luke's costume colors being too representative of his character really.

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I don't see how getting darker as you get older is a sign of maturity
LOL- what are you saying? That if I wore alotta black in high school(see death punkers,goth) then I'm mature then? but now that I'm elder I wear lighter clothing I'm immature? That I should go with the goth thing now as an old man to look "mature" lol...hillarious . 

I think that looking at the colors as a sign of maturity can be taken several ways...  it can be looked at as not applicable at all for sure, but Luke's black outfit is plain, it's simple...  It's setting Luke apart from the organization (Alliance) while not being bright, vibrant, or "loud"...  So it's setting Luke apart but not "seeking attention". 

As I've said, after reviewing things in-depth I'm really of the opinion that Luke's outfit is more a tie to Vader, but not a represenatation of the character being "bad".  The character of Luke in ROTJ is a much more mature character to me, irregardless of the costume he is wearing, while his lighter costumes in ESB are equally unimportant as to the representation of the character's personality at the time since he is much more immature at that time.

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I think the black always represented a badass mentallity/portrayal- challenge me on it....look at all the modern movies- who's the bad guys? or the "badass" good guys? I>E> blade, batman,van helsing,darkman. Bad dudes that ride the edge of totally bad- A sign of maturity?...hmmm,really?

Once again though, "bad", and "badass" aren't the same thing by a longshot.  "badass" can be a completely good or bad person...  That's intent behind the actions.

"Bad" is just simply someone whose actions are motivated by bad intents.  Palpatine is bad in ROTJ, Vader is a torn character as we find out, and Luke is good (a strong, mature Jedi Knight) in ROTJ by my calculations...  Luke is a "badass" though too, obviously.  He can handle his business in almost any situation and he's confident in himself, even at the very end when he turns the darkside temptation away.

My conclusions on the subject are then that Luke's costume doesn't correlate with his personality if we're discussing Luke being "bad" or "sithlike".  There's nothing substantial there to back that in my point of view... 

Is Luke "badass" though?  He's confident and sure of himself in every situation except his final trial against Palpatine and Vader.  To me that makes him a badass for sure! :)  But not a "sithlike" character or "bad", etc.

19398
The Prequel Trilogy / Animatics Footage (Kinda Neat)
« on: August 12, 2005, 04:43 AM »
Anyone with Hyper-Space catch the unfinished animatics footage for ROTS that showed scenes cut from the film?

I particularly started to salivate at the thought of that HUGE head-on pass by the V-Wings with the Separatist Droid Fighters...

Looked like a bit of good stuff I wish they'd finish and put into the DVD.  I've always said the opening space battle was too short and should've been intercut with some new snippits of "outside fighting" with the inside story on Grievous' ship.

I mean, the opening text crawl says the Republic's losing yet somehow after Obi and Ani get aboard the Invisible hand the whole outside battle just suddenly shifted in favor of the Republic?  **** that, I wanna see what happens...  I wanna see Clones show why they're badass pilots and tear up some Separatist Tin Foil...  Make ya love the clones for "winning the day" in the giant battle of Coruscant...  It'd make you feel even worse when they gun the Jedi down.

Anyway, V-Wings in combat looked sweet.  Living up to their "Interceptor" titles, flying headlong into a swarm of Droid Fighters of all types.  Nice.

19399
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Gas Prices
« on: August 12, 2005, 02:21 AM »
I think the "sting" people are feeling is the pace at which things are increasing coupled with the fact that people's pays aren't really skyrocketing overall either...  It's just ugly out there for most.

I know that $18 to get my car close to full from 1/4 tank is REALLY not doing me much good in the wallet.  I've even cut random trips down and it just has sucked.

What I'm trying to take advantage of more than anything is "deals".  For instance our grocery store chain's have a deal where you spend so much using your "advantage card" and you get $.10 off per gallon at their "Get-Go" stations.  That's ok if you spend a ****load on food at least...  It's like $.10 off per gallon for every $50 spent in the store.  I've got a gas can I fill now when I fill up using my advantage card discount I've saved up...  Paid $.70/gallon one day and filled as many gas cans as I have, plus my car, haha.

That $18 tonight though just blew...  :(  Running to football games and practices just bit me in the ass since that's where my gasoline went lately.

19400
Current selection's a mess in most areas right now I would say...

I know we just now started to see the Zett jukassa wave in any level of quantity to where anyone NOT out at the ass crack of dawn can find stuff.  I noticed some refreshes of various figures at a couple stores too.

A high-volume WM in my area got in a casethat included repacked Tarkin, Mena, and Ask, and it also had a Blue Royal Guards and AT-TE Gunners...  

At Toys R Us I don't know what's up but they got a ****load of SA Clones I couldn't afford at the time, and the Black Pilot was in the case I think...  I scored the one Pilot I saw and a couple Clones...  I wish I could've bought every one of those though.  It pained me to walk out of that store with as little as I did.

I guess just keep hoping and checking those stores...  Tarkin is making his rounds again.  Senators should start to sit a little sooner so hopefully you catch his wave soon.

19401
Toy Reviews / Re: New JD Review: Palpatine (Lightsaber Attack)
« on: August 12, 2005, 01:22 AM »
I have NOT picked him up yet (The RT Driver) since he's not really shown in Pittsburgh on any great level, but he looks fantastic.  The big cannon looks ridiculous but his small accurately sculpted gun is all you could ask for to replace that big bazooka he has.

The articulation in pictures just looks great.  I was expecting a figure with a substantial decrease in articulation after getting Bacara...  I thought Hasbro was on a downswing but hopefully they're going to still impress us judging by the RT Driver and his casemates.

19402
Toy Reviews / Re: New JD Review: Governor Tarkin
« on: August 12, 2005, 01:19 AM »
They had an actor for the part, and I think that was what was used for that sequence, however I'm not positive on that...  To my eye that scene's all actors, with CG bits for the set though.

On a side note, I'm probably the only one who wants it but I'd kind of dig a generic "early" Imperial as depicted in the Vis. Dictionary.  There's a cool pic of a guy I'm guessing got cut from the film, but he's just a generic officer in an early version of the Imperial uniform (different design on the jacket, slightly).  Weird but I'd sorta like that figure.

19403
JD Sports Forum! / Re: NHL 2005-2006 Thread
« on: August 12, 2005, 01:10 AM »
1 year, $1.55 mill...  Not the greatest deal for Lindros...  Not what I actually would've expected him to settle for anyway.  I wonder if he will retire then though, what with it being a 1-year deal and all.

He sure was a let-down though throughout his career.  I remember this guy being touted as the 2nd coming and he never really shined much.  The epitome of "Size Matters Not" I guess.

19404
Other Toy Lines / Re: Army of Darkness?
« on: August 12, 2005, 01:00 AM »
Dude at the local Toy Show sold all the 2-packs (including online exclusive army builder set) for 3 for $10...  I nabbed 3 but looking back I wish I'd gotten another 3 of just the online exclusive since it had the only "clean" skeleton in the line.  :(

how can they continue the line is what I'm wondering...  blind packed or not, it has been a flop really at retail, so I'm perplexed why they're carrying it forward.  I'm totally psyched over the Terminator line though.  I hope they go nuts with the "future" human resistance figures...  I'd rather those than the film's main characters.

19405
Newbies / Re: Hello All
« on: August 12, 2005, 12:57 AM »
Welcome Zachmoe...  I'm assuming the California gang has grown a bit more...  Quite the membership from that state around these parts anymore.

19406
Newbies / Re: Hello
« on: August 12, 2005, 12:55 AM »
Welcome aboard Dark Jedi...  I'm sure the minis topic will enjoy some new blood.  It's been a popular one since the line's release.

19407
Toy Reviews / Re: New JD Review: Palpatine (Lightsaber Attack)
« on: August 11, 2005, 05:07 AM »
Glitch perhaps, but loved?  Hmmm, when factoring in how I view figures I have to think accuracy outweighs sentimentality towards a goof-up...  Sure things happen though, and there's a number of things that are unavoidable when you're dealing with an unfinished film.  The Red Commander's a figure I actually love and he's not in the film...  it's easier to dig EU/Fan-Fic kind of ideas like the Red Commander though, while Palpatine is simply inaccurate and it's kind of tough to rationalize the figure, unlike the Commander.

Everyone's got their definition of greatness though...  My biggest gripe is the figure's so "Collection 1" in nature...  Fairly simplistic overall, limited articulation, and I really dislike "Salt Shaker" figures these days....  The feature's not really inspiring at all either so it feels to me like we still have a hole for a figure that we actually have 2 versions of right now...  One can always dream of that Collection 2 resculpt someday.

Palpatine is pretty important in that red robe...  It's a figure I could see them revisiting at some point at least for those of us who didn't care for him.

19408
Toy Reviews / Re: Asajj Ventress from Jedi vs. Sith
« on: August 11, 2005, 01:52 AM »
Nice breakdown of Assajj there. 

She's definitely got molded sabers which I thought was really odd considering the holsters for the hilts.  She's an all-new sculpt, but a lot weaker in the articulation department than the Clone Wars figure.  That kinda killed her for me, and made me appreciate the CW one a lot more (who also has the removable blade feature).

That pack's one that I sorta wish I'd passed on at this point and maybe got later for cheaper.  I hoped for more out of a lot of the figures, but it is indeed a rocking set for kids I think.

19409
Toy Reviews / New JD Review: Palpatine (Lightsaber Attack)
« on: August 11, 2005, 01:48 AM »
You know him, and you love him...  The TRUE star of Episode III...  The one, the only...  Palpatine (Lightsaber Attack)!


OK, yeah that intro was a bit much...  I dig the old coot though, and thought he was the highlight of Revenge of the Sith.  Unfortunately though, it looks like I'm gonna be waiting a while for a red-robed Palpatine that I really can dig.

This figure's static, "salt-shaker" sculpt and his unfortunate habit of falling over are just kind of disappointing.  This is one Hasbro may not be itnerested in touching though, as what I want is a nicely articulated Palpatine (ala his early ROTS figure in his robes he wore on Grievous' ship), with maybe some cool shiney softgoods robes...  Something that can kick some Jedi ass, hold a saber, and maybe features these interchangeable head/hands that this Palpatine has?

I'd dig seeing those, as they're a great feature for the character.

By all means though, Read the Full Review Right Here, and share your thoughts.

This figure's just not one I was real big on after I got him home and opened the packaging...  I have visions of how this guy could've been done in Collection 2 though and they are grand.  Hopefully he's revisited by Hasbro sometime.  Some Evolutions style figure would be much appreciated for this Palpatine.

19410
Other Collectibles / Re: Lava Lamps
« on: August 11, 2005, 01:23 AM »
Yeah, me either Dale...

Should anyone find anything, hit me up.  Says these have been out since April though...  Ugh.  I want one or two for my Star Wars room.  :(

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