It may not even be possible in today's age of multiple movies each week, and up to a dozen "blockbusters" each summer - but do you think there is an equivalent to the Original Star Wars Trilogy in today's group of movies?  A series of movies that really captures not only kids, but adults as well, and becomes somewhat of a phenomenon in the culture in general.  The characters become household names, everyone is at least aware of the movies if not seen at least one or more.  Like I said, its a totally different world than it was in the 70s/80s when Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi were released - and they have changed the movie world so that we see these special effects bonanzas every summer month (Iron Man, Indy, Narnia, Hulk, Hancock, Dark Knight, etc. this summer alone).

I guess the franchises that come to mind for me that might fit this would be Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, any one of the superhero franchises (probably Spidey, X-Men, and Batman in particular right now), or maybe even Pirates of the Caribbean.  For some reason, the superhero/comic movies seem like a little bit of a different bird to me from the sci fi/fantasy realm of Star Wars, but I can see the similarities as well.  Also, maybe the actual modern Star Wars movies - the prequels - are today's Original Trilogy.  Although they certainly don't seem to be as popular overall as the OT, there is a lot of neat stuff to take out of there as well (ROTS in particular), and I really think I'd still be way into them if I was a kid growing up with this trilogy.  Other than that, I think I'd lean most towards Harry Potter - simply because they appeal to a very broad audience, they are counted on to be box office monsters, and they seem to have a really large anticipation towards each new chapter.  Again, not necessarily a "game changer" the way the original Star Wars was in '77, but maybe the most of a cultural phenomenon.  Lord of the Rings is way up there as well, and one of my all time favorites, but maybe not quite as popular with really young children (although you could make that argument with HP with each new movie/book as well).  Anyways, just something I was thinking about, and I was wondering what some of you thought.

It seems like these days there are more lines than ever on the pegs (heck, Star Wars alone has three assortments right now), and there's a lot more competition in the action figure aisles than there was even when I started collecting again in the late 90s.  We're seeing more and more exclusives, and now entire waves as exclusives (like Marvel Legends, and DCU Classics).  It seems like most, if not all, lines are getting more expensive across the board.  We're seeing prices for 3 3/4" stuff like SW, Joes, the upcoming Marvel Universe, Indy, etc. hitting $8 each in some places.  The larger scaled (6") stuff like Legends and DCUC range anywhere from $11 to $15 right now.  Anyways, where do you see the action figure lines headed in the future?  Do you think we'll start seeing less lines overall (and less individual releases within those lines)?  Will we see more of a shift to smaller scale stuff with oil prices (even though they are currently a bit lower) and have less and less 6" and taller scaled lines on the pegs?  Is the competition in the toy aisle going to start to weed out some of the various lines?

It seems to me (and I guess I'm thinking mostly of Star Wars, but it applies to other lines as well) that we're getting more releases than ever in a year (not even counting exclusives), but at the same time prices are getting higher.  Like I said, even ten years ago when I started collecting a little there was just a lot less in the aisle.  Now there are just tons of lines, many of which seem to be aimed more so at collectors, in addition to all of the "kids' lines" (I'm thinking like TMNT, Power Rangers, Ben 10, etc.) 

Anyways, sorry for the long post, but do you see any changes in the action figure lines in the next 1, 5, or 10 years?  In a way, it sort of reminds me of my days as a sports card collector when I was younger.  When I was collecting those (late 80s/early 90s), at the time there was (I'll use baseball as an example) Topps, Fleer, Donruss, Score, and a "new" company called Upper Deck (I might be forgetting a couple).  I can remember (about the time I got out of it), it started branching into more and more lines and sublines, prices went up (and you got less cards per pack), and collecting them got to be more of a chore.  It might have been age, and I don't know how the industry in general did, but it seemed like a lot of my friends and I got out of them almost totally at that point.  The action figure collecting area sort of seems to be heading that way too.  There are more and more lines all the time, prices are getting higher, there are more collectors, and in many cases we're getting less for our money (less accessories, etc.)

I didn't see that we already had a thread for this, so I thought I'd start one here.  I don't know how many of you buy/own Star Wars clothing, but I've got a few t-shirts around the house.  Anyways, I was over at the Zazzle site (which has the "customizable" Star Wars shirts at SWShop), and it appears they have a couple new lines of shirts - consisting of "Homeboy" and "Hater" shirts.  The homeboy ones are just various characters "....is my homeboy" type shirts, and the "hater" section has a few different choices.  Anyways, just thought I'd pass it along for anyone interested.  I kind of like the crashed AT-AT shirt under the Hater section which says "Fail".  Anyways, you can check them out HERE if you are interested.

On the more general topic, like I said I mainly have a few t-shirts that I've picked up over the years.  I usually tend to lean more towards ones that look like the "vintage" shirts that were out with the OT myself, but I've seen a number of newer ones at stores in the past few years as well.  I also noticed that Tina Fey was wearing a Princess Leia for President shirt at the end of SNL a couple of weeks back..."This is our most desperate hour" - which is available at SWShop as well.  Anyways, just thought I'd start a SW clothing topic for anyone interested.

Just thought I'd start up a place for us to discuss the new weekly series, starting tonight.  Two new episodes scheduled for tonight: "Ambush" featuring Yoda and some clones, and "Rising Malevolence" featuring Anakin, Ahsoka, and Plo Koon...and I'm guessing some more clones .  Anyways, feel free to discuss the series here, for those who are watching.  I also just read that the episodes will be available for download on itunes starting tomorrow (new one each week), for $1.99 each.  Just as a heads up for everyone, if interested.

I found two figures from the Red Hulk Target wave of Legends today, Black Spidey and Union Jack (picked up the Spidey).  It was indeed $14.99.  There were a couple other figures from this wave that I was on the fence about, but I think I'll likely pass at that price.  This wave has been pretty spotty around here though, as I've only seen one each of Silver Savage and these two.  The Black Spider-Man is a really nice figure though, and much better than the previous SMC version I have.

I suppose these days with many of us having seen these movies tons of times, and with them showing up on television more regularly lately, the days of fans popping in the DVDs to watch one of the films from the Saga might not be as frequent.  But, if you do still pop in the DVDs once in awhile, which movie from the Saga do you find yourself watching the most?  Do you choose to watch a trilogy at a time, or the whole works together, or just a film here or there?

I have to say, until Spike aired them this year, I hadn't watched TPM or AOTC for quite awhile.  I caught them both on Spike (actually, I usually catch at least some of each of the movies when they are aired on there, if we're home).  I'd have to say I watch the OT in general the most, by far.  I suppose over my lifetime I've probably seen the original Star Wars the most of all, because I remember a time where that was the only one that was really on TV (usually on FOX locally on weekends, or on TBS).  I went through a period where if I popped in a DVD to watch though, it was usually Empire (my favorite), and Jedi gets plenty of views as well.  I watch ROTS the most of the prequels, and enjoy checking that out every so often as well.  I know that I'm probably against the norm here, because although I've seen them all so many times, I do still watch them probably at least every other month or so (the OT at least).  Anyways, which movie do you choose to watch the most, if you watch them at all anymore?

I've been on a bit of a TPB buying kick lately, and one of the SW ones I've been looking at are the SW Tales books.  I've never read any of them, but they seem to get fairly favorable reviews on Amazon (if you can go by that at all).  I was just wondering if anyone here had read them, and if you would recommend them as good/fun reads.

Here's the page for them at Amazon:

Star Wars Tales