This pretty much sums up my feelings on the RS forums: I registered for the RS forums before the CSW absorption took place, and reregistered there when that occurred.  In the five years or so I was registered there, I made about 45-50 posts total.  By way of comparison, since I've been on JD's boards, I've made almost that many posts in the last six months.  I'm a veteran of the old Usenet rec.arts.sf.starwars.collecting* newsgroups, and to say that Usenet was much more friendly and mature than RS's boards is really saying something.

I just didn't get any feeling of community with RS's boards.  It all seemed like one big pissing contest with nobody being all that willing to help others out.  On RASSC, we pretty much all knew each other on some level (or at least knew of each other), it was very communal, and even if we didn't care for a particular person, there was still a mutual respect.  I made some lasting friendships from RASSC, but when the great newsgroup split proposal failed in 1999, I made my exit.  I still keep in touch with many of those people, but the newsgroup as a community pretty much died.

With RS, as I said, it's more about "my dad can beat up your dad", if that makes any sense.  It's all about "RS just put up photos of something a guy in Timbuktu found in a yard sale...f**k you, other SW toy sites!"  Or, in more recent cases, and not a direct quote, "JD has had a report about who an exclusive figure is for the last week, but since they're not a 'reputable' website, we're going to ignore it and act like it's news only when *we* post about it!"  As someone else in the thread said earlier, it does have the feel of a cafeteria in high school, with people doing everything in the world to undercut everyone else. To quote the films, and cement my nerd status, "there is no civility, only politics."

(at this point I made some rather inflammatory comments about certain moderators whose name ends in one or two "G"'s, but to avoid any problems, I have deleted that portion of the original post)

As for moderators and site admins, that's another reason I don't go to RS anymore.  After the mess with the TFN boards (how did that work out, by the way?), I'm done patronizing Philip Wise's sites at all.  I went over a few minutes ago to see what had happened to the RS forums (I hadn't seen the changes that had been made) and just started laughing.  I still remember Wiseacres.com, Philip; way to sell out the entire fan community you claimed to love so much.  

As for other sites, I take my hat off to the fine folks at JD, Yakface, and GH.com.  You're all doing fine work, and you should be proud.  RS, may you fade into obscurity and be forgotten completely.

I'll bet my lease on the London Bridge that it's a silver Ugnaught.  

All kidding aside, this has disaster written all over it, as the rest of you have already said.  Did the Fan Club (of which I am aware this is not technically an offshoot of as in the past) ever have an exclusive Hasbro figure that wasn't a complete pain to get ahold of?  

For the record, here is the list of the non-silver exclusive figures over the POTF2/POTJ/E1/Saga era (not counting the Animated Clone Wars figures):

-Mace Windu (1998; Hasbro mail away)
-Muftak and Kabe (1998; Hasbro internet)
-Oola and Salacious Crumb (1998; Fan Club)
-B'Omarr Monk (1997; Hasbro internet)
-Spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi (1997; Lays mail away)
-Cantina Band Member (1997; Fan Club)
-Han Solo in Stormtrooper Disguise (1995; Froot Loops mailaway)

Did I leave anyone out?  So, as you said, Mr. Bryant the last non-silver exclusive figure was Mace Windu from the end of the 1998 line.  It's been almost six years since then.  Apparently it's not as cost-prohibitive to do a newly sculpted figure as a premium after all; it just has to be done when it benefits you, and with all the bad collector karma from the OTC disaster in the making, Hasbro needs all the benefits it can get.

First of all, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, I love John Williams' musical scores in the SW films, and in the majority of his non-SW work.  Even his low-key scores, such as the one for "A.I.", are absolutely incredible and carry as much emotion as the on-screen action, and any fan of SW (or movie music in general) should have his scores in their CD collection.

I absolutely adore the RCA Victor releases of the Special Edition soundtracks: two discs for each film, in sequential order, with all kinds of bonus tracks, unreleased cues, and unsurpassed liner notes.  Those three double-disc sets are among my most loved SW items in my collection and I listen to them on a regular basis.  Sure, they weren't as complete as they could have been ("Lapti Nek", the Yub Yub song, and the Rebo Band source music from just after the Boussh thermal detonator scene aren't included), but they are an absolute treasure to fans of the films.

That said, I have been less than thrilled with the presentations of TPM and AOTC on CD thus far.  Not only have tracks been slapped together that have little or no relation, not even thematically, some of the most memorable cues from the films have been ignored completely (such as Anakin's breakdown in AOTC with the soaring Sith theme blending into the Imperial March).  I do enjoy the soundtracks a good bit, as there are some incredible pieces of music on there, but compared to the RCA Victor releases of the OT:SE, they come up way short.

(I will say that one thing I love about the AOTC CD is that it does include a lot of music that wasn't in the film, mainly during the Speeder Chase and the Arena Monster Battle.)

Sony tried very poorly to follow up on the OT:SE work with a TPM "Ultimate Edition" that was marketed to make people believe it was along the lines of the SE soundtracks.  When it was released, people quickly realized that it was nothing more than an isolated score, and still featured the choppy editing and abrupt transitions that plagued Williams' score in the film.  People, myself included, were outraged, as Sony had led people to believe it would be one thing, were intentionally vague when asked questions about specifics, and once it was released, tried to cover up by saying "we never said it was all that was recorded, just that it was "every note from the film."  Thank goodness they didn't give AOTC a similar treatment, as the music editing in that film was 10 times as worse as TPM's.

Now, I know the reasons for the score in TPM, particularly during the four-prong final battle, being as choppy as it is due to Lucas reediting the final reel after JW had done the score.  And I know that in AOTC, Williams didn't even score a lot of the Clone War because he knew it was not finished and his work would probably wind up like TPM's.  But what I don't get, with all the money Lucas has at his disposal, is why Williams isn't given the chance to rescore both TPM and AOTC's endings so the music won't sound like a temp track.  Give him and the LSO some extra money to stay around for a week after the recording session for Episode III (or come in for another session ala Howard Shore for the LOTR:EE DVDs) and let things be set right.

After that, let RCA Victor have the rights to all the soundtracks and let them release two-CD complete scores of all three prequels the right way.  For all Lucas goes on about sound being so important and how much he loves John Williams' work, he has really torn it apart with the prequels and it'd be great to hear things as JW intended them to sound.

Reading in other threads about how people would have liked to have seen the OTC "officially" start in January of this year instead of the fall, and so on, got me to thinking about how I would have done things differently.  So, in my own little fantasy world, where I am a viking, I began to formulate how I would have handled the year of 2004 from a product perspective.  Keep in mind this is just my own opinion and is based on pure fantasy (although many of the products I mention are/have actually being/been released).  I'm curious to hear what others would have done in their own fantasy world.

Also, in this fantasy world, I am happily married to Rachael Leigh Cook, but I digress...

HOW I WOULD HAVE HANDLED THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY COLLECTION:

Basic Figures: there would be nine waves throughout the year, consisting of the following:

JANUARY: HOTH WAVE
-Luke Skywalker in Hoth Gear
-R-3P0
-Hoth Rebel Soldier

FEBRUARY: TATOOINE WAVE
-Luke Skywalker-Jabba's Palace
-R1-G4
-R2-D2-Jabba's Sail Barge

APRIL: JABBA'S PALACE WAVE
-Lando Calrissian-Skiff Guard
-Rappertunie
-Holographic Luke Skywalker
-Tanus Spijek
-J'Quille

MAY: BATTLE OF YAVIN WAVE
-General Dodonna
-Gold Leader
-TIE Fighter Pilot
-Captain Antilles

JULY: STAR DESTROYER WAVE
-Bossk
-Dengar
-Admiral Ozzel

AUGUST: ENDOR WAVE
-Han Solo in Endor Gear (soft goods coat with helmet)
-General Madine
-General Lando Calrissian

SEPTEMBER: DAGOBAH WAVE
-Spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi
-Dagobah Luke Skywalker
-Yoda
-R2-D2 Dagobah Damage

NOVEMBER: CLOUD CITY WAVE
-Cloud Car Pilot
-Lobot
-Princess Leia in Bespin Gown

DECEMBER: EPISODE III SNEAK PREVIEW WAVE
-General Grevious
-Second Gen Clone Trooper
-Wookiee Warrior

This would give a grand total of 31 regular carded figures, all on the OTC cards with backgrounds (even the EIII figures would have a corresponding background).

VINTAGE STYLE FIGURES: would be released in waves just like they are being this fall, in the months between basic figure waves.  Same assortments:

MARCH: A NEW HOPE
-Luke Skywalker
-Han Solo
-Princess Leia
-Obi-Wan Kenobi

JUNE: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
-Darth Vader
-C-3P0
-Lando Calrissian
-Yoda

OCTOBER: RETURN OF THE JEDI
-Boba Fett
-R2-D2
-Stormtrooper
-Chewbacca

DVD SETS:  if they had to do this, the four packs would include the four figures from each VOTC wave in a box (uncarded, for people who weren't all that concerned about the packaging, as nice as it is to look at, or for people who wanted to keep one VOTC in the package but still have a loose one as well).  For the sake of completion:

A NEW HOPE BOX SET: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK BOX SET: Darth Vader, Threepio, Lando Calrissian, and Yoda

RETURN OF THE JEDI BOX SET: Chewbacca, Boba Fett, R2-D2, and Stormtrooper

ULTRA FIGURE ASSORTMENTS:  these would be the same figures already released this year (Rieekan, Threepio, Wampa, Jabba, Denizens, and Ewok) using the same strategy already used.  In addition, a new Han Solo in Carbonite with pack-in Ugnaught would have been released for the Cloud City wave and a new Biker Scout with Speeder Bike would have been released for the Endor wave.  Just my dream you know.

VEHICLES: I don't know about these, but I would have definitely released a new Cloud Car with a head-swapped CC Pilot at some point.  

Note: There would be no Hall of Fame series at all released.  There would be no need for them (and there is no need for them) given the presence of the "Ultimate" VOTC series.  Also, the old X-Wing, TIE, and Falcon would not be released as they are now because the sculpts for all three are outdated and pitiful given today's standards.  If they wanted to release something nice, stick with the Red Leader X-Wing at TRU, a TIE with accurate solar panels at WM, and a totally new Falcon from the ground up at another retailer (I can't imagine who would take it on though).

So that's my dream world.  The land of no repacks, no useless resculpts, and no insulting of the consumer intelligence.  Anyone else living in a dream world?

Boredom isn't the right word for my feelings toward the SW line; the correct word would be frustration.  I'm just getting really tired of all these endless repacks, reissues of now subpar toys (the OTC X-Wing after the excellent FX/Saga sculpt), and the apparent unwillingness of the company behind making said toys to recognize and learn from their mistakes.  

A few years ago, I was actually excited about SW toys and I would often wonder what Hasbro was going to put out next.  Now, I find myself wishing that they get all the decent characters for Episode III put out in a year or two tops so this line can die, which is really sad.  

Yeah, that's definitely the Gunner Station Vader.  I guess my seeing the cloth waist cape was merely a trick of light in the first picture, since it now looks like it's just the neck cape being held tight due to the twist-tie around Vader's waist.  

That being said, this is really one of the best Vaders they could have included in the set.  The cape is removable (at least on the GS one) so I don't think it would be as prone to ripping as the CTC version, and the figure was made to sit in a TIE cockpit anyway, so I think they went the right route with this one.  

I'm curious to see what they end up doing with the packin figures for the ESB Slave I and the new Y-Wing.  Is there going to be a Fett included (I haven't seen pictures; and if so which one?), and who is included with the Y-Wing?  A Gold Leader from the Saga line?

While I'm not sure it was the Freeze Frame line that killed the modern line's momentum (that was probably due more to the glut of Ep1),

Well, my reason for the FF line killing the modern line's momentum (which I mentioned in a prior post in another thread which Muftak has quoted above) was this:

In 1998, the appeal of the Special Edition theatrical rerelease in 1997 had cooled down considerably.  1998 was what Hasbro/Kenner calls a "non-movie year."  The problem was that they had not figured out how to do case assortments at that point in time and focus on the people who were actually buying the products in a non-movie year: the collector.  They did this very well with the POTJ line in the years between TPM and AOTC, but the FF line stunk of their oft-quoted "kids buy more SW figures than collectors do" philosophy.

So, first wave of figures hits, that being the first Collection 1 case.  Out of that case were seven new figures (two each of the Endor Rebel Soldier, Lando General, Ewok Gown Leia, and one Bespin Luke).  The remaining 9 figures (this was back when there were 16 figure cases, as opposed to the current norm of 12) were all recards of older figures.  The first Collection 2 case was a similar situation with two each of Biggs, Lak Sivrak, and the Ewoks, along with nine more repacks of older figures.  Collection 3 was a little luckier, with eight new figures (2 each of RH Vader, Ishi Tib, Zuckuss, and Piett), but there were also eight repacks.  I thought this would be the worst of it.  I was very mistaken.

As I mentioned before in that prior post, around this time Hasbro/Kenner decided to do a case assortment for Collection 3 that was solely made up of repacks.  This is where some of the harder to find FF repack figures from Collection 3 came from (TIE Pilot, Fett, and in rare cases, Weequay).  The problem was that these (in most cases) did not move because the shelves were still packed with tons of these figures in their 1997 holograph card iterations.  So in addition to old figures on new cards, there was still a glut of old figures on old cards.  It did not get better.

The Blast Shield Luke wave comes out; again, eight new figures, eight repacks.  Collection 2 was even more ridiculous: 2 Ugnaughts and 14 repacks.  Collection 3's second new case assortment was two each of the DST and Ree Yees with 12 repacks, and I don't think I need to remind anyone of what a disaster that was.

Over the rest of the year, Hasbro released another Collection 1 assortment (Lobot, Chewie in Chains, Mothma and Prune Face), another Collection 2 assortment (with 8D8 as the only new figure), and no more Collection 3 figures (except for the Hoth Leia wave I'll address in a minute).  The entire year, Hasbro had been printing ads with photos and checklists focused on their upcoming Expanded Universe line, so people were actually really excited (at least in the collector community) about these figures being released.  

The problem was that due to the horrendous case packouts in Collection 2, where the EU figures would be released, stores were stocked to the gills with Rancor Keepers, Admiral Ackbars, and Nien Nunbs and because of this, everyone's ordering systems showed no need for any Collection 2 orders to be replenished.  Thus, many areas only saw the first three EU figures if they saw any at all (I was actually one who only saw the second wave minus Katarn and had to get the others elsewhere) and by the time the last wave, the one that arguably everyone was the most excited about, came out, they were impossible to find at all.  All because of that glut of older figures.

The stores took a big loss on those figures they couldn't sell, even with the 2 dollar off coupons.  The thing was that stores were able to sell Stormtroopers and other Imperial army builders fairly quickly, but who in their right mind needs those 50 Rancor Keepers and Ackbars hanging around with an inch of dust on them?  A local WM had a larger display area for those old dust collectors than they had for either TPM or AOTC.  It was one complete aisle, with almost 80 pegs, filled with all this old crap that nobody wanted.  They knew that Episode I was coming up in the spring and they wanted to allocate shelf space to it and not be stuck with all this old crap since (in their minds at the time) TPM would have a film to coincide with the toy release, and that would help sell things.

That's why when Hasbro/Kenner decided to release that last Collection 3 wave of Hoth Leia/AT-AT Driver/Pote Snitkin/and the DS Droid in November of 1998, the retailers basically told them "no thank you."  (for those of you who weren't around back then, it was the equivalent of Mattel's He-Man case assortments in a lot of ways, but not specifically; a case of the manufacturer sending out loads of the same old crap that won't sell and expecting the retailer to buy every last one of them anyway because "it's Star Wars").  Hasbro/Kenner had to then sell those figures as Fan Club exclusives (and I think anyone who was around back then remembers how much they were charging for those figures-$24.00 for two of them plus shipping on top of it, so $48.00 plus shipping for the set of four; thankfully I eventually got them for just under retail from the FC when they were still swamped in them six months later and had to mark them down) because retail pretty much told Hasbro/Kenner "NO MORE."  

So there's my reasons why the Freeze Frame figures destroyed any momentum the POTF2 line had at the end of 1998.  Yes, Episode I was, for all intents and purposes, a disaster at retail, but that disaster was shared by retail and Hasbro; the FF fiasco was all Hasbro's fault and I had thought they'd learned their lesson by now.  

I could ramble on and on but I'm sure that nobody wants to hear it after reading my conspiratorial nonsense.

Just a rather humorous way of looking at things: I've been of the opinion that all the Stormtroopers were clones (at least since we found that out in AOTC) but that their rather, ummm, questionable military skills in the OT compared to their effectiveness in the PT can be attributed to Jango's death and bad cloning techniques.

It's like that Michael Keaton movie where he keeps cloning himself in a way, or on a more basic level, a photocopier.  Generation 1 were made directly from Jango and thus were the closest to his skill level.  Well, Jango dies and they no longer have the host body they need (I'd assume they still had some Jango-DNA on file they could use for a few years).  So what happens when they run out of Jango?  

In my mind they either: A-take DNA from Boba Fett, since he's a pure genetic replication of Jango in the first place or B-take DNA from a first generation Clone Trooper.  Since I don't think Boba would be going along with option A, B is their only option if they want to keep the same host.

The analogy of the Keaton movie and the photocopier comes into this because as everyone knows, when you make a copy of a copy, the new copy isn't exactly all that great.  In the Keaton movie, by the time they get to number 3 or 4, that clone is completely batsh!t insane and is not functioning on a normal level.  

I think the Stormtroopers in the OT reflect this.  They were once really good, but when you copy something over and over at numbers that are more than likely quite high given Palpatine's ego and need to subvert everyone to his will, they're just not going to live up to the original versions.  Thus, the Clones in the OT are the equivalent of that sixth generation bootleg of Prince's "Black Album" or The Beach Boys' "Shine" you have sitting in your tape collection; the one that you can make do with but you'd rather have a fully-mastered digital version of to get the full effect.

Personally, I'd love to see an EU short story about a Clone/Stormtrooper who functions on a mental and emotional level akin to the "strange" clone in the Keaton movie, but that's just me.