I see dead Major Bren Derlins and Bib Fortunas.... 4 each of them...

There was a coruscant wave there for a second but apparently it was some kind of mirage...

I hate small city shopping.

Fortunately though, I think I'm going out of town again in the next week or two- and this time not only do I stand a better chance of them at least having been stocked, but also I'll go with DPCI numbers and bug the customer service people if I don't find them. At least I'm getting a Han Solo, whatever happens with the rest of the line, surely I can get my hands on one of those. Right?

Speaking of V(O)TC, people talk about the tons of pegwarmer Landos out there, but I see $10-$25 for all the ones on eBay. Am I missing some kind of sect of people who would be willing to unload them for less?

Hmm, if this really turns out to be accurate information I'd be quite happy I think. Bespin Luke and Endor Leia would be definates, and I'd try to get my hands on the Snowtrooper and Jawas as well. Vader... if he's a VOTC rerelease I can do without, but if they did something smart and used an evolutions Vader or a retooled Evolutions Vader, I might buy one if I had the money.

Ahh, interesting- I'm afraid to say I probably won't have the time to watch the whole movie, but I'll keep my eyes out for it and see if I can at least see a few minutes. Most of the time I give these Sci Fi movies a skip, but they're pretty entertaining in their own right- although I have to admit I laugh at most of them rather than with them... ><

But your involvement/relation is cool, and I mean no disrespect at all for that. In a way I hope to become a writer as well, but not for cinema- ideally I'm hoping to be a graphic novelist; artist and author.

I have to notice Vincent Ventresca- I rather liked The Invisible Man, and it was one of many (or at least a few too many) shows Sci Fi needs to get out of their "vault of eternity" and start rerunning (I'm one of the admittedly not-too-many who liked Tremors the Series, as well- and I'd like to see at least the first season-and-a-third of Andromeda being rerun, the pre-kung-fu-rubbish era episodes). I'm kind of disappointed I missed the bee movie with Michael Shanks, too- I follow Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, and Daniel Jackson's actually my favorite character.

EDIT: I saw a few minutes, and it was actually pretty good as the Saturday Sci-Fi movies go. The special effects were nothing to brag about but they never are, but the movie looked like it had a good sense of humor and the cast was pretty good- Vincent Vintresca is great, and I like his quasi-nerdy part here.

If I see it rerun, I'll try to see the whole thing

These stands are quite cool, but I also like the environment-type stands. Having missed the later Saga '03 and '04 figures and other collections, these and my ROTS stands are the first in my collection, and I really enjoy having them.

The gray plastic is a pretty good color, as if you aren't displaying your figures in some kind of diorama it doesn't really stick out too much and looks pretty decent. For collector-type shelf display they'd work great, as well. Personally though, I wish the UGH stands were a little more prevelent instead of reserved to hoarded collector's items- the vacuum-metalized silver is very cool-looking.

Overall I'd say environment-floor type stands are cooler, but these are very welcome too. I wish I could buy a dozen nameless ones (or better yet, some with character names but no specifications- imagine just a bunch of stands with things like "Obi Wan Kenobi" and "Lando Calrissian" printed on them) for my old figures, actually...

The hologram figures, however, are beginning to strike me as rubbish. They aren't garbage really, but they're boring and serve no real purpose- they seem kinda cheesy. And they really contradict their own supposed purpose; wielding weapons and being in quasi-action poses makes them useless for any kind of play as hologram communications- and the base doesn't really help that either- but the lack of paint or even solid color makes them kind of dull as figurines as well.

But I have to agree with Jesse James on a certain level, more articulation or a lower price would be a lot better than either of these items. Especially the hologram figures... shame you can't melt them down and mold new ball joints with the plastic

You skipped the very best figure!



Although, there's some value in the headsculpt I guess, for customizing if nothing else. It's not great, but it's not a horror if it's on a body that in some small way even sort of resembles a relative of Mark Hamill.

But this guy is nothing in comparison to what I consider the two worst figures ever made (although Luke at least has customizing value, to a degree):








And that's not even to mention that fireball-launching grinning surf-dude Mace Windu...

I rationalize it by not spending more than a certain amount regularly on SW figures. For great figures of characters I'm wanting, I pay extra, for mediocre figures I only buy them cheap, and I save money for other things at the same time.

The best Han Solo figure I've ever owned, at least articulation-wise- Carbonite Han really beats him for good sculpting- is Cantina Han. A super-articulated ROTJ Han Solo with removeable accessories including a good-looking trenchcoat is just too good to pass up, even at $13. My best X-Wing gear Luke is a paint-worn POTF2 Luke, who always looked not only buff but suspiciously like he was wearing snowspeeder gear rather than his X-wing gear and had white gloves and boots. So an ultimate renedition of X-wing Luke is also very compelling.

At the same time, I skip a lot of figures I don't care for until they're cheaper. I kind of wanted a Bib Fortuna and a Major Bren Derlin, but y'know, I just haven't cared enough to buy them even at Wal Mart prices yet. If they stick around long enough that I can spare $6, maybe.

And then I buy old things and often do a little customizing and wind up with a figure I like. The best Chewbacca I own ATM, though I plan to shell out a gazillion $$$ (well, $$ maybe) for a VOTC Chewie eventually, is my repainted Falcon Mechanic Chewie, and I got him for $4 and the paint was probably worth about $.30 total considering how much I actually used. Toss in the crossbow from my POTF2 Chewie and the removeable silver chain I'm planning to make for him, and who needs a TSC Chewie?

It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. I do put a limit on figures I really want; after all, I haven't bought Mara Jade at her current $20 price tag yet.

Personally, I understand Army Building as a general concept, but I'm not really itching to do it myself- I just want enough passable troopers to fill in around my main character figures, and one really nice representation of each kind of trooper. Eventually I hope to have an army kind of like this to fill my display:

10 Various Clone Troopers
1 VOTC Stormtrooper
1 modified Evolutions Stormtrooper
3 Commtech Stormtroopers
2 POTF2 Stormtroopers
1 TSC Tie Fighter Pilot
2 POTF2 Tie Fighter Pilots
1 TSC AT-AT driver
1 POTF2 AT-AT driver (probably repaint the boots)
1 VTSC Scout Trooper
2 POTJ Scout Troopers
1 TSC Sandtrooper
1 Evolutions Sandtrooper
1 POTJ Sandtrooper
1 Real Snowtrooper That Hasbro Hasn't Made Yet
3 Saga/TSC/POTF2 Snowtroopers (whatever I can get)

Out of those 31, I have 10, and none of them the very best versions; I probably won't collect all that for a couple years. But when I get my hands on somethig really awesome, I really enjoy it and play with it a lot, so it's worthwhile to me to try to get it, and since Scout Troopers are something I have none of, something I've wanted for years, and there's an ultimate version in stores/going to be in stores soon at the lowest price I'll probably ever get one for, it's my best chance to grab one I think.

It's all a matter of your perspective and wants, though.

I think this is why one has never been done is because the limbs are so thin.

I don't know if this helps with customizing at all, but it strikes me that good ol' POTJ FX-7 has some pretty thin limbs with pivots in the middle.

If you were to use microman parts, perhaps you could use a dremel or something to drill them down to a skinnier size? *shrugs*

Not much advice to offer in this area I guess, I don't even own an IG-88 (yet)... I think the OTC/POTJ bounty hunter pack thingy version is the best and most articulated Hasbro has made, right? I think he has a two-part turning head, IIRC.

Crap.

Yes I'm boring.