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Messages - Jesse James

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18061
Just a note, I have a ton of packaging for carded/boxed customizers to use if they want.  I have:

-Multiple Evolutions Sets boxes
-Multiple EE Clone 4-pack Boxes
-Multiple VOTC Cardbacks w/out clamshells (figure carefully removed)
-Multiple VOTC Cardbacks with the clamshells (figure carefully removed)

Selling these for cheap, or trading generously for army builders and fodder I need like Clones, Preview Wookiee's, Imperial Officers & Stormtroopers, various droids (ASP-7, 2-1B, astromechs, etc.), and other random things.

PM me if you're interested, perfect for customizing projects or the clamshells are just nice to have for displaying your figure(s) alongside your VOTC.

Thanks

18062
Customizing Tips and Tricks / Re: Fodder Alert!
« on: February 14, 2006, 12:07 AM »
Remember any of the specific characters you found by chance Fritz?  I gotta make a trip to Big Lots I guess.  Fortunately they're all over aorund here.  I wish they'd get SW surplus in. :)

18063
Star Wars Action Figures / Re: Magna Droid - IG-100
« on: February 14, 2006, 12:04 AM »
That is pretty sharp work Talon...

How exactly did you go about splicing the joints?  So those are microman knees, but did you just hollow the calf and like insert the ball joint?  I'm not quite seeing how you did it.

I think I'd have gone with a sewn cape just because you gave the figure such great poseability that a cloth cape would le tyou pose him as you saw fit...

Overall great job though, I love it.  I wish Hasbro had done half as well as that.  their figure's moderately good, but for poseability it's horrible to say the least.  You spiced that up a lot, nice work man.

18064
Star Wars Action Figures / Re: Slave girl Leia - MicroLady edition WIP
« on: February 14, 2006, 12:00 AM »
She's coming along well Paul... 

Personally, I'm not a HUGE fan of the Microman body things as they really show a lot of joints and so it's been something I've not been a huge fan of but I think you're making good use of it, you're making it work well for what it is...  The painting is coming along well I think and with the right outfit I think she'll look a lot better than her playboy pic there.

Which reminds me of this fat lady in town that used to be the crossing guard.  She wore stirrup stretch pants that were flesh colored, and too tight, and she looked like she had no orafice...  Freaky.

Anyway, yeah she's coming along pretty good...  i think if you could slim her hands down it would help because they look mannish.  The feet may cover up with the footwear but the hands just look "big" to me.  Out of proportion to her head.

Your'e doing good work there Paul, I'm liking watching this as it comes along.

18065
I'll add the site's POV in here that we don't allow or want true elitism...  Spectre's burnt out on Clones and I don't know he necessarilly meant anyone in particular (at least around these parts) with his point.  I'm a little burnt out on Clones myself and what more can I say about a nice paintjob on a CLone than "Hey, that's a nice paintjob".  :)  No offense to DD but when he does Clones I'm to that point with him because I can't find much criticism (never could), so I just tell him it was a good job and move onto something I'm more interested in that he made.

I dunno exactly how long everyone at our forum has been around this game really, but to not toot my horn tooooooo much I can safely say I have been in this since before the modern line existed and I was one of the earlier members of the old FFURG email list server days.  Back then the same kinda thing happened with astromechs, especially when they were in any abundance, and you got kind of burned out critiquing repainted astromechs unless it was a paintjob that really stood out in a crowd (a nicely done Red/White/Black R5 for instance). 

That's not to say anything should be taken away from good repaints though, and our site is based around tolerance here at JediDefender.com.  So if you really are burnt out on repaints it's probably just best not to cite them as a nuisance really and just ignore them when they come up...  Even if their threads get lots of replies while the 100% new sculpt and great paintjob doesn't. :)  That's just the whacky bit about this hobby, and I think some of it has to do with Clones being so readily available and so universally "understood" by more people in the hobby...  Clone repaints can be really complex or really simple, but if you don't like them at all then I'd just ignore them is what I'm trying to say, so no individual's work is demeaned in any way or there's no misunderstandings or anything.

I love Spectre's Predator figures and I've been doing similar stuff myself but really it's not customizing, I just have gotten the Hot Toyz Preds and putting them in my dioramas.  Now you wanna talk about Lazy, I'm it obviously! :)

Spectre's put a ton of work into repainting and rearranting the McFarlane (That's Mac right?) line you can get at TRU though.  I've been watching the sets to get some on clearance for parts myself, but not to use the figures for bases so much due to poseability.  I always thought they were limited but maybe I'm wrong there?  I'm not sure.

Anyway, what am I trying to say?

Oh yeah...  Basically, the repaint is an integral part to customizing...  It's probably the first thing most of us ever did, and astromechs burnt many of us out in 1996 or so just as much as Clones did in 2005 (myself included, seriously, but I still sometimes work on Clones myself just for ***** and giggles...  Still work on astromechs too, I'm goofy that way.  I like to spread the customizing love).  Chalk it up to availability of fodder, and lots of new people plus vets making their presence known with the flashiest of flashy repaints.

At the same time, don't be afraid to jump in and ask questions or talk up someone's work like SPectre's Predators here...  They're really nice and could even lend good fodder for something less Predator you're thinking of doing.  At the same time though, if you really don't want to, that's ok too...  Same with being burnt out on Clones is probably best to just ignore Clone updates then if it's just too boring for any of us.  Happens to me too so I know where everyone's coming from on it.

Hopefully,a s the line's diversity starts to spread out again, we'll see more diverse customs to go with it...  I think Clones, like astromechs, are going to be imbedded in the line whether we're for it or not though.  THey're like ticks and will be creeping into updates around the net I'm sure.  ;)  But that's good because new people have to start somewhere, and a Clone with a unique set of markings is a great place to start...  Just as my old vintage AT-ST Driver headswap with an Imp Officer head was my Star Wars start to customizing.  Those perhaps "easier" pieces of work will always have a focus in the hobby because it's where the new people have to start to get the hang of it...

And vets of course make that end of the hobby look like a slice of cake by producing paintjobs that match the films in the most exacting detail.  It's all about levels of experience and skill I guess.

Enjoy, and now I gotta go find these Predator sets on clearance, especially the ones with the skull/spine bits in them Spectre, those are great and none of the Hot Toyz figures came with trophies besides their necklace. :(

18066
Nice updates DD, all around...

-Trandoshans...  Despite a paint issue they looked pretty good to me, so I'm intrigued to see the final product then since they weren't complete.  I liked the bulky armor...  More slavers I assume?  The upsidedown oversized knife in a sheath looked awful sweet on the one.  Sort of imagine it being his Wookiee skinning knife...  I love the scale pattern on the orange/black one too.  Looks very snake-like to me, but I'm not a lizard expert, it just reminds me of some exotic one I've seen somewhere along the line of life, so I can't wait to see them completed.

-A'Shared Het...  I've never been completely familiar with his character and background but your rendition is one of the better ones I've seen by my own personal tastes.  The poseability first wins me over, but beyond that the parts choices just fit.  The Palpatine's sculpt with his wraps on his outfit just make him perfect to fit in as a Tusken.  Not sure how accurate the figure is to the character's design but I'm sure you did it justice.  Is that Sora's skirt piece included with the torso?  It looks like it but I don't own the figure to know for sure, and you didn't mention it I don't believe.  Is the saber special at all too?

-ARC's...  Pretty spiffy, were they just blue EE Clones or were they painted SA's and other parts?  I've been pondering trying to maybe articulate the elbows of my little CW ARC army I've got lying about just so they're poseable where they ought to be.  Given the somewhat readily available Clone fodder around I should be able to do it relatively fast.  That figure was always a bit disappointing and it appears Hasbro didn't fix him for the upcoming Battlepack, but at least the paint's better and there's 2 poseable ARC's in the set.

-Imp. Field Commander...  I'm not sure I'm a fan of the German field green matching up tot he Officer's hat.  I think I'd have given him the Imperial grey hat is what I'm saying, and kept it matching the uniform, but that's just a difference in paint preferences...  I actually think the coat would've looked cool black instead of green, like an SS coat but also tying to the heavy use of Black by the Empire overall.  The green matches some comic references but I've just not been fond of the very "green" colors sometimes used to represent Imperial uniforms.  The figure looks good overall though, and a good mix of parts.  Though it breaks my heart seeing the XD figures used since I can't even find those Ardennes Infantry for my collection in any quantity.  ;)

-Kashyyyk Trooper...  A good basic Kashyyyk grunt...  I've personally envisioned them as being very similar to Gree without his extras though, but that's just me and my excuse for buying a couple Gree figures.  :)  It justified the absolutely piss poor figure Hasbro put out to just call it a grunt rather than the Commander.  Your rendition is pretty great.  I think I'd add a pack for him is all though, since maybe the jungle or forest environments they're in require some gear to be lugged about?  Just a thought, but otherwise great painting as always, and fantastic battledamage marks on him.  Very realistic as per usual.

Nice update, look forward to the finished Trando's though.

18067
Toy Reviews / New JD Review: Evolutions - Sith Lords
« on: February 13, 2006, 08:11 PM »
Oh Evolutions...  How Do I love thee?  Let me count the ways...

Yeah, all good things must come to an end, and in this case I've rounded out reviewing the Evolutions Assortment by taking my usual in-depth look at the last in the series, The Evolutions: Sith Lords set.

The set is fantastic from top to bottom...  Darth Maul's the weakest in the set, but when your weakest is only that way because of angle-cut elbows, you really can't argue a whole lot.  Dooku and Palpatine both chime in as super articulated incarnations of their characters, and Maul does too besides his elbow joints.

With lots of softgoods accessories like skirt extensions, capes, and robes, the trio are quite poseable. 

As with the usual though, some extra accessories or more neutral headsculpts would have been appreciated, but not necessary really.  Check out the review though to see what all hit and missed with this, be prepared to read for a little while though, and of course come back and chime in with your thoughts.

To me, it's probably the best set overall out of the Evolutions series...  Quality in this set wasn't matched by the other two, so while the characters weren't necessarilly the most looked forward to, the execution was quite nice and shows Hasbro stepping out with their best foot forward in action figures.  Big ups to Hasbro for another knock-out in the short-lived series...

Now will they make more?  The question hangs there unanswered and nobody seems to want to ask Hasbro if they're considering this for the future.  Personally, if I had their ear you know I'd be nagging them about MORE Evolutions figures folks!  You know me, ever-persistant and all that crap.

18068
Power of the Force 2 / Re: Favorite POTF2 Figure.
« on: February 13, 2006, 08:03 AM »
I wound up with RH Vaders through trades over the years...  Great figure, it's really good to have for even nostalgia as it was really kind of a landmark figure when it was made.

18069
Star Wars Action Figures / Re: Cody going to need work
« on: February 13, 2006, 07:58 AM »
I'm with the crowd defending Hasbro on this one, and I can't say that I'm one to do that often.  But the armor on his shoulders is distinctly different and would look a bit awkward with ball/socket shoulder joints.

I think the ball/socket elbow is a MUCH more important point of articulation for quality overall and Hasbro got it I believe, so basic shoulders I'll live with on this.  He looks pretty heavily poseable otherwise, and the shoulders are alright to me...  The goofy angle-cut elbow joints were what I was dreading with Cody more than anything.  I hate that  on the AT-TE Gunner.  Just terrible.

18070
Clone Wars '03-'05 / Re: EE exclusive Clone Trooper 4-packs!
« on: February 13, 2006, 07:50 AM »
See, now that's not too bad there.

Unfortunately since they didn't let people prep for this in the slightest, I know I can't afford it right now. :)

I'd consider this though if it's still available a month or two from now...

18071
The Legacy Collection / Re: Fan's Choice Returns
« on: February 13, 2006, 07:40 AM »
Yeah, that doesn't quite make sense...  Unless they're talking about something else totally, like they know something nobody else does, and that isn't necessarilly about the vote... 

18072
Saga Collection '06 / Re: Battle of Geonosis Wave
« on: February 13, 2006, 07:38 AM »
Yeah I don't believe any toy manager has that ability in WM or Target...  What is possible though is that the demographic information for any particular store's area indicates that this or that may not sell well so they don't carry it.

For instance, a WM opened along my city commute in an area that's fairly well off however the area is accessible by lower income areas fairly easy so the shopping is kind of bad.  Most of the people that actually live in that area don't go to the stores there, including the Wal-Mart.  The information I've heard about this WM (one of the rare times a WM renovated an exisiting building btw, it's the first time I ever saw this myself), is that this store carries very little Star Wars product (didn't carry much through ROTS even at its height of popularity) because it tries to focus on lower priced toys like Chap Mei figures and items like that.  Star Wars just too expensive to cater to the demographic that most travels this Wal-Mart.

Department Managers at WM are really just the handlers for the area...  More or less.  When I worked retail for Penney's we had the same basic people running different departments and they only had slightly more responsibility for only slightly better pay.  The ordering was done by merchandisers primarily, who did full orders or manipulated the running inventory system.  WM's running inventory system is store-wide and managed by the district offices with only suggestions from store managers being accepted as to what to carry, but not necessarilly changing anything.

I've gotten the "We're not carrying that" anymore too.  It is a cover for "Please don't ask me anything, I just want to get my 7 hours in and go home, please leave me alone".  :)

18073
Saga Collection '06 / Re: 2006 American International Toy Fair
« on: February 13, 2006, 07:29 AM »
Some random thoughts... 

First, again apologies from the staff but unforseen circumstances, and ones out of the site's control of course, just killed our coverage of the event.  It's a shame because our man in the field we've sent in the past has always delivered some of the best coverage of the event, but as they say...  stuff happens.  I'm enjoying reading around the net about everything though, checking out all the sites for their coverage...

-VOTC stuff...  I'm actually ok with the Sandperson Bill, but only because there's so many sculpted ones that I'm wanting something "new", and also I think by the pictures it's clear that Hasbro can't hire someone to pose that stuff for ****.  They can't seem to get anyone to really make that stuff look pretty...  I mean, look at the Floppy Hat Luke's hat.  Terribly stupid, but that's them.

The Han looks fantastic but the shirt looks different at the collar than those early photos appeared, doesn't it?  The Luke needed posed better to really look better but it looks great.  Those are ball/socket elbows by the way, or else my eyes are just so starved for ball/socket joints that I'm missing something here. :)  The Scout Trooper is insane looking.  Perfection short of MAYBE having ball/socket hips so he mounts a speederbike properly.  Greedo, I like.  And his vest looks better than I thought PLUS it contours around the holster a lot better than a plastic vest would while not warping the pistol's handle.

The Lucas Stormtrooper is just really silly...  It's a novelty, nothing more, so I could care less.  I'm surprised it isn't silver.

Overall I love VOTC and I must have multiples of the whole wave but definitely many multiples of that Scout.  I gotta get 20 of that figure at least.  Just fantastic.

-Basic Figures Overall...  What an F'n Yawn-fest there...  Not a lot to look at, not a lot to really get giddy over that even is there, so I guess I'm just a tad let down.  I liked a number of the items, don't get me wrong, but it's nothing I"m doing backflips over is all...

-Jerjerrod...  he looks great, he looks better than Veers, but again it's a figure lacking knee articulation and a removable hat.  The only ways to make an Imperial Officer better at this point.  I will dig adding him to the wall of the choked, but he really doesn't stand out as exciting.

-Chief Chirpa...  I love him.  He has the standard perfect Ewok format...  If I had a complaint it's his weight seems to be a bit undersculpted.  I recall Chirpa as looking like some Samoan Chief on his throne, all chubby and stuff.  the figure looks pretty good though, has the wrist joints, all the other standards, a REALLY crisp sculpt.  I like it a lot basically, and since I'm Ewok starved I'm happy to nab one.

-3PO w/Throne...  I'm ok with the re-used sculpt but the legs look really nice.  Hinge joints work for me since, as Bill Cosby noted, 3PO doesn't have really the same range of motion as a human knee in the films.  He can sit, and they did it just as I always envisioned them doing it but they always claimed they couldn't...  Amazing they just now caught up with the imagination of customizers.  ::)

-Death Star Gunner...  Love it.  Looks like ball/socket knees there, and articulation like the AT-AT Driver resculpt basically.  The extra armor plate is awesome, a holster with blaster is great...  Removable armor is good for armybuilders too because, especially in ROTJ, they're seen running around without the blast armor.  It also looks to me like it won't be a problem blending in with the POTF2 figure.  I love that, and will gladly buy a TON of this figure if I can find it.  I want 20 if possible, maybe more.

-Hem Dazon...  I'm still bummed no knee articulation on him but I love the figure overall.  True to the EU body design.  I just can't stand that the 04/05 Cantina Wave got knee articulation but now like Hem isn't and things...  Blah.

-Garrindan...  I love him but, again, the knee joints would've been nice.  I'm anxious to see his little communicator accessory and if it clips to his belt ala Leia's Thermal Detonator...  I wonder what he looks like under the hood and if his goggles come off (almost looks like they do).  I like him better than the Hem figure sans the knees since Hem's sitting ability in the Cantina would've been nice, but either way I'm liking this figure better right now.

-Momaw Nadon...  Pretty nice looking, and like I've said before I really like that my other Hammerheads will look cool along with him.  They'll display well together I think.  Always good when you don't necessarilly HAVE to retire a figure ya know?

-Foul Moudama...  I still like him.  It's a cheap way to get a new figure, I'm ok with it because I don't really think we'd have ever gotten an EU Jedi otherwise.  I hope now though for Roron Corobb to fill out the 3-Jedi team that protect Palpatine.

-Daltay Dofine...  Cool...  Dull, but cool and I really wish I could get a lot of those panels to do a whole set-up with droids now, but it's cool irregardless.

-Firefighter...  Great figure overall.  Nice articulation, nice equipment, a sharp as hell sculpt.  Count me in for a team of these guys just because. 

-Utapau Clone...  With this headache shipping to stores now it's funny seeing him at Toy Fair but he looks great.  Super ARticulation, you can't complain, and a rocking paintjob.

-Cmdr. Cody...  So is he super articulated?  I see ball/socket elbows...  I can live without ankle joints, I've always said that, so if they're not there fine, but the ball/socket elbow joints appear to be the reality here.  Sculpt is AMAZING looking, but paint aps matching up to the damage seem like maybe they should have worked a little harder on, but overall it looks good.  Removable helmet too is great and I can't wait to see the customs of him with that little mini Obi-Wan Holo on his forearm like a little Palpatine giving him Order 66. :) 

If Cody's SA (or damn close) then I'm a happy camper, and I think he is more now than ever, so yay.

-Luke...  I love the box from the garage with the gear...  This is a figure you kinda don't mind buying again (it seems like its all old parts to me anyway) just to get all the new equipment he comes with.  If more figures came with new accessories like that I'd probably buy more repacks.

-R5-D4...  Great.  Finally...  Thanks.

-Sandtrooper...  I'd be remiss if I said I am ok with this over the Evolutions Sandtrooper.  Hasbro has a better sculpt, use the goddam thing.  It looks ok though, I'll buy a couple, but Hasbro can do better I think with this since the sculpts are there.  It'll be nice having a grunt is the real positive.  So far the only one was in the 4-pack so a black pauldron trooper in a neutral pose is good to have anyway.

-Kit's Starfighter...  Looks cool but now I want the R-series droid as a basic figure.

Now this is where it all ends.  Am I the only guy that is just sorta not impressed with Toy Fair's display?  None of that was a big surprise, and honestly most of it we'd seen already in one capacity or another.  Just that handful of figures were new but expected...  I figured we'd see some of these other waves that I would think are on their way to stores before too long too... 

Most of that stuff we'd already seen though, so how can one get really amped about any of it?  I was more glad to get GOOD photos of a couple of those figures like Cody to determine articulation...  So overall I didn't miss much since I wasn't at a computer all weekend.  I don't feel so bad that I wasn't around here. :)

18074
Yeah I actually have to say I don't mind a couple of these.  The Stormies/Clones look nice and IG-88 looks pretty F'n cool.  If he were poseable I'd be all over that for display and one for play just to have a heavy metal cast droid like that.

Still though the pose of him battling Dash Rendar (I'm assuming that's what it's based on) is pretty damn cool.  Neat seeing in figure form what IG-88 looks like "in action".

I'm sorta pondering getting a few of these now...  I still think Fett looks bad though, as does Vader, so the initial figures aren't a hit.  Droids and a handful of others may be worth picking up, I dunno.

18075
The Vintage Collection / Re: Target DPCI #s for TSC
« on: February 11, 2006, 07:28 AM »
Yeah I've found when using the #'s I start in the back and work my way forward...  :)

For instance, I was going for a TIE Fighter at Target and so I find a redshirt (after I looked up on a price scanner to make sure they had any in the store) and ask the guy if he can get one...  He says no, gives me some story...

I move on to another department for someone maybe less familiar with toys...  Same question, and get a similar answer...  So I move on...

Last resort is I hit the Customer Service desk.  I've yet to be denied by them.  They always go back and get what I want and I buy it and leave.  They'll usually even get extras if you ask I guess.  I've not gotten that gutsy to push my luck so I usually settle for one of whatever I'm after.

The TIE thing was hypothetical, but I have had to do that in the past where I just work my way forward till SOMEONE gets me what I wanted.  Someone eventually will.  Things like that are why I appreciate Target over Wal-Mart except for their pricing as of late.  It's not a whole lot better than Wal-Mart for Customer Service, but it's a little bit, and in this game a little bit goes a long way.

My TIE Fighter when I went for it before they were on shelves I got with the first confused stocker I found...  So that was cool.  Persistance is key I guess though, incase you're denied.

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