JD.com is proud to present our first ever Review-A-Thon...  It's a way we're going to clean out some old reviews we've got backlogged and get a little something for you, the viewer, to read over theholidays.

And we bring not only the Endor Wave to a close here, but our holiday Review-A-Thon also comes to a screeching halt.  We'll be leading into the new year with the OTC figures and VOTC while we build into the POTC, so keep your peepers peeled to the main page for those. 

Yes, I wanted to end the Endor Wave with a doozie, and boy did I.  I have to say this figure topped many-a-fan's wishlists for some time, and not only does he nix off another vintage figure that needed done, but he also makes for a GREAT figure in the end.  The Endor Wave's General Madine (Endor Strike) actually, for a boring old dude, is a great action figure...  Amazing!



The funny thing with Madine is that he's got more arm articulation/poseability than the Saga Endor Soldier, Saga Endor Han, or the Saga Hoth Soldier...  What the hell is that all about Hasbro!?!?   

I mean, don't get me wrong here...  The figure has ball/socket elbows, poseable wrists, etc...  I love it, it's great, but how can you screw over army builders in the articulation area, but give it to a guy who did nothing more than point.

Hey, I don't make them, I just critique them, and in my view Hasbro really needs to make sure EVERY figure who picked up a gun should have these arms that Madine has.  Great stuff here.  I can't wait to do a Madine shooting it out of a sticky situation diorama...  becaus I can!

OK, but what else is up with Madine?  Well, he's pretty cool for sure.  He does flesh out those vintage resculpts we all want too, so that's all good stuff.  He's got the most poseable arms of a basic figure...  well damn near ever.  I'm amazed really.

Read the full review for his negatives, but really this is a figure I had to own a few of when he became readily available in the OTC line. 

And with that, I'm thanking all you readers out there who read through my reviews as well as those who came in to participate.  I appreciate the feedback and your personal opinions.  Feel free to make your own reviews too...  We don't discriminate.  The more the merrier I figure.

Thanks guys, and I look forward to doing more figure reviews from now till the cows come home.  And once again a thank you to the staff here at JD who helped me get these all together and posted.  Hopefully we'll have a steady stream of reviews in 2005 folks!

Hell, I may even start reviewing packaging...     Not much fun, but whatcha gonna do, ya know?  Some of you guys seem to dig it.   

JD.com is proud to present our first ever Review-A-Thon...  It's a way we're going to clean out some old reviews we've got backlogged and get a little something for you, the viewer, to read over theholidays.

My first Endor Wave figure to pop up (and what a way to round out the Saga line!)Lando Calrissian (Endor Strike) makes his way into the reviews!  A complete resculpt of a figure who REALLY needed it too.



Yes, Lando General really was in need of a resculpt, and I'd say this is "good enough" for this figure...  Hasbro once again made that damned mistake of lop-sided articulation (one friggin' arm articulated?  Huh?  I hate that damn crap!), which still boggles my mind.

Saga had some doozies at the end, but that articulation being all over the place was a hinderence.  I'm pleased to see OTC's going out with some much more balanced figures. 

That said, Hasbro did include a working shoulder holster for the old scoundrel, and a nice accurate little blaster too.  He's a figure that I'd like to have seen be a bit more poseable (every main "hero" should be, even if all they did was fly around in the Falcon in their respective outfit).  Still, read the review in its entirety and come share what YOU think.

Myself, I'd say this is a good resculpt of a figure that needed it, but like the Rebel Fleet Trooper, a good sculpt does not equate to a great figure...  So read the review and share your opinion!

JD.com is proud to present our first ever Review-A-Thon...  It's a way we're going to clean out some old reviews we've got backlogged and get a little something for you, the viewer, to read over theholidays.

The Star Destroyer Wave continues on today with everyone's favorite nimrod admiral that makes the Keystone Cops look coordinated...  Yes I speak of Admiral Ozzel! 



And what a dork he is huh?  Well, the actor who played him (and a lovely rendition of an inept Hitler too in the last Indiana Jones film), Michael Sheard, is a very nice gentleman, and when I actually talked to him at Pittsburgh's Comic-Con some years ago, Mr. Sheard was very nice and was anxiously looking forward to his figure being made some day.

We all knew it was a matter of time good sir!

With that said, did they do him justice?  Well I believe they did overall.  Sadly, my review was written up before I could make note of a neat little feature...

If you swap Ozzel's arms around (Swap left for right, and visa-versa) and then make sure the proper hand is in the proper spot (IE: Swap hands so the right is on the NOW right arm and left is on the left arm, duh), then you get a MUCH more neutrally posed set of arms on Admiral Ozzel.

What does this mean to you and this review?  Well, first it means you can have a more neutrally posed figure for more "generic" officers if you're into customizing.  He's a mere headswap away from being a new Tarkin, Piett, etc.

Second, it means for my review that I think of this as a major positive to the figure.  He'd be getting higher marks from me.

Anyway, that said...

I think this figure's pretty good...  A mix of positives and somewhat negatives.  I think the sculpt does the actor justice but the paintjob could've been better.

I'd actually say the uniform color though, is my biggest gripe at this point., but I wont' spoil things (because I know you guys are on pins and needles to read my column).   

Just go read the thing already and share your thoughts here...  Dagnabbit!

Just a thread for "what if" they'd continued the Clone Wars line in the movie style instead of the animated...

Myself, my wants list would've gone like this:

BASIC FIGURES

-Snowbunny Padme...  I'd love to have seen this figure created myself.  I'd not even mind if they just made a new head and a cloak for the Droid Chase Padme actually...  Something simple like that would be welcome to me.

-Snow Robes Yoda...  A more accurate robed Yoda (with hood up) to replace Frito Bandito Yoda...  Be cool if he could holster his saber, but beyond that just a nice poseable Yoda in CW gear.

-Obi in Armor...  Come on, who doesn't want a super articulated Obi-Wan wearing the Clone armor with the robes and stuff?  Someone has to kick Deluxe Durge's ass, ya know?  And speaking of...

-Armorless Durge...  I'd KILL for a poseable Durge without the armor.  What would be extra neat would be if he somehow had the same construction as the tentacles of the Dianoga figure...  Poseable/flexible outer material on a wire frame.  I'd just ultimately like a nice Durge figure minus the armor since that's how he got the smack laid down on him.

-Battle Damaged Anakin...  Ala the toon figure + great articulation...  Something simply representative of him after Assajj did a number on him.  For that matter, a non-BD version would be nice since his first CW figure sorta blew.

-Red ARC Sergeant...  Softgoods cape, super articulated body, blaster holster with carbine/pistol weapon, and holographic Obi-Wan for the wrist communicator. 

-Blue ARC Trooper...  Same as above but comes with a rifle and shoulder-mounted rocket launcher instead of the carbine and holo accessory.

-SA Clone...  Just a re-release of it...  Perhaps battledamaged variants and rank variants.

-Sha-Gi...  Nicely articulated Shaggy Jedi... 

-Whiphid Jedi...  Be cool if he came with softgoods robes you could simulate "tearing" off of him for with his battle with Greivous.

-Greivous...  Of course, we're gonna get him anyway, but...  Gotta list him.

-Super Poseable Super Battle Droid...  Granted, the line's getting another one with ROTS, but I'd love one with more articulation...  Keep the exploding feature even.

-NEW sturdy/poseable Battledroid...  Includes ranged assault rifle, and pulls apart at the torso, arms, legs, and head for battledamage feature.

-Super Poseable Assajj...  Softgoods skirt and robe with really only the legs needing more articulation...  I liked the first figure, I'd just take another more poseable one if I could have it.

-Quarren w/Trident...  I'd dig one of these dudes.  The Quarren are such a great species... 

-Mace Windu...  Just a nice version of him from the toon, maybe with a tattered robe or something.  A 2-pack wtih the kid from his episode would be neat too (That still rocks as a spoof of the Steelers/Coke commercial from the 70's).

-ARC Pilot...  SA Clone's body with the Pilot's head...  Simple, and needed considering that crappy leaning pilot Hasbro dumped out.  Why the lean?  I haven't a clue. 

-Republic Tech...  One of the techs seen running around the Republic fighters.

DELUXE FIGURES

-New Spider Droid...  Pop-apart feature for battle damage, properly scaled barrel...  if room for lights, light-up eyes would be neat.  Screw the walking feature that doesn't work though.  Just an accurate sculpt, poseability, etc.

-Droid 3-pack...  No crappy droids though.  Just 3 of the basic battledroid, possibly with color variations (green, cream, and red).

-SA Clone 3-pack...  Probably the most logical thing to come out...  I don't think anyone's not expecting the SA Clone to come out again, and the army builder format's the most likely.  Rank/color variants of course too.

-ARC Squad 3-pack...  2 blues and a red.  Simple.

-Mon-Calamari with Steed...  Maybe a bit big for Deluxe, but I'll just list it here.  A Mon Cal soldier with their mounts from under the waves.  Very cool IMO.

-Separatist Soldier 3-pack...  Now, this is completely outta thin air, but could really kick much butt.  The Jedi 3-pack was completely fabricated after all!  Anyway, make a 3-pack of 1 SA Neimodian soldier, 1 SA of the blue separatist aliens, and 1 SA NEW Geonosian Warrior or someone else...  Very cool to me.

-IG Lancer Droid w/Bike...  A poseable droid with a bike, and lance.  Very cool, and I'd buy this up in droves.

-Mine Layer Droid...  Similar in style to the Spider Droid.  Nothing flashy...  A feature that threw little mines may be neat, but not important.

VEHICLES

-Geonosian Fighter...  Re-release with a Battledroid Pilot and MUCH more stable nose prongs...  Maybe molded around something more sturdy so they don't sag.

-Republic Fighter...  A cool step towards the ARC one coming up in ROTS.  Kind of like seeing the X-Wing and Y-Wing and such...  Shows variety in what the Republic uses.

-Amidala's Ship...  The small silver ship Amidala uses in AOTC and the CW toons...  It's small, so it's doable to-scale I think.  Pack the droids in, I'd be all over that. 

-New Droid Starfighter...  A single GOOD, properly scaled Droid fighter that can unfold for walking.  Pop-off wings would be neat for battle-damage of course.


Basically, I'm bored and was just thinking out loud how I really am sad that the movie-accurate CW line has faded away to the cartoon line.

The toon line is ok, and I see people's desire for it, but I'd sooner have things compatible with the basic movie lines than things completely separate of them.  Then again I'm a big EU fiend too...  Tons of stuff from EU I'd like.

As much as it surprised me, the CW line seemed to do well at retail though, even the guys like Bandito Yoda, so I'd like to have seen the line continued so it's compatible with the film figures and all.

I decided to breeze through the images Hyperspace has up...  Just screep captures, behind-the-scenes junk, etc...

First, a lot of things are answered that many speculated on but nobody could concretely prove...  Or at least information's given that implies things.

Lots of great footage, lots of great close-ups, lots of material...

Has anyone else thoroughly checked out the snapshots they post?  I'm impressed.

Shots of the Ewoks attacking the AT-ST drivers, shots of the Cantina that are gone, shots of edited footage...

One thing I liked immensely is the shots of the Endor team entering the bunker, especially to show they entered after the battle and had to shoot it out it would appear (tons of dead stormies in the hall I can only imagine were put there AFTER they entered the 2nd time since the 1st was a sneak-in).

I'm actually really impressed with this feature of Hyperspace.  Can't say I like paying, but I get the Fan Club magazine anyway so it's nice to get this I guess...  Didn't think I'd ever praise the pay-for-content feature, but I am digging this.

JD.com is proud to present our first ever Review-A-Thon...  It's a way we're going to clean out some old reviews we've got backlogged and get a little something for you, the viewer, to read over theholidays.

This one's the oldest review in my Review-A-Thon atually, and one I've had on file for quite a while since I picked him up!  This one's the Lt. Faytonni Figure from the Outlander Club series (A real come & go wave in my area actually).



When Faytonni came out, this wave hit pretty solid in my area at a time when I wasn't finding new stuff too often.  I actually figured I'd be picking extras up at sale prices...  Little did I know.

They came and went, and I never got a 2nd crack so I missed out on some good fodder.  Nutz! 

Anyway, as far as Faytonni goes as a figure, I really actually was disappointed with one major aspect of him...  his pose.  He's got that awkward Hasbro "lean" to him that some figures just seem cursed with.

Among them are the Naboo Soldier, the Clone Pilot, and others...  That's really terrible in my book, and ruins an otherwise great figure.  Hasbro even articulated him above and beyond for a figure at the time!

But for every great feature Faytonni has, the damned leaning really detracts from it.

While I make no mention of it, Hasbro also did a reuse of parts when making the Ackmed Beq figure that came out shortly after Faytonni.  Much easier to find for most, Beq was another great likeness of the actor he was to represent, and shelf-warms in many an area to this day.

Anyway, read the review and get busy sharing some thoughts!!!

JD.com is proud to present our first ever Review-A-Thon...  It's a way we're going to clean out some old reviews we've got backlogged and get a little something for you, the viewer, to read over theholidays.

Today I'm kicking it off with the Yoda & Younglings, since they're older on the list.



4 figures for the price of two?  Count me in folks!

The Younglings and Yoda were a nice little surprise from Hasbro, and made good use of the same sculpt while offering new parts as well.

Could they be better?  Couldn't everything?  But in the end they were pretty decent...  Short of articulation, and there being no human child to sneak in there (Customizers, get thee to the clearance bins!), the Younglings and Yoda were overall pretty decent.

Yoda was probably the best offering of the character up to that point...  He's been trumped since so I'm all for a new AOTC Yoda that's poseable, and sporting a softgoods cloak!

So, read on, and enjoy!

JD.com is proud to present our first ever Review-A-Thon...  It's a way we're going to clean out some old reviews we've got backlogged and get a little something for you, the viewer, to read over theholidays.

Today I'm kicking it off with the Hoth Rebel Soldier, since he's one of the older on the list, and one of the poorer.

Nothing like kicking it off with a dud! 



One of the worst figures to come out in years to me, the Hoth Rebel Soldier really has many failings...  Poor sculpt, poor pose, no decent articulation, no enjoyable features...  He really just is a lackluster effort from Hasbro on every level to me.

Feel free to read through, and share your opinions here!