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Messages - Jesse James

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18616
Toy Reviews / Re: Zett Jukassa
« on: December 13, 2005, 03:37 AM »
I'd probably be slightly harder on this figure... 

I think the sculpt and paint aps are nice in general, and that's a good base for a figure to start with, however I felt some flaws really hurt him.

First, he's sculpted "in-action" a bit...  Not terribly so, but that sculpt coupled with him being the first Col. 2 Jedi in the ROTS line to NOT have any knee articulation, and I'm disappointed bigtime right away with him.  Add to that, that Zet was probably the most active Jedi (and successful given what we saw of the others) and that's disappointing that Hasbro decided to cut corners on this figure.  Lucas's kid should bring this up with his old man and get someone at Hasbro in trouble, hehe.  :)

The knees pretty much are what make me give Zett a so-so score...  He's ok, he's neat to have, but I have to say that he fails compared to Agen Kolar who not only was sporting tons of articulation, but had a 3-piece sculpted robe and softgoods skirt piece.  Zett deserved better then IMO.

My 2nd beef is you can't hook his hilt to his belt I believe...  Or am I wrong on that?  I can't see my sample right now to check, but I'm thinking he can't.  If he can, that's cool, and it's not a HUGE deal to me that he can't but it's annoying.  Especially with a removable blade saber.

Anyway, I'd have given him closer to a 3 if we're doing a 5-star type review.  The articulation killed it for me, and pretty much everyone in his wave too like Antilles.  Disappointing to see such regression in the line after they had been doing so well since 4/2.   :-\

18617
Toy Reviews / Re: Lava Reflection Figures
« on: December 13, 2005, 03:30 AM »
I've probably used "Crap" before myself, haha...  But not at the beginnign I don't think, usually somewhere in the middle, but always backed up with WHY it should be hitting the sewage treatment plant soon! ;)

18618
Toy Reviews / Re: New JD Review: Obi-Wan Kenobi Red Leader
« on: December 13, 2005, 03:29 AM »
I'd agree that Obi's up there Anton...  Easily on par with the VOTC figures.  Really his falling back is perhaps my love of the OT over the PT...  That forces me to put a lot of the VOTC above him, but at the same time he's probably my favorite PT figure, even beyond Clones...  And I loves me some Clones, but man that Obi-Wan is just a great figure.

And with Evo Anakin it's nice to pose those two dueling as if on Mustafar.

18619
Toy Reviews / Re: #45 Governer Tarkin
« on: December 13, 2005, 03:27 AM »
It can be a good army builder, but only if you're into the idea of pre-Civil War Imperials...  Late Clone Wars sentient Officers and stuff. 

And I dug the figure really...  I was a little bummed that Tarkin, like other Col.2 figures around his time, started to get a cutback on articulation.  For my $5+ I would have liked some knee joints.  Just ball/socket knees even though he does nothing in the movie to warrant them really.  To me it's a cutback I hate seeing because it'd definitely make that figure much more interesting...  No huge deal either for knees at this point.  Really should be a growing standard for figures who can use them...  Tills and Aak I understand.

I thought Hasbro could have accessorized him a little better too.  Re-use the mini-Death Star holo from the screen scene perhaps, and I think a pistol (Bo Sheks, or the original Tarkin figures pistol) were in order.  I like the figure though, it's cool to me, and nice to see Tarkin out there again.  We could use a new ANH one.

18620
Toy Reviews / Re: JD Review: Royal Guard (Senate Security)
« on: December 13, 2005, 03:23 AM »
Yeah I thought Hasbro did a great job detailing the armor,a nd the addition of a biker scout pistol REALLY was neat.  To me that's just what these guys would hide under the robe incase they lost the forcepike or needed to do some shooting at someone from a distance attacking Palpatine.  Very cool that Hasbro did that.

The bitchin' boots are cool too though.  Definitely a unique look for cool characters....  though they do get the ultimate bitchslapping from Yoda.

18621
Saga Collection '06 / Re: Battle of Geonosis Wave
« on: December 13, 2005, 03:18 AM »
I think he looks like the character from the game, which is good, but something to consider is that Republic Commando DEFINITELY didn't go for realism throughout.  NOt to say that I don't like the Clone designs, they're supposed to be unique and bulky actually, and their gun in the game is a modular design that has pieces that snap off and snap on to make it a sniper rifle, grenade launcher, etc...  It's definitely not an Stormie rifle. :)

That said, the game's designers had a cartoony look to a LOT of the game.  Geonosians didn't look like in the movie.  Trandoshans were comically big or short/squat.  Wookiee's were freaking massive at all times, no variation in size.  And of course, Super Battle Droids were practically indestructable while in the film they dropped like flies, and BD's/SBD's seemed to have a cartoonish look to them rather than a film accurate look.

Basically the game didn't do shooters much justice I felt.  It was an ok game, but they threw realism out the window whereas games like Jedi Knight, Dark Forces, X-Wing/TIE Fighter, and the like all strived for utmost realism based on what they were able to acheive with gaming engines.

Given what realistic games I've played on X-Box, Rep. Commando was going for a bit of a "kiddie" vibe, trying to make colorful characters, oversized enemies and the like while keeping gameplay kind of cool.  In the end, I don't like the look from the game TOO much.

I do like the figure from what I see, but if he's lacking articulation (and for some reason I have a strong feeling he is), that'll be what nixes me wanting many of him.  Hasbro could really wow people with the Commandoes if they wanted to though.  If the gun actually snapped apart, that'd be rocking...  Without some super articulation though, they're gonna blow I'm afraid.

18622
The Prequel Trilogy / Re: Clone Commanders
« on: December 13, 2005, 01:23 AM »
Well, if the question is whether that's all the Commanders in the film or not, that remains to be seen.  I don't think Thire stood out from any of the others, did he?  But anyway, if the question is whether or not there are more Commanders in the Republic military I think it's pretty well inevitable there would be.

Every group of Clones is going to have a field Commander I'm guessing...  That's also my only logical conclusion on what the actual title "Commander" means.  It's a rank unique to Star Wars as Commanders aren't usually marching in with the men in Earth combat terms, not like Cody did anyway, so I've been grappling with the title "Commander" being used in the Clone military for a long time now (Since AOTC). 

But underneath every Commander I figure there has to be Captain's, Lieutenant's, and then the groupings of Non-Coms and Troopers.  I figure there's not much structure for troopers other than they have a Sergeant of perhaps varying degrees, but the build up to the rank of Sergeant (IMO) is non-existant and till you gain that higher level below officers you are just a "Trooper".  It simplifies things at least.

Beyond that you have sergeants...  Do they look different?  Perhaps in some units, but not in others.  With the color coding done away with between the early war and the late war, I figure some means of identification of rank was conceived otherwise.  So Sergeants of all levels (I figure the "dots" on the chest of the early War Clones represented varying levels of rank for that rank level.  It's the only thing I can think of anyway) would, in my mind, look like other Clone Troopers...  Maybe they are the troop designated to carry the support weapon (Blaster Carbine) or whatnot?

From there the Clones have Lieutenants of varying degrees, Captains...  Then that odd rank of "Commander".  Somehow above a Captain, though the actual rank of "Commander" in Naval terms is underneath a Captain so that's confusing, and I don't believe there is a rank of Commander within the Army or Marines...  Only Navy, however there is no Sergeant within the Navy if I'm thinking right (actually a whole other ranking structure really) so again there's a confusing notion.

The rank of Colonel and the rank of Major appear to be completely glossed over in at least the Clone military structure.

Like Sergeants though I figure the dots of the early war Clones represented various levels of rank within the Lieutenants, then the Captains (which in military terms is goofy because there is only one rank of Captain for the Army, Navy, etc., but whatever), etc.

Commander then still remains an enigma.  It's below the rank of Captain within the Navy but in the Clone world a "Commander" outranks a Captain.  This again leads me to believe the full title is "Field Commander", and this ranking trooper on the field is a liason between the Jedi General (or potential sentient officers commanding a battle situation?  I do believe that the Republic HAD a standing military and Officers who would comprise a military body outside the Clones.  In the CW cartoon we see a ground crewman for instance around the Clone fighters, and also I've read that people like Jan Dodonna were up and coming officers in the war...  Also cut lines from ANH had Red Leader saying he fought with Luke's father, etc., so I'm sure there were more than Clones running the show and don't believe them to be the guys running Destroyers and things).  The Field Commander or "Commander" is the most adept, respected, and dangerous soldier on the field short of possibly special ops troopers such as Commandoes and ARCs, and he's there for leadership and coordination where the Jedi cannot always be there to be the leaders on the field.

Some lower ranks within a Clone Legion (I'm guessing Legions are the largest single military grouping in the Star Wars Galaxy) maybe are allowed to adjust their armor by the whims of their COmmander or Jedi General?  Perhaps all Clones are allowed to modify their gear even, further setting them apart from others?  Lots of room for debate and thought there.

Also, a point of note about Appo (always wanna call him Alpo) and Fox...  Fox cannot possibly be second in command in my mind.  Sergeants don't run the show unless everyone's dead, so if Appo is a legion Commander ("Field Commander", whatever), I believe Fox must be at the least a Captain (by the generally accepted EU guide to Clone ranks).  Sergeants just don't lead large groups like that unless they work their way to a higher rank due to casualties within the ranks, field promotion for exemplary work, etc... 

I could see Fox as an aide, or liason that Appo uses to communicate with his various other lower ranking officers.  It's likely any Commander in the field would have men of some substance grouped around him to send personal messages, to defend him if need be, etc...

These are just some thoughts on Clones and "Commanders"/Officers throughout the Prequals.  They really did a piss poor job in covering this stuff in EU materials and the films.  The films never really get into the lower ranks though so all these names/ranks are basically EU aside from Cody who Kenobi talks to directly by his name and using the "Commander" term with him.  Again one could argue though that "Commander" is a generic title for any ranking Officer and that it's not a literal term.

The term "Commander" is used liberally throughout the classic trilogy like that.  Jerjerrod is listed as Moff Jerjerrod in the credits I believe but called Commander by Palpatine because he's the Death Star's ranking officer.  I personally view his title of Moff as his rank though as EU says, but he's still a "Commander" of men.  That's all just food for thought.

A lot to be said about Clone ranks.  I've never much liked its layout in EU though.  The people who created the ranking structure never accounted for the dot patterns on the left chest and stuff, they just slapped "Sergeant = Green, Lieutenant = Blue, Captain = Red, and Commander = Yellow" to them, which is just lazy on someone's part. :)

Same happened with the Pauldrons for the (I believe to be mythical) "Sand"Trooper.  For my money, the pauldrons and modular packs are standard gear for Imperial Stormtroopers in ANY field condition aside from extreme cold/'mountainous.  To me the cold/mountain gear is the "Snow"Trooper gear and I don't buy there actually being "Snow"Troopers that are ready at a moment's notice to drop onto icy planets...  just in case. :)  It's easier in my mind to assume that Stormtroopers have clothes for cold weather assaults, and that the Standard Trooper armor is used for other climates and the pack is modular to be adapted with the appropriate gear for the appropriate world.  THe Pauldron then is a FAST means of identifying ranking individuals on the field.  The Orange Pauldron isn't indicative of any specific rank, and could indicate anything from a Lieutenant up to a General in armor even.  The other colors are a little more believable though for what they were listed, and there's lotsa EU designs I dig too.

Anyway this is rambling a bit about how ****** military organization has gotten since the classic trilogy was made.  EU has taken some great steps to coordinate it, but with the prequals they've made a ****** effort at best.  It doesn't help when Lucas makes umpteen unique Clone designs for his final prequal film as a marketing technique...  As cool as they are and all. ;)


18623
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: King Kong
« on: December 12, 2005, 11:39 PM »
Looks cool, I've been excited to check this film out, but it's a very depressing movie for me so I'm kinda hating that "down" feeling I know I'm going to have while watching it.

My one prof at school wrote a book about hollywood "villains" and stuff.  He wrote about Kong and how there were metaphores pertaining to blacks being oppressed in the US at the time and things.  Interesting notions and thoughts I felt, but I've not read the book really, just know about it from his discussions with me on it.  Seemed interesting though to me.

18624
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: My early Christmas -
« on: December 12, 2005, 11:36 PM »
Nice painting, and thanks for wearing pants.  I appreciate that kind of caring.

18625
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: holiday get2gethas, Can you feel it?!
« on: December 12, 2005, 11:34 PM »
I don't have much problem with holidays but at the same time I don't have much family, nor are they close to begin with.

I'll spend X-Mas eve just in my hometown where my grandmother lives.  She hosts for my father's side of the family, but that's small especially this year since people have work and things and can't come. 

I'll go home a little while then later go to my girlfriend's house a while and hang out with her, help her do the gifts and then I'll go back home.  I'll spend X-Mas day with my parents and my brother will probably be there.  I'll eat dinner at home with them as my girlfriend goes to her family event then.  I'll go back to her house late and share gifts with her and the kids.

Not much driving at all, fairly simple day...  Fine by me for certain.

18626
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: RS deletes accounts
« on: December 12, 2005, 11:29 PM »
Quote
I can't say I've encountered a bigger ass on any Star Wars forum.

Oh, I think I've found his equal but, it's an equal...  Not more or less, just equal.

There's some close runner-ups though over there.  There's a certain guy that goes with the Stormtrooper "TK" prefix that is as big a ******bag over there at times as the aforementioned sopping wet one.  For my $.02 worth though, anyone who picks fights routinely like that though is just not fit for public forums in general.

I love how angry he gets at "Newbs" too, that's funny stuff.  They spam, they misspell, they start new threads, they troll, they flame...  Doesn't he do a lot of that?  Especially the latter two which are bannable offenses at any forum that actually takes pride in itself and its members.

18627
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Anyone Watching Charlie Brown?
« on: December 12, 2005, 11:22 PM »
I will say, it's started recently for me but I have integrated South Park into my holiday traditions.  They have such great episodes and it's inevitable that Comedy Central will have some Holiday South Park marathon or something at some point.  I always like curling up and watching it.

Last year's "Very Critter Christmas" was great on a deranged level and made me think about an essay I wrote in 6th grade where I replaced Santa with the Iatola, and his elf Momar.  What can I say, other than I watched a lot of news as a child, and had a very disturbing sense of humor.  My teacher read the essay himself to the class (only one he did this with) and laughed till he cried throughout.  Ah, good times.

18628
Site Feedback, Suggestions, and Help / Re: Problems logging into JD...
« on: December 12, 2005, 11:18 PM »
I think deleting your cookies is a good place to start Fritz.  Chris knows his stuff, so there's sound advice.  Seems very odd to not even get a log-in screen or anything.

18629
Yup, up and running and nobody's more frustrated than the staff I'm sure.  That was some LONG downtime when it was only to be a short time I guess.  Annoying as hell. 

Glad it's back up because it's just another resource for the hobby that I miss when it's not around.  FFURG says thanks for the thoughts guys.

18630
Revenge of the Sith / Re: #65 Tactical Ops Trooper (501st)
« on: December 12, 2005, 08:16 AM »
If they need Vader they need to broaden their shopping horizons to Wal-Mart.  One near me has about 5 pegs of nothing but the man in black.

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