I'm not sure if KBZ should be banned from here for his story, or go into porn of some sort...

Or both.

Heh

You got kicked too?  Wow...  I didn't think you picked on him much at all.  I'm amazed they got up your ass on anything Vator.  

Oh well..  You guys are still all one-up on me.  

I'd love to start a collection of these little guys, but they're pricey.  They were such nice little figures though.  Offering these up as mail-aways would be a nice gesture on Hasbro's part to the U.S. collectors...  

Alas, they seem destined for some rarity anymore.

Everything I could gather on that was it was, more or less, a scam on SMB's part to dump sloppy product they've come across in their stockrooms or have gotten 2nd hand.

I'm not sure though, so don't quote me on that, but I hear worse and worse things about Small Blue Planet.  BadCat Toys and some others seem to be taking over in the toy soldier dept., and I know just by the negative attention SMB's gotten I'm going to definitely hold off on ordering from them ever.

Their prices are outfreakin'rageous sometimes I've noticed too.

1:18 military toys DON'T have the same support from etailers that Star Wars seems to get.  Not that the companies themselves are even that "sturdy" to begin with...  21st most of all.

21st makes the best action figures I've seen (as far as overall articulation, sculpt, etc.), but they just don't have a sturdy basis to make product it seems.

Dragon, if they made heavily articulated figures, would DOMINATE the military action figure market.  I wish so much that they'd get off their duffs and stop with the pre-posed figures.

21st's best is overall better to me, even if their sculpt and accessories aren't what Dragons are.  They just make a 100x more playable figure.  A more "fun" figure.

Too bad they just don't TRY to make figures.

Spielberg plus Hanks:  BOX OFFICE POISON!!!

Not necessarilly true...  Shaving Ryan's Privates was really good...  I'd rate it as the top war movie of all time personally.  Band of Brothers was a close second (not a film of course, but damn close) I would say, and they did collaborate on that too.

I see your point though, in that Hanks and Speilberg are getting too chummy and things between "friends" can go horribly wrong at times.

Though...  I wonder what the prequals would be like had Speilberg jumped in on them with Lucas?  Would someone with some clout (where Lucas is concerned) actually maybe talked him down from the proverbial ledge?  Hmmmm

Hanks could do without Speilberg, and do everything Speilberg does to the power of 10 I think.  He has as keen a film eye as Speilberg, and he understands comedy better as well.

Hell, now I'm wondering what the prequals would've been like had Lucas been friends with Hanks instead and allowed him to help!  Maybe actually funny when they were supposed to be?  *gasp*

EDIT

BTW, sorry for the random thoughts there...  I'm not even familiar with the movie in question, haha.    I was just having a weird moment thinking about the prequals and friends working together on projects.  

Palpy was indeed mailaway at first, as that's how I got mine as a kid...  I'd like him to be the figure only because a poseable palps would be great.  

Spirit Ani...  Eh, I don't mind a more statue-like figure of him.  

I've heard they are seperate of the figures, so that's cool to me.  I already have some custom ideas in mind for the berets and Star Wars.

I really wish BBI would go into WW2 stuff.  Even if all they did was allies, it'd at least be SOMETHING out there considering how 21st's dropping the ball with figures.

I'd like to see Hasbro focus more on figures than what's stuck there beside them...

rectangular plastic stands are now sort of "generic", and they answer the call people had for stands, but honestly I'd sooner see a figure who could be posed to stand by himself without need for a stand to aid him.

The big things, like your moisture vap Scott, would be great things for the Ultra line...  An Owen resculpt (even just retooled using the body of the 1st?) with Vaporizer on an Ultra card sunsd great to me.  THey pack in the Beru Treadwell with it, and THAT would be an "Ultra" set.

Larger accessories like that, I'm all over in the Ultra line, but as far as regular figures go...  I'm torn.

When I've handed in some of my reviews for the site, accessories (or lack there of) have been a gripe of mine I've noticed, but so's articulation.  If I were forced to a choice, I'd take the latter over the former...  I'd have taken ball/socket joints over a blaster and stand with Ozzel.  

Then again, the blaster and stand didn't require mold tooling, just production, so had the Ozzel simply been articulated differently the blaster and stand would not have necessarilly looked better, but the figure overall would have, so little things like accessories wouldn't have impacted my opinion as much.

With the molds for many accessories you'd see packed in with basic figures already being complete, I'd sooner see the figures improved overall then.

Ultra though...

THAT is the line I'd love to see new, big, impressive accessories packed in to complement what should be impressive "basic" figures.  Riekean with more aritculation, a baton, or a chair with that screen would've equaled "Ultra" to me.  As it stood though, he was really lacking in the accessory dept. for $10, especially considering he was a mediocre figure overall.

So, for Ultra, this is what I'd like...

A New Hope

-Death Star Trooper w/Console...  Round "classic" consoles from the Death Star with a grey-tuniced Death Star Trooper.  Reuse the POTF2 head/helmet even, but a new body sculpt with good (12 - 14) articulation points.

-Death Star Gunner...  POTJ Imp. Officer body/arms, POTF2 DSG Head, TIE Pilot pack-in figure's legs, and a reworking of the Vintage Death Star Gun with its own stand-alone base and 2 accurate seats for gunners.

-Uncle Owen w/Vaporator...  (See Earlier)

-Rebel Technician w/Transport & Tools...  Retooled POTJ Imperial Officer with new head and removable tech helmet (with chin strap), Pack-in tools (generic, or from various other figures), and a mutliple-piece transport with seats for pilot figures like the "Gold Leader" to ride to their fighter.

-Yavin Sentry w/tower...  New Rebel Fleet Trooper with better articulation, Antilles' helmet & blaster, working holster, and a collapsable lookout tower (pike and scanner gun as well?).

-Imperial Scanner Tech...  Retooled POTJ Imperial Officer with new head & arms, scanner box with opening lid and "equipment" inside.  
If it's too small, a 2-pack of techs with different heads and the box would rock!

-Cantina "Alcove"...  A booth from the Cantina...  Various aliens could be packed in, even if they reused some parts (but made new characters, or improved POOR figures from before).

-Ubessian Speeder...  I'd love the little round speeder from Mos Eisley on an Ultra card.  Pack in a Jawa driver or something.

-Yavin Tactical Board w/figure...  Either pack in the Rebel Technician with the headset/com officer, or pack in the bald fellow with a mustache in officer's uniform.  Reuse Antilles' body for it even?

Empire Strikes Back

-Hoth Rebel Technician...  New sculpt Hoth Technician with a reissue of the vintage (I wouldn't mind) Vehicle Maintenance Energizer with a new deco.

-Hoth Rebel Soldier with tri-pod gun...  Super Articulated Hoth Rebel Soldier with a tri-pod Rebel blaster from the trenches.  

-Hoth "Heavy" Footsoldier...  Running variation of the above with the heavy cannon the soldiers used to fight wampas and also used in the trenches.  New headsculpt.

-Bespin Torture Han Solo...  Bespin Capture Scuplt even?  With interchangeable heads ("screaming head and neutral?), and the torture rack from ESB.

-Carbonite Han Solo...  2-slabs (melted and frozen) that both can encompass a Han Solo figure...  Includes a new sculpt Carbo Han with 2-heads (neutral and "hybernation sickness).

-Dagobah Training Luke Skywalker...  Luke Skywalker with improved articulation, softgoods waist-jacket, a suction-cup vine, a cloth backpack, and removable belt/holster/pistol/saber.  A "playable" version of the new Dagobah Luke.  Even reuse parts of that upcoming figure.

Return of the Jedi

-Super Articulated Scout & New Bike...  Resculpt of the Speederbike to-scale, with proper details, sturdy plastic, and a super articulated Scout Trooper.  Count me in for a TON of that.

-Endor Rebel Soldier (Shield Destruction)...  piece of railing/consoles from the Bunker interior, a decently articulated Endor Soldier with a cloth shooulderbag that opens to hold the little bombs from the Endor accessory set.

-Emperor w/Throne...  Simple enough...   Sitting Emperor with a nicely sclpted/detailed throne.  

-C-3PO w/Ewok Throne & Ewok Warrior...  A generic warrior made from Teebo's sculpt with Wickets hood (recolored), a C-3PO that can sit in the throne, and you supply t he other Ewok to carry him!

-Ewok w/Catapult...  New Catapult with another generic (or one of the vintage yet done?) made the same way as the Ewok with 3PO.  Simple Teebo repaint with Wicket hood and weapon.


That's just a couple things I'd personally love to see made...  I'm sure I could think of others if I weren't so tired, especially for main characters...  A Han Endor incorporated into that somehow would be awesome...

Good figures that people want, and good accessories people will appreciate and proudly display.  The Accessories in Ultra are really key though...  The figure should be everything you get with a basic figure, but the accessory is what's asking for your other $5.  Could really capitalize on some good things with some enginuity on Hasbro's part, and with some effort put into the figure itself.

Gotta sell the first $5 before you sell the second $5 with that line, but it's definitely doable and can make everyone happy on both ends.