Yikes!  Looks like I missed a bunch of birthdays this past week while the computer was temporarily packed up...  Big happy belated B-Day wishes to Simon, Jay, Nathan, Chris, Artoo, John(s), and Jim (and Bertha too, of course)!

Hope you all had a super swell day. 

- M

Yes, Kubricks are definitely some of the coolest SW collectibles out there, no doubt.  I'm not sure how much of the Kubrick section you've perused, Brent, but is it safe to assume that you're aware of the prices on the chase/variant figures?  Here is our almost up-to-date Kubrick checklist.

If you took up Kubricks, would you want to be a completist?  If so, you're looking at 11 different 1:96 chases that'll run you around $100 apiece, if not more.  Then there's another 3 figures that are 1:48 that'll run about half that amount, probably more.  Then there's another 5 that are 1:12 which'll be around $20 - $25 each.  The Early Bird set of 4 is about $130.  The 10+ carded Kubricks (7 of which are unique) will run you anywhere from $75 to $250 each.  Then there's the various boxsets (including $100+ Speederbike), etc.

My point is that if you're going to go completist on this line, be ready to drop some SERIOUS cash on it.  Yeah, each regular wave of 6 figures can be had for a paltry $40 - $50.  It's just all the other stuff that really adds up.  Just wanted you to know what you'd be getting into here...

They're definitely great though!  Lot of folks refer to them as "crack" around here, 'cause they're so damned addicting (and expensive).  Anyway, good luck wiith whatever you decide!

- M

Hey Pat, welcome to JD.  Thanks for stopping in to introduce yourself to the gang.  Hopefully you guys can continue to pop in from time to time.  In the meantime, good luck with ISY, and I look forward to chatting with you around the boards...

- Matt

P.S.  Do you want me to split this post off into a more personal seperate thread for you?

Retail.  Always retail.  I live for the "thrill of the hunt", so shopping online is basically "cheating" to me.   Of course, I have the luxury of being in SoCal, where there's about 30 Target stores within an hour of me, and another 20+ WMs and TRUs, so I'm lucky in that respect.  However, I can see how folks in other areas that have only one or two (poorly stocked) stores nearby would definitely want to go with the online route instead.

I do shop online whenever there's an online exclusive (like at EE), of course.  Maybe an eBay purchase from time to time as well, but that's about the extent of online shopping for me.  Of course, with gas prices surging way over $3 a gallon again, and traffic being as ****** as it is in L.A., I may need to start rethinking my shopping methodologies soon here... 

Word breaking out of Lakers' training camp right now is that Kobe's supposedly cleared out his locker and left.  That whiny bitch is possibly gone for good from L.A.  Can't wait to get a whole buttload of pathetic scrubs from the Bulls, or Howard/Terry from the Mavs...  But as much of a whiny bitch as he is, I'd hate to lose him.  Love him, or hate him, he's still the most exciting (and best) player in the NBA.  Of course, Jerry Buss didn't help matters when he started popping off last week about potentially trading Kobe, after everything had completely died down finally.  Buncha dumbfucks out here in L.A.

ESPN is now reporting that he's not going anywhere, and merely "re-organized" his locker. 

A bit suprising that we here in Denver will get the NE/Dallas game instead of the Raiders/Chargers game. I'm not complaing though...

Yeah, you're lucky Matt.  Even all the (former) Raider fans here in L.A. were hoping to get the Dallas/NE game, and were pissed to get stuck with the same old Raider horse****.  At least LT finally played like himself again though, so that was fun to watch.

Almost as fun was watching the Adrian Peterson highlights.  Man, you MN guys might have something pretty special there.  If he's finally fully recovered from his injuries (especially the collarbone), that guy may be the next LT, and bring the Vikes back to national attention.  Speaking of which, watching Randy Moss blow up again this season has made me seriously sick to my stomach.  As I'm sure has already been pointed out earlier in this thread, his amazing performance this year so far has proven nothing more than what a huge QUITTER that guy is.  Granted, he's got one of the game's best QBs throwing to him now, but still, he could've should've been nearly as entertaining the last several years when he gave up on both the Vikings and Raiders.  What a waste of time that was in his career, as he's obviously now proven that he still very much had it in him during those pathetically unproductive and boring years.  I'd love to see that cost him a spot in the HOF someday.  This guy's an amazing talent, but doesn't deserve a spot in Canton due to his beng one of the worst sports and biggest quitters in the history of the game.

As for the Pats, yeah, they look insanely good this year - maybe the best they've ever been.  Can't wait for that 11/4 Sunday night matchup in Indy next month.  If anyone's gonna beat them, it would be the Colts at Indy.

Oh, and go Packers!!  Nice to see Beth Brett back (not last weekend though)... 

Canada doesn't count 

No offense JangoTat, but yeah, iFett's right - I can't easily purchase stuff at Canadian retail from Southern California.    Actually, this wave trickled out to retail in Canada almost a year ago.  Unfortunately, they were few and still pretty hard to find, and Canada's as far as they ever went.

It would be cool to grab some of the other OT figures originally planned though, so hopefully this line comes back out, even if only briefly.  I hate seeing prototype stuff, but then having it never come out.  So a Snowtrooper, Han, etc. would be cool to finally add to the collection.  Not that I overly love this line or anything, but I do feel like my collection is "incomplete" since I technically saw other Titanium figures ready for release, that apparently (temporarily?) got canceled.  I guess we'll find out soon...

PM sent on the Kubricks, Jon...

- M