18541
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: I've been shat upon
« on: December 18, 2005, 02:41 AM »
Myth it may be, but I like my delusions.
Bringing Balance to the Force
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18542
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Happy Birthday jokabofe!
« on: December 18, 2005, 02:40 AM »
Happy birthday Dave, hope you get some good Star Wars loot... and that it doesn't cut too much into your Christmas loot either.
18543
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: RS deletes accounts
« on: December 18, 2005, 02:37 AM »So....did someone ban Matt again?
(Text Cut)
Seriously though, I've actually seen him be decent over there from time to time...so I know it's possible. I'm not sure what it takes to make him turn off the "Dark Side" switch, but there's gotta be something.
Yeah, I wound up doing so because he isn't in any mood to "defend" himself considering he came out swinging, and basically I didn't feel like leaving the door open for him... He'd gotten inadvertantly banned, but I'd re-opened his account... He'd left at that point though, and it was going on 6 when I wanted to get out of here and catch some Z's on my Saturday so yes he got re-owned because basically it wasn't worth the effort at the time and nobody was around to pull together a babysitter's club for him.
As far as how he is capable of behaving... I've seen him be civil too at times, but he's always the kinda guy who reverts back to calling someone names, putting someone down, talking down to some demographic of people, or just trying to see how far he can bend the rules... I think he only behaves when told to do so, and eventually reverts back to being himself. People are what they are, and I don't believe change is something most are capable of, especially when they don't believe they are the problem anyway.
18544
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: The biggest disappointment in video game history
« on: December 18, 2005, 02:32 AM »
My heart always sank when that last AT-AT led to just another new one appearing in the origina ESB Atari 2600 game. It sucked ass to the extreme knowing that the Imperial assault was unstoppable.
18545
Saga Collection '06 / Re: Imperial Officers
« on: December 17, 2005, 06:21 PM »
I'm all for it if at the right price... EE's proven to me that anything they carry "for army builders" isn't really for us... It's for collectors in overpriced sets, and EE's just hoping army builders get sucked into paying their premium prices for these sets.
To this day I've yet to see any impressive picture of someone's "grand army of the republic" built up with EE Clone 4-packs... Why? Because I think they sold about half as well as some people want you to believe. Hell even Brian's Toys had them on sale... Brian's F'n Toys people!
I think what EE should do is offer their 4-packs at a $30 maximum prior to shipping charges. They'd be a little more in line with what I'd pay. Their case prices are great though, if you can afford to plunk $300+ down at one sitting of course, but their individual packs are pretty outrageously priced overall based on a per-figure cost.
Bare in mind too we're dealing with very cost-efficient items supposedly guaranteed to sell... EE can do better for us, and if they want to "help the army builders" they can do so by offering things at a price people can army build at affordably. The white mailer packs were ideal... I can see paying a little more for fancier packaging, but not $10 per figure... That **** don't fly as far as I'm concerned. That's price gouging pure and simple.
To this day I've yet to see any impressive picture of someone's "grand army of the republic" built up with EE Clone 4-packs... Why? Because I think they sold about half as well as some people want you to believe. Hell even Brian's Toys had them on sale... Brian's F'n Toys people!
I think what EE should do is offer their 4-packs at a $30 maximum prior to shipping charges. They'd be a little more in line with what I'd pay. Their case prices are great though, if you can afford to plunk $300+ down at one sitting of course, but their individual packs are pretty outrageously priced overall based on a per-figure cost.
Bare in mind too we're dealing with very cost-efficient items supposedly guaranteed to sell... EE can do better for us, and if they want to "help the army builders" they can do so by offering things at a price people can army build at affordably. The white mailer packs were ideal... I can see paying a little more for fancier packaging, but not $10 per figure... That **** don't fly as far as I'm concerned. That's price gouging pure and simple.
18546
Saga Collection '06 / Re: SAGA price hike?
« on: December 17, 2005, 06:17 PM »non-movie year = higher prices.
I think Hasbro has proven this to be the case time and time./quote]
Not necessarilly... E1's movie year saw the biggest price jump. That carried over into Power of the Jedi, but only briefly as then the figures came back down to $5.99 and even $4.99-ish.
Saga saw more of a shift to the $4.99 if I recall, but didn't they first arrive at $5.99 till "price adjustment" started between the competing retailers? I forget now it's been a little while.
There was some price fluctuations but ROTS started at $5.99 which was fine enough... Jumping to $6.99 is going to sting if that is the case, and definitely will have a negative affect on how much I buy, and what I buy... I'll pass on things like Hoth R2-D2 whereas I MIGHT have bought one otherwise.
I think what we'll see is perhaps an increase, but then a leveling out to the $5.99 (or even lower depending how competitive the line still remains at retail) by retailers.
18547
Saga Collection '06 / Re: Battle of Hoth Wave
« on: December 17, 2005, 06:12 PM »
Yup, I've taken note of that too Anton... Definitely is the POTJ blaster sculpt, not the Saga one. Why would Hasbro do this? I'm clueless except to think that it's their effort to re-use that mold a bit... An effort to depreciate its cost some and perhaps retire it. I'm not sure how they go about that...
It also could be just a simple act of laziness on someone's part, using a mold that's outdated and was never appreciated by collectors. The good news is I have a number of extra Saga pistols but still now I wonder if they'll fit the holster and the figure's hand ok? For my money the blaster and knees are Derlin's failings as an action figure... The blaster I can live with though without a problem, but the knees simply are piss poor cost cutting on Hasbro's part for what is probably the better Hoth Rebel army builder at this stage.
It also could be just a simple act of laziness on someone's part, using a mold that's outdated and was never appreciated by collectors. The good news is I have a number of extra Saga pistols but still now I wonder if they'll fit the holster and the figure's hand ok? For my money the blaster and knees are Derlin's failings as an action figure... The blaster I can live with though without a problem, but the knees simply are piss poor cost cutting on Hasbro's part for what is probably the better Hoth Rebel army builder at this stage.
18548
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Ever said someone else's name?
« on: December 17, 2005, 08:43 AM »
That's why you guys should date girls who are all the same name. It makes life a lot easier.
18549
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: I've been shat upon
« on: December 17, 2005, 08:41 AM »
Food for thought though Chris...
-I'm assuming you weren't hurt in the accident nor was anyone else. Insurance will cover it and you'll move on and be a better person for the experience...
-Girls come and go... Then they come again. I'd be more disappointed in losing out on Christmas gifts possibly, but then again I'm a pig.
-At least you have credit... And it's just a glitch, **** happens.
Now go out there and be somebody!
-I'm assuming you weren't hurt in the accident nor was anyone else. Insurance will cover it and you'll move on and be a better person for the experience...
-Girls come and go... Then they come again. I'd be more disappointed in losing out on Christmas gifts possibly, but then again I'm a pig.
-At least you have credit...
And it's just a glitch, **** happens.Now go out there and be somebody!
18550
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: RS deletes accounts
« on: December 17, 2005, 08:14 AM »
Indeed... And with that, I'm going to be putting a gag on him till one of the other staff decides they can be here to babysit him and let him speak his "defense". He's done a smashing job of it so far though... 
Really winning those hearts and minds with such intellectual banter as he's displayed so far.
Really winning those hearts and minds with such intellectual banter as he's displayed so far.
18551
Saga Collection '06 / Re: Battle of Hoth Wave
« on: December 17, 2005, 07:45 AM »
They're an interesting mix but I keep hoping you're right Spuffy about them being potentially from another era of quality. Not to say they're bad at all, I love Derlin and Veers overall, but I'm still have some gripes... Namely, the knee joints kill me. The Cantina wave was SO perfect, they should have just made htis a standard... Especially when you know Veers is going to be as good as an army builder to many. Same with Derlin. I know I already want a bunch to put new heads onto him. I'm also disappointed in Veers' hat not being removable. I'm more irked about that because of the customizing potential it would have given me though. At the end of the day it's a flaw in my eyes though but the knees are a much larger issue to me.
The holsters rock though (even though Veers' holster is not correct since he didn't wear it without the armor)... Not sure why, but Derlin seems to have that pathetic pea shooter that the POTJ Fleet Trooper had... Why reuse that sculpt? I'm confused by that, but whatever... I have the good ones around here to re-equip him with I just hope they fit the holster.
R2's different... Vader's worth buying to have basically an opened 500th Vader... The Gonk is my favorite, I don't know why. I just love those droids and it's nice getting another one. Veers is great custom fodder despite the leg articulation and hat, and Derlin's great despite the leg articulation and pistol.... Those knee joints just kill me though, and I hope that this isn't a sign of the way things will be across the board.
The AT-AT Driver's the clear-cut winner though of course. Great figure... Not one I wanted particularly, but great figure overall. He's what the standard ought to be for 85% of the line's new sculpts. I'm glad he doesn't look like he'll put the old sculpt AT-AT drivers to shame too much either, so I won't really have that urge to retire them like I do my TIE Pilots. That's a plus.
The holsters rock though (even though Veers' holster is not correct since he didn't wear it without the armor)... Not sure why, but Derlin seems to have that pathetic pea shooter that the POTJ Fleet Trooper had... Why reuse that sculpt? I'm confused by that, but whatever... I have the good ones around here to re-equip him with I just hope they fit the holster.
R2's different... Vader's worth buying to have basically an opened 500th Vader... The Gonk is my favorite, I don't know why. I just love those droids and it's nice getting another one. Veers is great custom fodder despite the leg articulation and hat, and Derlin's great despite the leg articulation and pistol.... Those knee joints just kill me though, and I hope that this isn't a sign of the way things will be across the board.
The AT-AT Driver's the clear-cut winner though of course. Great figure... Not one I wanted particularly, but great figure overall. He's what the standard ought to be for 85% of the line's new sculpts. I'm glad he doesn't look like he'll put the old sculpt AT-AT drivers to shame too much either, so I won't really have that urge to retire them like I do my TIE Pilots. That's a plus.
18552
Revenge of the Sith / Re: 2005 - year wrapup
« on: December 17, 2005, 07:29 AM »
I think, without a doubt, that Revenge of the Sith had THE best movie year ever... It has had bumps though at times, and some that look to be more like ruts for future trouble actually.
The line's success, I believe, is attributed 50% to a vastly improved film this time over the predecessors... People didn't want to like Star Wars after Episode I came out and basically was a flop to the general public... Episode II came out and while it was better to many people's eyes, it still was a flop in the eyes of the general public. It wasn't "cool" to like Star Wars because Star Wars sucked... I liked the movies enough, but die-hards are bad to judge a film by and the toy lines I believe suffered tremendously based on the respective film's success rates.
The other 50% of the success the ROTS line has had I attribute to a very high jump in quality over the past two toylines tied to a film. The figures were vast and varied, they were made to appeal not just to a single demographic but in an attempt to appeal to "everyone" as best the company felt they could... Really, ROTS felt like it was still a collector's year on top of a movie year "devoted to kids".
Hasbro can claim kids drive the line, but the simple fact we got two sculpts of Clones tells me Hasbro doesn't even believe this mantra completely anymore. Kids are important but fickle, and they know they have to cater to us even in film years. I like that.
Hasbro had great hits from the basic line, to Deluxe, and beyond. The Evolutions concept is probably their best idea in 10 years, and they've touched on really making the basic line get to where it needs to be for collector's to generally be on cloud 9 most of the time. They still regress at times it seems, both in ROTS and in some future Saga'06 figures, but Hasbro's improved the line since 2003 quite a bit I believe... I just wish they were more constant.
Sales are high, undoubtebly, and I'm anxious to see quarterly reports after X-Mas time.
At the same time though, Star Wars is going into unknown waters... And Hasbro DID drop the ball at times, as has retail.
-Target's exclusives are absolutely dickish at this point I believe. The pricing is out of control, and Hasbro fuels that fire but really ought to rethink what they're offering I believe... Price and availability make them the "chase figure" of this line, and a dangerous edge to be walking on for Hasbro... This could be the kind of stuff that ultimately kills collector support for Star Wars much like it did for Star Trek, especially going into a time when kid support is going to start drifting away as it inevitably will.
-Distribution was poor from about April to August... You couldn't find a Clone on the pegs till September in most areas, and that's a huge negative for the line. I think it hurt.
Similar distribution problems have gone into the holidays now, where retailers were burning out on Star Wars, and haven't seemingly ordered enough to satisfy demand. Even I'm at a point where I can't find X-Mas gifts for the kids. Again, at a crucial time everything everyone wants is gone... Hell practically everything nobody wants is gone too! We're at December 17th now... Where's the ****?
-And looking towards the future, I see Hasbro regressing in quality some. I'm hoping it's more a case of older items maybe just now seeing release, so their quality levels are perhaps more atuned to 2003 than 2005/06, however some cutbacks on some figures started surfacing in the ROTS line... This is disappointing if it's going to be the start of a backwards trend in the line's quality on certain figures here and there... Or that only one figure out of a wave is really gonna get the quality work while the others get shafted.
What happened to an entire wave ala the Cantina Wave, where each figure impressed you equally? That was setting a line standard, and that's where we should be. This just strikes me as a forseable issue that will frustrate some collectors. I bought my ROTS figures, I loved them... I'd hate to pay the same (or potentially more) for what feels like less in the upcoming years.
Anyway, just some observations... Star Wars is popular. Even old stuff that was basically crap last year this time is being bought up at times. My local Toy Show had clearanced Episode 1 stuff going for as much as $10... How much sold, I do not know, but I do know that something lit a fire under those fat balding comic book guy's asses to jack their prices up...
I think times will change as we get further from the movie though. And a good movie it was... It's amazing to look at Star Wars as something other than a dying line at the moment. This same moment in 2002 it looked like we'd be lucky to get a handful of figurs for 2003 because pegs were clogged to the brim with crap and the line had gone through its worst slump since the Episode 1 figure glut. How things can change with good figures (overall) and a good movie that even the most critical people were enjoying it seemed.
Here's to hoping for some good TV series to perhaps keep things afloat for quite a while.
The line's success, I believe, is attributed 50% to a vastly improved film this time over the predecessors... People didn't want to like Star Wars after Episode I came out and basically was a flop to the general public... Episode II came out and while it was better to many people's eyes, it still was a flop in the eyes of the general public. It wasn't "cool" to like Star Wars because Star Wars sucked... I liked the movies enough, but die-hards are bad to judge a film by and the toy lines I believe suffered tremendously based on the respective film's success rates.
The other 50% of the success the ROTS line has had I attribute to a very high jump in quality over the past two toylines tied to a film. The figures were vast and varied, they were made to appeal not just to a single demographic but in an attempt to appeal to "everyone" as best the company felt they could... Really, ROTS felt like it was still a collector's year on top of a movie year "devoted to kids".
Hasbro can claim kids drive the line, but the simple fact we got two sculpts of Clones tells me Hasbro doesn't even believe this mantra completely anymore. Kids are important but fickle, and they know they have to cater to us even in film years. I like that.
Hasbro had great hits from the basic line, to Deluxe, and beyond. The Evolutions concept is probably their best idea in 10 years, and they've touched on really making the basic line get to where it needs to be for collector's to generally be on cloud 9 most of the time. They still regress at times it seems, both in ROTS and in some future Saga'06 figures, but Hasbro's improved the line since 2003 quite a bit I believe... I just wish they were more constant.
Sales are high, undoubtebly, and I'm anxious to see quarterly reports after X-Mas time.
At the same time though, Star Wars is going into unknown waters... And Hasbro DID drop the ball at times, as has retail.
-Target's exclusives are absolutely dickish at this point I believe. The pricing is out of control, and Hasbro fuels that fire but really ought to rethink what they're offering I believe... Price and availability make them the "chase figure" of this line, and a dangerous edge to be walking on for Hasbro... This could be the kind of stuff that ultimately kills collector support for Star Wars much like it did for Star Trek, especially going into a time when kid support is going to start drifting away as it inevitably will.
-Distribution was poor from about April to August... You couldn't find a Clone on the pegs till September in most areas, and that's a huge negative for the line. I think it hurt.
Similar distribution problems have gone into the holidays now, where retailers were burning out on Star Wars, and haven't seemingly ordered enough to satisfy demand. Even I'm at a point where I can't find X-Mas gifts for the kids. Again, at a crucial time everything everyone wants is gone... Hell practically everything nobody wants is gone too! We're at December 17th now... Where's the ****?
-And looking towards the future, I see Hasbro regressing in quality some. I'm hoping it's more a case of older items maybe just now seeing release, so their quality levels are perhaps more atuned to 2003 than 2005/06, however some cutbacks on some figures started surfacing in the ROTS line... This is disappointing if it's going to be the start of a backwards trend in the line's quality on certain figures here and there... Or that only one figure out of a wave is really gonna get the quality work while the others get shafted.
What happened to an entire wave ala the Cantina Wave, where each figure impressed you equally? That was setting a line standard, and that's where we should be. This just strikes me as a forseable issue that will frustrate some collectors. I bought my ROTS figures, I loved them... I'd hate to pay the same (or potentially more) for what feels like less in the upcoming years.
Anyway, just some observations... Star Wars is popular. Even old stuff that was basically crap last year this time is being bought up at times. My local Toy Show had clearanced Episode 1 stuff going for as much as $10... How much sold, I do not know, but I do know that something lit a fire under those fat balding comic book guy's asses to jack their prices up...
I think times will change as we get further from the movie though. And a good movie it was... It's amazing to look at Star Wars as something other than a dying line at the moment. This same moment in 2002 it looked like we'd be lucky to get a handful of figurs for 2003 because pegs were clogged to the brim with crap and the line had gone through its worst slump since the Episode 1 figure glut. How things can change with good figures (overall) and a good movie that even the most critical people were enjoying it seemed.
Here's to hoping for some good TV series to perhaps keep things afloat for quite a while.
18553
Revenge of the Sith / Re: Christmas and ROTS
« on: December 17, 2005, 07:09 AM »
I believe that's a sign the apocalypse is coming... Run! Flee!
18554
Revenge of the Sith / Re: Covert Ops Clone Trooper
« on: December 17, 2005, 07:08 AM »
Not at the moment though.
Man, I was looking at some prices through there too... I never seem to browse much online, but holy cow some of the basics were really high in price. $8.99 and supposed "listed" at $12.99... Is everything a Target exclusive there?
Man, I was looking at some prices through there too... I never seem to browse much online, but holy cow some of the basics were really high in price. $8.99 and supposed "listed" at $12.99... Is everything a Target exclusive there?
18555
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: RS deletes accounts
« on: December 17, 2005, 04:44 AM »
Not me, I have all his replies in their pseudo-hillbilly glory with **** this and **** that right in there... Like watching Jerry Springer, yet somehow sadder for the guest. I'm only editing his titles... Trying to get used to actually having to moderate someone and all that jazz.