Round 2.....

30. Orlando Magic - Anderson Varejao
31. Chicago Bulls (traded to Phoenix) - Jackson Vroman
32. Washington Wizards - Peter John Ramos
33. L.A. Clippers - Lionel Chalmers
34. Atlanta Hawks - Donta Smith
35. Seattle Supersonics (traded to Memphis) - Andre Emmett
36. Orlando Magic (traded to Memphis) - Antonio Burks
37. Atlanta Hawks - Royal Ivey
38. Chicago Bulls - Chris Duhon
39. Toronto Raptors - Albert Miralles
40. Boston Celtics - Justin Reed
41. Seattle Supersonics - David Young
42. Atlanta Hawks - Viktor Sanikidze
43. New York Knicks - Trevor Ariza
44. New Orleans Hornets - Tim Pickett
45. Charlotte Bobcats - Bernard Robinson
46. Portland Trailblazers - Ha Seung Jin
47. Miami Heat - Pape Sow
48. Sacramento Kings - Ricky Minard
49. Memphis Grizzlies - Sergei Lishouk
50. Dallas Mavericks - Vassilis Spanoulis
51. New Jersey Nets - Christian Drejer
52. San Antonio Spurs - Romain Sato
53. Miami Heat - Matt Freije
54. Detroit Pistons - Rickey Paulding
55. Houston Rockets - Luis Flores
56. L.A. Lakers - Marcus Douthit
57. San Antonio Spurs - Sergei Karaulov
58. Minnesota Timberwolves - Blake Stepp
59. Indiana Pacers - Rashad Wright

Draft Results (Round 1)...a few surprises, some trades, probably more to come:

1. Orlando Magic - Dwight Howard
2. Charlotte Bobcats - Emeka Okafor
3. Chicago Bulls - Ben Gordon
4. L.A. Clippers - Shaun Livingston
5. Washington Wizards (traded to Dallas) - Devin Harris
6. Atlanta Hawks - Josh Childress
7. Phoenix Suns (traded to Chicago) - Luol Deng
8. Toronto Raptors - Rafael Aroujo
9. Philadelphia 76ers - Andre Iguodala
10. Cleveland Cavaliers - Luke Jackson
11. Golden State Warriors - Andris Biendrins
12. Seattle Supersonics - Robert Swift
13. Portland Trailblazers - Sebastian Telfair
14. Utah Jazz - Kris Humphries
15. Boston Celtics - Al Jefferson
16. Utah Jazz - Kirk Snyder
17. Atlanta Hawks - Josh Smith
18. New Orleans Hornets - J.R. Smith
19. Miami Heat - Dorell Wright
20. Denver Nuggets (traded to Orlando) - Jameer Nelson
21. Utah Jazz (traded to Dallas) - Pavel Podkolzine
22. New Jersey Nets - Victor Khryapa
23. Portland Trailblazers - Sergei Monya
24. Boston Celtics - Delonte West
25. Boston Celtics - Tony Allen
26. Sacramento Kings - Kevin Martin
27. L.A. Lakers - Sasha Vujacic
28. San Antonio Spurs - Beno Udrih
29. Indiana Pacers - David Harrison

Record 8 high schoolers taken in the first round.  Some teams possibly picking for others, with more trades in the works.

**Also of note, the Timberwolves picked up Blake Stepp of Gonzaga in the second round.  Be nice to have a first round pick again (thanks Joe Smith!)**

And go figure, after not liking SG on Luke at all, it looks perfect on Yoda.

Yeah, I thought the same thing looking at those pictures.  The soft goods is really well done on that figure, and that Yoda looks like it could be the best one we've gotten.  I don't know if it is the nostalgic/vintage part of me that makes me think that or not, but it really looks nice.  And you are right too, looking at the pics, you almost have to do a double take to see whether or not it is the vintage or modern figure in the package.  Very well done, and this whole VOTC concept (although the price stinks) is probably my favorite of the modern line.  "Ultimate" versions of the main characters, well articulated, most have good use of soft goods, able to be "neutrally" posed, and a vintage cardback to boot.  Good stuff, but it could be cheaper

Well, honestly, not much....many of my games have been lost (via my younger brother), or borrowed and not returned.  What remains is Tecmo Super Bowl, Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, Tecmo NBA Basketball, RBI Baseball, Donkey Kong, and a couple of others I can't remember off hand right now (nothing great).  Some games I thought were fun that my friends had but I never did were: Kid Icarus, Mega Man, Metroid, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Pro Wrestling (had, but lost somehow), Zelda, Excitebike, etc.  I've also thought about looking for the Empire Strikes Back game (remembered renting that one), as well as Super Dodgeball, which I've heard is a lot of fun.

Some more trading frenzy going on....the latest rumor has the Wizards and Mavericks making a swap

Wizards Receive:
Antawn Jamison

Mavericks Receive:
Jerry Stackhouse
Christian Laettner
2004 NBA Draft #5 Pick

This trade is being made (at least from Dallas' standpoint) to give them more to work with in trying to get Shaquille to big D.  From the reports on ESPN this morning, it sounds like he is really positive about wanting to leave LA, and not wavering on it at all.  Dallas is sounding like the most likely destination, but they don't want to part with Nowitzki in the deal.  Stackhouse and/or Laettner might be headed elsewhere as well.  Also, in other Laker news, Derek Fisher opted for free agency as well.

The T-Mac trade will likely be on hold until after the draft, as it has been said as many as 7 teams have made offers to Orlando, and they are taking their time to see their best options.  Teams expected to be in the mix are Houston, Indiana, Phoenix and the Clippers....Houston is still rumored to be T-Mac's choice.

Also, the Bulls picked up the #7 pick from Phoenix for a 2nd round pick, future 1st, and cash.  The Bulls now has two picks in the top 10 this year, something might be brewing there as well.

Those Muppet Kubricks are pretty nice, thanks for posting Scott.  Hopefully they have a fairly complete collection planned for those, at least with the "main" characters.

Also, there was this bit of news reported on Action-Figure.com today about a Marvel Minimates 10-pack coming sometime before Christmas to TRU.  A couple of "exclusive" ones (Mr. Fantastic and Ultimate Green Goblin), and the rest are repacks.  You can read the story HERE.  It also says that Minimates should start showing up at Wal-Mart sometime next month.  I've still just got the one 4 pack I picked up, but I've been tempted to get a few more.  A more space and cost effective way to have an extensive "Marvel World" than 6" figures, although Marvel Legends are just so well done they are hard to pass up too.

Looking through some of these older threads, and wondering if anyone's opinions have changed on their favorite "secondary" line?  Mine has somewhat, the Muppets craziness has calmed down a bit at least for me, although I do still think they make great product.  I've still been picking up the odd LOTR figure here and there (up to 5 total, look at me go), and I'm still in to Marvel and of course Star Wars.  Star Wars will always be first and foremost with me, particularly OT stuff, but I will admit it can be kind of tough to keep up at times.  Although I will say "the more figures the better", there are time, due to funds, time, and space...that I envy people who would collect maybe only Marvel Legends, because you'd only have 15-20 figures to look for/buy each year.  But, I'm not complaining too much, because I still love the Star Wars stuff...and I keep buying it up too

That being said....I think for me now, I'd lean towards collecting Marvel Legends/Spidey Classics if I could only choose one.  The figures/characters are just "fun", and hold a lot of nostalgia for me too from my younger comic book reading days.  I really enjoy Lord of the Rings as well, but right now, if it came down to it, it might be Marvel.  I currently have one shelf reserved in our office for Lord of the Rings stuff, and I can hopefully hold off on any more once that is filled with what I want.  It would definitely be between these two lines, I guess that is a credit to Toy Biz that they can have multiple, well done lines.

Another reason Marvel is appealing is that sometimes lines lose a little bit of luster if there isn't anything current around.  Examples include MOTU, which I don't care much about now that there isn't a show/line, etc. to support it.  Star Wars always stays strong in me, but I'm wondering if once I have the LOTR figures I want (and no new movies until the Hobbit gets made), if I won't be as interested in buying the figures anymore either.  Marvel is ongoing, there is always comics with these characters included (in some carnation or another), and the comic book movies coming in the next several years helps too.  Anyways...sorry this was so long....which line would you pick at this point?

TNI.com has put up some pictures (courtesy of Amazon) of Marvel Legends series 7 and 8.  You can check them out HERE.  I know there have been some complaints about it, but I'm kind of looking forward to that Iceman figure, that is one I always wanted to see in ML.