I ran into the new Target exclusive figures and glasses today. While I didn't bite (so often anymore...) I did really like the looks of the packaging.

It really got me thinking. The Star Wars products have been getting A+ packaging this last year or so. I'm an opener, so it doesn't much sink in with me, but some of the boxed stuff lately has just been gorgeous. I'm thinking the new glasses, the Screen Scenes, the Jedi Warriors TRU 4-pack. The Cartoon Clone Wars stuff was wuite a nice look. Even the mock-up of the rumored cantina 3-pack. All really nice looking stuff I've noticed around.

Way to go Hasbro. We don't often stop to notice, but you've really come a long way.

Thanks again, everyone.

Grant, my take on the conference room was basically "no imperial officers to put in it=big empty space or a lot of extra customizing work." Vader has been finding lots of other fun places to choke Motti--the bridge, the superlaser room, while walking down the hall...

Cloud City will be a little smaller than the Death Star, only three (stackable) levels tall but with a wider footprint. I'm visualizing it as sort of the Palitoy Death Star with Cloud City interiors and a Carbon Freezing Chamber (custom, not the miniscule Hasbro release) on the roof.

I'm also going to build a gantry that attaches to the back of the diorama proper--think of it as a 3 3/4" version of the two Kenner Micro World gantry sets. With the whole thing put together, it will be longer than the Death Star is tall (and I'll have nowhere to display it!)

After it's done, (I'm thinking next Christmas again) I'll start work on an Ewok Village set that's been brewing in my mind for a while (hopefully they'll make some new Ewoks before then.) That takes me through 2005, so who knows after that?

And finally, here are the pictures of the completed playset:





This shot is a bird's-eye view looking directly down the center. It really gives a feel for how each level takes up it's own space within the body of the tower, you can see all the way down to the orange floors of the detention level, and then the two first level rooms jutting out below that:



Once again, thanks to Chirs Berry for helping me out with these pictures, and thanks to all of you for the encouragement and support as I brought this "technological terror" to life.

Well, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's to not take praise from Jesse James too lightly. Thanks for the very kind words!

Here, as promised, are the final level pictures, starting with the chasm:





As I was building I realized the bottom of the doorways would be very visible over the Stormtrooper hallway below, so I seized the opportunity to do a mostly-accurate ceiling for that scene:

My fiance' got me the 20th Ann. Optimus Prime for Valentine's Day! I'm a very lucky guy. The box was a little smashed up (which is probably why it was at the store for her to find at all).

I haven't enjoyed a toy this much for a long long time. The transformation is surprisingly smooth, actually simpler than the Alternators I've played with so far. The sheer weight of this thing is something to be admired. The tiny hydraulics are top-notch details...all the little touches really make this so much more-- the little leg vents, the moving mouth plate, the flip-screens on his arms. It's one of the best-made toys I've ever owned.

Tracks looks a little dodgy to me, so far. Not much like his G1 namesake at all, is he? Well, except for the red face...

 

Now if only someone would post the infamous Threepio Tape Dispenser!

So I saw the Jabba's Court Denizens Ultra set at Target tonight, but wound up not buying it. I held it in my hands for quite a while, though, and stared at the contents while I made up my mind.

Bubo looks really great, the Wol Cabbashite thing is neat but tiny (not to mention something I've never even noticed in the movie), and the B'ommarr Monk is, well, the B'ommarr Monk--the highlight of the set in many respects (size, articulation, creepiness factor), except that it's a figure I already have a couple of and just don't really need.

I nearly bought it just to get Bubo, but I couldn't justify ten bucks for a little figure with no legs. Here's to hoping someday Hasbro does the right thing and sells a Bubo with Jawa handler 2-pack.

Anyone else saying "no" to this one?

Thanks for the compliments, Scott and Dan.

About a month behind my dream schedule, I finished up Level 5 today, so now The Death Star is fully armed and operational!

I'll have pics to share soon!

(and curse you, JediMAC, I couldn't help sketching out a rough idea of what a Throne Room might look like as level 6 the other day. But it is not meant to be...at least not for a while.)