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Messages - Nicklab

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9001
30th Anniversary Collection / Re: So whos liking all the EU stuff?
« on: August 1, 2007, 12:29 PM »
It's really a natural time to get EU into the line, what with the movies done.

I'm not crazy about the Marvel comic 2-packs, but they're okay to a degree.  I've read most, if not all of the Dark Horse titles so it's a bit easier for me to get into those sets.

I think Evolutions is a fine platform with which to get into the EU.  Getting characters like Darth Bane, Darth Nihilus, Mandalore and NJO Luke is very cool.  Especially since some may not be well suited to the Comic 2-pack format.

The EU basic figures are cool.  Especially the KOTOR and Clone Wars offerings.  I'm very stoked for Darth Malak and Darth Revan as well as Roron Corobb and CW Yoda.

As for the EE set?  Hmmm.  This one I'm on the fence about a tiny bit.  Case in point, the armor of one of the Mandalorians pretty much matches that of an EU Mandalorian named Kal Skirata.  But is that his name?  Nope.  Generating new characters for the sole purpose of making new figures seems to me like jumping the shark.  So I'm still a little skeptical about buying the EE Mandalorian and Clone sets.

9002
30th Anniversary Collection / Re: Future 2008 Waves?
« on: July 31, 2007, 10:02 PM »
Here's what I think we might get before Clone Wars kicks in...


WAVE 3 - RETURN OF THE JEDI
-Luke Skywalker - Death Star 2 duel
-Sim Aloo - Imperial Dignitary
-Lumat & Female Ewok with wokling
-Ak Rev - Jabba's palace drummer
-Klaatu - Woof - Jabba's Palace
-Sergeant Doallyn


WAVE 4 - THE PHANTOM MENACE
-Queen Amidala - Battle of Theed (SA)
-Darth Maul - SA, softgoods (so he can sit in the bloody Sith Infiltrator!)
-Ratts Tyrell & Ben Quadrinaros - Pod Racer 2-pack
-Tey How - Nemoidian battleship controller
-Trade Federation Battle Droid Pilot & PK Droid 2-pack
-Senator Toonbuck Toora


WAVE 5 - A NEW HOPE
-Han Solo in Stormtrooper armor
-Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper armor
-Commander Praji
-Rebel Fleet Trooper - SA
-Death Star Docking Trench Stormtrooper
-Garven Dreis - Red Leader


WAVE 6 - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
-Dack Ralter - Snowspeeder Gunner
-Han Solo in carbonite
-E-3PO - Cloud City Protocol droid
-Captain Needa
-R5-M2 - Echo base astromech


VINTAGE
-Han Solo (Bespin gear)
-Emporer Palpatine
-Walrus Man (Ponda Baba)
-Nein Numb
-AT-ST Driver
-C-3PO with cargo net

9003
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: An idea for a star wars store
« on: July 30, 2007, 06:17 PM »
You're basically talking about a collector shop.  There are plenty of them around.  Some do business the right way, and others don't.  But most of them follow this business model:

Sell toys - Not just Star Wars, but other "hot" lines that collectors are into (DC & Marvel Superheroes, Transformers, GI Joe, McFarlane)
Sell higher end collectibles - Companies like Gentle Giant, Sideshow, Master Replicas, etc
Sell comics - Comic books and magazines bring in a good deal of weekly traffic

More advanced stores will also launch an online store to complement the brick and mortar store.

As for your stock situation?  You have to have a number of different sources.  If you're going to do things on the up and up then you start up accounts with suppliers:  Hasbro, Diamond, Gentle Giant, Sideshow, DC Direct, McFarlane, etc for new stock at wholesale prices.  You can also sell older and vintage items, but that's going to be at market prices.

What a scalper will do is try to buy stock at local stores for two purposes:  create artificial demand locally, and markup the items so that he's going to make a profit.

As for making a business like this work?  It's like any other small business.

-Startup money.  You need to get enough money together so that you can establish your accounts, get a location, stock the store, pay any employees, etc.  And you need to be able to operate long enough that you start generating profits.
-Small business models usually do not turn a profit for 3-5 years from initial investment.
-Good location.  This can make or break a business.  You want to be in a place that's got a good ammount of traffic going by, but isn't going to break you on rent.


As for specializing in Star Wars?  In theory it sounds good, but you might be limiting your potential client base.  And that could doom your store.

9004
I think that the Kamino Clone is definitely cool, but the snap-on armor looks silly when you put it on the Clone.  I think it's a cool set of accessories from the standpoint of that quartermaster station that sends out all of the helmets in AOTC.  But would I ever have this Clone wearing the armor?  Probably not.  Make some kind of deluxe quartermaster station to churn out armor and I think it would be a cool companion piece to this clone.

9005
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Considering Unmoderated Forum
« on: July 30, 2007, 05:24 PM »
Creating an unmoderated forum is only going to further divide the membership.  Certainly the idea of a forum with free speech is a great thing conceptually.  A vigorous public discourse is an essential part of a free society.  But as for websites that are devoted to Star Wars collecting?  It's probably not a good idea.

The track record is already there.  Just check out the RS and GH forums.  It got UGLY.  And it definitely spilled out beyond the political threads in those forums.  And to think that people would be able to compartmentalize those socio-political discussions from others is just naive.  People's belief systems are so strongly engrained that attempting to seperate them from everyday discussion is extremely difficult.  Certainly one would like to think that an adult can rationally divide their political views from interpersonal relationships, but that just isn't the case.  Plus, you have to account for the fact that not everyone is a good enough writer in a forum environment to convey when they're being serious, snarky or just ridiculous.  That in and of itself is a huge cause for many a misunderstanding.  And most likely you're also going to draw users who are here solely for that unmoderated forum and don't add anything else to the site.

The integrity of the site would definitely be placed in jeopardy by this kind of scenario.  I think you would slowly see a breakdown in general civility across the site, followed by flareups here and there in unrelated forums.  And I don't think it's fair to those moderators who are supposed to be shepherding Star Wars discussions to have to squash disputes that are going to be started in the unmoderated forum.

And you know what else?  There are plenty of websites all over the internet where socio/political/religious discussions are thriving.  They're just a few clicks away, and that's what those websites are dedicated to.  I don't think that a social experiment is the right reason for tearing apart one of the more cohesive and cool Star Wars collecting forums on the web.

9006
30th Anniversary Collection / Re: SDCC 501st Legion R2-KT
« on: July 30, 2007, 04:45 PM »
Hasbro is NOT profitting on the R2-KT figure at all.  Derryl DePriest explained this to me at C4.  They made the $100,000 donation and sales of the figure are just going towards covering the costs of producing the figure.  Hasbro could not legally state that all proceeds were going to charity, but they are not profitting on this figure at all.

9007
I dig the Shield on the Destroyer droid, but the Clone with the Armor on (which was shown on the last day of the con) looks awful. So does Jango with his poncho off. :P

Really?  I hadn't seen an image of Jango without the poncho.  Linkage?

9008
Watto's Junk Yard / Re: Everything Rebelscum
« on: July 29, 2007, 06:57 PM »
They had clear photos from the CIV presentation as well.  I'm guessing they just handed Curto a copy of PowerPoint file.  I wonder if they'd do it for other sites if you just asked?

   E...

Hasbro handed out copies to most if not all collector site reporters that were in attendance.  You just have to ask.  I have a copy of the presentation from C4.

9009
Conventions / Re: Fan Expo Toronto Canada 2007
« on: July 29, 2007, 05:58 PM »
Hmmm.  Well Hayden Christensen was the whole reason for me to go to the Toronto Con.  If he's not showing then I'm not making the trip.  To me it sounds like he got a movie gig and cancelled the appearance.  That happens when you're dealing with actors who work.  The money of a movie or tv role is way better than what they'll make at a convention.

9010
30th Anniversary Collection / Re: 2007 Saga Legends
« on: July 29, 2007, 12:35 AM »
No.  The red droid 2-pack is shipping in Wave 2, which I haven't seen anyone report finding yet...

Of course, by typing this response it means that someone will find them in the next few days.   :P

Really?  That saves me some effort.  But I've only seen the Commander and Battle Droid 2-pack so far.  No sign of the blasted or sliced versions in my neck of the woods yet.

9011
I thought I saw that ankle articulation too.  As for ball jointed shoulders?  Not a big deal.  Does this trooper really need ball jointed shoulders so that he can be better posed eating tofu with a whole mess of other clones that are also eating tofu?  Hmmm.   ::)

9012
Gentle Giant / Re: Gentle Giant Mini-Busts
« on: July 28, 2007, 09:56 PM »
Thanks!  It looks like I might be able to get all of the Clone Commanders at cost or reasonably close to cost.

As for the Classics line, there's a thread on those already HERE.  And Jeff posted a comparison shot so that you can get a feel for the scaling...



The telltale sign on the classics busts are the bases.  they're pretty much identical, and it looks much more like a pedastal than a base.  And they also tend not to have arms, whereas most if not all of the current offerings in the mini-bust line have arms.  It this Legolas is the one you're talking about, it looks like it's a classic bust and not a mini-bust.  You can also tell from the small tag next to it...it's got the price on it ($30), and that's the price of the classic busts.


9013
Well of the Souls / Indiana Jones & SDCC 2007
« on: July 28, 2007, 09:19 PM »
Damn.  I had gotten to a point where I was tapering down what I was collecting outside of Star Wars, and Hasbro springs THIS on us.  Adventure Heroes is an easy pass for me, but the Basic Figures are too cool for school! 

I thought I saw something from Hasbro about vehicles, too.  Who knows what Hasbro is going to pull off there.  The only ones I can think of are...

-German Flying Wing (probably too big)
-Horses from Raiders of the Lost Ark & Last Crusade
-Truck to Cairo
-German Sub (obviously WAY too big)
-Dusenberg in Shanghai from Temple of Doom
-Chinese plane from Temple of Doom
-Life raft from Temple of Doom
-Elephant from Temple of Doom
-Mining cars from Temple of Doom
-Train from Last Crusade (obviously way too big)
-Venice boats from Last Crusade
-Biplane from Last Crusade
-Motorcycle with sidecar from Last Crusade
-Tank from Last Crusade

As for Sideshow and Gentle Giant's offerings?  Cool stuff, but I may be able to pass.

9014
The Legacy Collection / Re: New Evolution Sets
« on: July 28, 2007, 07:13 PM »
I'm all in favor of all the figures that are making these sets but I wish they'd leave the Evolutions name alone and do these as single-pack or comic 2-pack figure sets. 

They don't make sense as an evolution IMO, not like a set of Obi-Wan or the Anakin and Trooper sets from 2005 did.  I'd rather have the option of picking and choosing.  I like the Nihilus figure but don't care for Maul or Bane.  The rest are all pretty decent with the Jango and Fett looking really nice.

I just think it looks like Hasbro caved to the collector's desire for Evo sets even though I don't think they make sense.

   E...

I think I understand where you're coming from.  But I think that there's been a significant level of demand for a few of these figures individually like Qui-Gon, Jango Fett, Boba Fett and to a lesser degree Darth Bane and Darth Nihilus. 

I think there's a bit of a wrinkle in the situation by virtue of the way Hasbro is trying to theme the waves, and that it may prove difficult to generate an entire wave that's suited to those characters.  And I think that becomes an even bigger consideration when Hasbro has already stated that the second half of 2008 is going to be devoted to Clone Wars.  So it looks like space in the 2008 line is at a premium, and perhaps an EU wave which might hold NJO Luke & Darth Bane got ruled out in favor of an OT wave.  Where to put them?  How about Evolutions?!

As for the actual Evolution process?  I think that the figures were photographed out of an evolutionary order just so they would make for nicer pictures.  Hence Mandalore flanked by both Boba Fett and then Jango Fett.  Obviously the order there should be Mandalore, then Jango and finally Boba Fett.  As for the Jedi set?  Qui-Gon is significantly taller than Luke or Bultar Swan, so he's in the middle of that photo for that reason.  But the order there should be Qui-Gon Jinn > Bultar Swan > Luke Skywalker.  And by that same token you'll probably see the Sith set packaged with Darth Nihilus > Darth Bane > Darth Maul in the historic progression of the Sith.

9015
30th Anniversary Collection / Re: Recent 30AC Purchases
« on: July 28, 2007, 11:53 AM »
Scored a SL Darth Maul and a couple of Battle Droid 2-packs this morning.

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