JsARCLIGHT

Gah! He hath boosted mine idea! Except that I plan to buy a new Focker 1/48 to put the pilot and TV packs on. Yooooo hooooo, Kevin..... time to pre-order a reissue Focker.....

Thanks for the praise. I needed a complete 1/48 Skull Squad otherwise I'd stay up nights pacing. The real praise for this custom should go to Agent One for his (to my knowledge) pioneering customizing of the 1/48 heat shields last year and to Takatoys for his great stickers that made this toy look "factory". Oh and the toy is safe, no damage... It just seemed the right thing to say about a Kakizaki toy, that he died just after a real appearance in the thread... just like DYRL.

Ask and you shall receive. Complaments of JsARCLIGHT, Agent One and Takatoys. Edit to add: the toy exploded into firey pieces seconds after I snapped this shot tonight.

Fanboys! Sing along with me! (we all know the lyrics) Through early moring fog I see... Vision's of the things to be... The pains that are withheld for me... I realise and I can see... That suicide is painless! It brings on many changes! ... and I can take or leave it if I pleeeeeeease!

Wow that thing is now worth $150 american? Not to add insult to injury here but the local Warner Brother store at the Saint Louis Galleria had like ten of those things back in 2001 when it went under... I think they had them on the clearance shelf for like $20 or something. Talk about your rediculous price markups. Then again it is a defunct toy from a defunct toy line made by a defunct toy maker sold from a defunct store about a movie that has a very very small fanbase... and yet the BraveStarr toys still rot in their low price ranges?

I want the next Macross (if there is one) to be more of the same... you heard me. I want to see the UN Spacy fighting the Zentradi on the SDF Macross and I want to see more crazy space combat action with ace combat pilots, killer VF-1 valkyries and regult pods getting blowed up real good. To me there is no Macross after Flashback 2021... just knock-offs trying hard to be Macross.

Doubtful as most of those looney toons wartime reels were very "racist"... I fear another Song of the South treatment for those Bugs and Daffy cartoons when they plaster the buck-toothed Japanese soldier and Hitler.

Ahhh... piles of decomissioned weapons... old soldiers who's wars are over.

Play Dough... There, I said it. But seriously. This is no new thing in America... anyone remember the uproar caused by the Inhumanoids toys? The Battlestar Galactica toys? the Garbage Pail Kids? the Lawn Dart? anything and everything made by Whammo toys? I grew up in the seventies and as a child I owned war toys, toy guns and an army helmet (my father's real one actually), a BB rifle or two, a crazy goop monster maker, Slime, a light bright, lawn darts and I rode my unsafe reflectorless bike without a helmet and ten pounds of pads... guess what. I somehow survived. Today's rule of thumb in this ultra politially correct (is that the "P" word Max?) world is that if one child could possibly get hurt on something it goes bye bye. I think today's kids are actually being driven indoors to video games because all the cool outdoor war toys and crazy whammo air blaster toys are being taken away from them. If I have a son he will get everything I had and I will be a good parent like my father was to me and teach him the true meaning of war and death, sex and drugs, boys and girls and all the other stuff the PTA wants our kids to learn when they are 16.

I guess I'll chime in on this too seeing as I have both animes in question and the DTP manga... The original Dominion Tank Police Anime made me laugh my ass off the first time I saw it subbed on VHS back in 1992 (I actually still have all four of those tapes if anyone wants them). The OAV was a riot... the first time through. Like all good comedies, it was not as funny the second time through and totally boring the third time around. IMHO the plot was a mish-mash of ideas and themes from the manga that never really had a good development going and just sort of wandered at the end, going out with a whimper rather than a bang. The anime also did not seem to capture the manga's gritty humor and went for more of the fart, boob and dick joke immature route. The level of humor goes even further into the can on the english dub version where they totally rewrite a lot of the dialogue to make it even more childishly vulgar and immature while at the same time they replace all the kitshy music with this horrid mid nineties technopop dance crap. All in all, the original is worth watching once but it never really captures the feel or flavor of the manga and is more or less a police academy movie without the stupid sound effects guy. The New Dominion Tank Police Anime is definately not as funny as the original but it packs more "Shirow action" and more "Shirow plot"... what that means is that the happy-go-lucky nuthouse antics of the tank police are totally GITS-a-fied and once again totally do not match the feel and flavor of the manga. In the process the show's plot gets murkier and darker, the characters change from being goof-balls to being saps and the action becomes less comedic and more techno-thriller. I myself do not like the "new" tank police anime as I feel it is needlessly heavy-handed and melodramatic. Tank police IMHO was supposed to be a lighthearted poke at environmentalism, peace, crime and cops... but neither of the animes capture the manga at all very well. You should read the manga first and then watch the shows so you have the "true" Tank Police in your thoughts will watching.

(wakes up from his corner and steps back into the fray) Seems to me any company out there will remaster and re-release their stuff over and over and over and over and over again until people stop buying it. The trick is to stop buying it rather than bitching all over it. Face it, suckers are going to buy this thing and purists like us are going to ham all over it. I myself admit to being spooned into buying re-releases of things I've bought before... both on VHS and DVD. Let's see here... how many different copies of Terminator 2 have I owned on VHS and DVD alone... something like 6? And all of those seem to have been released one after the other. When there is money to be made, companies will attempt to make the money. I'm not siding with HG here as they can go piss up a rope for all I care... I'm just starting to think that some people, who will not even be buying these DVDs anyway, are getting all pissed over nothing special. This is a typical industry move here guys, it's not some giant conspiracy involving a grassy knoll, a crappy italian bolt action and a second shooter. Heck, if I ran HG and owned the rights to Robotech lord knows I'd be raping the fans too... and so would most of you... it's called taking a page out of the George Lucas playbook and cashing in on some filthy lucre while the gettin' is good. (goes back over into his corner and goes back to sleep)

People need to realize that the military doctrine that led the Vietnam war and the development of weapons for it is no longer thought to be capable of winning wars today. The only reason the M16A1 was allowed to become the M16A2 in the early '80s was because the military was still operating under those outdated tactics and beliefs. It took a new war fought with new weapons (the 1990 Gulf War) in a totally different environment to begin the winds of change blowing in the military to kick off a new doctrine in small arms. Gone is the notion of volume of fire... gone is the notion of "he who can shoot the most, wins"... gone is the notion of making a super simple "soldier-proof" weapon for draftees... and gone is the concept of the limited sight engagement... they are being replaced with the new lines of a war were close combat inside cities, buildings and vehicles is taking shape. The ability to look and shoot around corners from protection and over obsticles is more important to the light weight of the weapon. With the introduction of the new Land Warrior system and the linking of soldiers with their command element in real time with the ability for everyone to see and hear what is going on requires new weapons that can better adapt to any situation. With the "professional" status that our military now employs there is no need to keep weapons simple and rudamentary as you have all the time in the world to train an eager to learn volunteer soldier how to operate his brand new heat seaking, thermal imaging, laser guided gun. But one thing that the military planners should take heed of is history: Never introduce a new weapon on the troops engaged in a current military campaign without first making sure all the bugs are worked out of it's design and knowing the troops are fully aware of the weapon's function and capabilities. Compare and contrast these events in war: in 1943/44 the war department engineers a brand new, super cheap to make submachine gun called the M3 Greasegun. Made from stampings the gun costs much less than the Thompson to make. Realizing that the troops, who had been training with Thompsons, would need to be brought up to speed on this new gun before they could be expected to field it in combat the general staff of the army did not issue the M3 to currently engaged troops. Rather they issued them to boot camp troops who had time to train on the guns before being deployed and they gradually replaced the Thompsons with the M3s in the field as new troops came in to replace the old ones. Soon after the first few groups of M3 units hit the field, everyone in the lines wanted an M3 Greasegun so command began issuing them to all troops with propper doccumentation and instruction were possible. The M3 seamlessly replaced the Thompson in the field, but seeing as it fired the same ammo as the Thompson those troops who wished to retain their Thompsons were allowed to do so on their perogative and there were no ammo supply issues... Fast forward to Vietnam. A military weapon called the AR15 was rushed into development and deployment by a bunch of beurocrats who knew nothing about weapon design or function and was classified the M16. This rifle was forced upon the troops in the field in Vietnam by top brass with no instruction on it's operation... they were basically told to go out onto their base perimeter and fire off a few bursts into the jungle to get a feel for their new rifle. Time passes... the rifles begin to malfunction en masse, causing casualties and confusion. Only after actual firearm people are allowed to review the weapons because of a congressional comittee appointed them to do so they discover that the lack of a chrome plated chamber, the use of ball powder rather than stick powder and the lack of propper cleaning supplies and instruction resulted in the guns jamming and getting people killed. The military finally copitulates and issues cleaning kits and training manuals to their troops... but due to the lack of education and attention of the draftee army they have created the cleaning manual has to be issued as a comic book to make sure the troops can propperly understand the importance of this change in proceedure. Also the older weapons are slowly upgraded to the new M16A1 design with a new chrome plated bore and chamber, a newly designed buttstock to allow a cleaning kit to be kept inside and a new magazine design with a stronger spring and higher capacity is fielded to bring the gun up to snuff. So you see, it is easier to develop a new weapon and field it first in the hands of pros than it is to foist it upon troops in the field. The M4 carbine replacing the M16A2 is no big thing as they are basically the same weapon with the same strengths and weaknesses but as you can see by current military tests going on both with the OICW and the Land Warrior system, it is inherrant that troops be fully trained on the new equipment before deployment otherwise nasty things from the past may happen again.

The Maschinenpistole 43/Sturmgewehr 44 has to be one of the "holy grails" of German wartime firearms. They are out there, but in what capacity and what numbers is unknown. The great majority of them were destroyed by the allies as they were recovered from the German army at the end of WW2 and only a handful were spared. Most of the ones that survived did so on the eastern front in the hands of the Russians who admired the gun's deisgn. Oh and by the way the StG44 is a completely different gun than the AK47, they just look similair. Their actions and Mechanical operation could not be more different... (and also never tell Mr. Kalishnakov that his AK47 is a derivative of the StG44, he gets quite livid when people make that assumption. See the History Channel's "Tales of the Gun" show about the AK family to see the interview they ask him that and watch him get all riled up). As to the availability of an actual StG44 in today's marketplace... two words: good luck. Not only would the weapon fall into Class 3 weapons status (requiring a ATF form 4 submission and a $200 stamp tax to own) but you have to remember it is a rare piece of history and is not only being sought by gun collectors, museums, historians and the occasional crazy person but that getting repair parts and ammo is virtually impossible. Unless you want the thing as a wall hanger, a safe queen, a secret to pull out at gun shows or as daddy's little angel that wins him the gun show history category every year I'd say give up the pipe dream now while you are still sane. Rumor mill had it that some company abroad (who's name rhymes with Dorinco) was planning to make a reproduction of the Sturm 44 chambered in some modern caliber but that same rumor mill also tells us that their efforts to copy the gun met with failure... mostly due to them not having an original in their hands to copy. Other people have also told me their are copies on the market but I have yet to see one to know that they do exsist. Also keep in mind that the gun, if produced as a copy in today's market, could not posess most of the features it originally had and would be a mere shadow of it's real self... but to some people a copy is about as good as you can get.

... so is Mark Hamill voicing himself as Luke Skywalker performing laser eye surgery under the guidance of a very unhappy Obiwan. I think everyone's "upset" with that episode because unlike Sienfeld that episode went one step further than your typical "Jewish humor" jokes and strayed into the realm of religious stereotyping. They took a few jokes just a wee bit too far for some people's tastes. While IMHO they did nothing that most Jewish comedians have not done or said time and time again but I think in the context they presented it in it came off in a bit poor of taste for some. In the case of Sienfeld (and at the risk of sounding bad myself) I think the Fox Executives saw it as matter of "only -blank- people can tell jokes about -blank- people"... Fill in the blank with any religious, racial or sexual joke you want as they are all true in the eyes of TV executives... and Family Guy was not a jewish show so they saw it as potentially hostile and canned it. The decision was more PC than being based on what the actual content of the show was in my mind and you have to sort of agree with them on that.

You and everyone else... (yet another reason I loathe the Matrix)

I can believe the grandpa and the little kid with the M16... I can believe the monster coming out of the TV... But I draw the line at it possessing UHF horror show bimbos...

I saw that in the USA Today paper a few days back... I hope it is Cartoon Network that revamps the show and gets the new episodes, after all they are the ones that ponied up and aired the show again while the DVDs came out... They had the kehonies to air the "Wienstien" episode (which is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be), they seem to have dedication to their show lineup and they seem to at least give their shows the propper respect and scheduling they deserve.

My last name is Anderson and I can trace my lineage through my fathers into the clan up through the 17th century, My Grandfather is an immigrant from Scotland. The name Anderson is particularly found in Aberdeenshire and the Lowlands, where my Grandfather and his family are from. The name means son of Andrew and appears in the Highlands as MacAndrew and in the Gaelic as Gilleaindrais meaning St. Andrew's servant. I'd say do some research, who knows what you'll find when you go digging in your family past.

Remastered? New footage? Does Greedo shoot first in this one, too? (goes back into his corner and goes back to sleep)

I have also seen "specialists" handle Claymores... myself being part of a Scottish Clan I grew up seeing top heavy men sling those things around at gatherings and fairs. A big burly Scottsman can easily wield a Claymore... but doing so in the middle of a battle is very very hard to do effectively. Much like Axemen, a man with a giant two handed sword had to keep the thing moving in combat to keep his advisary off guard and to keep up momentum so he could deliver repeated blows without having to "reset" himself and his stance. You get tired out very quickly doing that, no matter how in shape and burly you are... hence why most of europe favored the short sword and shield for combat. But still I have to admit that in a one on one duel a giant two handed sword has just as good a chance as winning as anything else... but in the end most victories come from fast agile motions and quick stabs and slashes. I personally would hate to be on the other side of one of those brutes but if you know their weaknesses they are easy to exploit.

Technically you can make something as big as you can handle. If you get a strong enough person I'm sure they could use something the size of a phone pole if it where made out of light enough materials... The big issue is really how effective something that big would be... and the honest answer is: it's size would more likely get it's user killed rather than be an effective weapon. Most effective blade weapons are short swords and knives that offer a very good balance that most people prefer. But when it comes to bladed and hand weapons not of the firearm ilk you hit the "pyramid" of weapon weight versus damage inflicting capacity versus speed/ease of use... and with almost all bladed and hand weapons you can only pick any two of those characteristics. For instance: some of the largest swords known are the Scottish two-handed Claymores, some are almost up to 7 feet long. Those Claymores, when in propper hands, can down horse and rider in one good swipe... the drawbacks are that the thing is so huge, heavy and requires both hands that the user is very very defenseless against just about everything out there unless he has a bunch of other guys backing him up. Two handed weapons mean no shield so you are pretty much screwed if the opposition brings in archers... and unless you know what you are doing with that Claymore a rather quick foot soldier with a short sword and shield could make short work of you. Bladed and hand weapons are all about balance, finding that right combination of characteristics that makes them effective. You can most likely field any size weapon you want if it is a one on one fight (like those fighting games) as some encounter like that will come down to the skill of the fighter with his weapon to see if he lives or dies... but most fights of yore with ye olde sword and shield took place on the battlefield with tons of you versus tons of them and in a melee with arrows flying, the possibility of cavalry and armored knights, pikemen, maces, axemen... you name it... no matter what you had in your hands your chances of living through the fight were not that good... especially if you happened to be on the front end of an advancing line of troops. Edit to add: it should also be noted that with today's lighter. stronger metals and alloys you could make something ten times bigger and stronger than the ancients could... but all it takes is some jackass with a gun to down you in today's world of war.

Word of note: Anything exsisting in the country before the cutoff date in September 1994 that exsisted as a weapon (meaning fully assembled and in working condition) was grandfathered into legality and they are what is known as pre-ban. The Omnibus Crime bill did not outlaw those guns, just outlaw them from further production. Much like the National Firearms Act of 1968 and 1986 which regulated the creation and sale of automatic weapons, the Omnibus Crime Bill simply prevents more from being made and does nothing to prevent the sale and use of guns exsisting in their "evil" configurations before the ban. For example (this is where people get confused on the whole thing): Joe owns an AR15 carbine with telestock, flash hider and bayonet lug and has it in his possession as a complete gun before September 1994. After September 1994 that gun has become a "pre-ban" and is legal to own in that configuration. Joe owns an AR15 lower receiver that has not yet been built into a complete firearm before September 1994. After September 1994 Joe can only assemble that lower receiver into a post-ban compliant gun as it was not a complete firearm before the cutoff date. Joe owns an AR15 lower receiver or complete firearm made after September 1994. These guns can only exsist with the features they have, adding any of the "pre-ban" features like folding stocks, flash hiders or bayonet lugs will make that an illegal "Assault Weapon" and Joe will be breaking federal law. Now you all see how goofy this law really is. In risk of stepping on the soap box here, recent federal studies have proven that the Omnibus Crime Bill does nothing to prevent the types of crimes it was intended to stop. People who are in favor of more and harder gun regulations and laws somehow see it the opposite way and are striving for more laws to be enacted. IMHO making laws that restrict law-abiding people from buying certain guns in certain configurations does nothing to prevent a criminal from buying one off the back of a truck in an alley. We need new and better laws making the use of a gun in a crime a severe offense punishable by super harsh penalties... but alas it is easier to fear the gun than the person behind the trigger. Stepping down from the soapbox now.

Just as long as it is a still picture I think I can live with that... I also just thought of another. If we qualify Xanadu as sci-fi then can I also nominate Phantom of the Paradise? It has it's moments but it really grates the nerves.

Yes. Zardoz is one of the worst movies I have ever seen... but I still dislike Outland more than it.

Outland puts me to sleep faster than Niquil with Sudafed. It is a boring, boring movie in which very little actually happens. It's long on "space western drama" and short on "space action". Outside of Zardoz, Outland is Sean Connery's worst movie ever. Yes, Zardoz is worse than Highlander 2. Edit: Does Olivia Newton John's Xanadu qualify as sci-fi? If so then put that at the top of my list. (For those that have not seen it image Starlight Express just more "alternative lifestyle" and more stupid)