JsARCLIGHT

Second vote for Dragon weapons, they rock. My wife and I collect 12" military dolls and her love of MGS has us looking for one of these dolls... I'll wait to see your pics and further review before making up my mind to get one, as pricey as they are.

Pretty much every bullpup weapon on the market is ambi capable if not ambi right out of the box. Most of the older ones like the AUG, FA MAS and M17 can be ambi with a few parts changes. Heck, any weapon can be ambi with a few parts changes. The capacity for use by lefties is not really a new thing or even a unique feature when it comes to bullpup weapons. Ambi weapons have been around for a while. The only "new concept" is that of a rifle that requires no alteration to be used by either a righty or a lefty. Edit: and it should be said that most current weapons on the market to a good degree are ambidexterous. The only thing that keeps a lefty from shooting a rightie's rifle is the casing ejection... but most modern military type weapons have casing deflectors that are supposed to prevent you from getting brass in your cornea. Being a right handed shooter myself I have no experience shooting leftie to tell you otherwise.

Unless one totally obliterates the other... which is what the Robotech/Macross fans seem to want to happen. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! I think we should just leave this alone already. I know everyone has their feelings about certain people but every time they come up, they come up with our lunch it seems. I'll admit I myself am not fond of Carl Macek, but that is because he gets press that he was some sort of "visionary" and "grandfather of american anime" when he wasn't... but that is my opinion on the matter as are the claims of his status are someone else's. As for BoK he is just as partisan, just as we are. He will take any football kicked his way and run with it, just as we would. Time to split emotion from reason and just let this die.

Opus was referring to Bullpup rifles such as the AUG and the FA MAS, who's ambi ejectors sit just about even with the shooter's cheek. The FN P90 is technically classified as a SMG but beside that point it sports a totally different action than the rifles. The FA MAS and AUG, while being bullpup designs, are still traditional layout weapons in respect to prime function of their actions... the FN P90 uses a different type of action with a lateral stack, top feed magazine. As for the pros and cons of the bullpup design most of them are personal preference issues. The benefits, already talked about, are the ability to have a longer barrel in a shorter weapon which increases your potential for accuracy. The down sides though are that some bullpups can be very heavy compared to traditional designs and their "remote" trigger location relies on very long action bars or "transfer bars" to activate their hammers. These very long trigger action bars create very stiff trigger pulls on the weapons due to the long distance (all relative mind you) they have to move across to perform the same action that a weapon who's internals are just right there above the trigger. I've shot a few bullpup weapons in my time, notably the AUG and the Bushmaster M17 rifle. My personal opinion on them is that while they have the potential for accuracy they tend to fall into carbine accuracy anyway due to their cramped "Italian Ape" firing position you take while using them. Combine that with their stiff triggers and in the case of the Bushy M17 it heats up like a stove in seconds and almost becomes too hot to handle (stupid metal body). The weapons are also very, very buttheavy as Opus said. Their muzzles tend to rise like cake on automatic firing. Also magazine changes can be... difficult for some people. A normal weapon it's push button swap mag, but on a bullpup you have to reach under your arm while pointing the weapon at the sky to change the magazine. Heck, in the case of the FN P90 it takes a degree in engineering to change the magazine... on a demo of that weapon I saw at the local police department even the trained professionals demonstrating it had a rough go of changing the mags. It is also my personal opinion that the bullpup rifles appear louder than normal weapons because the action is on the side, right there next to your ear. Admittedly normal weapons' actions are still close to your head but they are in front of your ears and somehow the action being right there next to your ear for me creates this louder sensation. In short they have their benefits but they also have their weaknesses, the biggest of which is the remote location of the trigger assembly. Due to this bullpup rifles, unless they are painstakingly engineered, tend to have more teething issues than normal traditional rifle designs. The Brittish L85/SA80 is a prime example.

It would only hold a charge for like an hour. I did everything exactly as the manual said for startup charging and such... it was just a bad battery. I heard some people comment that something like 1% of all Ipod rechargable batteries ship from the factory dead but I have seen nothing to substantiate that. Rumor mill also says that 1% of all rechargable batteries period ship from their factories flawed in some way. Either way Apple fixed the problem with little to no hassle at all.

I have not checked SW classic toy prices in a long time... does anyone know how the new toys and the seeming "death" of the SW collectable market has effected their prices? When I was getting out of SW toys in the late '90s (just before the bust) some things were fetching rediculous prices... heck, even some of the new toys were getting 1 and 2 grand price tags lumped on them.

I bought a 40 giger a while back and bring it from my car to my office. The thing that attracted me to it was the lack of bulk to carry... every piece of music I own is now on one little box. Complete music library wherever and whenever I need it. Admittedly my 'pod had a bum battery from the factory and I was so mad at the thing when I first got it but Apple gladly took it back and sent me a new one. Have not had a problem since. If a dinosauric computer hater like me can use and love one then anyone can! Plus compared to some of my friend's other make MP3 players the Ipod is downright simple but it still out features theirs. Edit: and for those who doubt MP3 player tech... these damn things change your life! I was skeptical at first but now it is like my right arm.

Well then back durring the SW boom of the mid nineties that thing would have been worth massive coin. Some people were selling MIB ones as high as a grand.

Actually, the second they made those Roombas I bought one. It chases my cat and vice versa. Roomba is deemed impressive by me. Give Asimo a vaccuum and I'm on board... or better yet some bleach and a toilet brush. Make that metal atomoton earn his keep.

... and that is why we must show them no special interest or suprise until that day comes. Only when they become a threat do they get my attention. Seriously though it is impressive but to me, a guy who always asks the practicality of things, I'm waiting to see one that can do menial tasks without human control. THEN I'll be really impressed as that is what they were trying to pass off to us in the '80s. In the future... there will be robots!

My personal holy grail items of Star Wars (when I was collecting) were the power of the force figures, the Droids A-Wing, the desert skiff, the plastic cape jawa (only buy one of these carded as fakes abound) and some other strange pieces like the Sears Cantina and such. What makes a "Holy Grail" for you is another question... is it something that just costs a ton but is still relatively available or is it something that you have to do a home invasion robbery on Lucas to get?

Oh it's interesting and all but I'm one of those folks who still thinks all this cool junk will only become usefull after I'm dead and buried. It's like living in the before time when the world was still cooling and nothing had really evolved yet... sure it's neat and everything but it has no practical purpose yet. It's basically the prototype's prototype for something that perhaps possibly might someday do something other than wow us with it's everyday acts that people do without thinking. These robots are infants and everyone is just soooooo impressed when they walk or talk or crawl... I see that every day so I'm waiting until one can wash my car or qualify for a boat loan before I get all wowed.

I myself loathe Carl Macek for the work he did after Robotech. Pretty much every project the man touched he found a way to grind it up in such a way that made you wince. Either through edits, horrid voice acting, picking licenses no one really wanted, etc. etc. etc. Back in college when I was a huge anime head I and the other anime heads called anything released by Streamline or Macek as being "Macekered". Compare the overall quality and feel of a Streamline dubbed only VHS release from it's heyday against other higher quality subtitled releases of the time and you'll see my point. Even when Robotech was on TV in 1985 I knew it was "not the pure form" of the shows. Macek did a barely tollerable job of gluing the shows together and yet people keep trying to praise him as some sort of anime pioneer. I think Sandy Frank did more for anime than Macek. SF gave us Gatchaman and other more notable shows far before Robotech.

Naaah, that is when we call Tom Selleck out of retirement and give him that chainmail suit and laser. And is it just me or does that thing look like the little fat girl we all knew in gradeschool when it runs?... twenty yards behind everyone else in the gym class... huffing and puffing. Asimo... replacing little fat girls in gym by 2006!

It's painfully long but this doccument forcasts the market and might answer graham's questions: Clicky But you have to "order" it (i.e. pay money).

CarlMacek.com is "Powered by Robotech.com"... even his website is still milking Robotech.

Because he knows some dork will pay $25K for it. Even the most hardcore card game player's sense comes back when they realize they can get a CAR for something they got for free. Just ask the people that catch all those homerun balls that sold for millions. Which would you rather have, a one of a kind collectable and the honor of being it's owner... or piles and piles of jack.

Does anyone else remember those Battlestar Galactica jackets they released?... or the Luke Skywalker bespin shirt jackets? I remember there was this guy in my high school that wore that Luke Bespin jacket to school. Do-ork. Heh... notice it also comes in Xtra Xtra Xtra large Otaku sizes. To those who asked this is from Legend of Galactic Heroes... you know, that totally widespread and well known show.

Now I know where all those Magic CCG weirdos went.

Oh wow the woman is made of Legos too!

But do you have to wear the flash gordon suits to drive them? Then again if they showed those people in normal everyday clothes they'd look totally out of place in those contraptions. First the segway and now these... proof rich people will pay anything to not have to walk.

I think all the football video game players should be mad at the NFL and not EA. Let's face it, if EA had not finegaled this deal someone else might have then you'd all be bashing X Game maker company. The NFL, much like MLB and NBA and NHL, have been gouging their fans in increasing levels for years. Remember back when you could go to a pro sporting event without dropping $50? And that is for the cheap seats. This is just the expected turn of events based on the current douche-baggery of professional sports. It's all about the money and the game comes second and the fans a distant third. What happens when they sign that new pro player in most sports? They raise the ticket price on you so the team keeps making the same amount of money... if not more. Need a new ballpark? Screw the fans and the city the team is in... if that doesn't work just move the team to some hard up for sports city that will whore itself out for you. With any luck this will hurt the NFL more than it hurts EA... perhaps arena football will return, maybee even the XFL... something to just attempt to wrestle the monopoly away from the darn NFL. Major league sports have ruined themselves and everyone just keeps buying into it. Blame EA for taking the initiative but Blame Paul Tagliabue for this crap, not Lawrence F. Probst III.

Seeing as how I was wrong about Id intending the enemy to be hell itself in the original Doom that brings my thoughts on the movie context into sort of a new light... well not really. More or less it makes me think that the cop-out excuse of "they don't want to use a touchy subject like hell in a movie" holds no water. Just even a short search reveals many recent movies that featured satan, hell and demons prominently and as key story elements. Heck, Agent ONE will even remember the Arnold movie End of Days... that had the devil himself in it. With all these big name movies featuring serious depictions of hell and demons in recent times I'd think that excuse as for why the theme was not used for the Doom movie holds no water. All of this points to basically them redoing the context of the story to fit someone else's vision of "Doom"... someone who watched too much Resident Evil Apocalypse and like the rest of us said "this is crap! I can do better!" but then got handed the Doom license and said "so? I'll make it work..."

Dodge raped my teen years. Damn you Carol Shelby and your crappy 1987 Dodge Shelby Daytona.

I'm a big football fan but I can't stand videogame football. This effects me in no way.