Mog

Kinda wished Favraeu was still at the helm for this third film. He really showed in the commentary to Iron Man 2 that he understands how the fans will dissect a bit or scene. And his responses to those assumed criticism were pretty well thought out. Also,he wasn't afraid to admit something along the lines of "Yeah, I know this is a bunch of bullsh*t, but this is how Tony cures himself and makes a new, never discovered before periodic element." Never seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. But the fact that this new director is attached to Death Note has me intrigued.

Yeah, that's more like it! No highfalutin concepts about the Force, just a straight up "Invade the Fortress and Get the Hell Out of There" story. Good to see some struggles/death and our heros facing off against some more formidable droid opponents.

Interesting. BUT I want everything he says to be subtitled!! So, if he's saying, I want subtitles that translate that as, "Yes."

Just what do you think you're doing, CoryHolmes? Just don't hook the trivia-answering bastard up to a super-dimensional space fortress. Or Skynet. Or connect it to a Cybernetic Lifeform Node with a monothesist belief system. Or allow it to turn us into an energy source after we send up massive nuclear clouds to block out the sun in an attempt to depower our new mechanical overlords. Frak it: let's just tell Watson to divide by zero and be done with it.

'cuz they wanna make it hip, modern, and relatable. Good gravy that casting sheet sounds like a bad chick flick! Let me guess, if they get to a Season 2 or 3, WW is gonna FINALLY get all her crazy, conflicting aspects of her life in order. . . . . . only to get pregnant or adopt a baby!!!! It would have been cool if they did the series as a less brooding, slightly less sassy version of Dark Angel (without the stupid human-animal hybrids crap from the second season, of course ).

I just hope there's some nice panels and molded detailing on the Sky Striker. It's time to apply all those customizing skills we learned on our Valks to yet another toy line.

Meh, USS Flagg > Defiant Complex

Dammit Hasbro!! Why'd you have to frak things up with the two figures I wanted most?! I think I speak for most fans when I say that we really, REALLY didn't want some stupid-ass goggles add-on feature with a Bespin Han!!! Is it that hard to just use a neutral headsculpt for Han? A version of Han that a lot of folks have been clamoring for? NO ONE wanted goggles or that little welding thing! On a less irritating front (but nonetheless disappointing), I ain't happy with how Bastila Shan is looking. Would have preferred her pink outfit more (from the actual video gameplay), and I'm not sure how I feel about that headsculpt. The hairline looks a bit off, and I'm not getting that Kelly Lebrock look (hot-looking 80's version, not the current one) with the overall face. Bastila Link Guess, I'll have to purchase some pink paint and fix her up myself. Seems like I'm having to make some sort of modification or customization with ALL the KOTOR figures I've purchased over the years. Irks me that they show more "love" to Force Unleashed figures than they do to the far more superior KOTOR games. In any case, here's a link to the rest of the Star Wars figures up on display at the Toy Fair: From www.rebelscum.com

I have no idea where I'd put that Sky Striker. But I SO want one! Especially at that price?! HELL YEAH! I'm not feeling that helmet they're using for Ace, but at least he's got the olive-drab flightsuit of a fighter pilot now. I'll probably just use the helmet from the custom Ace I made awhile back. Also glad the rumors about them making a Crazy Legs were true. But I still prefer my custom more. Would have prefered a Blowtorch with a more military/subdued color scheme (just to differentiate it more from the one that was released awhile back). The Techno Viper looks interesting, but I think a lot of customizers have made some better looking versions. I guess they had to milk that Croc Master mold! Camo-wearing BAT is pretty cool-looking. And is that a Steel Brigade figure I see there?

I guess we should just agree to "Never Say Never" AGAIN!!

Nice Armo-Soldier pose with the Red Legioss, Jenius!! It almost looks like she's saying, "You wanna come on over here and start some sh$t?!. . . Mr. Big-Ass Gun has something to say about that."

I guess I'm an old fart now. I saw the words "Never Say Never," and this was the first thing that came to my mind: Romeo Void

Upon watching the episode a second time, my opinion of just this episode significantly improved. I liked the way the Son turned Anakin to the dark side. No Force Lightning torture, no massive grandiose fight, and especially, no vampire/zombie Sith bite. He just calmly preyed on Anakin's weaknesses. I also appreciated that, when Anakin got the big reveal and turned Sith, he didn't exactly try to kill Obi or throw some sort of whining blame on him. In those scenes, Anakin was genuinely conflicted and not outright EVIL!!. I liked that subtlety. However, after watching this entire trilogy of episodes, my earlier opinions still stand: it could have been a lot better. I really had no sympathy for any of the Force-wielders. Their characterizations changed wildly from episode to episode, depending on the plot. And for all that talk of them being so powerful and attuned to the Force, they were all rather damn petty. Someone should remind the writers (and George Lucas): The plot shouldn't dictate and drive the characters' traits; it should be the characters' traits that drive the plot forward. For example, the Daughter acts pretty aloof and standoff-ish with the Jedi in the first episode, and then says she's too self-less in the second one. The Son seems driven to kill his Father in order to escape the planet and then cries in shock when the Father finally kills himself. Hey Genius!! He just did what you've been trying to do since the last episode! And don't get me started on the Father. So, when they all died, I didn't exactly have that much sympathy for any of them. Maybe a throwaway line from the Father at the beginning (or after he bare-hands the lightsaber) would have helped. Have him say something to the effect of "Our mastery of the Force is immeasureable, but we still fall prey to the same emotions, pettiness, and weaknesses that befall Jedi, Sith, and non-Force users alike." Something that would have actually made us care about him and his kids. As the episodes stand now, they get a big meh and shoulder-shrug from me. Nothing was really learned by any of the main characters, and I have no emotional investment (other than annoyance) in any of the Force-wielders. Wasted potential.

Yeah, Grand Cannon's Clone Army puts my little Clone/Empire crew to shame.

Obi-Book' Kenobi?! Also, wouldn't Marky Mark or Snow be a more appropriate nickname than Vanilla Ice?

Yeah, where the hell is the custom Global from Macross Frontier?! j/k

I'm gonna have to counter with a village of Tusken Raiders. Anakin has shown many times in the past that he'll go to great lengths to protect/avenge those he loves, consequences be damned. It's a good and bad trait of his. And if there's one thing the Clone Wars series and the movies have shown, it's that Anakin is very impulsive, rarely stopping to fully think out his actions. Throw in the inesacpable visions of death for his dearest loved ones, his perception of the Jedi Council's distrust of him ("You're on the Council, but you're not a Master"/"Sit yo' ass in the Temple, while we go arrest/execute Palpatine."). And the seeds for his downfall are there. If Ahsoka was gonna fall down the dark side, even just for a bit, I'd rather there be something more than just a bite, and then boom, you become all Sithy. Have the Son mind-frak with her more. Point out how she's becoming too attached to her master. Screw with her head. Tell her that, as the Chosen One, Anakin will have to kill Younglins. Get her mind so warped and twisted that the only way she can prove that she's not "corrupted" by Anakin, the only way she can "save" Anakin, and the only way she can protect the Jedi is to perform a mercy-killing of her old Master. Much like the prequel trilogy, a tweak or improvement here and there on these Force-wielder episodes could have really elevated the material so much more.

Fighter mode is an absolute beauty on the VF-4. I just don't dig the top-heavy design of the battroid. For me, a VF-171EX Super Nightmare Plus would be nice (especially, if it was made in the cannon fodder teal color ).

Really? So, all it takes to become a Sith is a little bite? I didn't know Sith had that particular vampire/zombie trait. After seeing so many good examples of Jedi turning over the years, this one seemed a little too forced and sudden. The comments about Anakin bringing about the destruction of both the Sith and Jedi was a nice touch. Anakin's strong attachment to his Padawan was well-conveyed. And next week's ep looks to pack a pretty good wallop. But this ep seemed like a bit of a let-down. For all the "neither Jedi nor Sith" comments from last week, it seemed pretty obvious which folks were Light-siders and Dark-siders. A definite step back from the concepts introduced last week. And my comments from last week still stand: the Father is a freakin' IDIOT!!

^^<smacks forehead> Dammit. I knew I forgot something.

I threw up the following post as a joke WAY back when the 1/60 YF-21 was still just rumors and speculation. Pretty interesting to see how many of these actually came to fruition in the past 4 to 5 years (even if some of them were released in a different scale). Items already released or scheduled to be released have been crossed out below: Biggest noteable omissions in that list are the VF-0 Reactive armor, a few remaining Destroids, and anything M7 related. So, any proverbial Macross "holy grails" still out there or missing from the above list?

Hasn't been released yet. The next wave will be from Attack of the Clones. After that, there will be the first mixed wave. Yoda will be included in this mixed wave.

There better be some She-Ra up in this bitch!

Toei is rather dumb in pursuing this. Folks sell their customs on Ebay all the time! Like the article said, they ain't mass-producing these customs. You don't see Lucasfilm going after Star Wars customizers. Or Hasbro going after customizers of G.I. Joes, Transformers, or Marvel superhero figures. I'm sure these companies don't mind people picking up extra figures for custom fodder. You think they get upset if people are only buying their also-ran figures because of their great customizing potential? It's still a sale for them! Hell, you don't see Yamato coming onto our boards and telling us to stop making customs or panel-lining our birds.

<I realize this is just Part 1 of a longer story. So if the story unfolds in a different way, then my comments below may become moot.> Understand, I was totally digging this episode. I thought all the nice little character moments were spot on. The cameos were brilliant. And I had an excitement watching the episode, waiting to see what happened next. However, I HATED that last bit with. . ."Father" Force-wielder. Let me get this straight: these suckers tricked Anakin, Obi, and Ahsoka into coming into their place, manipulated Anakin by showing him an image of his mother, told him to abandon his wife, put the lives of his Padawan and his old Master at risk. And now this frakker is telling him to abandon the Order, abandon the Republic (while it's in the MIDDLE OF A WAR), and just babysit his too-powerful-for-their-own-good children for all of eternity. I'm surprised Anakin didn't tell him to f*ck off!! Considering how powerful these Force-wielders are supposed to be and seeing how they're supposed to be so beyond Jedi and Sith, I found Father's whole "Don't be so selfish, Anakin" speech to be rather hypocritical. Seeing how above it all these Force-wielders are supposed to be, I found Father's arguments to be a little too self-centered and petty for my tastes. I'd rather Father had made his offer in a rather calm AND ambivalent manner. Have him explain (rather cryptically) the Chosen One's destiny (the whole balance, too much light, too much darkness kinda stuff). Have the Father clarify that he was trying to give Anakin an alternative choice. I'd rather the Father had made his offer, and then quietly accepted Anakin's decision, as if the Father knows that there's no way he could have changed Anakin's path from becoming becoming Darth Vader. I think an ending along that line would have been much better than the "I'm dying! Please keep my kids in check! Don't be selfish! If you don't do this, you'll screw over the entire galaxy!" ending we got. Just my 2 cents. Edited to remove spoiler tags.