Mog

Lumiya: The Good: * The swappable heads were a very nice touch by Hasbro; * The tattered cloak really adds to the overall look of the figure; and * The lightwhip is made of a flexible enough material that you can mess around with its posing options. The Frustratingly Bad: * The lack of ankle articulation absolutely, positively sucks. When you add in the lopsided weight distribution of the lightwhip and the long cloak, posing the figure becomes an adventure in balance and patience. Still . . . "Eat your heart out, Luke." Luke: I'm actually surprised at how much fun I'm having with posing this figure! I didn't think he'd be all that great, but the shoto and the articulation (ball jointed torso too!) make this a fun Luke to pose. Add in the great looking headsculpt, and you have a hidden gem of a figure. I probably won't add him to my permanent display shelf, but the figure is definitely worthy. It's also nice that we finally get a fully articulated Luke that can pull off a fairly convincing two-handed, arms slightly extended forward lightsaber pose:

So, I finally caved in and purchased the latest comic packs online (via Hasbro Toy Shop). I didn't want to constantly toy-hunt every weekend and develop an unnatural hatred towards Wedge and his comic pack. Here's my reviews and fix-ups: SIGEL DARE: Awesome articulation and a great sculpt. Her armor's a little more shiney than her male counterparts, but it's really not that bad. Unfortunately, much like her male counterparts, her hood is way too small to do any good. Her biggest drawbacks though are as follows: * The lack of an inner cloak/skirt; and * Brown (BROWN?! ) boots. Thankfully, these are very easy to rectify: Now, she blends in much nicer with the rest of her crew: DARTH KRAYT: [sarcasm mode] Other than lacking ankle articulation, this figure is the bestest, most awesome representation of Krayt EVER[/sarcasm mode]. . .except: * The armor should have been more dirty and grimey looking (and less of a uniform, flat grey look); * He lacks half of his facial tatoos; * BOTH hands are absolutely sh*tty at holding his lightsabers; * You can place both of his lightsabers on his back (like the comics), but Hasbro didn't pack him with unlit lightsabers ; * The lightsabers I got are little too clear and almost a pink color instead of blood red; and * The silver paint apps on the hilts of the sabers were too light resulting in the reddish pink of the blades peaking out on the hilts. Good thing most of these issues can be corrected: Seriously though, once modded and even without the ankle articulation, Krayt does look like an mean mofo on the display shelf. Next up, Lumiya and Luke.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks once the economy is back in a boom, Yamato's gonna make a less expensive, mass-production release of this and price it at US$1000. . . . And many of us will be conditioned by then to say that the "lower" price is now reasonable. No doubt, Yamato has every right to price these things at whatever can give them the biggest profit. But it just sucks for us long-time collectors. As for Toynami picking up the ball? Only if they have Aoshima do all the design engineering on the puppy.

Clarification: Bayonet connected to gunpod and bullets beats butter knife.

Yup, it's a VCR/DVD combo. When it comes to most electronic/tech-type stuff, I'm a late, LATE adopter. EDIT: In any case, back to the pics. . . Even with the FP's on, the YF-21 is still one skinny-looking fighter bitch!

Granted, I'm still holding out for a TV version. But even I've gotta tip my hat to the level of detail they're already showing in these latest prototype pics. Money shot indeed, EXO!

I'm guessing it was Dr. Mrs. The Monarch (or more specifically, her butt), after she slumps into the throne in frustration. She wasn't exactly pleased when The Monarch busted out the battle armor. So after witnessing The Monarch go out of control, she probably plopped onto the trigger by accident. Would make for an interesting plot development and dilemma for 21.

No offense, but no Glaug kills?

I remember hearing about this a few years back. Wasn't it gonna be a whole "cycle of revenge" kinda thing? I think the general reason given for waiting a few years is to allow the actors from the first two volumes to age a bit. Makes sense given the fact that BB and Vernita Green's daughter have some growing up to do before they can challenge the old guard. Tarantino better up his game for this one though. Basterds was okay, but his signature directing style is starting to get a bit stale and overdone.

Distribution's been pretty awful at the local brick-and-mortar stores around here. I don't think I ever saw the HK-47/Empire Strikes Back wave even once, not even one leftover figure or anything. Still been on the lookout for the latest comic packs too. The guy at Hasbro who decided on the case assortments for the latest comic packs should be taken out back and beaten like a red-faced Sith apprentice.

I . . . I just don't get it. If eating Chipotle makes your ass bleed, then why do you keep eating it?

One's in fighter combo mode, but the other Beta is in battloid. Honestly, I really wouldn't care for a fighter-only Beta. There's just more posing options and possibilities with a fully transformable one.

Even without the legs extended, the Big-Bad Beta still towers over the Alpha.

My personal favorite was "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street." Just sucks when SciFi (sorry, "Syfy" ) cuts out some parts of it.

I prefer the legs collapsed in Battloid. It gives the Beta that stocky/bulky bruiser look. And it doesn't really limit the range of motion on the knees all that much. I also have a pic of one of the old prototype Betas, and the legs on it look collapsed as well.

Nah, it's the eyes; too innocent looking. That and she needs more of a grin/smirk. Even when she's happy, Revy exudes a crapload of attitude.

Nope. Never have.

As long as the Attacker mode is noticeably taller than a 1/48 Valk, I'm fine with it staying at a little over 2 feet. 5 feet, on the other hand, is just too impractical. Unless you're busting out a self-made, scratch-build custom like MechTech or MaveRick, there's really no point to having an SDF-1 that large.

Nah, the fax machine from Office Space is far more evil.

Nah, the reason some folks like Ledger's Joker is that he struck the perfect balance between disturbingly amusing and cold-blooded psycho. He could be campy, but there was always a very dark undertone brimming right under the surface. One minute you find yourself wanting to hang out with him and witness his wildly twisted brand of humor. And the very next second, you wanna get the bloody hell away from that sick freak. That and he is Batman's formidable equal in almost every regard. I could never say that about Nicholson's Joker.

If this poll results in Yamato saying, "I guess we we should skip making any Basara VF-19's," wouldn't we ALL be winners?

You still get your news from the local TV stations?! It's called satire; you might be entertained and educated by it.

Awesome! Muthaf@^*#' GAY FISH!