sharky

Actually, I didn't realize that. I never bought anything from them. I did notice they do sell garage kits, but I figured the pre-painted ones were the originals. The "genuine product imported from Japan" stuff is really misleading then. I suppose that technically it's made and then imported from Japan and that it's "genuine" only in the sense that it comes from Japan. Now it makes sense that they would be selling it while other places have it as discontinued. It doesn't seem like such a good deal at $40 since that's about what the original went for.

Oh, I was just commenting on the usernames from the Youtube posting. I had no idea they also might post here as well. My comments were made in jest. I really have no problem with what someone chooses as their username.

It may not look like much but it's got it where it counts, kid.

Yeah, I really like the Kotobukiya one because it has the Excelion on the base. I wish I had one. I passed on the Wave one several times at comic shops and conventions. I'm not really a completist type of collector. However, since there is relatively little Gunbuster merchandise compared with other anime I suppose it's not hard to be a completist IMO. My favorite Gunbuster items I have: BOME Noriko BOME Nono Both Kaiyodo Gunbusters SOC Gunbuster A partial set of the 1st One Coin series A set of the Gunbuster 1.5 One Coin (with the secret topless Nono doing the super lightning kick) General Products Complete Gunbuster book FYI, you can pre-order from Hobby Fan as it seems they are getting ready to release again on the 28th of Dec. That way you can feel more confident that it's not a bootleg. http://www.hobbyfan.com/product_info.php?products_id=5311 I agree that I wish they made all the characters the same as Noriko in a BOME version or any other large scale version. I would really love to have a complete set of the 1st Gunbuster One Coin set. Of the 1st series I have Noriko's and Amano's RX trainer, an Amano, Sizzler Black and White. If you are interested in a Nono someday I might suggest the BOME and/or the Bandai one. The Bandai one has opening missle pods on her legs and a couple of different hair positions. I'm not sure on the scale though. It appears to be smaller than the BOME. Check it out: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10052409

There were fleeting hopes that Jar Jar dies, but then I keep remembering that he can't die since he makes an appearance in ROTS.

Those tanks do look cool. Even though they are 1:16 scale it would probably be just fine. I've notice that many 1:18 vehicles seem to be scaled a bit to small most of the time even though they technically fit a 3 3/4" figure.

Agreed. When you have comments posted by people with usernames like SaveRobotech and zormaster the horse stands to be beaten a little more. I'd say the horse is not dead as long as HG is still around, so let's all beat the horse shall we. Just wait until the movie comes out.

Not really sure about the PS3. Keep in mind that you need to mod or use a boot disk to play imports on the PS1 or PS2. Would having an iso on the hard drive of a PS3 eliminate the need to mod or use a boot disk? I like that the PSP needs no modification to play imports. That is very appealing to me.

The Animego set is the best IMO. These were remastered and subtitled a while back. It is out of print I believe, so I'm not sure the best place to find them. If you actually prefer dubbed, ADV put out a set that you can still buy at places like Best Buy. IRC my brother picked up the entire ADV set for around $60 or so at Best Buy. I suppose the ADV version has Japanese with English subtitles as well as being English dubbed, but you should check first as I'm not 100% sure. You may only be able to find the ADV version in any case. The draw back to the ADV version is that I believe they re-did the sound effects for things like the guns firing etc, so it's not authentic to the original Japanese release. The nice thing about the ADV release is that Mari IIjima did her own voice for Minmay. Here's the Best Buy link for the ADV version. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...&id=1907787

It seems you can get an entire box set of 100 mixed items of all the premiums in various quantities. All for only $789.99.

I usually wait until the next gen system comes out. So, I will probably get an older version used for cheap. Ace Frontier seems like a good game so I doubt it will go to any discount pricing anytime in the future. I may just pick up the game and wait to buy a used PSP later on. I did that for the PS1. I got a used PS1 and the Macross DRYL side scroller and Macross VFX2. Right now I am thinking about getting an older PS2 for $49 and get the Macross and Gunbuster games on ebay.

I saw Obi Wan's Delta starfighter today at Target. I had to pass on it since I already bought an A-10 toy and GI-Joe comic pack this week. I only take out a certain amount of cash out each week which is my way of budgeting. I need to wait until Saturday to get more cash to buy it. I have to spend the rest of this week's budget on other things. I hope they release the correct astromech droid that goes with it. I don't buy enough figures to make any build-a-droid ones. I have seen a new wave of Clone Wars figures out now. I keep wanting to get the Dooku figure, but I simply do not like the animated versions of most of the figures. I really hope they make a Legacy Collection of him in the future.

Yeah, I had to modify the A-10 cockpit to get Wild Weasel to fit. The problem I had was that his legs were too long for the cockpit. The wheel well for the front landing gear was in the way. I took the A-10 apart and hacked away at the bottom plate that makes up the floor and wheel well portion of the cockpit. Now his feet can be inserted further into the cockpit and he can sit normally. His feet actually don't interfere with the front landing gear wheel when it is retracted. Removing the wall between his feet and the wheel did the trick for me. I also shaved off a little ribbing on the sides underneath the control panel assembly to allow for smoother entry of his legs. Another way to modify the toy would be to cut away at the side panels of the seat. I said that his legs are too long, but actually the problem is that his gun holster and knife sheath make his thighs too wide for the seat. I simply pushed him a little more forward so that the holster and sheath clear the side panels of the seat. He sits a little more reclined, but it doesn't look bad at all. This causes his legs to hit the wheel well wall. I preferred to cut away at the wheel well since it is completely concealed by the control panel assembly. I didn't like the idea of hacking at the side panels of the seat since you would be able to see it through the canopy. Overall it is a nice looking toy. I think perhaps the wings are wee bit short, but if you are not so familiar or you don't compare it to an actual A-10 photo you would never really know it. It's a good looking and large toy for $30. The paint scheme is nice and has weathering. One nit pick would be that the wings are only molded as a top, and there is no bottom half. If you view it from the top you would never know. From the bottom you can obviously see that the wings are a single wall of plastic. That and the canopy panel lines not being painted are the only things I see wrong with an otherwise good value. I still prefer this toy over the Rattler toy.

I have the BOME Noriko which is a much better sculpt than the Wave IMHO. I can still find these at my local comic shop. The are very good, pretty large, and not terribly expensive. I think I paid about $25 for mine. I also have the BOME Nono. $30 for the Wave Noriko seems like a good deal. IRC I used to see them for around $40. I wish Revoltech would do a Fraulein series of the Gunbuster 1 and 2 characters. Check this out. They are only $16.99 at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Monsieur-Bome-Gunbus...n/dp/B000LX8NTQ

I went to another Big Lots a little further from work today. I found one A-10 among the Little Birds, Marine Patrol boats, guard towers, and tanks that seem to be out right now. The packaging was not new and crisp leading me to think it's been there for a little while. It was priced at $30. It has sort of a grey low-viz finish which is nice. My favorite paint scheme would have been a flying tiger paint scheme, but this one is my second favorite. One small thing is that the canopy panel lines are not painted. Both the front canopy section and the hinged top are completely clear. The panel lines are molded in though, so I can paint it later. For $30 I'm not complaining. Also, this Big Lots had some small $3 figure sets that had one 3-3/4 figure, a large accessory, and a few other small accessories. The sets I saw were of a camel, horse, kayak, or parachute. I also went to Toys R Us and picked up the GI-Joe comic pack with Wild Weasel and Ace. So, now I can put Wild Weasel in the A-10 and he can fight my Wild Bill who is piloting my Little Bird.

Yes, the Cade Skywalker/Darth Talon comic pack is supposed to have Cade's green lightsaber and a hilt as well. Apparently it is a screw-up at the factory and many of the packs have both missing. I was able to find one at a Target after passing up some at Toys R Us, Walmart, and another Target. Keep looking they are out there. You are probably only finding them at all because no one wants to buy it with the missing pieces. IMO the collectors will snatch up the ones with the lightsaber pretty quickly leaving only the defective ones behind. You can check it out here: http://www.rebelscum.com/TLCcomicpacks04.asp On the topic of comic packs. I noticed the Asajj Ventress/Tol Skorr #69 comic pack has a better articulated Ventress compared to the regular Clone Wars figure as the comic pack version has ball hinged elbows and the regular figure has only swivel forearms. However, I like the outfit on the regular figure better, and I wanted the little holographic communicator with the little hologram Dooku.

Where did you get the Obi Wan Delta7B? Is it a store exclusive or will all the retailers have them?

FYI, the smaller Lego Star Destroyer with mini-figs will be on sale at Target for Black Friday for $59. Normal price is $99 http://www.blackfriday.info/sales/target-b...-friday-ad.html

That looks like a really good set. I have the individual 2 disc sets for Alien, Aliens, and Predator which are my favorites. Pretty cheap too at Fry's.

All I can say is "did I do that?"

The movie had to grow on me. It wasn't until after watching the series that I started to like it. Then when I got the DVD I felt the movie is OK. I still think the series is better than the movie. Somehow I get the old school Star Wars vibe from watching the series, I'm not exactly sure why.

A couple of Walmart Black Friday deals of interest Polariod 42" 1080p LCD TV $598 (I got this last year on Black Friday. Not a bad TV. I paid $798 last year) Magnavox Blu-ray player $128 http://www.blackfriday.info/sales/wal-mart...-friday-ad.html

Next week they will be showing a "The Malevolence" mini-series. It's the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th episodes which follows the story of the Separatist ship the Malevolence which is a huge and deadly ship with the first ion canon. We get to see the early version of the Y-wing in this series. FYI, you can watch all the episodes at www.starwars.com.

I made a run to Big Lots today. Now is a good time as they are gearing up for the holidays and they seem to be freshly stocked. They had the following 1:18 scale items: Combat Helicopter ($12) http://www.joearmory.com/ptemiblittlebirdhelicopter.aspx Combat Tank (M1 Abrams)($20 or $30 something, can't remember) http://www.amazon.com/Power-Team-Elite-Mil...k/dp/B0006N8WUG Patrol Boat (US Marines version) ($14) http://store.foxholetoys.com/1scpoteelpus.html Lookout Tower(couldn't have been more than $10 IIRC) http://store.foxholetoys.com/1scpoteelplo.html They also had several different 1:6 scale dolls for SWAT and Marines. IMO they didn't look very good, but they were around $10. I picked up the helicopter. I see on the back that there is suppose to be an F/A-18 Hornet. Does anyone know if it's any good? FYI, I think this weekend is good time to hunt for things because I would assume that all the stores will be geared up for after Thanksgiving shopping. Just as Big Lots seemed to be freshly and fully stocked, I'm sure all the usual stores you shop at will be newly stocked.

Here's another link that show the PTE A-10. http://www.joearmory.com/ptepowerteamelitewarthoga-10.aspx