L.A. area Just Found

[figrin bran]

We have to do it again sometime!

Amazon delivered FOC Grimlock to my door... and in hindsight I think they should have saved me from that mistake. What a piece of CRAP! I'll take the rest of that to the TF thread.


That line sounds like a key line from Goldfinger, the book character (the book's 3 parts are named after them): "Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: 'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action.'"

This was the second year in a row they used this online system and the second year it FAILED MISERABLY. I suspect they do want a better process, they just don't have a clue of how to do that because they've become old suits on a non-profit's board rather than boots-on-the-ground geeks. Their lack of links suggests to me that they really have no clue of what's going on. You could argue that's willful negligence on their parts by letting themselves become complacent execu-jerks, but it's difficult for one to see one's self from an objective perspective, I think. We'll probably all discuss this in an hour and a half at lunch though.

Wow, that's really awful, you were in the stupid Epic waiting room and it didn't do ANYTHING?!? Geez, sorry man.

Yep, I was in that wait room and it didn't do anything. I'm hardly the only one this happened to. I'm sorry but that is just inexcusable. On that wait room screen, it says to contact them by phone if there are any difficulties only instead of posting the number right there, they want you to click on a Facebook link to get that number. Of course, not everyone has Facebook. The entire process is just getting worse and worse.

[JediTricks]

Great time gang, that was a ton of fun. Glad to hear everybody made it home safely (I heard from Chaddy in text, so that's everyone). We definitely have to do it again some time soon, and hopefully get more of the gang there as well... especially so my Boba Fett cap doesn't have to fill a seat.

Glad to hear you found the bookstore easily, that's a cool pickup.

And glad to hear you found the ability to drink more Sun Drop, which it turns out is older than Mountain Dew and Mello Yello. The Sun Drop brand was bought by Crush in the '70s, eventually finding its way to Dr Pepper Schweppes Cadbury Eggs Snapple.

That bites about the room not working and the phone number BS, I had heard something went wrong with the phone number, it turns out 2 things because they originally also put the WRONG number on the Facebook page. I will make an effort to contact the CCI board about this, and I suggest you all send emails as well.


I hit the Pasadena Target right by there on my way home to pick up Breathe Right strips (best 30 cents a day you can spend) and found TF Fall of Cybertron Soundblaster amongst a sea of Soundwaves. This is a better toy than I expected, it's still flawed but it's a "whole" thing (minus the pointlessly missing blaster weapon), it feels and looks like a solid concept, and sadly now I expect I'll buy the Ravage / Rumble set (which is actually Frenzy but whatever).

Store also had a single light-up Obi-Wan Movie Heroes figure, but $10 for a non-replaceable battery is a no.

[Tycho]

I got Kyle Reese by NECA Today. It's a really good figure I've been wanting them to make for a while. Now I wish Hot Toys would do Kyle Reese from terminators 1 and 4.

LEGO Also makes the gun gun submarine and the playset to Papa teens office and Jabba the Hutt's palace. What's Up Hasbro?

[bikerscout]

I got Kyle Reese by NECA Today. It's a really good figure I've been wanting them to make for a while. Now I wish Hot Toys would do Kyle Reese from terminators 1 and 4.

LEGO Also makes the gun gun submarine and the playset to Papa teens office and Jabba the Hutt's palace. What's Up Hasbro?

Papa teen? I know what u meant, but that's hilarious!!

Glad everyone had fun sunday, sorry i couldn't make it -went to that USC function w/my friend.

[Tycho]

Oh. No! I was using Voice to Text and did a little better with correcting it's errors - my phone usually types sexual comments for whatever reason when it's interpreting me, so we're lucky it wasn't "Pop-a-Teen..." but now I let my dirty mind post that anyway.

And moderators, who could actually prove I meant THAT to be a sexual comment myself? Language and voice-to-text. Got to love the amusement...

But my actual point was that LEGO charges far higher prices for sets that build the more obscure Star Wars stuff. I wished Hasbro could balance their costs better and do this.

LEGO and Hasbro SW are both collected, so they both have an element of "sure sales." I suspect that a regular Class 2 sized Gungan Submarine would require more specialized pieces for Hasbro that it would for LEGO. And with LEGO, even a present becoming a duplicate gift could be opened and used to build something else with the parts.

Furthermore, the "right way" to release the regular sized Class 2 Gungan Submarine would be:

1) store exclusive probably -likely TRU

2) paired with a large "ShoGun Warrior sized and articulated (limited articulation)" Sando Aqua Monster released at the same time

3) Some kind of weapons or harpooning device to "fight" the aqua monster

4) perhaps a Colo Claw Fish also released at the same time (very basic tooling required here, but could include a clear display stand)

5) softgoods Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and JarJar available at the same time

6) re-release the Opee Sea Killer at the same time. Cut costs by not including a figure.


7) making a cool clear display (like the SW Lego environment ones) in Toys R Us or a participating retailer to market all the related products.

I would say that this one is probably the LEAST POPULAR set I could come up with but would totally buy first chance I got for my dioramas (and put this one in an aquarium with its components suspended by fishing wire to look like they're floating).


Anyway IN OTHER SIGHTINGS - the Republic Attack Shuttle (CW) was only $39! Too bad I don't need one now.

They had the Vintage Boxed BMF.

The MTT was there at a huge price INCREASE! What are they thinking? I think it was over $200 if my memory serves.

[JediTricks]

Tycho, you are responsible for everything you post, whether you type it or let your Android device analyze your voice. You have every opportunity to proof-read your post before you send it to the system, any inappropriate content your device inputs from a misunderstanding is still your responsibility.


Culver Target was putting out new Star Wars... Fighter Pods. Ugh, that was a real bummer to see an employee with a Hasbro Star Wars case in front of the section only to then discover what it actually was. Store also had a bunch of Transformers Prime Beast Hunters in various crappy scales from teeny tiny to Voyager, but not anybody good. Nothing important in Generations land IIRC, maybe Ultra Magnus but at $18.29 for Deluxes they can rot for all I care.

This was a super long, taxing day for me, both physically and emotionally, so when I finally got home tonight there was my box from Sideshow with the 1:6 Snowtrooper on my doorstep. I had previously asked for a billing delay and they had obliged, but even still it came in a single day along to arrive at the same time as most other folks. It's a very nice piece, were it $25 to $60 cheaper it'd be an A to A+ figure, but at $150 it has a few tiny nitpicks which keep it only being "quite good" B territory.

[Chaddymac]

As promised to the meet-up crew, here is the battle damaged Snow Trooper. Shouldn't have ****ed off Vader, dude...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8jt109d1n8...2016.25.28.jpg

[JediTricks]

Awesome! He's lucky he only lost a hand and caught it across the chest. I secretly miss doing that stuff to my toys, I used to recreate battle damage on a lot of my figures and such. Surprised you didn't give him a saber straight through the eye or something.

[figrin bran]

As promised to the meet-up crew, here is the battle damaged Snow Trooper. Shouldn't have ****ed off Vader, dude...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8jt109d1n8...2016.25.28.jpg

Nice!

So did anyone watch Episode 1 this week?

[Chaddymac]

Awesome! He's lucky he only lost a hand and caught it across the chest. I secretly miss doing that stuff to my toys, I used to recreate battle damage on a lot of my figures and such. Surprised you didn't give him a saber straight through the eye or something.

Saber through the eye!!! Good idea! And it's never too late!