JimBee

Hello, everyone. I'd just like to say that I will be away to Europe for a couple of weeks. I'll be going to Austria, Italy, and Croatia for sure, and possibly some other countries. The main reason that I'm going is mostly to visit my grandfather one last time, but also to see the eastern world. If anyone has any questions, I'll be glad to answer them, or if you just want to comment, that's fine too. Try not to miss me too much. Thanks, JimButcher

100% mutt... My grandfather is 100% Austrian, and my grandmother is Italian...(both on my mother's side), and my father's side is a little bit of everything... so I guess that means I'm a little bit of a lot of elasticities.

Thanks for the great review, Dunamis. Now that I've seen this set reviewed, I've decided not to get it. I'd be much more satisfied with just the RGS and AT-TE, which are together less money than this set. Somehow, it's just lacking. Sure, we've all wanted an AT-OT for a long time, but there really isn't any "wow" factor to it. The folding cockpit is neat, though. I do like the LAAT/c and its color scheme, and that it can also carry the AT-TE, but there is nothing special here, either. I think the set would've obtained a lot more buyers if it had exclusive minifigs, too, like Aayla Secura. I cannot wait until TLG realizes that only serious collectors will get this, and drastically slash the price until it's affordable.

Thanks for understanding. If you want to do an updated version, please go ahead and do that, and then feel free to break it. We can still use the pictures if we needed the Fortitude to appear. Yes, but our point is that the plot doesn't make much sense right now. It doesn't have to be all action, but let's just get on with the story, alright? Let alone any pics...

Ugh, sorry about that, but the story is way too slow right now. It doesn't make any sense for Palpatine to stop us from going anywhere since the Jedi Council gave permission, and supposedly they have to get the ok from him. I don't want to be a dictator here, but can we just scrap this whole thing and get on with the story? So far, season 2 has gone way off track. And I think we'd better slow down on the story-talk. Shouldn't we just play it out, and not discuss it here? And not make posts that will set the game off-track?

My thoughts exactly, this is the good ol' design that I remember and enjoy the most. It puts me in a good mood, quite opposite of what I normally feel in this weather. I love the buff Solo.

If you haven't thought of this already, I would suggest building your MOC over a long period of time, say a few months. I'm not a MOCer myself, but I've seen that all of my MOCs that I have built over a long period of time have much better quality than those that a whipped up in a day or two. Plus, a long-term project gives you plenty of brain-storming time while your in the process.

I've always wondered- is there a difference between medium blue and normal blue? Is medium blue that light-ish blue, seen recently in the Medieval Market Village? I did give credit, didn't I? Personally, I love chrome. I don't "play" with Lego much, so my chrome pieces stay in tip-top shape. Metallic does chip for me, though. Yes, like I said, they're very attractive. Yes, I enjoy this also. I remember while building my RGS, I would rub the shiny white pieces, until they got dull. If only white didn't dirty so fast...

Jim flew his rented speeder back to the ship, fake holocron in hand. Before he landed, he spotted several red-marked clones waiting his arrival. Coruscant guard... he thought. But what are they doing here? He set the ship down, and walked over to the clones. "What's going on here?" he asked, a bit suspicious. "I'm sorry, sir, but your going to have to come with us" answered a clone. Jim raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Chancellor's orders" the clone explained. Chancellor's orders... Jim thought. But he just gave us the go-ahead... why would he want to slow us down? A few minutes later, Jim and the escort clones arrived at a shady-looking building. "What is this?" Butcher asked. "I'm sorry sir, Chancellor's orders" the clone said again. Jim glared at him. "Look, I'm just a clone, I don't know anything". Hmm... Jim thought again. There was something suspicious about this whole predicament. The escort walked Jim inside, and led him down some stairs. They walked a long hallway, with small rooms with no doors on either side. Cells. "Look, this is a mistake," implored Jim. "Orders are orders". "No, this isn't right" Jim said as he stopped. "Sir, if you don't cooperate, we're going to have to take you by force". "You'll just have to take me dead, then" he said, and whipped out his hidden pistol, smacking the clone who seemed in charge in the back of the neck, right between the armor. The clone stumbled, and Jim caught him, holding the gun to his hostage's neck, while staying safely behind him. "Drop your weapons" Butcher ordered to the other clones. They complied. "Now, are you all going to tell me that the Chancellor himself ordered all of you to specifically arrest me, and supposedly my team, and throw us into cells?" "Uh..." spoke up one of the clones. "Well, our captain gave us the news..." "Oh, did he?". Jim pushed the gun's barrel harder onto his captive's neck. "And you might be the captain?" "Y-yes" he answered, struggling. "And did the Chancellor tell you to arrest me?" "No, but we can't just--" "Ah, there we go. I don't need to hear any more." The clones glanced at each other. Their own brother betrayed them. "Put him in cuffs, clones". "Uh, yes sir" said one. They cuffed him, and carried him up the stairs, to take him to the temporary prison, where he would await his hearing. "Psst" said a voice. "Over here". Jim walked a few more paces down the hall. In a cell with a shield barrier, sat TeeBee and Bob. Jim shot the keypad lock, and the shield went down. "Are you two alright?" Jim asked. "Yeah, we're fine" said Tee Bee. "We got in the same predicament as you. We heard the whole thing". "It is awfully strange that clones would betray the Republic. We'll have to inform the Senate sometime. But right now, we need to get back to the ship." "Right" said Bob. The three headed outside, and called an air taxi. They were dropped off at the ship, and awaited their team's arrival. Little did they know, the clone transport on the way to the prison was shot down. Jim, Bob, and TeeBee thought nothing of the black getaway vehicle as they saw it pass overhead...

Nice review, Draggy. I really like that colt, and the grenade launcher is nice as well. Can't wait for part 2!

Good work, Sandy! However, there is still one question to be answered... You killed Lord Chester just to play a game?! Poor guy... Anyways, this was an interesting game to follow, and it was clear that it was well planned. The MOCs were great, too. However, if I were to change one thing, it would be to not have had people play only by invitation. There were only about four or five active players throughout the game. Of course, it would be rude for someone to deny your invite, but some people apparently just didn't have the time.

My favorite Lego colors are dark blue, dark red, and dark tan, not unlike most of the people who posted here already. All of them just look so attractive, and I always try to incorporate them in my "free" MOCs. I am just hoping we get more dark tan, especially with the Indy line. My least favorite Lego colors... definitely yellow (especially old yellow). When used a lot, these bricks appear the dirtiest and ugliest, even more so than white. I don't have very many yellow pieces, but I'm glad not to. I also really hate pearl-colored (not metallic) pieces. The difference? Bigger than you think. A good example is the metallic gold chest from "Race for the Stolen Treasure". And the pearl gold chest from "Brickbeard's Bounty". I just cannot stand that sickly color... it's also the only reason that I haven't bought that set yet. (The first picture is mine, the second is svelte corps's).

I also saw "Hostage Crisis", and it was one of my favorite episodes yet. Cad Bane was totally badass, and I liked his voice very much. The whole episode was much better than most, probably because of it being more mature. The episode actually made sense, and had no plot holes (as Mr. M said). I'm wondering if another Jedi would have added to the episode... Well, anyone can get sneaked up on. At the beginning, the commandos didn't know what to expect, and acted as any police would have, but I do agree that Palpatine would be better guarded. Yeah, but someone has to cover for the intruders. This also marks the first time that Droid Commandos and Assassin Droids have been seen together. Yeah, it would be a neat minifig, but I doubt TLG would do a fig that was only on screen for a split second (then again, they did make K-3PO) . Yes! Because Senator Organa would have noticed. Anakin could have force swiped it from her, but that would have taken away from the episode. Bane would have probably been quicker and shot her. Padme doesn't even know how to handle a lightsaber. Because they needed him to complete the mission, to call of the clones and set Ziro free. Yeah, she was pretty cool, but I wish she would have had a bigger part. I don't think Dooku or Palpy was behind it. The Bounty Hunters simply invaded the Senate building, took hostages, and set Ziro free. Obviously he did it on a whim thinking that Ziro would pay him. Meaning, Ziro does not have to be killed. I see them, it's just that I don't follow the webcomic, so I can't relate. I also was wondering about how Bane knew that Anakin was watching from the balcony. IIs he force-sensitive, or was it just an instinctive sixth-sense? We did get to see Ocanda Farr again, though, which perhaps adds to the minifigure in the upcoming Sep's Shuttle set. Oh, and finally, we get a bad-guy victory!

My favorite minifig accesory would probably be Indy's bag, as it is very versatile. My least favorite is also the book. I just can't stand how it's bigger than a torso.

I'd say black. It would match your other furnishings, and compliment most Lego sets nicely. White would stick out, and probably wouldn't make photographing any better (depending on the material/ finish of the shelf). Plus, you can always set up a few sheets of paper, add some lights, and have a studio.

Ninjas. It looked like a great theme for it's time, and I'm sure if TLG re-introduced it, it would have many new ideas and themes to it. As for Classic Space, I'm very satisfied with Space Police III as it is.

I like the black hilt, too. I use the one from IJ "Race for the Stolen Treasure" set for Qui-Gon Jinn's saber. But, I voted for straight chrome hilts. I love chrome. Sure, the paint can wear and chip if you're not careful, but it's worth it. I guess I also like the chrome Dooku lightsaber hilt, but I don't have it (yet), so I'll hold my judgment. I'm sure you don't even need to guess what my least favorite is...

Just to clarify, every member is going to their own Venator. Whoever wants to pilot the Fortitude can. Or, we can all go on the Fortitude, it's up to everyone to decide... And Tim Bit? Could you change your post, please? Many characters aren't even ready to go, let alone in Venators. Just hold off on planet jumping for now, there will plenty of time for that very soon...

I agree. The sets is (forgive me), pricey, and doesn't look that great. The OT version from '07 looks much, much better, and is cheaper. I wonder if someone will make comparisons between them as Dr. S did with the RGS comparisons and the AT-TE comparisons (link goes here).

Ah, thanks everyone. I know, but before I saw the commentary, I really thought he was working with the CIS. Obviously, the editors didn't tweak everything when they scrapped that idea.

Qui-gon's hair? I don't get how it is creepy...

Hm, this episode definitely did not live up to my expectations. Mace was pretty badass, but not so much as I had hoped. The clones did seem pretty useless, though, and i doubt if any of them actually fired a shot during the entire episode. But were they a new kind of clone? I know that they were the "Lightning Squadron", but their armor was very different. The leader of the resistance was a good character, and had mystery surrounding him. I always wondered if he was going to do something stupid and betray the Republic. The part that I hated the most, though, was Wat Tombor's stupidity. I always saw him as a character who liked to sit back and be quiet while analyzing a situation (from what we've seen in AotC). But instead, he was really, really stupid and greedy. Shoulda listened to the tactical droid... My thoughts exactly. Yep, and it wouldn't have even been "bad" for the children, since several inhabited Twi'lek villages were already destroyed. Anakin had better die in the finale! Where? In one of the MTTs? Also, is there a difference between droid commandos and assassin droids? Regarding the CW-styled vehicles, including the red-on-white Republic Crusier and the CIS MTT, I do think that it would be cool for TLG to remake these sets, for kids just getting into Lego Star Wars, and for CW collectors (with or without the older versions of the MTT or RC).

Nice way to conclude. I think this set is pretty good for its price. It comes with uncommon Qui-Gon and Jar Jar figs, as well as two BDs and STAPs. The seaweed and green whip (vine) pieces are a nice touch, as well. I can't say much else, but I'll go ahead and vote "Good". Good review, by the way.

Wow, that's quite a collection you have, there, mania3. Thanks very much for the inspiration on my sorting. Speaking of which, I'm in the middle of sorting myself. For now, I'm just using big Ziploc baggies to store one color of brick in. I'm dumping a little bit of unsorted bricks from my 20-gallon bucket at a time, and putting the bricks into the appropriate bags. Once all of it is done (I'm about halfway through), I'm going to dump one bag at a time and sort that color into two size categories. Judging bricks' sizes is mostly a personal opinion for me, but usually 1x3 bricks and smaller go into the small category, along with almost all plates. Everything bigger goes into the big category, and huge pieces (such as the big ugly airplane wing piece (BUAWP)) are left loose. Finally, once every brick of mine (except for built sets) is sorted, I will attempt to hunt down pieces from broken sets and rebuild those sets. Then expect to see lots of reviews. It's a very, very, slow process for me, but I hope to have it done by September. I should probably just get it over with, but I won't. Minifigure pieces/ accessories not in use are all thrown into one Ziploc bag. Those are neat, but very expensive. Plus, I wouldn't need huge bins like those for sorting Lego.

Jim Butcher headed to the Jedi temple in his rented speeder. He needed to pick up the holocron and receive the Jedi Council's diagnosis on the holcron's information. He stepped into the chambers once more to face the twelve leading Jedi. "Ready, your holocron, is" said Master Yoda. "Thank you, master" Butcher answered. "However, we cannot give you the information it holds. That is strictly confidential between the Council." said Master Windu. Jim raised his eyebrows. "With all due respect, master Windu, I think our team is more than qualified to--" "No," he replied. "Your mission is clear; to get Dooku away from this planet on a wild Bantha chase while the Council decides how to go about getting the... information that the holocron has revealed. Am I understood?" "...yes, sir". "Good. We already had a replica made for you," Mace said, pulling a metal box that looked exactly like the Sith holocron from his robes. "We also charged it with enough force power to last you the mission." He handed the box to Butcher. "Now, go commander, and may the force be with you". Jim bowed. "And with you, master". He headed towards the door, when Master Kenobi spoke. "Oh, commander" he said. "Yes, master?" Jim answered, turning around. "Please do send my regards to Oky Wan," he said, smiling. "Will, do master".