Walter Kovacs

Speaking of not logging in, I have two camping trips in the next few weeks that will partially interfere with the game. The first is next weekend. It's only one night, so I should be able to bracket the trip with useful (or useless) banter before and after without missing too much. The other is for two nights, which could be slightly more detrimental. But I will post as late as possible before I leave, and as soon as I return. Shouldn't be too bad, in actuality. I might get lucky, and the trip will fall in the lull between game days. We shall see. Just assume my character is off meditating somewhere. After all the pre-game talk of metagaming, this struck me as quite funny.

Thisis grim news indeed. Just when I thought I could sleep well at night. There is good news in all of this. We have managed to rid ourselves of three full mafia houses. Now we only need remove the last two. Something tells me that this is easier said than done. Your guess is as good as anyones. It isn't like it was back in the '20s, when crime families flaunted themselves, thought themselves outside of the law's reach. Nowadays the families tend to stay hidden in the shadows. But if pressed for a guess, I would say that the Godfathers are not alone... Wise words indeed, Master Butcher. Patience is one of the hardest lessons you have tried to teach me. I shall join you in meditation. *finds a quiet corner and begins meditating* Om.....Om....Om....Om....

Considering the first CW series was what, 5 years ago? And the Delta-7B was seen just last season, be prepared for disappointment. If this rumor is even true. That being said I'd much rather have an Eta-2. I like the interceptors a lot more than the Delata-7s.

Not bad. Not bad at all. Like Brickdoctor mentioned, the pylons look slightly too bulky. But not enough that I think you should change them. I know how difficult it is to make those gussets look proper. The biggest issue I see is that the ordinance side and cockpit side should be the same length, from everything I've ever seen. Here is a reference picture. Also, it looks like you re-used the solar panels directly off of the UCS TIE Advanced. While I will never try to tell you what to do, I try to make the solar panels of all my UCS TIEs unique to each craft, even if it means just changing the greeby bits on them. Do you have any issues with the wings drooping? Or is everything pretty solid on the interior? And speaking of interiors, do you have any details inside the cockpit, like a pilot's chair and controls? And can I get a good picture of the bomb drop (the little attachment that juts out from the ordinance pod)? I'd like to see how you managed that detail. But overall it looks very nice. Well done.

Has Mace ever appeared on-screen in a Starfighter? I can't place one in the films, though I haven't seen all of the CW episodes (or the CW movie, for that matter). I suppose it could be out of a Season 3 episode. But if that's the case, I wouldn't pin my hopes on an Eta-2.

I received my PM. Now let's start the bloodshed.

Point well taken. But from what I saw in the pictures which are now gone (a photographic memory would help right about now ), the speeder looked worse than the speeders in the Phase II and Assassin Droid BPs. Now, the speeder itself still could be preliminary. I hope so. And as I said before, the speeder certainly isn't going to stop me from buying multiple sets.

I'm game, but I have a quick question first. I am in the middle of building a rather large MOC right now, and I have had to scavenge pieces from my CW sets. It looks like I'm taking the CIS side, which is good since I scavenged far fewer pieces from those sets. All of the sets are still recognizable, just not complete. Will it suffice if I photograph the sets in this state, or should I cobble them back together? For instance, I stole some bricks out of the new AAT. It still looks like an AAT, but the cockpit sides are missing currently. I also snitched the pneumatic T-pieces out of the STAP from the AT-TE set. It will take me a few days to get photos taken at any rate. Probably this weekend, assuming I find the time. Always need to find the time...

I'm not terribly impressed by the BARC speeder. As mentioned before, it looks very blocky. Now, that won't stop me from buying 5 or 6 sets for the minifigs, of course. One can never have too many clones. Unlike Diaabo, I do like the Mando turret. It's a third piece in a battle pack; one shouldn't expect too much out of it, and I'm just happy that we get three separate buildable pieces on top of the four Mandos. Only having two jetpacks is a bit of a bummer, but I'll still buy a couple copies of the set.

That's what the wife told me, and look where that got us.

Congratulations Jim. I just couldn't break through against you. I even tried a different tack that I normally wouldn't, to no avail. I'd also like to thank Pedro for organizing and adjudicating the entire tournament. It has been fun. I can't wait to see what kind of changes you have in mind for Jedi Duel 2.0!

Zephyr will get things worked out. It's a shame, but I do know what it feels like when a reliable machine suddenly becomes far less reliable. I think the Tuesday start date IS a little optimistic at this point, though. But I could be wrong. Whenever you get things working again, Zephyr, I'll be waiting.

Yeah, to be honest I forgot about the ISD when I posted that. But, as you said, the ISD does have a UCS model (and a damn fine one at that), so my point still stands. I want a UCS TIE Fighter, darn it.

It's funny, but that same TIE Defender that you passed on because of lack of parts was my one "must have" of that wave. Of course, I am a certified TIE nut, so that probably explains a lot. I like your method of re-evaluating the ratio. That would be interesting to number crunch someday. But not today. While I have no doubt that prices will continue to rise, I don't think there is much we can predict on how high they will go. Prices could plateau at their current level, or the rate of increase could remain at the same rate. I think only the execuatives at LEGO can answer this question, and I doubt they're talking. And an e-mail sent. Enjoy! Feel free. I certainly am not going to attempt it. Like you, I have no idea where to start. As many of you said, p2p isn't the best way to judge whether a set is worth buying or not. I myself have never used it as a factor in my decision to purchase a new set (now used sets off Ebay or BL is a different story; there I'm all about best value). But the fact remains that many people here are stuck thinking that p2p is a valid and good way of determining a set's value. I think this data shows how far off that opinion really is, depending on which sets you are looking at.

Before I dive in, I have no "agenda" with this thread. I just thought everyone would like to see the results of my number crunching. And a good frank discussion can't do much harm. Also, I have no intention of hiding my data from anyone. If you want to see the spreadsheet I used, PM me your email and I'll send you my file. I have been known to make mistakes before. The file will be an Excel file, so you must have a way to open it. There has been a lot of griping about the rising cost of Star Wars LEGO in recent months. I know I have felt the sticker shock hit my wallet. So I decided to look at the historical prices of my favorite theme and see how bad things have gotten in recent years. The numbers may surprise you. First, the assumptions: 1. All figures are in US dollars. 2. There are four distinct categories: Ultimate Collector’s Series (any set with a display placard or stand, plus the Yoda and Darth Maul statues; Cloud City, Death Star, Tantive IV, etc. are not included here), MINI and Promotionals (including the ComicCon MINI Dropship and the Daily Mirror sets), Technic (includes the Droid and Dark Side Developer Sets) and System (basically everything else). 3. Brickmaster MINIs were assigned a value of $6. This includes the SDCC Dropship. 4. The upcoming Brickmaster MINI AT-AT is included. I assumed it would have 50 pieces to it. 5. All prices are MSRP as reported by Peeron.com, where available. The rest are from memory, which is admittedly spotty Also, I used the US MSRP. Now, some raw numbers. By my count, there have been 203 sets released over the last 12 years. Of those 203, only 80 have been at or below $0.10/part. That is only 40% of the sets overall. There have been more sets at or under the magical $0.10/part ratio in the last 6 years of the license than there were in the first six years of the license, 46-34. The total MSRP cost of all 203 sets is $9,473, for an average cost of $46.67 per set. If you should be lucky enough to own one of all 203 sets, you would have 91,817 pieces in your collection. The overall average price to parts ratio over all of the sets is… $.10/part. So let’s break things down a bit further. Most collectors and casual buyers are interested in the system scale sets, so we’ll look at those now. Over the duration of the license thus far, there have only been four years where the average price to parts (P2P, from now on) has been at or below $0.10 for systmem sets. Those years were 2004-2007. That’s right, for the first five years of SW LEGO, the average P2P was above $0.10/part. The best year for collecting came in 2006, when the average P2P on system sets was only $0.08. In fact in 2006, 7 of the 8 sets had a P2P below $0.10. Now for the worst years. No one is going to be surprised to hear that 2010 has the highest P2P ratio at $0.13. But what may surprise you is that 2002 also had an average P2P of $0.13. 2000 & 2003 come in at $0.12/part, while 1999, 2008 & 2009 averaged $0.11/part. Taken as a group, the MINIs have an excellent P2P, with 67% of the 33 sets having a P2P of $0.10/part or better. The Technic group has the same percentage, with 8 of the 12 having the better P2P. Ultimate Collectors aren’t quite as lucky, with only 60% of their sets below the $0.10/part mark, but that still is well above the System Group’s average, which is 29% over all of the system sets. I know there was more I wanted to comment on, but my train of thought has jumped the track. So I'll let the discussion begin and see where that takes us.

Hello. My name is Walter Kovacs. I still hav e much to learn from Master Butcher, but I'm ready to show what I know.

I for one wouldn't mind seeing Tusken Raiders and Luminara released again. Tuskens only came in one set, which I missed during a dark age. Same for Luminara, who was a LULS on top that. Geonosians were only in one set, but I don't feel any real need to have many of them. They seem so minor, considering how little they actually did during the Battle of Geonosis. And I've said it before (most likely earlier in this thread, actually): Where is the UCS TIE Fighter. I can't think of any ship as iconic as the standard TIE that hasn't had a UCS model done. Aside from the X-Wing and Millenium Falcon, it's the only spaceship that appeared in all three of the OT films. And I'd consider it more iconic than the Y-Wing, Naboo N-1, Delta 7 and Imperial Shuttle, all of which have already had a UCS model. It's about time, LEGO. Do you hear me out there.

DS sent. Good luck to you, Mr Butcher (I hope you need it )

OK, that works for me. When will the fourth match start? I have to admit, it is fun to watch these battles develop, as unbalanced as some of them are.

Don't worry too much about it. You would truly have to try to actually offend me. And the link is indeed to a TIE Oppressor.

Are you still needing a player, ADHO? I haven't shown any interest in playing, since frankly, I suck at strategy games. But if you are in dire need of a player I'd be willing to give it a go. Rest assured, if I started to play I would stay dedicated to the game. I'm not a quitter. I could take either side as I have a sizable army on both sides. I guess I'm saying that if you don't need anyone, it won't hurt my feelings, but if you do, I'm game.

I don't know whether to be insulted or not. Cavegod does make some excellent TIEs, but I have him beat by volume! And Pile-of-Bricks, did you even try searching for a UCS TIE Oppressor? Not my best work, but still highly recognizable.

Thanks, WhiteFang. It was a fun duel. I just hope I can make a good showing in the finals. I'm ready for you, JimB. Bring your "A" game.

Jedi Duel? What's that? Before you read the rest of this, I would like you to know that I still enjoy playing the game. It is fun, and the anticipation of seeing how well you did in a round can be maddening. I only really have one comment. I realized after a few games that it truly is a random game. It's Rock/Paper/Scissors, repeated five times per round, with a couple of extra moves. As such, there is no strategy to be used, except outguess your opponent. Anyone who has looked at my DSs over the last few duels will notice I have almost completely ignored the defensive skills of Force Shield and Parry. My logic is that, though you might be preventing damage, you're also not going to DEAL any damage. And I think that is the flaw in this game. I'm not sure how to improve the format to introduce a little strategy. I'd still play, even without any rule changes. Oh, one last thing. I think the progression up the ranks is a little too fast. Perhaps one win for the first advancement, then two for the level after that, etc. It would give people more reason to continue playing, and would give those unlucky enough not to win some lower powered opponents to earn their advancement.

Huh, what do you know. KielDaMan is a chemistry nerd like me. Or at least, like I used to be. I haven't used my degree in over 15 years. I could never have answered that yellowing question in that detail. When you finally open that box, you'll be amazed at how packed it is in there. Unlike a lot of sets with larger boxes, the Dropship's box has very little empty space.