Clone OPatra

Pompommini and Ritz Brick, you've got some good ideas, though now you just need to work on the presentation a bit. Though my setups are pretty sparse, having that white semi-expanse behind the subject really highlights what's going in the scene, and, since they're just little comics, I don't think an elaborate backdrop is needed either. Try to keep your subjects a bit farther from the back wall to minimize ugly shadows, and crop out unnecessary dead space. And now…

I'd like to add my own two cents to KDM's question above. Personally, I think buying the figures it the best way to go. At times I've been hesitant about paying large sums of money for a single figure, but I've basically gotten passed that. I recently ordered Aayla for $25 USD. Here's what you have to ask yourself: what do I really want out of this set? If you're like me, and it sounds like you are in this instance, what you really just want is the cool minifigures. Even if buying the cool minifigures means you're paying half of the price of the set for the figures you want, you're still saving money. You got what you really wanted anyway, and you paid much less than the price of the set, which you didn't care for. Buying the few figures that you want will always be cheaper than paying for the whole set, and if it's really just the figs you want, don't buy the whole set. I don't feel remotely bad for paying $25 for a single figure; it sure beats $120!

I believe it is a typo, and there shouldn't be an apostrophe. Though I like the different lighting, none of the picture looks very focused. If you could, try to make some portion of it look crisp.

Wow! Things have certainly turned around since the crappy pictures of the catalog. The figure selections in these sets are to die for! Three more new Clone Wars Jedi? Panaka and Padme? Two new Ewoks? A new Watto and Sebulba? Yes, yes, yes, and yes! The only problem is that the sets themselves are not so spectacular. I know that they're all prelims and that they'll look better once finalized, but the Sith Infiltrator, Dathomir Speeder, and the Podracers are just ugly or uninteresting vehicles to begin with. Not to mention the Ewok Attach, which will undoubtedly just be some woods stuff with a catapult, which isn't too exciting to me no matter how well LEGO designs it. The Republic Frigate and Geonosian Fighter are a bit better as ships go, so that's something. Is it just me, or does one of those Clones in the Frigate look like it has new markings? I think my eyes are probably playing tricks on me…

The second of the new figures that I'll be featuring is… Palpatine! I know you can barely tell because he's out of focus in the background, but that figure truly is freaky-looking. I'm going to be MIA for a few days, so you'll have to wait for the second half of this week for any more new content from me.

Oh, hmm… yeah, I really did not see that X-Mas had to be included at all. I read it as X-Mas Photo Contest was just the name of the contest because it was a photo contest at Christmas time; I didn't realize it was supposed to include something Christmasy. Maybe I should've figured it out from the other entries, although really I didn't find Izzy's Christmasy either, so I didn't really notice a trend. Well, I have no more time to work on a new picture anyway, so it'll just have to be that.

That's a lovely shot Iz. I'm not sure if you did the haze purposefully or not, but it works well for this "steamy" scene. There is only one criticism I have of your shot, and that is the visibility of the studio line in the background. Maybe the Reviewers' Academy has made me a bit too anal about it, but I truly think your shot would look better if you could edit it out in some way. I'm sure it is possible, though not easy. Your pic looks great as is, but getting rid of that studio line would make it even better.

This is a very appealing MOC. Some of your parts usages are very creative, and the shape of the building itself is some great work. The only problem I have with it is that it just doesn't evoke a very "Harry Potter"-esque feel to me, but perhaps I can get past that and vote for it anyhow. It's a wonderful MOC, but it just doesn't fit in with my vision of Hogsmeade. Maybe I've become too biased by the films.

Deep into the night on some unknown world, a battle droid stands sentry. This night, like all others, has been still and uneventful, for little ever happens on this far-flung planet. But this night will not remain so dull for long; for, without a single sound, Aayla Secura stealthily hastens towards the first of her prey… The motion blur was captured in camera. Computer editing was only used to tweak the lighting and colors. If you like, see it on Flickr.

I honestly don't think there will be much confusion. Even daft parents would be able to tell apart a pirate (Jack Sparrow) and a Clone (Captain Rex) on the boxart, and the words 'Star Wars' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' Besides, the sets themselves have nothing in common.

Truth be told, I quite like them as well. They have much more exciting detail than the normal figures, and I really think that the big eyes suit them. But still, since their look is very different from every other type of figure, they're extremely good targets for some humor.

In order to have more opportunities for jokes, I recently ordered a few key figures off of BL. So here we go…

Two Qui-Gons? Which set has the other Qui-Gon, the Infiltrator? Right now, it doesn't look like it to me…

While I do agree that it looks like there is a blue lightsaber, I think that could actually just be the background of the blue figure box and no lightsaber at all. Since it makes no sense whatsoever for it to be Obi-Wan, I'm still betting that it's Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan wasn't at the podrace.

Well, there could be a tall white thing in the minifig box on the frigate, but that could also be a Clone who looks sort of morphed with the explosion that's partially obscured byt the box for the figure lineup. I think the latter is much more likely. As for Padme in the Infiltrator, I'm really not seeing it. There are three figures in the fig-lineup on the front, and none of them are blue nor look like a Padme outfit to me. One of them is clearly Maul, but as for the other two, who knows. They don't have the tan robes of Jedi, so I honestly have no guesses. I'm also wondering if they're putting the Greedo kid in the Podrace set. It certainly looks like it, since there is a short guy with a green, weird-looking head, but it's not typical of them to put such obscure characters. Maybe Padme is in that set, since there's a fifth figure, but also maybe not. We'll see. I can certainly make out Asajj and Anakin in the Dathomir speeder, and I wouldn't be surprised if the third fig is Savage. As somebody mentioned, that could be a big battle axe. The Falcon is certainly ANH; looks like Vader, Han, Luke, Chewie, Obi-Wan, and Leia. A good classic lineup to come with the Falcon, in my opinion.

Here is my Potter-themed Avatar again:

Well, it's truly not a terrible set to investigate, especially because of the figures. I would certainly investigate the Anakin figure on Bricklink if I didn't have the set, although that's only because I like CW figures to begin with. Doesn't mean I can't make fun of them, though! Here's what I came up with after reading Ritz Brick's comment about EpII Anakin's horribly wrong face for the Tusken Raider Encounter (and using the Freeco Anakin face):

I have found a pic that could possibly be the frigate, linked to in the Kingdoms thread. Look on the left of the pic. See that grey thing on a black space background that looks a lot like the red Republic Cruiser from several years ago? Maybe I'm stretching it, and that's not SW at all, but it sort of looks like it to me...

Except for Clone Wars Anakin, let's not forget. I wish they would make an angrier expression for CW Obi-Wan as well, but at least they did it for one character. Overall, though, the non-CW figs are a bit too happy.

You've just given me some inspiration for another funny. Thanks! I'll be sure to mention you once I get around to posting it.

But what's the point of Mace fitting? He's a got a Starfighter; LEGO doesn't put out sets with two vehicles for a single figure. No, the the speeder is supposed to be for the Tactical Droid, and if it truly can't fit very well, that's a big design flaw.

Well, it's not a first. The spot for the pilot in Dooku's Solar Sailer really wasn't quite right for the droid, leaving it in an awkward standing/bent over position. Now, the boxart for Mace's JSF set does show the Tactical Droid sitting comfortably, so perhaps it truly will be able to. On the other hand, LEGO does do some Photoshopping sometimes to make things better than they really are, like the new Grievous holding all of his lightsabers upright, so I also wouldn't be surprised if the Tactical Droid ends up in a very awkward position to drive the speeder. Actually, after a closer look at the blurry box pic it seems that even LEGO isn't trying to fake that the Tactical Droid can sit down well. In the pic, it seems to be almost standing up. That's not a very good design, although the vacant speeder looks great!

Hmm… since I had read all of those comics before, perhaps that's where my subconscious got the idea. I've been a little pressed for time/ideas, and I'll admit that it wasn't my greatest, and apparently not even my own. Anyway, I will have some more CW humor coming up, so stay tuned!

I seem to be on a "make fun of LEGO's choices" kick, so here's at least one more:

Here's the BL page. It's been used on a few of the newer fire vehicles, such as the fire truck in the most recent fire station as well as the massive offroad fire truck. It's just a new sort of extend-able mechanism, since it's made of the outer piece, on this set in black, and the inner grey piece that can extend out.