Zarkan

Haha, no, not really. I do feel the need to check it at least once every day, but that's only because the site is one of my prime sources for news about lego. And I'm hardly addicted to posting on this or the other two forums I'm active members on. However, I would say that I am somewhat addicted to the internet as as a whole - just not one particular site. There's so much information being uploaded every day on the world wide web that I always can find something to look at, whether it be releated to lego, video games, or another one of my interests. Heck, I even enjoy browsing Transformers sites from time to time, even though I own exactly zero toys and have only really watched one of the cartoon series.

Well, to be far, I'm not sure any Star Wars game has really nailed the Force yet, lego or otherwise. Heck, the system they're using in LSWIII looks virtually identical to the one used in The Force Unleashed series - which is to say, clumsy but manageable. From what I've seen of the game so far, though, it doesn't look that difficult to get the hang of, and I'd say the freedom of motion is way preferential to the limited system they were using before.

You know, I've always loved the Traveler's Tales Lego games, but... man alive, Lego Star Wars III is simply blowing me away. All the new gameplay features look awesome, the vehicle levels seem more fun, and the graphics are simply amazing! Is it sad that I think this game looks a lot prettier than the TV show its based on?

Heh, while I mostly agree with you, I kind it find of funny that you posted that along with an image that shows Palpatine's hood puncturing his torso. Looks like they still have a few graphical glitches to work out...

Uh, no. I'm just incredibly disapointed that they seem to be making the same mistakes all over again - and until the fbtb report, I was really hopeful that this line could actually offer some unique competition to lego. Now... I'm not so sure.

What the... these don't transform either? Well, I think that pretty much seals the fate of this line right from the start - the kids that buy regular transformers aren't likely going to be interested in a line of buildable transformers that don't actually do what their name implies. And since the piece quality is apparently just as poor as their previous attempt, you can forget about any lego fans buying them. Well, looks like Hasbro dropped the ball again. I admit, I thought this line had some real potential, but it appears to be just another rushed attempt at cashing in on TLC's success, rather than a legitimate attempt at offering some innovative competition to Lego. If these things actually transformed, they would have offered something that no lego line has yet to offer, but since that's not the case, there's really nothing being done here that TLC isn't already doing.

Okay, out of all the box sets, Fangz and Witch Doctor are definitely the best. Waspix and Raw-Jaw are both decent, but far too small to be $13. Scorpio had potential but is a bit of a mess, and as for Rocka XL... the less said about him the better. Overall, I think this wave is an improvement over the previous one, but I think it will take at least one more before the set designers adapt to the new building system. Heck, it took TLC three tries before TLC even came up with a single sustainable constraction figure line, with Slizers and Roboriders both failing before birthing Bionicle out of their turmoil. The only real difference is that, now, constraction figures go for about twice as much.

It's hard to love them when they were so blatantly obtrusive compared to other launchers. The specialized torsos that were created to incorporate them were absolutely ugly and nearly useless, and you couldn't just remove them like you could remove Zamor/Midak/Cordak/etc. Add to that the fact that you couldn't really aim them, and you have an interesting experiment that ultimately only hurt the line. ~~END~~

They also had the emblems on the chests, and the swords sort of matched with the theme. But hey, I'm just going by how TLC advertised them And it's not like the new 3.0 Heroes really carry the theme much further. They have helmets that (with the exception of one or two) just vaguely resemble real animals, whoo! If they had given them new armor pieces that resembled fur or feathers, and unique animal-styled weapons for each instead of just lots of sharp claws, then they might have achieved that theme, but nope.

Um, no, not really. Most of the Megabloks Halo sets have at least as many parts as lego sets of the same price range. And while I admit there's generally more large specialized pieces than in lego, there's plenty of small pieces that would be useful in Fusion MOCS. But hey, who am I kidding - few, if any AFOLS would touch these kits with a ten foot pole, for the sole reason that they don't have the lego logo on their boxes.

Okay, I'll be honest: these look pretty flipping cool. I mean, what's not to love about building kits based on Transformers that have good designs and, apparently, can trasform without any disasembly? These are certainly miles better than Hasbro's previous attempt at building blocks, anyway. And this does seem to prove more than any previous attempt that a Transformers theme would translate to the medium. The biggest problem I can foresee is the actual quality of the bricks. If these pieces can't hold together well during trasnformations and heavy play, then the entire line is sunk. However, if the quality is near the level of Lego sets, than it may have a chance of actually competting with TLC. And for those who are getting so upset about this, I need to ask you one question: why? These sets are not rip-offs of any lego themes or set designs, but are entirely new designs that just uitilize similar bricks. And since Lego doesn't have a legal copyright on the stud and coupling system or even the 2x4 anymore, can you really blame Hasbro for trying to compete with lego. If anything, having some actual competition in the building block world will be good for fans, as both companies will potentially be pushed to improve brick/set quality and lower prices. Sometimes, I really feel like people take their loyalty to Lego too far - it's a brand, nothing more, and TLC is neither infaliable or the only legitimite construction toy company in existence. Give fanboyism a rest, and evaluate toys based on their indiviual quality.

That is so 2005.

If you're referring to the titan sets, I agree, but if you're refering to the new heroes... dude, it's the exact same design they used for the winter wave. The only things different are the weapons, the helmets, and some of the colors. Everything else is just lifted directly from the Hero 2.0. sets, lock, stock, and barrel.

Not in my mind. We haven't had this level of cloneism in a very long time. Seriously, you take these latest heroes, swap out their helmets and tools with the ones from the previous wave, and you HAVE the previous wave. That's not good, man.

Well, it's nice to see we're finally getting a villian line that consists mainly of non-humanoid sets, and Witch Doctor looks to be the first good titan set using the new building system. However, the cloneism of the Hero 2.03.0's is extremely annoying. I thought TLC was done doing this with constraction figures! At least the last few years of Bionicle varried the designs occasionally (although nowhere near as much as in 2007) - these new Hero Factory protagonists, on the other hand, are identical to the previous line with the exception of helmets, weapons, and colors. There's no attempt to improve on the hollow back design or awkward armor placements - just a rehash of what we already got. It's like the Bohrok Kal all over again, and that does not make me happy.

Well, I don't usually comment on Star Wars sets, but I have to say that the new Podracer kit is absolutely amazing! Definitely the hightlight of the line, and with both several exclusive figures, excellent models, and a great parts selection, it has something for pretty much everyone. On the other hand, with the exception of the Republic Frigate and the Sith Infiltrator, all the other sets seem to be just excuses to pack in new minifigs with an expensive but underwheming model. The "new" Millenium falcon looks actually worse than the previous version, IMO, and the Ewok Attack, Dathomir speeder, and Geonosian Starfighter are all nothing special. Between this and Pirates of the Caribbean, I think most of the great design work this year went into non-licensed sets. Alien Conquest, Kingdoms, and Ninjago's summer sets way outclass most of the licensed themes, IMO, and if it wasn't for all the awesome minifigures, I doubt POTC and Starwars would sell as well this year as I think they will.

Not actually. They've been posting news articles related to other themes in the last year (including a review or two), and their toyfair coverage has always featured every theme.

Funny you should mention Superboy, because I personally feel he's the most developed character on the show thus far. I'm perfectly fine with "emo" characters as long as they're handled well, and with Greg Weisman at the helm, it's no suprise he's not annoying like he could have been. However, I agree that I prefer Avengers: EMH, even if Young Justice is technically better in certain areas. The character development and interactions on the former show are what has sold me from the begining, and Young Justice still has a bit of catching up to do in that area IMO. Dude, you know, the character designs were simplistic for a reason. Spectacular Spiderman still has the most fluid animation of any show in the last decade - and heck, probably ever. The action sequences they did over the course of just 26 episodes top just those in all previous TV incarnations of his character, and the character development and plotting are so fantastic that I don't understand why you're complaining.

I'm sorry Front, but as much as I want to like it, all this does for me is confirm that Fire Lord's suckage is unfixable. I doubt any person over the age of 10 is going to be keeping him together for long, as he just doesn't deserve display shelf space.

It's obvious: Hero Factory should go where no constraction figure line has gone before, I.E. space. We never had a full-out space theme in Bionicle (and if we did, it probably would have been ravaged by at least a few disgrunted fans), but it would fit right in with Hero Factory. And I'm not just talking about using it half-heartedly - I'm talking about full-fledged space-ranger-esque heroes and alien villians, with a fully array of laser weapons (perhaps with new, compact light-up bricks) and villian-head molds that look like something out of Star Wars or Alien. AKA, Bionicle 2008 ramped up to a thousand, minus the constantly breaking parts and boring color-schemes. If that happened, I might just be convinced to buy a set or two, just for kicks.

I've recently been watching two more cartoons that are by all means absolute classics of animation. The first is probably the ultimate classic, Batman: The Animated Series. I must regretfully confess that until the last month, my only experience with the show has been scattered episodes here and there, but what I did see was plenty enough entertaining to convince me to get the first volume. Now I'm already on Volume 2, and I intend to eventually purchase the entire series as well as the subsquesent spin-offs. It really is a fantastic show, even if there is an off-episode here and there (I've Got Batman In My Basement and The Underdwellers stand out as two of the absolute worst episodes that I've ever watched of any cartoon, though the vast majority are miles better). I think my favorite episodes so far are Two-Face: Parts 1 and Two, the timeless Heart of Ice, and It's Never Too Late - which, apart from Batman, might as well be straight out of a mobster movie. The other cartoon I've recently viewed is Greg Weisman's Gargoyles, a rarity of a Disney production in that it is rather serious and story-arc driven. The concept itself is one of the more original in anination, with protagonists that look far more fearsome than the actual big bad of the show. The animation, voice acting, and fight-coreagraphy are all excellent - but then, I would expect nothing less of a Weisman cartoon. I've only watched the first season so far, and I've heard the series gets even better in the second. It's a shame only the first half of season two is on DVD, and the entire series deserves a rerelease akin to the B:TAS and Batman Beyond complete collections. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys action shows, superhero shows, or simply good animated series.

Woah, woah, I agree with you about the prequels and CW, and maybe even about ROTJ but... seriously, The Empire Strikes Back was the best Star Wars movie ever in a lot of people's eyes, including mine. It took everything that was great about the first movie and amped up to a thousand, with some awesome new characters an even more epic soundtrack. Also, how can you diss the Hoth Assault, which was just the first of many cool moments in the movie that proved "the Empire is back with a vengance." The Death Star may have been impressive, but Luke also blew it up after it had destroyed only a single planet. In contrast, in TESB the empire (and Darth Vader in particular) owned the rebels this way and that. Siller? Try darker, and also better partly because of that. Actually, I think you probably dissed just about everything that made Empire Strikes Back so awesome in my eyes - and honestly, that's not cool at all.

I'm sorry, but if that includes accepting and loving the Legacy series, which only served to establish that everything the Rebellion and New Republic did in the past thirty years was for naught, then I'm afraid I can't accept your definition of "a true StarWars fan." Heck, if being a true fan of any series required blindly accepting everything that happened in it, no matter how horribly-written or downright appalling, then I'm not sure I'd want to be listed as one. Also, I find it rather rude of you to suggest that everyone who considers the OT to be the prime representation of Star Wars is somehow "elitist." For the record, while I think the first three films (especially episodes IV and V) put the others to shame, I've enjoyed Star Wars material beyond just what George Lucas has ordained. Timothy Zahn's novels are an excellent example of works that take the franchise in new directions while still being of high quality, and they've lead me to believe that the prequells would have succeeded on all accounts if they had been written by him. The Force Unleashed video game also had an excellent storyline, and anything I've read featuring Rogue Squadron has been a blast. My problem with the prequells, the recent TV series, and heck, almost anything Star Wars related in the last few years is not because they were different, but because in my opinion, they failed to capture the magic of "True Star Wars." To me, at its best, True Star Wars is serious, but also fun. It is well written and well characterized, but also full of imagination. Most importantly, it is dark in spots, but not to the point where the darkness is all there is to be had. The problem with a lot of recent Star Wars media, including season three of The Clone Wars, is that it tries too hard to be "mature" - and in the process it ends up not being nearly as fun as earlier material. The first movies, the Zahn novels, and a lot of what came first depicted a world that was fraught with conflict, but was not without hope. Now, we're instead being lead to believe that the Star Wars universe is overall hopeless, with so much evil that what little good remains is tasked with a pointless mission. In modern Star Wars, the Dark Side reigns supremely, and this mindset drags down storylines in a sort of faux-maturity that is used in place of good writing. Why exactly do we need another Darth Maul character, except to re-ennact the same fall-from-grace storyline that's already been told far too many times in Star Wars? Heck, why do we even need The Clone Wars series, when we all know that everything taking place in it doesn't change the ultimate outcome of Revenge of the Sith? If they're trying to convince people that Anikan wasn't actually that bad of a person, well, they're failing miserably, as all they're doing is contradicting what was (poorly) established in the movies. More likely, they just know that people will eat up anything with the Star Wars label on it no matter what its actual quality is. I'm sorry if I sound a little ticked off, but honestly, I've become convinced that Star Wars is nothing now except a gigantic cash cow. Good works set inside the universe may still pop up from time to time, but by and large the franchise exists solely to make money. George Lucas once had an amazing vision, and I'm sad to see him run his work run further and further down into the ground. If he was wise, he'd retire from everything Star Wars and give the franchise up to people more suited to continue it. But, since that will never happen.... it was nice knowing you, Star Wars.

That second photo is absolutely priceless. Great job Cole, even if I still don't agree that the "Power Miner's are evil" sentiment is valid.

Hm, to be honest, Rocka XL seems to fix most of the problems that were present on Fire Lord. However, I still don't get why he's getting both a titan set and a canister set - are they finally taking Hero Factory somewhere Bionicle hasn't gone by making a major bad guy become good? Or is it the other way around, with Rocka betraying the team and getting a power-up from the villian? Either way, it could offer some interesting storyline opportunities - that is, if TLC wasn't so intent on spending practically no effort on HF's storyline beyond the first year.