Another shipment of Titaniums

I've just received my second delivery of titaniums. Since the emergence of the 2007 wave 1 at TFH and the mixture of waves at ST, I've decided that I will not wait anymore for the 2006 waves in retail. It just ain't gonna happen! My feelings are that if the retail scene does pick up, it will start with the 2007 waves onwards. So I'm not gonna bust a gut and tire myself out for the 2006 waves anymore. Here's the next unveiling; The package is smaller now. Well maybe because I've ordered lesser vehicles. But I still get a cylindrical container. It's another tin but now of Enfamil milk powder. I sincerely hope this guy doesn't go around the dumpster collecting this ... to cut cost and all. Maybe, it's from his baby milk supply? Just to put a positive spin on this container issue ... hehehehe As requested, he didn't put in the fruit wrappers ... thank God. I had the fan turned on just in case though. Here's the loot; 1 from one of the 2006 waves and another 3 from the 2007 wave 1 & 2. And 3 from the Battlestar series; Absolutely loved the classic cylon. The detailing is superb. Thinking of getting another piece? hmmm ...

Titanium Wave 3!!

Well, well, well ... just as I thought it would be a barren week for titanium news, this came up. EE had came up with the next wave for the year 2007. The new wave was a run-in on rumours by a SW website, and me, making comments about the list. First up V-wing ... one word, very nice ... kay,kay that's 2 words. 2nd up, Plo Koon's Jedifighter ... repaint. However, since I have not got my hands on the first hyperspace ring jedifighter, I don't mind this repaint. Next, is Obiwan's jedifighter ... duh ... straight repaint. But since I am into collecting the myriad coloured versions, I'm getting it. Up next, the orange B-wing. Repaint and nice. Getting it. Yet another repaint of the ARC-170. This one looks a bit faded, the green colour scheme is too light, thus the vehicle doesn't come to life. This one is a 50-50 to get. And lastly, a ghastly repaint of the clone turbo tank. It's paint scheme purportedly to be for a snowy terrain ... double duh! Lazy, lazy, lazy ... just like the Imperial Attack Cruiser colour scheme. Another one of those vehicle designed to shove it down the consumer's throats by Hasbro's money making department. All in all, except for the tank and the arc and maybe obi-wan's jedifighter, this wave is quite acceptable.

And another thing ...

Also in the article when the official site announces the book cover of Sacrifice, there was another book news which was missed by me. Here it is, as extracted from the official news; Fans know Traviss from her popular Republic Commando novels. Also this year, readers can look forward to a third book in the Republic Commando series, True Colors, slated for an August 2007 release in paperback. There you have it. A 3rd Republic Commando novel. Just hope it doesn't go the way of the 2nd book, Triple Zero. Didn't like that at all.

Title for the 2nd last book of LotF

This was completely passed over. I knew of it when I wrote the entry for the book cover of Sacrifice 2 weeks ago, and I planned to write something on it. But memory has failed me. Okay, here's the juice ... The title of the 8th book in the Legacy of the Force series is Revelation. It's due to be published around March 2008. It's 2 weeks late, I know. This title puzzles me. Jacen becomes Sith on the 5th book. There's reason to believe Jacen would make himself known to the Jedi by then. So the question is, what or who else is going to be revealed on this 8th book? .... hmmmm. A twist near the end?

Jacen's new Sith name

The Dark Lords of the Sith must leave behind their old identity -- and old name -- in order to assume a moniker befitting their fearsome new status. The Sith names for Jacen Solo are now listed. Here they are in alphabetical order. The finalist names are: Acheron (a river in Hell for those who deny justice) Caedus (a battle of darkness) Judicar (the final judge) Paxis (bringer of peace) Taral (ancient Sith for "he who protects") What can I say, ... they are all shite ... hihihi Man, who would want a fearsome Sith to be called Darth Paxis (reminds me of cartoons by Pixar) ... Duh! or Darth Judicar (what! call him Judge Judi for short) :D or Darth Acheron (sounds like a character from World of Warcraft) :[ Darth Taral seems okay ... but it doesn't have enough ring to it. :( Which leaves us with Darth Caedus. Hmmm ... I don't know. The comic Legacy series has a Cade Skywalker in it. Maybe a link to the future. Since its the best of the worst, why not. Darth Caedus save us from the Jedi. :P As was promised by Delrey, the winner will have his or her Sith name featured as the official character name in Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice by Karen Traviss. And also, the winner will be recognized on the acknowledgement page of the aforementioned book.

X-wing out ...

Dang! TFH just informed me the wave 16 vehicles are all out. Time to find a way of getting that dirty x-wing. Time to hit the shops and do some walking.

Knights of the Old Republic :Commencement

Went to Kino and bought myself the TPB Knights of the Old Republic : Commencement. This is Dark Horse foray into the the Jedi knights in the old republic. At a timeline of 3986 years before EP1. This comic series came out from the continuity of the PC/Xbox games of the same name. I had a great time playing the original Xbox game and its sequel. It's basically an RPG, that is role-playing game, where you take the persona of a young knight who had your memory wiped. Well, it's a cliche fo most games, but since it works ... why not? The game is based on the your actions. How you use your emerging force powers, be it on the good side or the dark side, to pathe your way through the story and to your destiny. A great jedi knight or a sith lord to be. Back to the comic book, review when I complete it, as always.

Sith Fighter EU backstory

I've just realised that the back of the bubble contains a synopsis of how Vader's fighter came into being. Here it is, verbatim: As the hand of the new emperor, Darth Vader had at his personal disposal a small fleet of identical black starfighters, formerly belonging to the jedi order he destroyed. As his reputation for ruthlessness spread across the galaxy, it was the shadowy silhouette of this starship for which the inhabitants of rebel worlds began to scan their skies, rather than the threat of a fleet of star destroyers. The arrival of the imperial fleet meant only danger; the arrival of one of these dark ships meant total destruction. Awesome stuff!

Wave 16 in TFH

Dang! The bird shop just announced that they were selling the 2006 wave 16. The last wave for that year. Of the 5, I've actually got 4 of them loose. Hopefully, by the time the sets are sold, there would be the Dagobah X-wing for me to purchase.

Vader's Sith Fighter

Yeehaaa! I've got my hands on the Black pearl aka Vader's Sith Fighter. It is all thanks to Jovan aka Celica_gen7. A fellow SW enthusiast and forummer. Thanks again dude! He has the jedifighter with the hyperspace ring too, but it was so nice (I can vouch to that) he couldn't bear to part away with it. Drats. Well, Jovan if you're reading this ... if for any reason you're thinking of getting rid of it, I'm right here waiting... hahahaha. I can't wait to tear open the bubble this weekend and display it with the rest of my other Jedi Fighter vehicles.

Ultras in the Horizon

The onslaught of news on the titanium series has been awesome. Here's the answer from Yoda's News question to Hasbro. YN: The titanium Red Royal Guard TIE Interceptor looks sweet! Is there a chance a 3-3/4" version might be in the works? H: Not in the near future, but you can bet it's on our short list of awesome things to try for future exclusives! Well, they told us that the Ultra line will be exclusives about 3 months back. This further cements that resolution. However, when the hell will Hasbro be announcing the first few Ultra exclusives? Tell us something already!!!

Tidal wave of Titaniums

More good news from Hasbro. This time from ActionFigs ... ActionFigs: With the onslaught of Titaniums Series 3" vehicles lately (5 waves hit stores from beginning of October to end of November) are there less vehicles per wave being produced or are they just moving that fast? Also, will there be refreshes of these waves for collectors that missed them when they were briefly on shelves? Hasbro: There are not fewer vehicles per wave, in fact, they are just moving that fast. There generally are at least 4 vehicles per wave but most average 5 or 6. Unfortunately there will not be refreshes per say but you may see one of the vehicles you may have missed later in the year. Happy hunting! Okay ... I have to scrounge up more dough and figure how to store/display them in the near future. No biggie. No refreshes thats bad and good in a way, cause they will not clogged up valuable shelf space or pegs. So hopefully the vehicles that Hasbro are putting back to retail would be the ones that I'm missing now.

More Titanium Speederbikes?

Another website, Galactic Hunter had their question answered about speederbikes. Galactic Hunter: Titanium action figures seem to have found a nice niche. Is there any chance of seeing some of the cool speeders, like the Return of the Jedi Speederbike, made in metal? This would open the door for a whole new level of detail (similar to Gentle Giant's Speederbike mini-statue). HASBRO: Keep your eyes peeled… you will see some speederbikes in the mini scale in the future. As far as a full fledged action figure scale, there are no plans for that at this time, but thanks for the suggestion Some more speederbikes? We had already four of them. All on the military grade speederbikes. Luke on a speederbike Stormtrooper on a speederbike Leia on a speederbike Paploo on a speederbike Well, Hasbro did just mentioned the Republic speederbike. Maybe they are going to repaint and retool the military grade speederbike? Then there is the S-swoop speederbike, done in the Micromachine line (1st column, 3rd row). But as you can see, there are loads of other speederbikes that can be introduced. Take a guess.

End of the Forged Figure line

Looks like the Titanium series Forged Figures are going the same way as the Titanium Ultra line. And this is after Hasbro has said last year that the fan-base was big enough to produce more figures in 2007. Taken from JediDefender's weekly Q&A. JediDefender: What does the future hold for the Titanium Series 3.75" Forged Figure line? It seems like the major retailers are clearing out the figures and ending support for the line, but there are a pile of 10-12 previously announced figures that have yet to be released. Is this line really being cancelled or will it be making a comeback this summer? Hasbro: We would love to continue to support the Forged Figure line and we will continue to support the line through Spring of 2007. Unfortunately there was not enough demand for this figure line which has resulted in a lack of retail support for the figures by our retail partners. My advice, buy them now because they will not be around for long. Here are some of the notable ones.

Cover for LOTF : Sacrifice

The official site has revealed the book cover of the 5th book of the series. It is as so. The book, a hardcover, by Karen Traviss is slated to be released in May 2007. The highlight of this book would be the the revelation of Jacen Solo's Sith name. That will be a doozy. Ok, a little bit more about the cover now. The person I guess would be Mara Jade. Red haired, blue lightsaber, in a stance ... a defense stance. Against who? Jacen? I would guess Ben, her son, sith apprentice maybe? Well, that's my storyline anyways. I loved the rusty background of Coruscant? But why would the X-wing or maybe XJs are prominently portrayed at the top right hand corner? No idea. But the best part about the official site's entry is the picture of the back cover of the book. They have never done this. The snippet at the back cover gives even more promise that this book will ROCK! Go on read it. You see a watermark of a jaded Luke glancing aside with a forlorn face. Maybe he's thinking "Where did I go wrong with Jacen?" And the choice that Jacen will make to sacrifice anything or anyone to become a Sith Lord. We know he's becoming one, but which will he sacrifice?

The arrival of New Titaniums

Woo hoo ... I've received the package that I ordered/bidded from yahoo auctions. After waiting for good ratings to stick to the seller. I plucked enough b*lls (that's "bills" to those who think otherwise *wink*) to plonk down a hundred bucks for 10 loose titanium pieces. Here's a pictorial run through of the UNVEILING. The prized package, it feels heavy and cylindrical through the plastic bag. My guess was right it was cylindrical wrapped in brown paper. My mind is thinking, "Man, these guys are good to provide a cardboard cylinder to protect my titanium vehicles. Gahhh!!! Mr Quaker was smiling at me ... hahahaha. My kids and I had a good laugh at this. "Okay ... okay ... maybe this is to save cost. No prob, minor detail", I told myself. After getting rid of the scotch tape that kept it airtight ... huhhhh? I opened up the tin and was accosted with the baddest aroma I had smelled the whole day. Phewww!!! What a great smell I found today. My kids stepped 3 strides backwards to get away from the pong. In my mind,'What the f*** (that's "fish" mind you)". Then I saw the fruit wrappers. Yes, you heard me right. The ones you get when you buy apples from the supermarket to protect the fruit from dents. By now the stench has dissipated because I was in my living room, near an opened window. I started to pick away the wrappers and finally found what I've been looking for. Luckily my loose titaniums were wrapped in their own plastic packets. At least whatever that smelled didn't rubbed on to the vehicles. Duhhh! Although there was 1 missing plastic piece and a wrong stand for one of the vehicle, I was quite satisfied. Well, they were loose pieces. Rejects from Hasbro’s QC. Here's the Perfect 10. Including these 2 Battlestar Galactica pieces.

More insight into the rumours

A few entries ago, I talked about a rumour list being bandied around. Ok, I have a few insights into the matter. Concerning the V-wing, I did a scan through of my EP3 DVD and I think I saw their shapes in the middle of the Battle of Coruscant. Not as sharp and large as what the official gave but the shapes (like a tie fighter wings) did flew in a distance in the background. Also, when Sidious brought a charred Anakin to the med centre, the V-wings were flying guard. And lastly, when the Emperor and Vader was overlooking the Deathstar, the V-wings were buzzing around. So, it is confirmed that the V-wing did make an appearance in EP3. Then, concerning Obi Wan's and Plo Koon's Jedi starfighter. At first, my thoughts were that they were based on the EP2 starfighter ships with the hyperspace rings. Now, with the emergence of a Lego vehicle below; these Jedi fighters would be based on the EP3 vehicle. But since we had already loads of EP3 Jedi starfighter with different colour schemes, my guess is these new ones comes with hyperspace rings as above. Wouldn't that be mouth watering? And as for the B-wing, that's a straight repaint ... no doubt about it.

New pics of new titanium wave

Hasbro has published pictures of the 2007 wave . And as the previous entry, I was not totally impressed with the line-up. Here's why. First up, the Firespray Interceptor or normally called the Slave1 starfighter class. It's just a repaint of Jango's or Boba's ship. But a nice repaint though. I'm 50-50 on buying this piece when it eventually comes out. Next up, is the Imperial Attack Cruiser. This is not just a repaint, but it is a NO paint! Very nice of the Hasbro people to push this down our throats. Then, there's Luke's snowspeeder. I was hoping it's the one that was flattened by the AT-AT. But wishful thinking. It's just another bad repaint. Last one was the savior of this wave. A brand new mould. It's Jabba's Sail Barge. This one is a must buy. The other 2 vehicles are from the BSG (Battlestar Galactica) line. If I can find them. I'll buy them. They looked good. A classic cylon raider and Pegasus.

Adult-themed SW

Got this from the Great Flanneled one's interview during America's Rose Parade. “Ours will be very different,” he said. “It’s very Star Wars, but it doesn’t involve the Skywalkers.” The characters come from the same universe, Lucas added, but the stories are, “a little bit more adult.” Hopefully, he added, “it will be something most people have never seen on television before.” More adult? ... gasp! Will all the ladies be in Leia's slave girl 2-piece? Woohooo!! TV risque? SW risque? Lucas dabbling with risque material? Think all the nasty thoughts you want. I'll still be waiting for the TV series.