Ivan

What I do in the closet with my LEGO is between me and the little, yellow minifigures. ...oh, and those who subscribe to my site www.BarelyLegalLego.com.

Chuck seemed pretty frisky this time around. Nothing earth-shattering for me in the responses, but it's good to see he likes the simple, unadorned Minimate style. Perhaps duck feet and diapers are not portents of a disturbing future and more of a temporary, ill-advised experiment. This answer... ...will probably upset a lot of the hardcore Trek folk, but hopefully they won't stop buying because of it. But then again, I think they are still whining about not getting a Chapel and Rand in the 7 inchers and they keep buying those. I noticed he dodged the Lorraine cleavage question again. It just makes me a little more curious each time that happens. If it is a simple as "The licensor asked us to change it," why can't he say that? Sounds like there's a conspiracy here. Thanks Chuck, Matt, and Shanester.

Looks like Spider-Woman is showing Bishop a good time.

Oh great, I'm going to have to wait in Hasbro's line this year. I've never tried to get a Hasbro exclusive before, is the line as bad it looks?

I scream obscenities at the dust until it leaves of its own accord.

No problem with the gun laws here. The registration form consisted of two checkboxes, one for "Legal" and one for "Not Legal". Make the right choice and your all set. A citizen initiative was recently passed that will remove the "Not Legal" checkbox starting in August. They said it was too confusing for the toddlers... No worries about the bill. I did some research on the San Diego Wikipedia after returning from the con and found out that $38 is the going rate for a BLT in that part of town. (Something about a bacon famine?) Good thing I didn't order chips too.

I am now the proud owner of one of Dr Grodbort's fine Infalliable Aether Oscillators. Specifically, the FMOM Industries Wave Disrupter now protects my home from rampaging ne'er-do-wells, overly-pungent anthropomorphic felines, and incontinent rhinoceroids. The case that protects this fine weapon: Upon opening: On full display, serving as a warning to all: Despite the good Dr. Grodbort's impeccable reputation, I felt I must properly test the device before trusting my life to it. I thought I had set up all the proper safety gear for the test, but unfortunately I underestimated the device's power. Even the lowest setting there was a great deal of charring of the walls, and a neighbors canine companion was reduced to a fine white powder. After seeing the capabilities of this Disrupter, the neighbor did not seek recompense. Further field testing will be required, but I am quite pleased with my purchase.

AFX has a free shipping coupon code (FREESHIP) out there right now. Minimum order is $85, so you'll need a little bit of filler. Unless, of course, you want six Civil War sets...

I'd like to be in the Elf Spock drawing if I may. Logic clearly dictates the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

I see you haven't yet truly accepted Madonna's love. You must learn to open yourself and accept her into your heart without reservation. Care for her as she cares for you. Without her love we are blind. She's gonna give you all her love, boy. Fear is fading fast. She's been saving it all for you, 'Cause only love can last. Not only that, she looks damn good in a T-Shirt.

Do I dare dream? May I finally have my fondest hopes realized? Golden Girls? Finally?

That is sad news. I've been a member of the Donna fan club for quite a while. With Digger off making movies in Hong Kong, I felt that Donna was the driving force at AA. The heart of the company, if you don't mind the sappiness. It's probably been hard since the DST merger. I just hope the parting was amicable on both sides. Not "press release" amicable, but "behind the scenes" amicable. Donna, Digger, Manny, Adam... anyone left?

TM2 Dinobot has a pic near the bottom of his post in this thread, and Gillbob316 has a huge pic in his thread here.

It's a thread like this that really makes you realize how important the Marvel license was/is to Minimates. Of course we all know that Marvel is important, but when you look at the numbers in this thread only three or four of the 25+ responders' first exposure to Minimates was not Marvel. As for me, I bought a Kirk, Spock, and McCoy for $5 each when I first spotted them at Target. Rassin-frassin whippersnappers with their two-inch Minimates... Killed off all the superior three-inchers... Imagine how nifty a three-inch Spidey would be... I miss buttermilk... Who would buy a two-pack if they didn't want both characters?... In my day...

I found this pic a while ago. For those of you currently in a conservative workplace (or of a prudish mindset), you probably just want to skip that link altogether. I know, I know, that just makes it more tempting. But I will not be held responsible for any unemployment compensation or brain-scrubbing kits needed as a result of viewing that image. Click at your own risk.

I got this particularly dirty error on the boards a little while ago: Fatal error: Call to undefined function: personal_portal_gender_image() in /home/... Sounds like porn generating software to me.

Tuesday Morning Update or Ivan Has A LEGO Problem On Reideen's tip, I started staking out my two nearest Tuesday Morning stores last Thursday. I got the expected "that creepy guy is here again"-looks from the employees but it was no bother, I'm used to it. My first sighting of the LEGO came Monday night when I saw two end-caps full. They were wrapped in tape and signs stating "Not for sale until Tuesday." I didn't try to buy any that night because it wasn't worth the potential hassle and I didn't want to be that guy. But I did take notes on what was available so I could accurately determine what would be the best sets to buy. (You can't trust the MSRP Tuesday Morning lists on their tags.) Most of the sets were 50% off MSRP, but a few were more. Exo-Force Golden tower was 60% ($50->$20), Batcave was 66% ($90->$30). On the way out the door I see the sign stating they will open at 8 instead of 10am. That fit right into my schedule because I could stop by in the morning and not be late for work. The only drawback would be getting up an hour earlier. But we all must make sacrifices in this life... I pulled into the parking lot five minutes before eight o'clock. There were half a dozen cars near the entrance but everyone was just sitting in them, waiting. So being the brash, young whippersnapper, I hopped out of my car and strode right up to the entrance. This apparently broke the standoff and before I knew it all the little ole' ladies hopped out of there big ole' SUVs and lined up behind me. This was a little unnerving at first. I didn't know if I had broken some unwritten Store Opening Etiquette and was about to be beaten down with a flurry of angry handbags. The uneasiness passed rather quickly as I realized I could probably take them if it came to blows. (Not to mention I had just watched The Matrix again.) The doors opened and I quickly made my way to the end-caps and started my pile. I didn't bother with a cart because I knew it would only get in the way. I grabbed the lone Castle set first then piled on a couple Bat-Copters and Bat-Tanks (treads!). I was tempted to grab more tanks, but didn't want to look too greedy. As I was making my final decisions and guarding my pile, a older couple started chatting me up because "I obviously know what the best sets are." (Is that the right phrase, "chatting me up"? It's not like they were swingers or anything.) They asked how the $70 Remote Control set compared to the $30 Batmobile and $25 Bat-Tank for their grandchildren. I explained why I wasn't getting the RC set, mentioned my Wall O' LEGO, how Technic is different from System... At one point the woman asked if I was married. (Hey, maybe they were swingers?) She didn't seem surprised when I said no. Three hundred dollars later I ended up with 3 Bat-Tanks, 2 Bat-Copters, a Batcave, the large Castle, a Ferrari set, Exo-Force Sentai Fortress and Golden Tower. Not too bad. I'm going to check the other store after work. I can quit whenever I want.

Well back in 2004 (or was it 2003?) DST had their Gold Spidey Lucky Dip promotion at SDCC. Each contestant would come up one at time and be handed a fake tortilla chip roughly the size of a piece of A4 paper. They'd be blindfolded, and Chuck would lead them over to the giant vat of bean dip. It was roughly the size of one those kiddie swimming pools but it was much deeper, about four feet. The contestant would then scoop out two helpings of the "Lucky Dip" with his faux chip. At the Consumption Tent, contestants (still blindfolded) would then proceed to eat their Dip as quickly as possible. The one who found the Gold Spidey Token could redeem it for a bagged Gold Spidey Minimate. If you didn't find the token in your first serving of Dip, you could go back for another helping and chance at finding the prize. It was quite the spectacle. The trouble began shortly after the token was found. One of the poor losers took a handful of dip and hurled at the winner. Like any good bodyguard, Chuck threw himself in the path of the dip to save him. If it were an action movie he'd be moving in slow motion shouting "noooooooo." Chuck saved the winner from that first volley, but once on the ground there was little he could do to counter the second, third, fourth and fifth handfuls of 'Lucky Dip' that flew through the air. Soon everyone and everything was fair game. Workers at the Lucasfilm booth across the aisle could only shake their heads. It was like the monkey house at the zoo, it was.

Packaging on the Battlestar Galactica Minimates is the same as the previous series. Due to that fact (and the fact I am quite lazy) there are no pictures of them here. Sorry. Again here are the innards for your accessory perusal (Clipboards for everyone!): And the figures. No quotes here, I still haven't seen Season 3 because I have to wait for the DVDs to come out next month. President Roslin - Watch me bend this golden arrow! Zarek Gaeta - I don't know what he's holding in that accessory hand, it looks like a key of some sort. I'd like to avoid spoilers for season 3, so if you want to tell everyone what it is please put it in [spoiler ] tags. Muchas gracias. Cally - Her headpiece seems a bit oversized, but I won't hit her because of it. Baltar - Yeah, test tubes rock! Doc Cottle Miniseries Baltar - Believe it or not, I have this exact same outfit. I should have the database updated soon, but I'm still waiting on my DC Series 7 order to ship. (Backorder frustrations )

Well thanks to MINI_MYTE mentioning that AFX had Star Trek Series 3 and Battlestar Galactica Wave 4 in stock and were ready to ship, I put in an order and these arrived at my office today. Yep, AFX loves me more. Starting with Trek, the new packages are (as most surmised) yellow. Here's a sample pic. I figured one is enough and didn't want them showing up in other people's eBay auctions. Here are the innards so you can see the accessories: And now the figures: "If I can have honesty, it's easier to overlook mistakes." "It has been said that social occasions are only warfare concealed." "Do you like movies about gladiators?" "I don't trust men who smile too much." "Offense is a human emotion." "Insufficient facts always invite danger." "Brain and brain! What is brain?!" BSG coming shortly...

I thank you as well. No such thing as too much LEGO. Anyone looking to get on this deal might want to check their stores before Tuesday. When they had their last batch of LEGO Batman clearance (Batwing, UCS Batmobile, Batcave, Arkham for $30 each), I found them in my local store before the ad was 'active'. I picked up 3 Batcaves and 3 Asylums, and left at least 6 of each on the shelves. Everything but the Batwings were gone in a week.

I think this link might help some of you that are tired of seeing super spider piggy's nonsense posts. It's a complicated, highly technical, AI-based software filter that can automatically determine which of the posts have no meaningful content. It hides such posts while allowing the thoughtful, well-reasoned, useful posts to get through. It's a breakthrough in software engineering.

It's odd. For some reason I remembered schooner, but had to look up Tom... go figure. Some words just stick with you I guess. And if you had posted this five minutes later, I probably would have missed the contest entirely. PM sent.

Oh boy. 1) Tom Beckett 2) Imagine 3) Schooner 4) Jack Dalton Damn I miss Quantum Leap and MacGyver. I'd buy the DVDs but I'd never have time to watch them.

Go for it... but only if you share images of the final product.