Thursday, June 30, 2011

Custom Phatty: Armored Jedi Master!

One of the Admins over at The Imperial Shipyards wanted to see himself as an armored Jedi. In my mind I thought, "That's like having a ninja wear samurai armor. A Jedi needs to be able to move, and jump, and evade detection." So I thought of a lightly armored General curing the Clone Wars era. Here is Jedi Master Solarr Faa'tee wielding his Saber-lance.



Wednesday, June 29, 2011

More from SerialPhoenix's awesome collection!

More awesome photos from our friend SerialPhoenix! Check out his work right here on AFE!

Victory

"Look, Ma! I get payed to break stuff!"


"Sir, please return to the tour group and leave the flying to the trained professionals!"

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Custom Smuggler Crews!

The Crew of The Laughing Shadow:

 
The Heroes of the upcoming fan fiction Star Wars: New Saga, the crew of The Jade Fossil:
 


The crew of The Honest Liar:
 

Monday, June 27, 2011

Wooof: Jedi Fodder!









Wooof was a smuggler with a penchant for gambling. As an excellent pilot, Wooof, was contracted by Jabba The Hutt to pilot his many crafts, including his private luxury yacht. He moonlighted as an assistant to the skiff master Barada and worked as a mechanic on Jabba's skiffs. Owing a huge sum of money to Jabba in the form of a gambling debt, Wooof was put to work to repay what he'd borrowed or stolen. Wooof was a skiff guard during the battle over the Pit of Carkoon and died when Luke Skywalker redirected a blaster bolt with his lightsaber into Wooof's body. Hasbro released a Wooof figure as part of the Vintage Collection's ROTJ wave and what an awesome figure he is! He comes fully articulated with soft-goods skirt/tunic that resembles animal fleece, a vibro axe, a hold out blaster, a removable bandoleer, and a removable headdress. If you don't have Wooof yet your Jabba's palace is lacking an amazing figure! You might still find one lurking on a peg hook somewhere! Hurry! Highly Recommended!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Shadow Guard: Jumping At Shadows!









Out of the remnants of one of the most feared military power in the galaxy, the Sun Guard (Hasbro please make some figures of them!), formed on Thyrsus by a rebel group of Echani warriors, the Emperor built his legion of Shadow Guards. The Sun Guards were fierce foes of both Mandalorians and Echani. They became a Sith cult loyal to the Sith order and eventually were under Darth Sidious' command. The Sun Guard fought in the clone wars and eventually Palpatine absorbed the surviving members into the ranks of the Red Guards, Royal Guards, and for those that were force sensitive, Shadow Guards. Mostly unknown to most Imperials the Shadow Guards carried out the most deadly of assaults often utilizing Shadow Stormtroopers as their foot soldiers. One of the most elite, revered and feared units in the Imperial military machine, Shadow Guards wore black robes and armor and wielded saber pikes and carried blaster side arms. Hasbro's Shadow Guard figure released as part of the 30th Anniversary line is awesome! With a repainted Karnor Jax/Kir Kanos body (available together in a comic pack) and a solid helmeted head these figures strike a dramatic pose in any collection. Sporting a saber pike with removable blade, a scout trooper pistol, and removable black soft-goods cloak they come fully articulated and ready for battle. The only drawback to the figure is the fact that it has swivel elbows, otherwise an excellent looking figure! Recommended!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Scout Troopers: Scoutin' Around!





The first time we see Imperial Scout Troopers is during the Rebel raid on the shield generator on Endor in ROTJ. However we see them again in the battle of Kashyyyk in ROTS. In the special addition releases of the original trilogy films cold weather Scout Troopers have been added to the battle of Hoth sequences.  A more streamlined Stormtrooper, the scout troopers were designed to carry out reconnaissance missions and for sniping enemy targets at long range. Apart from their more "frontal assault" Stormtrooper counter parts the Scout Troopers wore lighter armor and had parts of their arms and legs free from armor for greater flexibility and mobility. Their vehicles of choice were often 74-Z speeder bikes which earned them the nickname of "Biker Scouts". Armed with a light hold-out blaster side arm, or in some cases a sniper rifles, Scout Troopers carried out demolitions, hit-and-run fade attacks, sabotage, and left the heavy combat to the other troopers of the Stormtrooper corps. If your Imperial Army is to succeed you are definitely going to need some Scout Troopers in your ranks! So load up on them and head out in search of Rebels! Also snag some speeder bikes too while you're at it! Available from many modern figure lines and waves,from the Original Trilology Vintage Collection to the legacy Collection.  Highly Recommended!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Rogue Squadron Briefing Room!

 Another awesome photo by Serial Phoenix! I love the use of the decalls and the ranks of Rogue Squadron sitting on the risers listening to Jake Farell fill in for Wedge Antilles. Awesome Job once again!


Rogue Squadron Briefing Room
 "...As I was saying, the difference between a standard Tie Fighter and a Tie Interceptor is the shape of the wings. You should really know this stuff by now!"

RA-7: The Other Golden Droid!




Commissioned for production from Arakyd Industries by the Empire, RA-7 droids were a third-degree low intelligence class of protocol droid. One striking feature that separates these droids from their 3PO counterparts is the notably insectoid looking heads they have.  RA-7 droids personalities differed from other protocol droids in that they were stern and monotonous--often contented to perform the basest of duties. They did sport a unique feature in a surveillance system housed in their heads--disguised as simple circuitry and buried deep in the droids cranial capacitor the device could record most any event that would be sent via remote uplink to Imperial Intelligence. Seen throughout the anals of the Empire--and thus the galaxy--RA-7 droids performed seemingly mindless tasks--although they were secretly spies. R2 and C-3PO run into one on the Jawa Sandcrawler in the beginning of A New Hope. This figure, released as part of the 30th Anniversary collection, while aesthetically very well done, lacks loots of basic articulation that is being added to the droids produced in more modern lines. Still an essential figure for your collection--better get more than one to keep tabs on your Imperials, it's not the best made figure by a long shot.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Special Action Figure Set: Wave 2!






As a continuation of the Vintage Collection Hasbro has taken to updating the classic 3-figure packs released in the 70s and 80s. The Special Action Figure Sets are Target exclusives and while they are repacks of modern figures, they are a great chance to snag some figures you may have missed from earlier waves, or as troop building sets. The first wave, available last November, came with all three 3-packs packaged in one exclusive box set and featured 9 repacked figures. This first wave featured characters exclusively from TESB, with Heroes, Villains, droids and troopers. I was lucky enough to snag one while away for business and it was a great way to fill some holes in the collection. Now the Special Action Figure Sets feature figures from both A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. The first wave 9 figure boxed set retailed at about $56. This time the sets are being sold individually in 3-packs each for $19.99. This go round we snagged the "Rebel Set" and have taken some pictures immediately after our return to base to unload this cargo! If you haven't found these yet keep hunting! They're well worth the wait! And try to get the first wave too! They're bound to be pretty pricey now unfortunately. Highly Recommended!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Ten Numb and Nien Nunb: Comfortably Nunb!

 Ten Numb:
 






Comparison:




Nien Nunb:





Ten Numb, a former bounty hunter and demolitions expert joined the Rebel Alliance and became a member of the Blue B-Wing squadron. A skilled and very able pilot he was ordered to lead the B-wing squadrons against Imperial command vessels during the battle of Endor. For his heroic actions during the battle he was promoted to Blue leader and he later used his B-Wing as a make-shift fire-fighting vehicle to combat forest fires on Endor. He accompanied Rogue Squadron and Luke Skywalker to Corellia to fight an Imperial uprising led by General Weir to seize Coronet city. He was captured by Weir's Storm Commandos and executed during an interrogation by General Weir himself. In ROTJ Ten is seen wearing a red flight suit though the figures of him that have been created are based on a production image depicting him in a white uniform. He can be seen during the Rebel briefing and during the Ewok celebration on Endor after the Death Star's destruction.

Nien Nunb--the laughing Sullustan who co-pilots the Millennium Falcon with Lando during the Battle of Endor has long been a favorite of ours here at AFE. For the Falcon sequences the Sullustan language Nien is supposedly speaking is actually Kenyan.Before joining the Rebel Alliance, Nunb was a smuggler working for the SoroSuub corporation. During his operations as a smuggler Nunb met and befriended Lando Calrissian. Eventually Nunb went on to become the administrator of the Spice Mines of Kessel. Hand chosen by Calrissian for the co-pilot position, Nunb would receive the Kalidor Crescent for his heroic service during the battle of Endor. Nunb went on to co-pilot the Falcon on an adventure with Han Solo, who wouldn't accept him as a substitute for Chewbacca, but did come to respect the Sullustan after he saved Solo's life. When Lando purchased the spice mines at Kessel he installed Nunb as the administrator. In ROTJ Nien Nunb's role was performed by a puppet and puppeteers. Originally nicknamed by the crew as "number nine" as he was listed on the packing list for the ROTJ aliens.

As a big fan of aliens--especially Jedi and Rebel pilots--we love Sullustans! Hasbro has released some awesome Sullustan figures! Nien Nunb as a part of the Legacy Collection comes in his red B-Wing pilot flight suit (he was apparently serving as a fighter pilot before Lando recruited him to help crew the Falcon) with a removable helmet and breathing tube, a removable hose, and a blaster pistol. Ten Numb comes similarly equipped and wearing a white flight suit, with a removable helmet that fully separates from the breathing hose (Nien's doesn't), a removable hose, and a blaster pistol. Ten Numb is included in one of the Rebel Pilot Legacy Packs from the Evolutions line. Ten Numb's neck and head don't match for skin tones, as well as his upper lip which looks like a pale pink mustache. The only other problem with these figures is the fact that they were given bodies that are way too tall for Sullustans. Ten Numb's actual height is just under five feet, while Nien Nunb's is just over five feet tall. The bodies they have been given are the generic A-Wing/Y-Wing/B-Wing pilot bodies used for human pilots. We understand Hasbro has to save money, but these two are the tallest Sullustans ever! Despite being giants among a short race of aliens, they are awesome figures! Definitely grab some Sullustans for your collection! Recommended!