6 hours ago, arnoldrew said:

Most people mention a Rebel's quote as their only source for this.

"In discussions directly with George he was very adamant about Jango not being a Mandolorian."
Word of God

The Mandalorian is the top TV show in the world

7 minutes ago, Imperial Advisor Arem Heshvaun said:

The Mandalorian is the top TV show in the world

I keep saying I think it’s singlehandedly carrying D+ in the marketplace. Probably accounts for double digit percentages of the subscribers.

3 hours ago, Imperial Advisor Arem Heshvaun said:

The Mandalorian is the top TV show in the world

Not surprised. And I really think that the weekly release schedule is helping. I love stranger things but I can barely remember individual episodes. I lose details , mush story elements together and when i am all done it feels like when you scarf down an entire burger before your physics class. The mandalorian on the other hand has left me excited for more each week and I can tell you exactly what happens in each episode. Binge watching can be fun but I do it less and less these days, even when I have the option. I tend to do it more with shows like Great British Bake-off.

Brief description of Episode 7

1 hour ago, devin.pike.1989 said:

Not surprised. And I really think that the weekly release schedule is helping. I love stranger things but I can barely remember individual episodes. I lose details , mush story elements together and when i am all done it feels like when you scarf down an entire burger before your physics class. The mandalorian on the other hand has left me excited for more each week and I can tell you exactly what happens in each episode. Binge watching can be fun but I do it less and less these days, even when I have the option. I tend to do it more with shows like Great British Bake-off.

A lot of modern shows are hurt by the perceived need to create melodramatic *gasp* scenes at the end of each show. I like how each episode of The Mandolorian is a self contained short film, that also make sense as a longer story. In a lot of the most succesful shows, there's no meaningful story that actually explors anything interesting. It's just a bunch of *gasp*'s strung together, with the biggest scariest *gasp*'s saved for mid and end season episodes. Kinda like how bad sitcoms are just a bunch of snarky jokes strung together, but no one seems to notice (and in fact, applaud) when bad dramas do it.

The Mandalorian is single-handedly keeping my love of Star Wars warm. It plus Rogue One are the only things in the Disney Era that I adore (besides FFG games naturally).

Were it not for the show, I'd be back to ignoring Star Wars outside of gaming.

Granted, I've not played Fallen order yet (but I've watched my roommate do so), so I might lump it in with The Mandalorian and Rogue One. I'll get around to playing it.

I'm just glad some of the modern era shows and games are discovering that there are plenty of stories Empire and Empire adjacent to be told that are far more appealing than anything to do with the Triple-J [JJ & Johnson] abomination they've foisted on us.

On 11/29/2019 at 12:16 PM, Imperial Advisor Arem Heshvaun said:

Episode 4 of The Mandalorian was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire from Jurassic World).

Her father Ron Howard, has among other accomplishments, directed Solo: A Star Wars Story and won the Oscars for directing and producing A Beautiful Mind .

Her uncle, Clint Howard, won the MTV lifetime achievement award, an honor he gloriously shares with the mighty Chewbacca.

I happen to have an exceptionally lewd crush on Bryce. I enjoy her body...of work.

37 minutes ago, Deathseed said:

The Mandalorian is single-handedly keeping my love of Star Wars warm. It plus Rogue One are the only things in the Disney Era that I adore (besides FFG games naturally).

I was just saying how the success of the show proves that the problem isn’t us fans rejecting the new and unfamiliar. It was the poor films themselves. The Toys That Made Us episode about SW is pretty telling when they relate that Episode 1 merchandise didn’t catch on with enough children to sustain the line. And that’s as much detail as I will go into on that dead horse.

23 hours ago, TauntaunScout said:

Episode 1 merchandise didn’t catch on with enough children to sustain the line. And that’s as much detail as I will go into on that dead horse.

I think that the collector market had more to do with that than disinterest. Their business model focused on collectors and only a few of the highly desired figures were in each case; which would get picked through by, let's face it, guys in their 20's and 30's; leaving only the peg warmers for the general public/kids who should have been playing with them.
They also went too gimmick-y with that line opting for cloth robes that didn't hang properly and those sill communicator chips.
We sucked the soul out of the action figure line hoping for the big pay off, but we failed to grasp that the original figures were only rare because people played with them, lost them, broke them and threw them away.

It will be our little secret.

3 hours ago, Zrob314 said:

I think that the collector market had more to do with that than disinterest. Their business model focused on collectors and only a few of the highly desired figures were in each case; which would get picked through by, let's face it, guys in their 20's and 30's; leaving only the peg warmers for the general public/kids who should have been playing with them.
They also went too gimmick-y with that line opting for cloth robes that didn't hang properly and those sill communicator chips.
We sucked the soul out of the action figure line hoping for the big pay off, but we failed to grasp that the original figures were only rare because people played with them, lost them, broke them and threw them away.

The Hasbro execs got an advanced screening and were like “uhoh, we have a problem” because they thought the movie would be unpopular with kids. The toys wound up in clearance bins. Which they would not have, if collectors bought them all. Notably, the 1997 OT figures did not wind up clearanced out. And in ‘78 to about ‘81 there were no “peg warmers”, store shelves got stripped bare by voracious demand for any and all SW figures. I think a lot of undo credit is being retroactively lent to the prequels by Clone Wars cartoons. Not that it matters now: we have The Mandalorian to watch instead.

This is the entire score for the Chapter 5: The Gunslinger

Thank you Dave Filoni !

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Watch the last scene in the Chapter.

Now listen to 2:48 min of this vid.

Your Welcome.

I won't get to watch the ep. till late tonight, but I am already a little annoyed with the news headlines I have seen. They are mostly variations on "Mandalorian did some fanservice!!!! It is ruined!!!" First off, fanservice has always had a sexual connotation, at least for as long as I can remember, and I doubt that Mando had a nip slip on Disney's new streaming service.

So what they really mean is "references". References can be done poorly like Boba Fett barreling the camera in A New Hope special edition(Hey! It's me! Remember? That guy you all like?) or as we have seen so far in Mando, they can be done well. Most of the "references" are not even truly a reference. The Gonk droid in chapter one is often stated to be a reference to A New Hope. But we see Gonk droids throughout the entire series. They are just a common object in the galaxy. The gatekeeper droid is not a reference either. Everybody has a nest or ring camera on their door these days or an amazon echo dot in their house or an iphone in their pocket. Again, these are just common devices that exist in universe. If the writers DIDN'T include them, people would be upset and say it was a "plot hole" (another horribly misused term). True references are things like Beckett being the guy that killed Aurra Sing.

Anyways, there is this weird idea that maintaining visual consistency in star wars media is somehow pandering or being cheap and if they include new things, it is an insult and betrayal of what has come before.

Writer has characters on Tatooine: "Ugh! Retreading old ground just to get cheap approval! Whay can't they do something original?"

Writer has characters on Jakku: "Ugh! ANOTHER desert planet? Why not just use Tatooine? These writers are just ripping off other people's creations!"

New aliens in scene: "Ugh! Where are the Twileks and Rodians and Trandoshans? This is the same galaxy! We should be seeing previously introduced species!"

Old aliens in scene: "Ugh! It's like they are trying to remake the original cantina scene! "

Drives me crazy. Why does maintaining consistency automatically count as selling out for cheap fan recognition? I WANT to see things from star wars! That is why I am watching a STAR WARS SHOW IN THE FIRST PLACE! I also want to see new things! OTHERWISE I WOULD JUST WATCH A NEW HOPE FOR THE 10,000th TIME!

I should probably wait until I actually see the episode to make comments on it, but this stuff has been showing up on all the buzzfeed clone "news" sources since chapter one came out.

Come back next week for my rant on the misuse of the term "easter egg" Sneak preview: If it is in the center of the shot and talking, it is not an easter egg. Easter eggs are things you have to hunt for. You know, like an easter egg...

This is the Way, I have spoken.

2 hours ago, Imperial Advisor Arem Heshvaun said:

Not gonna lie, I specifically looked for a burn mark in that scene. 😆

All right, I finally got to watch chapter 5. The pacing felt a little disjointed in this one but still very good overall. I was right about the reference thing. The "references" were just maintaining visual continuity. The writers wanted a story to take place on Tatooine so they had some distinctly "tatooinish" things. None of the "references" felt shoehorned in or out of place. I think the gizmobuzzvox "news" sites are just being negative.

So I think going to Mos Eisley was an important choice for this episode. Did anyone else notice that the place was pretty much deserted? I think that is a deliberate choice. After the fall of the empire, farmers seeking liberty no longer need to go to the armpit of space to make a living in peace, smugglers and criminals can probably work closer to the core due to the fact that the New Republic is fairly impotent, and when the criminals leave, there isn't much call for bounty hunters. That is why mando finds a mechanic struggling to even keep her droids running, a merc on the run looking for a quiet spot to hide and a desperate young bounty hunter all on his own. Even Chalmun seems to have moved on or passed away. He would be rolling in his grave if he knew that his droid-free bar was now being run by a couple of kitchenaids!

I also loved the fact that they totally humanized the Tuskens! Even Anakin slaughtering them (and not just the men, the women and children too!) didn't really have any emotional weight to it. But this episode gave them some character other than just HUUUUUUUURRRRRGGGG!!! HURK! HURK! HURK!

On 12/5/2019 at 7:16 PM, TauntaunScout said:

The Hasbro execs got an advanced screening and were like “uhoh, we have a problem” because they thought the movie would be unpopular with kids. The toys wound up in clearance bins. Which they would not have, if collectors bought them all. Notably, the 1997 OT figures did not wind up clearanced out. And in ‘78 to about ‘81 there were no “peg warmers”, store shelves got stripped bare by voracious demand for any and all SW figures. I think a lot of undo credit is being retroactively lent to the prequels by Clone Wars cartoons.

Again, that was due to case assortment. So lets say you've got a case of star wars action figures. You don't buy individual figures you just buy a case of them (this is how it has been since Kenner redefined everything about action figure collections in 78).

So every case is going to have an unequal distribution of figures. Some of these figures will be more popular due to the character and some due to the rarity. So, you get a case of lets say 50 figures for the Phantom Menace. Now that case might have 2 Darth Maul, 4 Queen Amidala (Naboo), 5 Qui Gon, 5 Obi Wan, 7 Padme Naberrie, 7 Anakin, 10 Jar Jar and 10 B1 Battle Droids. (yes the distributions were that badly skewed in 99). What ended up happening was that collectors would engage is a variety of shady/obsessive tactics in order to get the rare figures and leave the rest for the kids. That simply wasn't happening with the Kenner line. The target market of that was kids. Hasbro turned the target market to collectors who had been kids when the Kenner line was out and now had disposable income. On top of that, as I said many of us knew of people who made lots of money selling their old star wars toys and thought we were going to do the same, not realizing that the only thing that makes a hunk of plastic monetarily valuable is rarity. If everyone has the same idea to keep their figures pristine in package then they won't increase in value over time.
As to there being no peg warmers in 78 and 81, that's because there were so many fewer figures produced. The entire Kenner line from start to finish (78-85) was 114 figures (including incorrect snaggletooth and retired versions of C3P0 and R2D2). The Phantom Menace collection had 267 figures in it. That's over 3 years, not 8...1 movie not 3 and a couple of spin off cartoons. Hasbro also inflated the price point of the figures with the stupid comm chip. I'm sorry but I find Hasbro's explanation to be rather self serving. And if you think that nothing from the Hasbro Power of the Force had to go on clearance you're simply mistaken. Every major toy line has peg warmers and has since Kenner got their stuff underway. Eventually shelf space has to be devoted to new stock. Every line will have figures or characters that are less popular than others.
As to undo credit being retroactively lent, you seem to forget that TPM was WILDLY popular. CinemaScore audiences gave it an average of A-, Despite middling reviews it was the fasted film to gross $100 million, Second highest opening Weekend at the time (it opened on a wednesday), Quickest film to reach 200 and 300 million (beating out Independence Day and Titanic), was 1999's most successful film, 11 weeks in the top 10, estimated to have sold 84.4 million tickets in it's initial us theatrical run, was the third highest grossing film in america (topped only by Titanic and Ep IV) was the second highest grossing film worldwide, not adjusted for inflation, but even adjusted was still top 20. Oh yeah and it's currently 40th (unadjusted). Other Star Wars Movies on the unadjusted top 50: TFA(4) TLJ(13), Rogue 1 (33).
In April 2000 the VHS was released and it sold 5 Million copies in the first 48 hours.
In October 2001 it was released on DVD and sold 2.2 million units in the first week, the fastest selling DVD ever (at the time).

I know it's cool to say that everyone hated it. But they didn't.

Shot Comparison

It’s also possible that Mando came back.

Honestly, more than a little disappointed with yesterday's episode. It wasn't necessarily bad, but was definitely filler. It just seemed off. Besides our mystery person at the end, pretty much nothing in the episode matters, and Mando and Child end up exactly where they were at the end of the last episode, with nothing really added. Not bad in a 20 episode season, but in one this short, it's a wasted slot.

And yeah, pretty sure that was a Mandalorian at the end of the episode. Besides the similar looking boot, he had the same "spur jingle" sound effect when he walked up that the Mando was making in episode 1. I'd like for it to be Boba, so we can confirm that he did survive the Sarlaac, but I'd also settle for the former slave turn Sheriff, Cobb Vanth. He was one of the few cool things introduced in the Afthermath books, and it'd be nice to see him appear in a live action work.

2 hours ago, Zrob314 said:

Hasbro turned the target market to collectors who had been kids when the Kenner line was out and now had disposable income.

Allegedly, that happened after TPM line flopped.

Quote

On top of that, as I said many of us knew of people who made lots of money selling their old star wars toys and thought we were going to do the same, not realizing that the only thing that makes a hunk of plastic monetarily valuable is rarity. If everyone has the same idea to keep their figures pristine in package then they won't increase in value over time.

YES! This is why I can give my kids a collection of 100 or so carded 90's figures for way cheaper than I can go buy figures at Target. Mwahahaha.

Even without comm chips the line is horribly inflated now. $12, $14, $15 for a figure is crazy. Ordinary inflation should have only carried the price to like $7.50. Yesterday I was at Wal-Mart looking at the new Jabba playset and skiff. Holy price point Batman! And there's no one place you can go to figure out what figures are currently being sold in stores, like the old 12, 21... 77... etc. cardbacks. As far as I can tell, Lego is now the big gorilla in actual children's SW toys.

A couple months ago I was at Goodwill and I found bags of carded TPM figures being sold in semi-bulk lots. That felt weird.

We didn't see the 90's OT line get clearanced out until it had been around a lot longer than with TPM. I wonder if TPM partially suffered in sales from the general hype of "Star Wars is back!" dying down.

The 267 figures thing is interesting. I don't follow the prequels at all so I don't know much about the line. Overproduction seems like a big part of the story of 90's SW merchandise, once it finally got rolling. Over production seems to have killed the original SW Micro Machines too.

Quote

I know it's cool to say that everyone hated it. But they didn't.

We didn't hate it but we thought "Well, maybe the next one will be good". Then we got Episode II...