mechaninac

13 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Perhaps... though I suspect Star Trek: Picard's third and final season wouldn't get nearly as much praise that way.

It's not great, or even particularly good, television being about on par with Nemesis or Insurrection.  Much of the praise it's getting is a product of the two previous seasons lowering everyone's expectations significantly.

Yeah, as they say: hunger is the best sauce...  Star Trek fans have been starved of anything edible for so long that even a reheated bowl of instant ramen will look and taste like a feast.

3 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

Kasdan is a hack writer and only got to where he is due to sheer nepotism. Nothing he has ever worked on has ever risen above mediocrity. His biggest success was writing for Dawson's Creek, the prototypical "CW" whiny angst teen melodrama  show which is basically what the Willow tv series became instead of the light hearted medieval adventure series it should have been. It needed more swords and sorcery adventure like the original movie and less talking about feelings in dark hallways.

 

If you think Jon Kasdan is going to improve in a hypothetical season 2 just because he gave us a couple decent episodes at the tail end of Willow's first season you'll be sadly mistaken.

100% This!  He was also one of the duo (double the hackery) who wrote Solo, and we all know how that money losing stinker turned out.  His parsing of the cancellation as an extended, pie in the sky hiatus, just strikes of heavy doses of copium and hopium being injected directly into the bloodstream... lots of that going around.

5 minutes ago, Mog said:

Guess the Wyrm wins. 😉

I'd hazard to say that fans of the now classic movie -- its characters, story, and quality -- are the true winners.

2 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I finished TNG last weekend and am excited to start on some new Trek, will probably do DS9 but I'm pretty interested jumping into season 1 of this because I'm still high on Picard lol.

You don't want to corrupt the favorable memory of what TNG became by the end with NewTrek... leave that stuff for dead last.

This!... Inquiring minds want need to know.

They also look backwardly anachronistic... as though the shipwrights and engineers had suddenly adopted a nostalgic late 23rd century design ethos.  It just does not jive with the aesthetic progression one would expect or that makes sense.

An thus CN retains its ignominious title of The Reigning CalArts Network/Dumping Ground...

No, just NO.

5 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

I remember thinking a TERMINATOR television series would suck but ended up being wrong and still annoyed it was cancelled. I'll give an ALIEN series a chance.

If the idea of a Alien series had been announced in the late 90s, early 2000s -- heck, maybe even as late as 1st 3rd of the 2010s, I would've been very excited for the prospect of it; however, with the absolute dearth of creativity and talent among writers and producers since the middle of the last decade -- to say nothing of how these same individuals handle just about every franchise they touch as platforms first and entertainment/escapism dead last, I'm far less sanguine on this being anywhere near passable, let alone good.  Here's hoping that I'm dead wrong; alas...

7 hours ago, ps99041 said:

How long did it take for the PayPal charge to pop up?

I placed my preorder on the 5th and got charged the very next day; must've been a weekend related delay thing.  I'm sure the charge would've been assessed the same day if it had been any week day, instead.  It's all good, and a very miniscule upfront fee to secure what appears to be the absolute best deal around.

I did not ask for your permission, but I thank you all the same.

I don't begrudge anyone who is looking forward to this, but anything that has even a tangential involvement by Seth Rogan is a no-brainer hard pass in my book. 

It wasn't there, that I noticed, when I placed my preorder, and I haven't been charged, yet, any deposit... maybe I got in before its implementation.  Either way, it's less deposit than I've seen elsewhere, and their price + shipping ($0.00) is unbeatable for this release, so it's all good.

Edit:  Well, damn... chimed in too soon.  I just got the $15.00 deposit charged to my PayPal. ...

Niche market + Inflation at every step of production + Lack of Economy of Scale (lower production runs) + Amortization + Desirability to consumers + It's a luxury mostly meant for collectors (nobody needs these things) + Knowing the buyers are willing to fork over the mullah + Retailer Profit Margins + additional factors others are more than welcome to contribute or elaborate = Exorbitant Prices (individual perspective/means dependent)

^ Thanks for posting that.  I wasn't planning on getting one at the prices I had seen up until this, and with the free shipping too, so I took the plunge; plus, given the lead time until the item is released and ready for them to request payment and ship, there will be plenty of time to save up for it.

Edit: Too bad I could not find the Hi Metal R Orguss there as well...

Characters are only as good/interesting as the people writing them; that most of Discovery's characters were miserable drecks, and the main protagonist a loathsome one, speaks volumes about those penning the scripts and producing the show... garbage in, garbage out.

49 minutes ago, Dobber said:

One of my biggest problems with a lot of the Kurtzman Trek was the utter lack of professionalism displayed by quasi-military officers who are supposedly the best and brightest. The snide remarks and quips etc. An utter lack of discipline. 
As a 47 yr old FAA Air Traffic Controller who was also in the Navy, this hits a little too close to home for me with what I see more and more of in the work place. The lack of willingness to put in one’s time to move up, learn, and grow. Just total entitlement. I PERSONALLY think that is one reason why so many of these characters don’t resonate with a good portion of the audience. Not because of (insert personal affiliation) but more  because of attitude. We all see it so much IRL. Then again maybe that’s why it does have a fan base as well and I’m, as Chris Evans said, just a dinosaur. 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Chris

There is a definite growing trend in the age of social media/current year: more and more people are mostly, or completely, disinterested in appreciating masterful paintings that awe and inspire -- heck, a lot actively deride such works as "problematic" -- and instead gravitate towards staring at a mirror and calling it high art...

About time that grotesque insult to Gene Rodenberry's legacy, long-time fans, and everything Trek produced prior to this atrocity to intelligence and good taste, is finally being put out to pasture to languish unwatched and forgotten forevermore, same goes for ST-PukeHard.  Too bad both these abominations can't be fully excised from existence... ignominy and indifference will have to suffice; unfortunately, the brand and live-franchise damage will long outlast them -- interesting that as currently overseen, same with Star Wars, for the most part, the only productions with even a modicum of competence, narrative quality and legacy integrity are the toons.

5 hours ago, Dynaman said:

...pushing out more content...

The sludge must flow.

Yep, what they did with 2202 was a dumbfounding butchering of the original.

1 hour ago, jvmacross said:

S3 Ep 1 sort of had that silly vibe that most of the Book of Boba Fett episodes had, especially towards the end of the season...plus what was the deal with the Dynamite 7 Galactic Whales and Swamp Thing pirate?  His head looked like it was covered in that fake grass they place into Easter Baskets for the kiddos!

Chi...Chi...Chia...

or... Seaweed the Hutt?...

18 hours ago, sh9000 said:

The tires look good in person.

Well now, I guess I've no excuses to vacillate on getting a copy; besides, I missed out on the Hotwheels Elite version of several years back, and it's been quite a long time since I've purchased a 1/18 diecast model car... and this one is giving me that itch again.

I've been looking into possibly getting one of these 308s, but those wheels look balloonish on every picture I've seen, no matter the angle; so, how do they look in real life?.. Otherwise, it looks gorgeous.

Cheers 

Yeah, prices have gone from questionable, to insane, to ludicrous, and then you add steep US retailer - if even available - mark-ups or outrageous shipping.. pretty much out of this crazy wallet busting train.