mechaninac

4 hours ago, sh9000 said:

KC sent an email on Tuesday that my Advanced Rick x2 shipped.

Never got any direct response from KC but did get a shipping/tracking email from PayPal, and it's already through ISC New York.

Now to wait for the Dana Sterling to release... it's been an even longer wait (09/2020... sheesh! ).  I understand that the coof threw a monkey wrench into the works; however, I don't think I'll ever place another preorder with them and sit things out until stuff is in stock; their lead times have become atrocious.

The break-even industry standard is 2.5 x budget; therefore, at 150M, the movie needs to make 350-375M, profit would require something close or above 400M.  Could it reach those thresholds theatrically?... anything is possible, but it will require staying power.

Realistically speaking, John Wick 4 will have far more staying power, and Super Mario Bros premieres this Friday -- likely to dominate for weeks; so, despite an above expectation opening weekend and positive reviews in general, the likelihood that D&D:HAT will break even during its theatrical run is dubious and profitability is highly unlikely.  Time will tell, but it does not look good.

I have not received any communication from them, so I took it upon myself to reply to the original preorder confirmation email and send a message through their website.  Now, after 1.5 years, to wait some more...

Phew!  Thank heavens for another easy, regret free, pass; never cared for the WacDonalds clown of Valkyries... great news for those who do like it though.  Saving my pennies for the VF-5000G.

They should do The Iceman as well, to go with The Maverik; after all, 90+% of the work would already be done... it's a no-brainer.  BTW, went on their site and the figure isn't listed for preorder, yet.  I WILL NOT do Fakebook.

They're also likely trying to tie her to perfecting what would eventually become Snoke and the sequel trilogy, which, in my opinion, would be a bad idea; regardless, the studio is dead set on legitimizing that trainwreck, so my opinion, and that of millions of fans, is irrelevant.

4 hours ago, derex3592 said:

I'll just leave this here.....but yeh, I'm totally with the Drinker 100% on this. 

 

 

Yeah, he's on the money.  Other than The Bad Batch (I've read that Andor was good too, but it didn't attract enough viewers to justify its existence... bad timing following crap like BoBF and Kenobi), everything post TLJ has cultivated one singular outcome: apathy from the majority of long term fans, and failure to attract, in any significant numbers, the "modern audience" (individuals who, by and large, care nothing for the franchise past their Twitter echo chambers, and don't buy merchandize) that they've been obsessed in securing since Disney acquired Lucas Film.  Quite an anti-achievement, actually... to turn a license to print money cultural phenomenon into a moribund streaming service content with ever diminishing returns.

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.