X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

01/08/2007: Natural Gas and Bounty Hunters.

In case you missed all the hubbub, a big chunk of Manhattan spent this morning reeking of natural gas. I actually didn’t smell anything until I got inside my office building, so I of course attributed the smell to my building alone. It was intense enough to where I considered reporting it, but there was no line for the little coffee shop downstairs, and I really, really wanted coffee, so I did that instead.

I stopped thinking about it once I took the elevator up to our department’s floor, but was reminded a moment later when a company-wide e-mail confirmed that we weren’t the only building in town currently smelling like the genesis of a major explosion. It’s only 10:30 as I write this, so chances are, they’ll have figured out the true source by the time this is posted. Me? I know we’re not going to explode, but I hope there’s enough of a frenzy to get the kings and queens of this company to send its subjects home for the day. I had a long night. Too many good Fresh Prince reruns on. I could use the extra sleep.

On the “Pick My Wii Game” front from a few nights back: After reading your suggestions, I am most definitely ditching Red Steel. If I make it to the store before WarioWare comes out, I’ll snatch Elebits. Otherwise, it’s all Wario. Thanks for yer help!

During the Toys ‘R’ Us trip that brought Red Steel into my life, I picked up a couple of other things using the various cards full of store credit we had leftover. Whenever there’s no chance for a cash refund and it’s “spend or sit,” I prefer to buy stuff that isn’t at all practical - stuff I’d never part with actual green for. That doesn’t sound like a tremendous testimonial for the item I’m about to feature, but make no mistake: I love it dearly, and it’s worth just as many real pennies as gift certificate pennies.

It’s from the Star Wars “Galactic Heroes” collection - a really nice $20 set of figures based on the bounty hunter scene from The Empire Strikes Back. The first sight of those wacky bounty hunters is among my favorite visuals from anything Star Wars, and as such, I’ve always had a soft spot for any correlating toys. This set, titled “Vader’s Bounty Hunters,” contains ten unique figures, which breaks it all down to $2 per figure - not exactly a “steal” considering the figures’ diminutive stature, but not such a bad deal, either.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Galactic Heroes line, it’s pretty sweet. It’s Star Wars meets Playskool, where everyone and everything looks shorter, stockier and more cartoony - but somehow, all in a cool way. While intended mostly to be Star Wars action figures for the three-and-under crowd, the fine detailing, great paint work and passionate sculpts have made the toys just as sought by us geeky old dudes.

I’m no longer the type to keep something in its original packaging just to maintain its collectability, but I will do that if the packaging is too fucking cool to ruin. In this case, it is. The box is beautiful, and more or less based on the Super Star Destroyer bridge where Vader gave everyone the big money scoop. It’s not really the kind of box you can open and shut and open again - once you tear, you tear for good. Besides, if God wanted us to open every package in the world, he would never have invented window boxes.

The set includes all of the bounty hunters - Boba Fett, Bossk, IG-88, Zuckuss, 4-LOM and Dengar. It also includes a nice helping of Imperials, including a comparatively gigantic Darth Vader, two Stormtroopers (with different degrees of war wear), and another figure that I first took to be a TIE Fighter Pilot. But he isn’t a TIE Fighter Pilot. He’s something else…

A Shadow Trooper, eh? Interesting choice - and kind of odd. I don’t know a heck of a lot about Shadow Troopers, but I know this much: They’re “Expanded Universe” characters, not from the movies, and they essentially amount to Stormtroopers with Dark Side powers. (The idea of such a thing dates back to the earliest days of Star Wars; lightsaber-wielding Stormtroopers were not uncommon to spot in production sketches.) Shadow Troopers ultimately turned up in Star Wars video games, and even though Expanded Universe toys are nothing new, it’s a bit weird to see a random Shadow Trooper inserted into the bounty hunter scene from ESB. I’m not complaining - upon closer inspection, Shadow Troopers look much cooler than TIE Fighter Pilots.

The Shadow Troopers were from the Dark Forces Lucas Arts game in the 90’s. It was a first person shooter game. Good for what it was. Kind of like Duke Nuke ‘Em.

Been a while since I played Dark Forces. I miss the 1st-person star wars games. Maybe we’ll see one on Wii? (I won’t even get started on lightsaber Wii action)

My boss left it up to our “best discretion” if we could work in the gas stench with our AC shut off. (I’m about three blocks from the Times Square TRU.) Stupidly, I decided I could. Spending the weekend bed-ridden with the stomach ick makes cubeland seem fun.

Sorry for the double post. Man, I should really read the full article before commenting.

9line- If they have lightsaber action on Wii you can bet on some hands in ceiling fans and wii-motes through windows.

Wish they would have put Shadwo Troopers somewhere in the movies. They would have been cool to see.

From what I understand, the gas leak is from somewhere by Bleeker and West 4th. Around the block from my job.

I used to work in a small office building and one day it started to smell like someone had just decided to get a perm in their office or something. The smell got really bad, almost nauseating, and I was amazed at how unconcerned everyone was. I said to the office manager, rather nonchalantly, “So, um…you know that strong odor of burning chemicals? Do you think we should, like, call someone or something?” I got the same reaction I would have gotten if I’d suggested calling 911 because we were out of toilet paper. It stuck around the rest of the day, but thankfully had dissipated by the next morning. I still don’t think I was that out of line by suggesting that we shouldn’t be breathing in something that smelled like chemical fumes all day.

I’m in midtown (45th between 6th and 7th) and I have yet to smell anything. I sorta wish I did though because I’d love the chance to go home early. This is the first 5 day work week for our office in quite some time. I’m not ready for that yet!

Dark Forces was an excellent game. I never got tired of playing the original version. I kinda fell out of it though when the main guy (Kyle something?) became a Jedi.

i’ve read some expanded universe comics, and in them, the Shadow Troopers are called Dark Troopers; are they inherently different, or just called different names?

Bill - I’m pretty sure that the Shadow Troopers where not in the Dark Forces games. You might be thinking of ‘DARK’ Troopers. I’m a big Star Wars nerd and I don’t even know what Shadow Troopers are or where they came from…

I saw a Galactic Heroes set like that at Wal-Mart, but I think it just had all the main characters like Luke, Leah, Han, Chewie, etc. I wanted it pretty hard-core, but unfortunately textbooks come first. Why can’t I find any classes that require buying toys?

BoBo_Smak- You’re probably right. Hence the name “Dark Forces,” huh? I just remember trying to fight those bastards when they appeared and they were quite a suck. Alot of standing up and cussing.
What’s the bounty guy’s name who has the head wrap? He reminds me of Kieser Sose. What a fleeting role he had in ESB.
I hate being off on a Monday. Too much Maury.

I smelled that strange odor when my bus got out of the Lincoln Tunnel this morning, but I just attributed it to the bus itself. When I got off on Madison and walked down 42nd to 3rd, I didn’t smell it anymore.

I say we all consider this a (Semi)Citywide Stank State of Emergency and go home.

Awesome! Does anyone know if the stench will last from 5:00-10:30 p.m.?? Because I would greatly appreciate a day off. How powerful is the stench? Vomit-inducing?

Bill - The bounty hunter you are looking for is Dengar Click my name to learn (too much) about him!

Thoses are awesome. I’m mad at myself for pretty much missing out on X-E for the past three weeks. When I’m not at work (I took a long vacation over Christmas) I rarely get on the computer.

I have added you as a Wii friend, so hurry up and add us all so my Sophia can beat up your Sophia.

Have I already missed a Wii number exchange? Do I need to get mine and post it here?

okay, according to wikipedia, Dark Troopers are different from Shadow Troopers. The former are either cyborgs or androids, depending on which expanded universe material you are using as your source, and the latter are Force-empowered clone troopers.
pretty much just what BoBo_Smak and Bill were sayin, but this is proof (as irrefutable as wiki can get, anyway)

I keep track of Star Wars figures as well and I know the ‘Shadow Trooper’ was some exclusive Con figure. And I had no clue where they came from (EU obviously). Bill - enjoy the Maury. Do the ‘not the baby-daddy dance’ and you’ll feel better.

I was oogling the Galactic Heros yesterday as well because they’re so cute and widdle. I was considering buying one, but I got this tiny Chief Chirpa instead. It came with a “Hologram” figure that wasn’t so much a hologram as it was a tiny clear pink Hans Solo. I was checking out the AttackTix, too. Battling teeny Star Wars and Transformers figures? Too cute.

Thanks BoBo_Smak! What a great drinking game. (drumrole…..) Edwardo isssssssss not the father. Waterfall!

Buckly- Thanks for the wiki link. I never new Boba Fett was Dengar’s best man. That’s a funny picture. I can just see the two in tuxes with helmets still on. I can also see him asking Boba Fett to be his best man.
“Boba…..you’ve been a real dickhead. Wanna be my best man?”

My prediction: Late night talk show hosts will attribute the smell to New Jersey. New Jersey will respond with, “How dare you, that’s not even close to what we smell like!”

And to the expanding Manimal family, all types and flavors of congrats and happiness to the impending 777 jackpot! When Army/now Comanche Firefighter Sis was going to have her second kid, she asked us for suggestions on biblical names. I said “Nimrod”. Little Brother wanted “Legion”, and his Wife added “Dathan”, Edward G Robinson’s role from Ten Commandments. (Where’s your Moses now?)
“Leviathan,” “Magog,” and “Goliath” were right out.

Those star wars things kinda look cool..I might get em. Do they have Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo,etc too?

Jenny: Yes, all of the main characters (and many obscure ones) have been immortalized as little toy dudes. There’s also a few playsets, most notably a really boss Mil Falcon that’s every bit as cool as its larger scale action figure vehicle counterpart.

I can’t remember if you ever did a blog or commented on those Star Wars Transformers thingies. Vader looks especially bad ass looking all mech and shit, but no one can beat Fett!

So this smell is NOT the usual Urine/Sewage smnell that we always smell in NYC? I just had to make that joke, I’m sorry.

As for Manimal Jr. names…I suggest Manimal Jr. I always thought that the memebers of Dethklok from Metalocalypse had pretty awesome names, I’d definately want a son named Toki.

With last blog’s discussion of all the kids with names that would have all those things expected for them when they grow up…I pity the celeb kid’s names. Pilot Inspektor? Jermajesty? Magnus? Tu Morrow? Compared to these, Apple sounds normal.

Love the Galactic Heroes bounty hunter set, but unfortunately I overpaid for it at a comic shop in lower Manhattan.
I also have a Galactic Heroes Darth Vader clipped to my belt loops holding my keys at all time (they make key chains! The Han Solo one is particularly cute). That way I can say I’m using the dark side to open my front door….

Just got a Wii, and I wanted to see Mare on my parade.
Here is my #, I have already added you.
2881 3034 1954 7542
Nickname:
Charlie

So I’m on an epic quest for a Wii, and retail people have gotten to the point that they just laugh when you ask. I figured this is kind of the mecca for all things nerdriffic, so does anyone have any sort of possibly illegal helpful info on how to find one?

Congrats to Manimal for the impending arrival. As for names: If it’s a boy, Matt X in honor of you know who, Girl- Mattina X.

eBay. Duh. Danny. Sure you’re going to over pay, but if you really want one right now it’s your best bet. It truly is the repository of everything in the universe.

I have to apologize a bit, I always forget that everyone may not be an avid enough user to have access to “Buy It Now.” I mean I almost never enter auctions. So uncivilized.

There was that lot of 50 My Chem stickers. That was totally worth the last minute bidding war.

If this seems like a threadjack, I apologize. I havent posted for like three months, but I’ve been around. I have a question, and I cant think of a better place to get a good answer.

My husband (got married Friday, Oct. 13th–yes, on purpose) is in New York this week for work. He got in on Saturday night, so he spent Sunday just kind of sight seeing a little. Went to the natural history museum and just kind of bummed around. He’s there till Friday night, but because of work, doesnt have much more time to check anything out.

He’s planning on going back downtown Wednesday night, and doesnt know what he should do. Being that it will be night, he doesnt really want to do the typical touristy things.

I had no idea about the natural gas leak; I’m in South Jersey, I had today off, and I’ve been indoors with the TV turned off for much of the day. I spent most of the afternoon taking down my Christmas tree and garlands, thus officially ending my holiday season. I normally do it earlier, but unlike last year, when I had to get everything I owned in boxes by the end of January in order to move, I’m not in a hurry this year.

I’ve seen the “Galactic Heroes” toys. Matt’s right; they ARE cool and very detailed for what’s supposed to be toys for four-year-olds. I’ve thought of picking them up a couple of times, but I just can’t bring myself to buy more “Star Wars” junk, especially intended for toddlers, no matter how cute a Chibi Han Solo looks.

The Marvel Comics version of “Galactic Heroes” are just starting to hit stores now.

You know I certainly hope you’ve gotten around to playing Zelda. Because that’s just blasphemy dude. Wii protective services might be knocking down your door.

We had a mishap here today as well- no gas, but crazy weather. Today was supposed to be the 1st day back to school for everyone in our city, and instead a huge snow/hailstorm hit and everything was cancelled…except my online school law class, of course. *shudders* School Law is the most boring subject in existence.

Manimal- If it’s a girl how about Wednesday? I’ve never met a girl named Wednesday but she’d have to be cool.
Boy, I don’t know, how about Landis? Then you could nickname him Lando.

Happy Birthday MissJess! I know how you feel. I turn 29 in a few weeks and I am beginning to freak out a little. I bought a “Chop Wizard” from an infomercial so I can make soups easier. THAT’S NOT WHAT A 20 SOMETHING DUDE DOES!

I have a good friend who’s first name is Landon, and we call him Lando. And no, he’s not a sauve african american that loses spaceships in card games…

K-
man o man I want one really badly but I don’t know if I want one 554 dollars badly. I think I am just going to continually hit up my local walmart. They get random shipments.

Sadly, I have nothing constructive to add to this blog conversation… but I am wearing a Jenga Fett bandaid right now.

I also recommend Best Buy. Mine has been pulling this thing where they announce in their Sunday circular that they’ll be having 20 Wiis or PS3s if you get there an hour early.

So, what you do is show up around 5am and hope it’s a Wii day and not a PS3 day. I know the day I finally decide to head down to mine, it’ll be a Wii day, just to spite me

danny u might check gamestop this week. i was waitin for a friend at the mall last week and went in gamestop, they were tellin some dude they were expecting a shipment this week, but wouldn’t tell him when. i suspect they would all get shipments around the same times

K- ps3’s are regularly available now, they even have them on the bestbuy website

Those bounty hunters are great. I did the stupid thing, and bought them all in the two packs as they were released. They adorn part of my desk, along with a portion of my huge collection of Star Wars goods. I also have a Jedi Luke and Gamorrean, as well as a Tusken Raider and Jawa. These little guys are great.

Hotblack Desiato: Hence why I couldn’t contribute anything constructive to the conversation. I am Star Wars illiterate. Mad love for the movies but can’t remember the details like hardcore fans can.

It’s technically a “tower building game,” but that doesn’t sound nearly as snappy.

I got my kid 2 of the 4 Galactic Heroes sets for my son for Christmas (the episode 2 Jedi vs. Sith set and the episode 5 set above). They are great little figurines. They have sets for episodes 2-5, I believe.

Speaking of the expanded universe, I’ve been wanting to get into the Star Wars books. Does anybody here read these? Can someone make a recommendation?

That Galactic Heroes set looks good in the box, and you can see everything anyway so it should stay in there. Though, I wish the tray they were in was an actual part of the set that you could secure the figures on and not just plastic and cardboard decoration. If I opened that box, I could see myself easily losing… all of them.

I’m not bothering searching for a Wii until I casually look around one day in a store and a Wii appears in my line of vision. Then it’s meant to be.

Geesh, reeks of Star Wars nerd in here, get the 3-in-1 Mr.Spock nerd deodorizer out (Patent Pending) anyway, wheres the pic of IG88, he’s the shiznit

“Speaking of the expanded universe, I’ve been wanting to get into the Star Wars books. Does anybody here read these? Can someone make a recommendation?”

Start with Timothy Zahn’s “Thrawn Trilogy” (Heir to the Empire, Dark FOrce Rising, and The Last Command). Those all came out in the early 90’s and I don’t know how easy they are to track down, but they’re the three books that create the template that the Expanded Universe still follows to this day. The Expanded Universe has it’s own timeline, and the current books take place like 25-30 years after Return of the Jedi, and feature a lot of characters completely native to the EU and thus would be hard to navigate, so…yeah, start with the beginng if you can.

Man, that is a cool set. Seems like Bossk’s stock (that sounds funny…) has been on the rise in recent years and it’s a bout time. That speech of his is one of the highlights of ESB. “Wrech nukla eff.”

I am so enamored with this post, I even altered my moniker to show my enthusiasm. Oh yeah.

Colin , i’d recommend you read the 2 Dark Empire graphic novels. they’re collected editions of the comic book miniseries about the events following ROTJ. It’s pretty cool. SPOILERS

the emperor comes back to life, and luke becomes his new apprentice. it’s bad ass.

It’s HAN Solo, not Hans Solo. He’s not German. He’s Correlian. Just to clear that up.

Man,I was at Target last night and I saw the Star Wars comic edition toys and they had the maroon Empiriel Sententel Guards with removable helmets. I feel Star Wars leaves nothing to the imagination anymore. I always loved these guys because they were so mysterious and evil looking. Just the fact they have individual stories and faces behind the masks kind of sucks the coolness from them. It could be Cory Feldman behind the mask and it would make no difference to me now. Do you think George Lucas has any say about the story lines behind these characters?

Colin It depends on how important reading things chronologically is to you. That is what I tried to do when first starting out, but at the rate they keep releasing them, it isn’t easy. However, the older timeline seems pretty stable at this point. I suggest “Truce at Bakura”, which is set immediately after ROTJ.

However, if you don’t care about reading them in order, then I agree with Wukong. Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy started it all and is absolutely fantastic. Also, Thrawn is probably the coolest villain you will find in the Expanded Universe. I’d skip most of the Prequel books and the Anthology series. Usually subpar to the rest of them.

I third the Timothy Zahn books. I still have the original hardcover copies sitting on my shelves and read them probably once a year. I’ve read some of the other later books after, and enjoyed them immensely. The Thrawn book is definately the best one, I think. Looks like we’re all nerds here

Darth Manimal I would totally beat you senseless in a dual since I command the darkside of the force, and mildly insane…but not that insane that I can’t congratulate you on your addition. Perhaps she/he can be swayed to the darkside…..

Bill Getting old is tough, but you’re only as old as you feel, and corny as that sounds. I always said to myself, if I feel old to the point where I get excited about lawn mower and screwdriver set sales at Home Depot, I’m launching myself off the highest skyscraper I can find with an Optimus Prime and Megatron under each arm…

starwenn I just took down my tree on Sunday. I didn’t want this season to end, but it had to. Oh well, at least I still have the jukebox.

Matt I’m sure you’re busy as hell, but can you find out from Knacks’ if his My Space page is going to be updated, or will we have to wait until X-Emas ‘07?

Speaking of busy, this is my first full 5 day week in a month. It stucks baboon ass….

Star Wars, Aqua Teens, Kingdom Hearts, is there any bastion of awesomeness that MC Chris hasn’t weasled his way into or ranted about, Buckly? Love that little dude more every day.

Cool! I got a chance to toss in a Cheech and Chong movie quote:
“You know who’s going to be there, don’t you? Han Solo. Hands So Low, you can’t see what they’re doing!”

y’know what those lil guys remind me of? MIGHTY FUCKIN’ MAX! Is there an article on Mighty Max somewhere’s on here? I must know.

For the Wii-less in the NJ/NY Area:
*95.5’s SCOTT & TODD’S “I DIDN’T GET A Wii FOR CHRISTMAS”
Email the Big Show at bigshow@plj.com or fax 1-800-553-WPLJ to tell us you didn’t get a Wii for Christmas and why you really want one for your family!
They’ll select two winners every day THIS WEEK The “new” Wii Gaming System from Nintendo. Experience a new way to play.
Listen to Scott & Todd all this week to hear if your entry is a winner!

Colin, I am going to fourth the Zahn books. Great stories there. And, as was mentioned above, if you want to follow a time line, start with “Truce at Bakura”. There are also a number of great prequel trilogy books, including: The Medstar Duology!

I liked the X-Wing Series of books. Both are pretty awesome. I think there’s 9 books in all. Most by Michael Stackpole, I believe.

Cameron T. I agree that the X-Wing books are pretty great. And they follow right after “The Truce at Bakura” if Colin wanted to read in order.

I am gonna go back and read some of the early stuff myself. I just finished The New Jedi Order, which took a ridiculously long time (19 books in all!).

So has everyone seen the iPhone yet? I want one. Click my name and watch the videos. It’s neat.

Hell yes, I want an iPhone! I’m actually glad it’s not coming until June, so I have time to save up money for it.

Little help here folks. I have too much vacation and no idea when to use it. I have to schedule 15 days off for the year, 5 of which need to be taken in succession. I have no friggin idea when to request off. Since I work for a bank, we get all the minor and major holidays off paid. I have already set up 5 to coincide with all the minor holidays creating 3 day weekends (everyone loves those) so now I have 10 left. I absolutely cannot figure out what week would be best to request vacation. I am thinking Xmas week, but we normally are pretty slow that week in the office and I hate to miss out on easy money. Any suggestions on what week to take?

personally i’d prob take a week off in summer to go to la surfing/cruisin for chicks

Request a week off in a period when not many others have the week off. Like early early Spring (February, really) or early fall (september/maybe october?)

That way, if you go somewhere for vacaction, you won’t have to put up with all the damn hordes of vacationers and tourists.

Cameron, the X-Wing series is amazing. I love the Wraiths especially. And Colin, if you’re new to Star Wars novels, I agree with everyone else on the Thrawn trilogy, and of course X-Wing series. You also might want to start with the “Tales of…” series. They’re a nice way to ease into SW and contain multiple short stories.

Alright, so I finally decided to order the Thrawn trilogy from Amazon. Thanks for the input, everyone!

And yes, the iPhone looks amazing. This is the first iPod/cell-phone I could really get excited about. Finally, a convenient way to browse the internet with a mobile device!

I love Amazon’s new feature that lets you read a chapter of a book before you bought it. I looked at Tales from Mos Eisley Cantina and just couldn’t help myself. I bought that, along with the Jabba’s Palace book.

Funny thing about that smell is I never noticed it. I took the day off for a little fun. Had lunch in the Village with a friend, then headed uptown to see a limited run of the new Robotech sequel on the big screen. When I got back home to Staten Island my wife was all concerned about a smell I never knew was there.

The Dark Troopers scared the HELL out of me in Dark Forces, they made horrible noises and flew around and killed me easily.

Shadow troopers, I mean. Jesus christ, my memory does not work for even two seconds.

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