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Post by RSCTom on Feb 3, 2021 16:57:02 GMT -5
This is great news and it's the first time I've popped watching wrestling since AJ Styles Rumble debut! (It's been a long, sad few years for me) Not as impactful in the grand landscape as that was, but extremely cool.
Someone on this forum once said, after a previous injury he had, that 'there is a Christian sized, Christian shaped hole in the WWE'. I am biased because he's always been a favorite but the dude is great at his job. He looks great with the grizzled style and I know everyone loves younger talent but that type of balance is exactly what's needed, a veteran being considered as a serious contender. He just needs good matches and hopefully the story can dictate the right decision like it always has with him.
That said I would love to see him not only back in the world title picture but I want them to stay as far away as possible from an E & C partnership/reunion. It was extremely stale when they did it with the Dudleys, the Hardys, the Outlaws, etc over the years. The 'sideshow act' approach that WWE writes for their older talents is just insufferable sometimes. They should play off of their tension.
Edge vs. Christian never took off like it should have when they first tried it in 2011 because it was horribly booked from the start. They have the chance to course correct that here, give us something that feels fresh while also hitting those nostalgia buttons and eventually could even involve other, younger talents or even Orton. There is no reason not to build off of this instead of another 'greatest wrestling match ever' bright idea which just kind of sidesteps history. There are very, very few things that could get me to watch wrestling as a whole at the moment but this is one of them.
Oh, also, the 'Edge's buddy' commentary from Michael Cole and from any other commentators is laughably bad. There's so much history here for Christian as the individual and it's abysmal to not just, after all these years, let him exist on his own. Obviously their relationship has to be mentioned but there are ways to do it without making it seem like being Edge's friend was all he ever had. I would even be cool with them making this part of a storyline.
We will see! Welcome back, Christian.
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Post by RSCTom on Feb 1, 2021 17:59:04 GMT -5
Out of curiosity, who do folks think on the 'junior' level could have actually won that match without it just eventually sputtering and being worthless? Just anyone other than someone you've seen for more than 5 years? I don't really understand the reasoning behind the disdain other than someone's favorite not being chosen.
10 years ago I used to go through this with Christian and I was regularly pissed and annoyed he wasn't booked stronger and that Cena left no room for anyone else to grow but as I get older I feel like that was kind of just personal preference since he was a favorite. No one really is on Cena's level or Rock's level or Hogan's level at the moment, they may never be. Do people really think Alistair Black or Angel Garza winning a Royal Rumble match out of the blue would completely change things and re-up interest here for non die-hards in a way that is actually compelling?
I get that you like them but the writing is just too regularly terrible for that to work, and even if it wasn't I'm not sure how it would work without still considering the older talent. You can't take them out behind the barn and shoot them if they are still good and still believable ass-kickers. The balance just needs to be better and the writing needs to be better and only one of those is possible with what wrestling has become.
Am I missing something?
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Post by RSCTom on Feb 1, 2021 11:04:32 GMT -5
I am all for new blood but the last 15 or 20 minutes show exactly why older talent are still extremely relevant if booked correctly. Granted it was a Rumble and there's a certain way you have to 'pretend' to be down to make it any good but it's night and day watching some of the now-Legends compared to some of the younger talent. The second you get eyes on poorly choreographed moves or horrible selling it's a complete buzzkill. That happened significantly less with Rey, Edge, Christian, AJ, Sheamus, Bryan, even Big E and Dolph in the ring. It actually felt like wrestling used to feel, no RUSHING, no over-emphasis on character that just makes everyone constantly look like a cartoon, it made the WWE camera cuts and zooms actually tolerable (though I can't BELIEVE they missed the angle on the double spear to Strowman).
I want things to feel fresh and new and better as much as the next guy but you can't do it by making the older talent, who look so much better than the newer talent in almost every way, sit on the sidelines and take significant losses constantly. Look what it's doing to Jeff Hardy, he could actually be booked as a main event player and they're wasting it. Throwing someone to the top who has no longevity or appeal, as much as we might like them, out of the blue, isn't going to work. It has barely worked in the past. Really this all just comes down to booking and you could tell by the end of the Rumble match that they had a way easier time booking veterans with some history look strong than they do with newer guys and wrestling has kind of backed itself into this corner.
All that said if Christian and Edge are wrestling I am watching! The big guy with AJ looked awesome, too. That dude is a beast.
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Post by RSCTom on Jan 21, 2021 13:39:34 GMT -5
Believe it or not, he's my all time favorite! Oddly enough, I never really liked Syxx, liked 1-2-3 Kid even less. When he was X-Pac, I loved DX, loved his energy and I was super into his 'fighting in the land of the giants' thing when he would face off with folks like Big Show and Undertaker. It felt accessible, he played a great underdog and he was talented enough that he always seemed unique.
His heel turn literally crushed me, even as a teenager! Kane and X-Pac were my favorite tag team aside from LOD and to be honest, I wasn't expecting it. I hated it at first because I felt betrayed but since I was such a fan of his swagger in general I stayed loyal, outside of someone like Austin who is just always going to be a favorite, X-Pac was THE favorite for me. After that happened, he flipped a switch and a guy who once seemed clean and like a lightning bolt in his offense was suddenly more like a scummy, nasty striking rodent of some kind. It was awesome.
The nWo revival was also awesome to me before they started adding HBK and Booker (making decisions that made no sense when you look at the groups history) and I think it could have gone on longer had it been written better. I was always on the lookout for him after that, in TNA, AAA etc. In the days before social media it was way harder to figure out and get access to. But he's easily one of if not the largest reason I ever got hooked on wrestling.
As far as a Rumble return, I wouldn't be mad at it, but gimmick Rumble returns kind of lost their luster a decade ago at least. There's absolutely zero believability factor in them. Even when a former World Champ like Booker or Nash shows up, it's always way too clear they won't make any progress and it shouldn't have always been booked like that. Now it would clearly be another attempt at showing off 'Legends' or whatever and it's kind of ok to see but I'd rather just avoid that sort of thing unless they had a legitimate shot, even if it's my all time favorite.
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Post by RSCTom on Jan 20, 2021 18:55:02 GMT -5
This was always, always, always going to happen and on one hand it's great to have options but on the other hand, it's part of the reason I still have a small DVD/BluRay collection of rarities/favorites.
The death of cable tv always seemed like a good thing to me but the real tough part is there's just SO MUCH. Stuff. Too much. It's insanely overwhelming. Movies, shows, books, on and on and on, in addition to anything else you could possibly want to do with yourself. But that's aside from the issue of subscriptions I guess.
I currently pay for Netflix with DVDs, Hulu, Amazon Prime, MLB and my gf pays for Disney+. I let some family use my Hulu login and some let me use HBOMax and it pretty much ends there. So, I have options but at this point, Disney+, MLB and Hulu are really my only current 100% needs as I'm not a big TV series guy other than Simpsons which is maybe my biggest necessity to have available. Netflix is really just kind of grandfathered in as the first one we all had so I could for sure cancel it (though their DVD library really is the most extensive I can think of).
I do dread thinking about how much money I've spent on some services I don't regularly use. Maybe it all has evened out with the other services I use with family logins? Hopefully? Gah!
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Post by RSCTom on Jan 20, 2021 11:59:21 GMT -5
Been playing and enjoying Fortnite. Reminds me of Halo 1 and what it was like to play that with friends when it first came out. It's a little 'much' sometimes and the grind is really intense but it's for sure understandable what the appeal is. I'm just trying to unlock Grogu and then I need to take a break, though.
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Post by RSCTom on Jan 20, 2021 9:54:03 GMT -5
I cherry pick sparingly these days but 'Alcohol Fueled' Austin might be my favorite look of his (other than BMF).
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Post by RSCTom on Jan 19, 2021 14:07:26 GMT -5
How close to Bash at the Beach '96 is the WCW debut? We never got that outfit, did we? Hope we see that eventually.
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Post by RSCTom on Dec 20, 2020 12:45:26 GMT -5
I really really don't want to be a downer about this because it's awesome and enjoyable but I hate the uncanny valley that some 'unspoken' tech causes. It just completely pulls me out of the moment and I have such a hard time suspending disbelief. Thankfully it wasn't even close to as bad as Tarkin in Rogue One. Their hearts are in the right place though! Are you referring to the believability of the effect? For me, it's when they speak that it starts to really show. Not sure if you saw Terminator: Dark Fate, but James Cameron originally wanted a scene of Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong having a conversation in the flashback. However, he canned it because the de-aging didn't look so good when they actually spoke. I'm sure the technology will be refined over time. Either way, I do understand where you're coming from... But it's still fun nonetheless. That being said... if you're referring to the can of worms that can be opened with bringing back people digitally... well, unfortunately, yes sometimes it does arguably go too far... I LOOOOOOVEEEEEEEE YOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUU That is what I'm referring to. I hated Tarkin. I would have easily been able to handle a recasting there or even ignoring the character entirely/having their involvement be just from a voice actor. The entirely CG character wasn't for me. I thought Leia looked awful also. This was obviously a bit of a different situation but...not by much. It is definitely fun, you're absolutely right about that. I guess I just wish they would take more of a 'Jurassic Park' approach (utilizing shadows, hidden extremities to make up for the shortcomings) without disappointing people. Maybe if he had kept his face partially obscured by the cloak? Voice is also a dead giveaway for me too. I'm actually shocked that the original actor provided the VO as while it was happening I didn't think it was them at all.
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Post by RSCTom on Dec 18, 2020 18:05:28 GMT -5
I really really don't want to be a downer about this because it's awesome and enjoyable but I hate the uncanny valley that some 'unspoken' tech causes. It just completely pulls me out of the moment and I have such a hard time suspending disbelief. Thankfully it wasn't even close to as bad as Tarkin in Rogue One.
Their hearts are in the right place though!
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Post by RSCTom on Dec 15, 2020 16:33:51 GMT -5
How is it? I slog through video games at this point. Barely have time to play. I still am like maybe 30% through Red Dead 2. Is this a better game than that? Should I abandon it and have this be my new game I don't finish for 5 years?
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Post by RSCTom on Nov 27, 2020 11:46:35 GMT -5
I actually finally gave in and started watching Mandalorian and am really enjoying it so far! I like that it's not following the long, drawn out typical structure of TV at the moment. An 'adventure of the week' format is actually pretty refreshing. Will be watching Episode 5 today, but before I do that...
Here's a video where I unbox the Sideshow Obi-Wan Mythos figure (in Alec Guinness's likeness) and then recast the prequels as if they came out before the originals!
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Post by RSCTom on Nov 27, 2020 11:44:35 GMT -5
Here's the Sideshow Obi-Wan Mythos figure unboxed and a bonus recasting of the prequels!
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Post by RSCTom on Oct 14, 2020 11:39:04 GMT -5
Sorry to hear you're going through this. Also great to see so many folks here openly discussing this without issue. Best thing to do is talk it out.
As someone who has gone through different forms of treatment for this one of the best things I can tell you is that you're not alone. One of the only bits of advice I can give you from personal experience is to do your best to drop the alcohol. There are no circumstances, within multiple situations, that alcohol has ever helped or improved this for me. Not only that, the physical effect it has just isn't worth it. I'm not going to tell you to go ahead and just start working out after you drop it and all that (easier said than done), but I would bet it's going to be at least a slight improvement to stop drinking.
Here's a talk I was able to give for a great group called Moonlighter's Club where I do touch on depression a bit and the difficulties it causes.
Keep your head up, keep fighting it and when you have opportunities to feel good or at least balanced, make sure you take them!
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Post by RSCTom on Sept 23, 2020 12:54:31 GMT -5
I have a smallish (I think 150-200) DVD/blu ray collection of favorites, oddities and rarities. Books I am completely and 100% over now because they are heavy as hell when you are moving. Music is entirely digital for me. I will continue to buy blu rays as long as they stay available and it's something I want, but I certainly don't buy a new movie every week.
I also hate the idea of being signed up to 10-15 different subscriptions or whatever to watch something I want, and that's just going to get worse and worse.
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Post by RSCTom on Sept 16, 2020 11:54:31 GMT -5
He should have had his contract include a clause to have this be his theme song instead because it's way better and the best theme he's ever had
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
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Post by RSCTom on Sept 16, 2020 11:50:52 GMT -5
Can't take a photo at the moment, but I have an evil Krusty doll mini-figure (about 2 inches tall) that holds a knife, has the switch in the back and a removable head. I have no idea how I got this or what line it's from...does anyone have any clue here? The head has (annoyingly) been lost while I've moving and I'd like to get ahold of it again.
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Post by RSCTom on Sept 10, 2020 9:54:04 GMT -5
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Post by RSCTom on Sept 3, 2020 11:45:31 GMT -5
the party headsculpts are way cooler. I think I have to get it
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Post by RSCTom on Sept 2, 2020 15:43:55 GMT -5
...some of y'all still complain about this despite it being explained thousands of times between case breakdowns and premium for the overnight delivery, huh? Please explain to me how case breakdowns and overnight shipping costs effect SDCC Mr.T which you didn't order directly from the factory or have shipped overnight like your regular product or your practice of jacking up the price of your exclusives to secondary market prices once stock gets low. Cause to me those things seem completely unrelated. You're taking my quote out of context to a degree but I did make it in the Mr. T thread, so I guess I'll bite. My response was directly related to the couple of posts right before mine, which were talking about the pricing in general. I was more shocked to see that than the discussions surrounding the Mr. T, which is a frustration I can understand. But the 'overlord' comment is laughable and that sort of thing always has been an annoyance to me. No one at Ringside is puppeteering action figure sales to purposely make collectors upset and frustrated. For a secondary market item like Mr. T (which, is secondary even to RSC, because it isn't their exclusive), there are a few things that would factor into it but it's probably good to keep in mind RSC has to pay the current secondary market price for it in the first place, whatever that might be. Especially as, after each day and as they sell out where they're supposed to be regularly available, this just goes up. If RSC puts it up for sale either at the MSRP or 'slightly' above just to make a few 'figure-lottery winners' happy (meaning whoever can get to it on the site at that price first), we're probably losing money after getting it shipped and paying the current secondary market cost, even. I'm not going to get into specifics of where the judgement comes from as it's not my call (and frankly not really anyone's business), but it wasn't put up for anything close to the scalper costs I've seen at all (which have, since this was up on RSC, cooled down significantly, but were upwards of $100 to $125 bucks...which is too much). So, to make it available to some loyal customers who are willing to pay within a range that keeps us below some of the more massively inflated costs, RSC usually grabs a few pieces of these types of items here and there and puts them up, and it ends there. The price HAS to be set based on the current secondary market value to a degree or we will a.) have scalpers buy them back from RSC and just re-sell at an even higher price or b.) lose money and still have a bunch of folks dissatisfied that we only had a few available. As far as RSC exclusives in particular and how when the stock gets low the price goes up, I don't know what to tell you there. Again, RSC has to be competitive with the scalper market. Can't have some dweeb when RSC is low on an exclusive buying the rest of them up at a low price and then selling them for 100 bucks a pop...where does that put our loyal customer base? Most exclusives in my experience are available for a pretty long time and some even have additional restockings, so it's not like your opportunities to get them at the standard price aren't there. If someone doesn't want to pull the trigger at an earlier price that's their issue. If you want to be angry...secondary market scalpers who inflate the price fast and high on purpose and the people who actually pay that amount are still the ones you should be mad at. Anyone who can't wait for something to come back in stock in situations like this are directly causing your issue.
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