Jab’s Builds! (Beaker! Sam Eagle! Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef!)

Where in all of your character write ups will go.
Jabroniville
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The Meachum Family

Post by Jabroniville »

HAROLD MEACHUM
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Gil Kane
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974)
Role: Origin-Story Villain

-Harold Meachum is part of Iron Fist's origin story, but his tale pretty much ended there. He was the business partner of Wendell Rand, and went on Wendell's fantasy-quest for the mystical city of K'un-Lun. There, he enacted his plan- he was in love with Wendell's wife Heather, and let Wendell fall to his death. When Heather rejected him (I mean, THAT was his plan? Murder Wendell right in front of her?), he abandons her and her son Daniel. However, on the trek back, he suffers from near-fatal frostbite, losing both of his legs... and he hears a tale of a blonde boy taken in by the denizens of K'un-Lun.

-Crippled, desperate and afraid, Harold knew that Danny would be well-trained, and would come seeking revenge. He spent the next ten years obsessing, building death-traps and hiring assassins. A delusional paranoid by the end, he could only watch while all his assassins failed. However, Danny came upon his hobbled opponent and, in a moment of pity, spared him. Meachum attempted to shoot the Iron Fist in the back, but he himself was executed by The Ninja, an agent of Master Khan's.

Image

WARD MEACHUM
Created By:
Doug Moench & Larry Hama
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #19 (Nov. 1974)
Role: Recurring Baddie

-This was the end of Harold, but we would soon learn he had family. His daughter Joy and brother Ward swore vengeance upon Iron Fist, whom they assumed had done the killing of Harold. Which, I mean, was a fair guess- Danny WAS fighting his way across New York specifically for revenge. Ward attempted to hire assassins, but the Steel Serpent rejected the idea, beating up Ward's own goons. Afterwards, Ward collaborated with Master Khan and his own minion, Ferocia, then hired Shades & Comanche, outfitting them with gear to take on Power Man & Iron Fist. Ward finally summoned the exiled Khan, but Iron Fist smashed the "Power Gem" that brought him to our world, and he was cast away. Ward was subsequently arrested.

-In a weird ending for the guy, he would later appear teaming up with the Super-Skrull in the Namor book. K'lrt suggested that Ward would win the hand of "the most beautiful woman in the galaxy" if Ward helped him take over the Earth. However, Ward became paranoid after being warned about how horrible K'lrt's ideal woman might be, and sabotaged the machine that was helping the Skrulls. In return, Super-Skrull incinerated him.

-In the Netflix TV series, Ward is the younger son of Harold, which really made more sense creatively anyhow.

JOY MEACHUM
Created By:
Doug Moench & Larry Hama
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #18 (Oct. 1974)
Role: Recurring Baddie

-Joy was Harold's daughter, and hated Iron Fist for "killing her father". She attempted to hire people to kill him, but ultimately couldn't go through with it when given the chance (Danny had just saved her from a kidnapper)- she finally learned the truth that her father had been slain by The Ninja, and later became a recurring ally for the team.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jabroniville
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Scythe

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

SCYTHE (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Len Wein & Larry Hama
First Appearance: Mavel Premiere #16 (July 1974)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Weaponeers
PL 7 (90)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills: 
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 6 (+9)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+7)

Advantages: 
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Equipment (Scythe +2- Reach), Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Scythe), Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Scythe +9 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications: 
Motivation (Greed)
Enemy (Iron Fist)

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (90)

-Scythe was a generic mercenary in Danny Rand's first big fight in the Western world. Humorously, he's depicted as being this nightmarish foe, easily equaling a guy who's trained in a mystical land for ten years, to the point where Danny had to summon all of his strength, engage in a major flashback and FINALLY throw out his "Iron Fist" technique, vaporizing the tiny scythe at the end of this guy's chain. The act astonishes the villain so much he slumps to the ground, broken and defeated. Danny moves past him, heading towards Scythe's employer- Howard Meachum.

-Scythe, as a major one-off, is only worth PL 7 stats, even if he DID challenge Iron Fist in the hero's debut. 
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:26 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Misty & Colleen! Cockroach! Boris & Ninotchka! Iron Fist!)

Post by Batgirl III »

It’s like there is an inverse of “New Villain Stink,” or at least there was in the Bronze Age, where a newly introduced hero would really struggle against a starter villain would by the time the hero’s comic reached its standard power level, would be defeated as a routine nightly excursion and not a long drawn out conflict.

They even did this retroactively with the Batman, in Batman: Year Two as Bruce spends four long issues trying to figure out how to handle the Reaper; or with Green Arrow in The Longbow Hunters as he tries to handle Shadoo.
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Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Re: Spitfire

Post by Jabroniville »

Blind_Pugh wrote: Mon Jul 23, 2018 2:18 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Tue Dec 13, 2016 12:02 am Spitfire
Jackie here was one of the few times I like the big recon approach. She was a minor enough character, the attempts to restart the Invaders had never really worked so she was under the radar enough for my money.

Plus super speedster vampire is a nice combo in terms of what it brings to a team.

Personally I still hope (against all reason) we'll one day get a Excalibur book that's no more X-centric than Alpha Flight. It doesn't even start with X ffs.

I know we'll never get Betsy back, but give us Jono and Rahne. We'll have Brian, Megan, Faiza, post Contest of Champions Outlaw, and Jackie. That'll do me nicely. Like MI:13 but with a more salable name.

Give it to Al Ewing and Alan Davis. I can dream...
That would actually be pretty decent. Anything by Ewing tends to be good, and Davis is one of the only artists of his era who hasn't degraded in ability.

And by all means, keep commenting on old builds. As I said, I'm just happy somebody doesn't follow the "oh well, it was a week ago- it's too late to comment on it, ever" mentality :).
Jabroniville
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Triple-Iron

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

TRIPLE-IRON (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Doug Moench & Larry Hama
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #15 (July 1974)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Weaponeers
PL 7 (101)
STRENGTH
4 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 6 (+9)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Rod), Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Triple-Iron Rod" (Flaws: Easily Removable) [14]
Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach) (Extras: Penetrating 6) Linked to Affliction 6 (Fort; Dazed/Stunned/Incapacitated) (Feats: Reach) (Cumulative) (22 points)

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Triple-Iron Rod +8 (+6 Damage & Affliction, DC 21 & 16)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +8 (DC 18), Parry +9 (DC 19), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +3

Complications:
Power Loss (Rod)- Triple-Iron requires a power source for his weapon, siphoning energy using parts of his costume or something.

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 11 / Powers: 14 / Defenses: 7 (101)

-Triple-Iron is a random assassin hired by Howard Meachum to kill Iron Fist. Wielding a flail that's made of three iron rodes chained together, he greets Fist at the end of a deathtrap-and-guard-lined gauntlet and attacks. He revealed that he'd been a prison for ten years, and would be set free if he killed the hero. During the battle, Danny realizes that the power of his weapon comes from the circuitry in the walls of the room in which they are fighting- he beats Triple-Iron by shocking him with some live wires. The character disappears from comics until (of course) Mark Gruenwald shows him in the background of an AIMS Weapons Exposition. This was his last appearance.

-Triple-Iron has a good weapon- one of those gimmicks that seems insurmountable to a hero who's just starting out. Kind of funny how a gimmick like that is just so ridiculously hard to beat in older comics- Kung Fu movies would do that kind of thing, too, I believe. It's actually a bit realistic, because you'd be hard-pressed to stop a really tall guy from using something like that to just smack the crap out of you. Iron Fist had to out-think him to do it- nowadays, he'd just "Chi" it to death.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Blind_Pugh
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Re: Razorback

Post by Blind_Pugh »

Jabroniville wrote: Sat Nov 18, 2017 11:48 pm Image

RAZORBACK (Buford T. Hollis)
I might have related this before in an older iteration of the thread, so if I have please humour me. I briefly played an MCU game where I reinterpretated Buford as a biker rather than a trucker. I think Marvel should follow suit. A gigantic redneck biker on his Hog that's basically Street Hawk but built for cross country travel, doing the Green Lantern/Arrow hard travelling hero across America bit, the nomadic hero of small towns and more minor cities.

I think it could seriously work.
Jabroniville
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Re: Iron Fist

Post by Jabroniville »

Ares wrote: Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:28 am
Danny's Personality:
In his first appearances, Danny was very much the "stoic Zen Master", but with a heavy dose of "Consumed with revenge" as he went after Harold Meachum. Thankfully, that personality really didn't last very long, as he gave up that whole aspect of himself. By the time Claremont and Byrne took over his solo book, he was basically a martial arts version of Peter Parker, cracking jokes, being a generally good guy but with a temper that was scary when unleashed. The main difference between the two was that while Peter tended to be more tense, Danny tended to be more relaxed, and seems to be able to more easily switch between 'chill' and 'focused'. I suspect Danny's ability to relax is what helps his friendship with Luke, as well as Danny's genuine empathy for others.
Interesting- I usually just see the "stoic Danny" in the books I have. Which, granted, aren't many, but they include the Marvel Team-Up "Steel Serpent" story, one adventure in K'un-Lun (where they fight Master Khan & Yu-Ti's forces), and a few others.
Only you would take "Billionaire orphaned by treacherous family friend/business partner raised in a city of immortal martial artists, trained to become a Living Weapon by killing a dragon in one-on-one combat" into "everything about him is kind of tired".
heh, I guess that DOES sound kind of funny when you put it that way. But "Billionaire Orphan Superheroes" aren't exactly in short supply, y'know :). And "Raised by a foreign land" is another established origin story, too.
Blind_Pugh
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Re: Outlaw

Post by Blind_Pugh »

Jabroniville wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:27 am Image

OUTLAW (Nigel Higgins):
Oh Jab, you've made me the happiest boy in the world! I was one of the 4 Outlaw fans before Contest of Champions. I used to use him as a sort of Trump card in arguments over Marvel fan cred, because the Marvel trivia section of my brain is my only organ worth boasting about.

But then along comes Al Ewing and proves not only does he remember everyone I do, he's also got the talent to do something fun with them.

So now I have to change my Tinder profile.

But seriously I'd LOVE to see Nigel get to be in a team book. Maybe a mini of that Champions of Europe team with Ares and Captain Britain.
Jabroniville
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Scimitar

Post by Jabroniville »

Image
Image

SCIMITAR (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: Iron Fist #5 (March 1976)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Weaponeers
PL 7 (90)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 4 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 2 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 6 (+9)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Insight 3 (+5)
Perception 3 (+5)
Stealth 2 (+7)

Advantages:
Accurate Attack, Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Equipment (Scimitar +3, Improved Critical), Fast Grab, Grab Finesse, Improved Critical (Sword), Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2

Offense:
Unarmed +9 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Scimitar +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)
Enemy (Iron Fist)

Total: Abilities: 54 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 12 / Powers: 0 / Defenses: 9 (90)

-Scimitar is a forgotten Iron Fist enemy from the nation of "Halwan", and as you might expect, wields a scimitar. He killed innocents in order to lure out Danny... which worked, and Danny kicked his ass. He popped up in Power Man and Iron Fist a few times as well, then vanished in the '80s, reappearing in the '90s Iron Fist Limited Series. In modern times, he joined up with some terrorists called The Weaponeers, but was beaten by the X-Men's Archangel. Naturally, Scimitar's creator, Chris Claremont, was writing the Excalibur book at that time.

-A routine Jobber Villain, Scimitar isn't very good.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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KorokoMystia
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Re: Scythe

Post by KorokoMystia »

Jabroniville wrote: Tue Jul 24, 2018 2:49 am SCYTHE (Real Name Unknown)
Created By:
Len Wein & Larry Hama
First Appearance: Mavel Premiere #16 (July 1974)
Role: Jobber Villain
Group Affiliations: The Weaponeers
PL 7 (90)
It still amuses me how the dude is called "Scythe" when his weapon looks more like a kusarigama.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Misty & Colleen! Cockroach! Boris & Ninotchka! Iron Fist!)

Post by Batgirl III »

It is a kusarigama... which is just a sickle on a chain, but if you say it in Japanese it sounds more exotic.

I've had people legitimately argue with me that a Japanese bo staff is superior to an English quarterstaff, or that a Chinese qiang is superior to a European spear. They didn't know anything about the woods or the metals used, they couldn't tell me anything that was unique or different about the techniques for wielding the weapons... They just knew that it was obvious that the Asian one was better.

Silly me, expecting the laws of physics to be the same for any given two-meter long piece of hardwood. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Jabroniville
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Jeryn Hogarth

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

JERYN HOGARTH
Created By:
Chris Claremont & John Byrne
First Appearance: Iron Fist #6 (Aug. 1976)
Role: The Lucius Fox

-Created a year into Danny Rand's existence, Jeryn Hogarth is one of those "means to an end" characters- he's the one who hires Misty Knight & Colleen Wing to investigate the reappearing Rand, trying to prove that he was, in fact, the son of Wendell Rand- a close friend of Jeryn's, who is the executor of the estate. Later, Hogarth would take greater importance as the lawyer & business representative of "Heroes For Hire, Inc." during the Power Man and Iron Fist years- he would manage the Rand Corporation's fortunes.

-The character appears in the background from time to time, and was a minor aspect of The Immortal Iron Fist, first chiding Danny for denying a business relationship with a Chinese firm (because China sucks, you see), then luring the heroes into a trap because HYDRA (benefactors of the proposed business deal) had kidnapped his mother and cut off one of her fingers.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Wed Jun 29, 2022 4:50 am, edited 2 times in total.
Jabroniville
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Re: Outlaw

Post by Jabroniville »

Blind_Pugh wrote: Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:59 am
Jabroniville wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:27 am OUTLAW (Nigel Higgins):
Oh Jab, you've made me the happiest boy in the world! I was one of the 4 Outlaw fans before Contest of Champions. I used to use him as a sort of Trump card in arguments over Marvel fan cred, because the Marvel trivia section of my brain is my only organ worth boasting about.

But then along comes Al Ewing and proves not only does he remember everyone I do, he's also got the talent to do something fun with them.

So now I have to change my Tinder profile.

But seriously I'd LOVE to see Nigel get to be in a team book. Maybe a mini of that Champions of Europe team with Ares and Captain Britain.
Heh, I can't even remember how I discovered the character. He might have been in The List Spectrum and I built. Or else I spotted him while reading someone else's bio online.
Jabroniville
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:05 pm

Yu-Ti

Post by Jabroniville »

Image

YU-TI, THE AUGUST PERSONAGE IN JADE (Nu-An)
Created By:
Roy Thomas & Gil Kane
First Appearance: Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974)
Role: Corrupt Ruler, Odd Continuity Character
Group Affiliations: K'un-Lun
PL 6 (89)
STRENGTH
2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 4 PRESENCE 4

Skills:
Acrobatics 2 (+6)
Athletics 4 (+6)
Deception 6 (+10)
Expertise (History) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Ruler) 7 (+10)
Insight 5 (+9)
Intimidation 2 (+6)

Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Ruler of K'un-Lun), Ranged Attack 2

Powers:
"Ate From The Tree of Immortality" Immunity 1 (Aging) [1]

Offense:
Unarmed +8 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +6 (DC 16), Parry +8 (DC 18), Toughness +3, Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Motivation (Money & Pleasure)
Rivalry (Danny Rand)- Though Nu-An is Danny's Uncle by way of adoption, he is often threatened by Danny's power and morality. They often alternate as allies and enemies. Danny must be mindful of the ruler of K'un-Lun, but he is very well aware that Nu-An is the High King of Douche Mountain.

Total: Abilities: 62 / Skills: 30--15 / Advantages: 6 / Powers: 1 / Defenses: 5 (89)

-Yu-Ti has a very confusing history, built up from a handful of retcons and near-completely character switches. As the ruler of K'un-Lun since his father's death prior to Danny arriving in the fabled city (Lord Tuan was the adoptive father of Wendell Rand, though early stories heavily imply that Wendell was, in fact, Tuan's first-born son), he was initially shown as a benevolent figure, trying to keep Danny from the path of revenge (Danny wanted to avenge his parents' murders at the hands of Howard Meachum). He hits Danny with a final word as he leaves K'un-Lun- "Wendell was not only your father, but also my brother!". Outside of these first Marvel Premiere issues, Yu-Ti began revealing a darker side, with implications that he had arranged Wendell Rand's death, the time he banished Wendell's daughter (he had sired a child with a K'un-Lun girl that Yu-Ti himself had loved), and how he pretty much didn't bother to save Danny's mother with his "vaunted archers".

-He kind of made nice, but Mary Jo Duffy, who started writing next, basically turned him into a giant jerk, and revealed that he'd been giving Master Khan, the god of K'un-Lun, blood sacrifices for years, and it was his job as leader to provide them. Since Shou-Lao had previously been giving the sacrifices for years (this was before there were predecessors to the role), Danny was chosen as the new sacrifice, but the heroes prevailed. Danny would return in the 1990s, still a bit subserviant to the royal jerk, who then ACTUALLY killed him as part of some complicated storyline involving sending K'un-Lun to Earth permanently, but Danny was returned to life.

-By the time we got to The Immortal Iron Fist, Yu-Ti was basically being treated like a leader nobody liked, but were generally stuck with- eventually there was a full-blown revolution, set up years before by Orson Randall, who got Lei-Kung, Danny Rand, and The Immortal Weapons involved, and chased Yu-Ti (who had been revealed to have been going to Earth and feeding his vices for decades, using the Randall Gate) out of the Heavenly City. Modern depictions of his father tend to give him the same angry, snide personality, making it seem like it's always been Nu-An as the August Personage.

-Altogether, Yu-Ti is powerful more from position than from ability, as he's only a bit skilled at martial arts. He CAN detect when people are lying (though Orson Randall's daughter manages to hide her lying carefully, Yu-Ti still figures she is anyways, more from evidence than failing to bluff), but there's some question as to how immortal the people of K'un-Lun are- Nu-An has been seen to age a little bit over the years, and his father Tuan apparently died of some kind of unnamed cause. Yet Lei-Kung the Thunderer is thousands of years old.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Tue Jun 14, 2022 10:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ken
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Re: Jab's Builds! (Misty & Colleen! Cockroach! Boris & Ninotchka! Iron Fist!)

Post by Ken »

Batgirl III wrote: Tue Jul 24, 2018 3:56 pm It is a kusarigama... which is just a sickle on a chain, but if you say it in Japanese it sounds more exotic.

I've had people legitimately argue with me that a Japanese bo staff is superior to an English quarterstaff, or that a Chinese qiang is superior to a European spear. They didn't know anything about the woods or the metals used, they couldn't tell me anything that was unique or different about the techniques for wielding the weapons... They just knew that it was obvious that the Asian one was better.

Silly me, expecting the laws of physics to be the same for any given two-meter long piece of hardwood. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Clearly, trees simply grew to be more stronger and more healthy in Asia. Because everything is better if it's Asian.

Although some Chinese sailing ships were just junk.
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