SKIDS! Hooray for Generations Skids! (a completely objective unbiased review.)

YAY! SKIDS!

GENERATIONS SKIDS!

TOTALLY AWESOME! I MEAN AW-SUM! LMAO LOLZ!

(regains composure, put top hat and monocle back on) Yes, quite. Well, if you haven't guessed by the previous post, mentions in many other previous posts, and by listening to Robots In Cahoots, I have been very excited about Generations Skids. Not only does he wrap up the G1 Autobot (regular size) cars from 94-85, but his design and weaponry are influenced by his appearance (I assume, though I imagine these figures are designed well in advance) in More Than Meets The Eye.

HEY, THERE'S A JUMP. Meaning there's more and there's pictures. CLICK ON IT, YO!



Skids was favorite of mine. The last Autobot car I got as a kid was Skids. Then I had to act like a grown up or something and put away childish things, I don't remember. Point is, Skids was one of if not the last TF I ever got. I probably didn't like him at the time because I didn't recall seeing him in the cartoon (yes, I know now he was there twice, each time with a different voice actor). The figure even looked weaker compared to the other Autobots, even though he came with so many weapons he couldn't hold them all. I also never had his arms positioned correctly. They just kind of swung from his body. So he looked really skinny and nerdy...hey, which was (to no one's surprise) just like me! And he had a pretty amazing transformation. So I really grew to like the figure, and I would be amused to learn later that most TF fans didn't know what kind of car he actually was (yes, we all thought he was a minivan) and that I lucked out in getting one of the rarer figures (though he's been reissued as a Commemorative/Encore figure in the last decade).

He showed up in MTMTE, full of action, but introducing himself as a theoretician. His honest inquisition to who he is makes for some of the best dialogue, and his attempts to fit in as some of the best one liners. I'm glad that some of the "lesser known" characters (less popular TOYS, okay? Accept it.) were going to get some page time, but I really thought the comic was going to be "Hot Rod, Ultra Magnus, and Drift, and maybe some other characters, who knows." So yeah, we all love Swerve, but I'm glad that Skids is such a huge part of the MTMTE puzzle.

Generations Skids and "Stretch."

So anyway, this new figure. I dig it. As Heroic Decepticon suggested, I switched out the hip joints and he does stand up better. I'm sure many fans are getting weary of recent top heavy figures with folded-over 'backpack' areas that have to be leaned forward on their feet or legs or they tip backwards. Skids has a lot going on for a guy who turns into a small car (I didn't transform him for these pics, sorry). Specifically, the amount of weapons he's carrying.

Yup, before & after. The "tailpipe" guns on his wrists spread out, guns flip out from underneath, and then, most impressively, his wheel well pulls out to reveal missile pods. Sweet!

Add to that his little handgun...

...a little revolver deal not too different from the one he holds constantly (and unaware) in the first few issues of MTMTE. He comes with another gun (modeled after the rifle weapon his G1 figure carried) which actually fits over the handgun barrel to make a larger rifle.

And there you go. Issues? His large shoulder pieces don't allow for more movement; any upper body expression/pose with those limbs is going to have to be done through his elbows. His hands are locked in place. Not helping in my particular case is that his limbs were really loose when I took him out of the package. Huh.

(Also locked in place: the side-bumper part just below his knees sticks out like a sharp, pointy eye-gouging stick. I wish his head weren't so...narrow compared to the...square-like? octagonal? head of the G1 figure. And I wish that he had light piping for his eyes so we could see those yellow eyes glow in the light, but then I also wish for 1000 more wishes and then a million dollars and a house in San Francisco and tax free income and...)

Okay, well, I gushed about Skids. OH WAIT, the figure comes with a comic book, specifically MTMTE #22, which is a story framed as a "documentary" that takes place between issues 13 and 14. And is also hilarious, and one of the best issues of the series, in that it both caps off the first "season" of the comic, but also reintroduces all the main characters with a story independent of the plots of the other issues. So if you dig the figure but haven't read the comic, this should be a great introduction. Enjoy!

(I don't own a monocle or top hat.)