by TheForgottenTaxi » Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:18 pm
You know, I look at Skids and I can't help but have the bitter thought that, as a fandom, we're getting what we deserve.
Once upon a time, CHUG figures were high-quality toys that, sure, maybe took some liberties with the characters' G1 appearance for the sake of what the designers felt would be more generally appealing. It felt like the designers were implicitly telling us stuff like, "Look, we know you want Kup, but kids won't know what that to do with his weird 80s alt-mode. How about we make him a modern pickup truck? Don't worry he'll be gorgeously painted and really evoke the character."
And clearly what we have said over time with our wallets is: "Listen, we just want these things to look G1 accurate, and we'll forgive any amount of cost-cutting BS as long as you give us that."
So here we have this Skids. He's definitely, undeniably G1 accurate.
Also he looks like butts, and there isn't an ounce more plastic on him than was absolutely necessary.
Obviously the trend of hollowing out figures has been going on for a while now, but as I gaze into those empty legs and empty thighs and that bare suggestion of a torso, I can't help but feel like we've hit some kind of new low here. Especially for what's supposed to be the reveal that hypes us up for the new line. I suppose it's not that much worse in terms of hollowness than the WFC Datsun design, especially the Siege version, and like those toys, it looks like Skids will have a lot of paint apps to compensate. But idk. The combination of rampant hollowness and "accurate but ugly" is really striking me here. This thing looks cheap in a way that the WFC figures rarely did.
These days I feel like what the designers are saying is, "This is what you nerds want, right? Well here ya go. No accounting for taste."