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TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

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Transformers Toy Review Archive (older series, 1984 to date)
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SKL

Denyer's review of: Skids

Name: Skids
Allegiance: Autobot
Sub-group: '85 Autobot cars
Function: Theoretician

"Deep down, we are more like than unlike humans."

A daydreamer... often bumps into things at 60 mph while pondering Earth life instead of a Decepticon attack. Considers Earth one vast lab for his research. His findings are often invaluable to fellow Autobots. Enormous memory storage capacity. Carries a liquid nitrogen rifle with 600 foot range. Twin electron blaster of 20,000 volts can short-circuit almost anything. At 60 mph can stop within 25 feet. Not very fast... often in danger due to daydreaming.

Be careful if you're displaying this one loose, because getting dust out of cracks is an astoundingly fiddly process. That's also by way of apology for the pics attached to this review, as I haven't for a long while...

Skids is a piece I acquired loose in one of many trades with Cliffjumper from TFA, which I wouldn't have gone looking for based on the character (who got a raw deal in the comics) but has become a well-liked favourite based on the toy itself.

Vehicle Mode:

This is apparently a Honda City Turbo, and the original Diaclone release apparently included a scooter that tucked inside the vehicle mode. Of course, I could just be parroting uninformed rubbish from Wikipedia to fill out this paragraph. Because there's not a great deal to say about Skids in this mode, except to reiterate that the inset windows pick up dust, the front grille is a sticker and it's a very 80s type of vehicle... the best this toy has to offer comes after a quick transform...

Robot Mode:

Skids is surprisingly well armed considering his bio, and originally came with three hand weapons, two of which I've got. These can be attached to his forearms in a Wolverine-claw type arrangement, or as regular firepower... altogether, he does look rather gritty and imposing, and a lot more so than if you try to pose him without accessories. (The arms unencumbered are really rather skinny.)

His transformation has a few non-obvious steps, such as the customary '84-'85 series hips that extend sideways, and wheels that tuck neatly away underneath the feet. What you get is very much worth it, a detailed head sculpt and the aforementioned badass, tooled-up robot mode. Theorise this, punk.

The weakest point for collectors who enjoy picking up relatively inexpensive loose pieces (i.e. treating Transformers more as toys than adult collectibles) is the shoulder joints, which tend to droop. A dab of poster putty underside the interior hinge will sort this out if you're primarily interested in displaying a collection in robot mode.

Transformation: 7 - Reasonably complicated, sometimes fiddly to align things.
Durability: 5 - The doors, shoulders and head arrangement are all fairly fragile.
Fun: 7 - Plenty of character, even with minimal articulation.
Price: 6 - US and Japanese reissues are available, although the US one wasn't widely distributed. There shouldn't be too much bidding competition on eBay.
Overall: 8 - I really like the look as a whole.
 
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