Rounding out our look at the Generations Deluxe IDW Comics Wave 3 is a look at Skids! Skids is a talented Autobot – a theoretician by training, he is also an “outlier”, an Autobot with an unusual talent, which in his case is the ability to learn at an exceptional speed. He was picked up by the crew of the Lost Light suffering from memory loss and joined their quest to search for the Knights of Cybertron. As such he is a very special toy, because not only is he the last of the 1984 and 1985 cars to get a Classics update, but he is also a member of the Lost Light crew, which are always welcome releases.
Skids is a really fun toy. He is not flawless, because he does have a bit of limited movement in his shoulders and his backpack does sometimes make him a little tricky to balance. But he also has a very sharp look, strongly conveying both the concept of an updated version of Generation 1 Skids and also capturing the feel of the character from the comic. He also has an absolute mountain of weaponry, including two double-barreled shoulder cannons, two shoulder mounted banks of missiles, 8 missiles per shoulder, twin lasers in each arm which swing out to either side of the wrist, plus liquid nitrogen rifle and the nudge gun. The latter two weapons can combine into a larger weapon. Almost all these weapons can tuck away as well, so Skids can be displayed in a nice variety of configurations.
All in all, Skids is a good release, and a lot of fun. He is very much the spirit of a Classics update of the original toy, and the sheer amount of guns makes for lots of posing options. If the shoulders had a little more freedom to move, he’d probably be perfect. Even so, with his wave now hitting US retail, I cannot recommend this one enough. He’s worth hunting down and adding to your collection. Check out the gallery at the link below and see for yourself.
Stepper
Yah man & the future TF toys will be shrinking further as times goes by.
Jalaguy
The redeco/mould is going to be e-Hobby-original character Crosscut, per the leaked toy listings and testimony of the people working on the pack-in comics.
Alpha Omega Trion Supreme
Love the look of this mold, and I think the size fits well with the rest of the figures on my CHUG shelf. However, I think I'm going to wait for the inevitable TakaraTomy redeco. As much as I like how the mold details look, the blue used here is much too baby for me.
Are there any obvious characters that can also use this mold?
Infosaur
I was going to pass on this, but the vehicle mode and the "two mode" bot form are too interesting to pass up.
The only thing that can save my wallet now is the lousy PA distribution!
Grimwing
There are more articulation points now though and more emphasis put on the transformation play rather than bulky missile fireing contraptions.
Not to hate on the gimmicks. Sometimes I like a well executed spring loaded item.
Adding those points in like thigh swivels and ankle tilts, every point impacts the toys production budget. Its still amazing what Hasbro can get away with for so little asking money do to how massive their production run is.
Stepper
It's sure is hard to deny that the Deluxes are smaller size now days but oh well…
Grimwing
G1Prowl
I hope he comes double taped.
Stepper
One of the best looking figure among the rest.
Stardust262
Skids reminds me a lot of FOC Optimus with his arms and chest. I definitely see him as the weakest of the wave, but will probably still pick him up.
Extendarr
Well, he's your toy, and it's your imagination… so why can't they be whatever the red hell you want them to be? Do you really need to be told in excruciating detail how to play with your toys?
Jalaguy
Very excited to add Skids to the burgeoning Lost Light crew on my shelf. It's cool that he comes with both the nudge gun and his original liquid nitrogen rifle.
artiepants
I think they look pretty good together aside from Hoist, who just looks like he's been shrunk in the wash 20% or so. (his proportionally tiny head really doesn't help his overall tiny look)
artiepants
Wow, that groupshot of the class of 85 really emphasizes how ridiculously undersized the Hoist/Trailbreaker mold is.
Good stuff, thanks for sharing, can't wait to find Skids!
Incepticon
Not feeling it. Similar to Generations Blurr, nothing about this says Skids to me. Between those two and Generations Blitzwing & Springer, apparently I'm just not a fan of this IDW based stuff. At all. But good for those who are.
Seeker
Nice TF. I do think color wise he is a bit bright compared to the Alt, G1 versions.
Murasame
But real Lamborghinis are gigantic as well. Pretty sure they are much longer than most Pickup trucks.
Acteon
Like some others, I'm waiting to see what Takara come up with. Great figure, but the deco is incredibly cheap looking and it deserves better. The colour mix is closer to Gears than Skids really.
It's funny how the colours can change your mind about a figure. I never cared much for Stealth-Megs in the comics, largely due to the dopey M he was sporting on his dome, but the toy paint scheme really made it pop, and losing the electro capital detail made a world of difference too.
Kraken
Pah. No grappling hook hand. Pass.
Yeah, right, as if! He's beautiful! Not buying much atm, but he is a must buy. Can't wait to pair him with Swerve on my shelf
webz
That still gets a giggle from me, 30 years later… The "peace loving autobots" but many of them have weapons as scary or scarier than decepticons! Yes, I realize we come in at the tail end of the war, so both sides have advanced their military tech, but it's hard to image prowl as a peaceful civilian with two rocket launchers on his shoulders… Or metroplex tending cyberdaisies with canons sticking out everywhere…
I see this skids toy and wonder what his pre-war job was… Insecticon control?