Revenge of the Fallen Skids (Human Alliance)

Review by Caked-Up:

Overview: Skids and Mudflap are two of my favorite characters from the Revenge of the Fallen movie. The voice actors really gave it their all to create the shtick that was the Twins. Due to this, the Twins were a sharp contrast from the stoic and grim personalities of the other Autobots. Unfortunately, the deluxe molds did not receive the same love and attention.

Robot Mode: I honestly don’t know where to start. This is a gorgeous representation of a very ugly character. The color scheme is a near perfect match to his on-screen appearance. The figure is mostly a bright lime green with blacks, grays, and silver thrown in. Overall, this is a very sharp color scheme. Hasbro gets some extra points for going the distance on this one final paint app; he has a gold tooth.

In the sculpting department Skids is not slacking off either. I have to start off with his face. This is a face only a blind mother could love if she didn’t have any sense of feeling. They didn’t mold it wrong, Skids is just as ugly as they come. And in that regard he is gorgeous. They managed to perfectly translate his ugly mug into a toy. Without having numerous panels to line up like any Movieverse Bumblebee, they also translated the broken up chest design from the front bumper and fenders. That was another great piece of engineering on this figure. After these points, Skids continues on with the standard movie line sculpting on the limbs and so on. Two interesting pieces are the flaps on his shoulders folding in to round out the shoulder pads and the other are the small panels on his chest that can pop up to frame his ugly mug.

Despite having a huge backpack, Skids is not only limber, but surprisingly stable. He has double jointed shoulders and knees, both his heel and toe swivel sideways, and they even managed to get a well done waist joint in there. The down side is that the shoulder spreading is hampered by the swivel joints and his wrists do not have any movement. At least the oversized right hand has moving fingers and thumb. I almost can get him into his “move like a ninja” pose, but the toes do not bend any farther forward.

At a $34.99 price point, Skids comes with several gimmicks. To start off with, pressing his “hair” spike moves his lower jaw allowing him simulate talking. This gimmick works best when the head is facing forward. At any other angle, the jaw gets caught on his chest. On his right arm there is a large missile launcher. It is more or less the standard variety, but there is a seat mounted on the arm with a control stick for Mikaela to ride. Right behind his head you will notice a flip out mini gun. Mikaela can ride in his back pack to man this weapon well. Finally, on his left hand there is the other seat that Mikaela can sit on so that Skids can hold all of the movie’s worthwhile star power in his hand.

Skids is an amazing carformer, but he does have a few issues. I like to have wrist joints, especially on a $35 figure. Moving on from there, his backpack does not tab in anywhere on the back because of the human gimmick. Finally, a design quirk on the right arm does not allow for the seat to fold flat on his arm unless the cannon is moved off to the side. Even knowing these faults, this is the Skids figure to get.

Vehicle Mode: Skids’ vehicle mode is that of the Chevy Beat concept car. It is mostly the same lime green as the robot mode, but the various black splotches now form some cool, curvy tiled lines along the body. As for my favorite three complaints, his tailpipes are not visible due to the screens on the bumper, the rims are painted black like the movie, and his taillights are done in the “Euro” clear lens style. I appreciate the color break up with black hood as well. Sadly, the rear Chevy logo is not painted like the front.

Looking past the nice, wild color scheme, the car holds together very well. My figures’ doors do not like to sit flush with body, but that is a small thing. Unfortunately, you can see his hands and toes poking out of the bottom of the car. Additionally, since the rear windows are not black or heavily tinted, you can see his legs in the back seat area.

Two human alliance figures can ride in this mode. To complement this gimmick, there are two seats and a steering wheel. Sadly, you are not getting the quality detailing anywhere near an Alternator. My single biggest complaint for the interior is that you can plainly see the mini gun in the center console.

As with the robot mode, the Human Alliance line has brought us a very nice vehicle mode. It isn’t without some faults, but the vast amount of good points negate any negativities.

Partners/Add Ons: Due to the overall size of Skids, he gets two accessories packed in. First off is his human ally, Mikaela Banes. She is a small, barely posable figure that does bear a strong resemblance to Megan Fox, but that’s about it. Additionally, a smaller Arcee (in the Chromia style mold) is packed in. She does transform into her bike mode, but she looks horrible either way. In either mode she has a means of standing but they don’t work. To photograph Mikaela riding her I had to use the robots right arm as a support. If you ever choose to buy HA Skids used, do not worry if either of these accessories are lost.

Key Transformation Points: The official transformation does not accurately reflect his on screen appearance because of the door kibble. I found a way to mitigate this. It is easier to start from robot mode. Untab the waist so that the chest rises up. One at a time, bring the shoulder joint all the way into his gut. Rotate the doors so that the window is pointing down and the black bar is on top. Reposition the shoulders where they go and retab the waist. After some fiddling you will no longer have the door wings.

Conclusion: In the beginning of the Human Alliance toy line I skipped on the Bumblebee and Sideswipe figures because I didn’t like the human gimmick. It wasn’t until this figure that I decided to look past the gimmick. I am happy that I have done that and I recommend this figure to everyone, especially those who like the character, but not his deluxe class toy.

Grade: A

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