Missile
Blast Skids (Fast Action Battler)
Missile Blast Skids'
vehicle mode is pretty standard fare for the Fast Action Battlers subline--
it's fairly accurate to the actual Chevy Spark vehicle, but with slightly
more rounded edges and proportions, due to the nature of the line. He's
got almost no robot mode extras, the only exception to this rule being
the little heels and toes on the back end. He's got all the necessary details
in this mode, including quite intricate detailing on his grill, which is
pretty impressive for a FAB. Pretty much everything that needs to be painted
in this mode is-- there's a nice dull shade of blue for his windows, nice
silver headlights and red taillights, the black "skids" marks on the side
doors, etc. The only exception to this seems to be his back end, where
some molded-in details are bereft of some needed paint, presumably because
they're not visible in robot mode. Another oddity is that Skids' rear and
rear-side windows are painted gray, not blue like the front and front-side
windows! As far as his color scheme goes, it's a nice take on Skids' overall
scheme-- the green is a nice shade, being just a touch duller than it is
on the mainline deluxe toy, and goes very
well with the gray and blue, which make nice contrast colors. No complaints
about his colors here.
Skids' transformation
is almost identical to FAB Bumblebee's, so it mostly shares the same results.
I don't like the windows just sticking out of of the sides of his chest,
and his lower legs have the huge shells of the back end of his vehicle
mode sticking out behind them. Other than that, though, this mode is decent
for a FAB. Granted, his proportions are off, but that's part of Skids'
schtick. His legs are too short, and one of his arms bigger than the other,
but that's how he's supposed to look. That said, his head is a bit too
small (and oddly painted to make it look dirty, at that). There's also
a noticeable gap between it and the chest. Additionally, his "gimp" arm
is a bit TOO skinny. His right arm looks great, though, and has a really
neat gimmick-- you can flip his hand around to reveal a spring-loaded missile
launcher. (The missile can still be stored with Skids' hand in its "normal"
configuration, but it looks a little odd sticking out of his elbow like
that. A better option is to store it on the side of his "gimp" arm, where
there's a hook for it.) The articulation is pretty decent for a toy from
this line-- he can move at the head, shoulders, elbow on the right arm,
and at the hips and knees. One thing he could stand to have a bit more
of is paint detailing, though-- looks like the budget for it was almost
used up in vehicle mode, as his "gimp" arm and face are the only robot
parts to receive any paint on the toy. Which is a shame, since particularly
on his waist he has some great mold detailing there.
Missile Blast Skids
is roughly average for a toy from the Fast Action Battler subline. His
vehicle mode is generally great, as are his colors, gimmick, and detailing.
His downsides do add up, though, such as some odd proportions in robot
mode even for him and a unsightly gap between his head and chest. Still,
I'd recommend this toy over the mainline deluxe, as it has a more coherent,
solid-looking robot mode and is much easier to transform. If you can spring
the money, though, I'd certainly recommend the far superior Human
Alliance version of the character if you only want to get one Skids.
Review by Beastbot