Skids
Autobot Theoretician
Skids is the red-headed stepchild of early Autobot cars. While he was not available when the line originally launched, he was on the shelf by the end of 1984. Originally the first assortment of Autobot cars was going to include a figure called Hauler, who actually made an appearance in the cartoon and was later released in 1985 as Grapple. But for whatever reason, that figure was not released so the original assortment of 12 Autobot cars included two Mirage figures in order to fill the gap. Several months later Skids took that twelfth spot. In 1985 the original assortment of cars was still available, but in lesser numbers that the new 1985 cars, so Skids ultimately had less availability at retail than his compatriots. In the modern era, he has not received an updated version that works with the recent Siege and Earthrise Autobots, and who knows if he will ever get such an update from Hasbro. This custom of Skids uses a version of Trailbreaker to give him a much more rugged vehicle form - an off-road truck rather than the subcompact car (typically mistaken for a minivan in North America) of the original toy. It required a head swap, a small amount of modification, adding a roof to his rear part to hide his head in vehicle mode, and a paint job. The paint scheme is as true to the original toy as possible. I’m not completely happy with the paint job, it’s a bit rough in spots but looks pretty good in person.
Head – Generations Skids
All other parts – Thrilling 30 Trailcutter (modified)
Rifle – Generations Skids (modified)
Double-barreled gun – G1 Skids
