Does it bug anyone else how much Kenner dropped the ball on the T2 line? The Endoskeleton is basically the only genuinely good figure in the whole line. I know it was common practice for companies (especially Kenner) to get creative with the designs, but the sculpt work and gimmicks basically ruin every figure. The Exploding T-1000 and Power Arm Terminator are tolerable but do weird things like making the T-800 sleeveless of the T-1000 half silver. I can understand what they were going for with the T-1000 but it would have made more sense to give him the power arm gimmick and make his alternate arms his various weapons from the movie (or make some up like a giant axe). Even as a kid this stuff bugged the hell out of me and I had no interest in the line beyond the Endoskeleton.It's just such a weird drop in quality given how amazing their Alien and Predator lines turned out.
>>11659556OK who's the guy who ran that pic through an AI enhancer? Those quite aren't at a good level yet. You gotta cut them some slack. Even though the movie was R-rated, the toy line was made for kids. Toy-makers back then always added in "play features" to make toys more playable and appealing for kids.
>>11659556Naah, the only thing they did wrong was not have a good T-1000. The cop one looked weird and the shatter one was a bad figure for doing anything with since it fell apart a lot. What the line should have done is add in some of the big future things like the big flying bot or the rolling tank bot with the laser arms.
>>11659556This is kind of what I mean when I say they knew how to market toys for kids back then. Instead of boring guys in plain ol clothes they gave them missiles and giant robot claw arms and weapons. They should have done this for the Star Wars line in the late 2010s. Everyone is just some bland boring person in beige coveralls. Kids might have bothered if Rose came with a giant taser weapon that shoots sparks. Or if Finn had a trooper jetpack with zipline action.
>>11659579>OK who's the guy who ran that pic through an AI enhancer? Those quite aren't at a good level yet.I did. I wanted a larger image for the OP and used Waifu2x. I selected the lightest post-processing just to remove the jpeg artefacts on the image. It's actually a pretty good upscale IMO, but here's the original for comparison.>Toy-makers back then always added in "play features" to make toys more playable and appealing for kids.The addition of the gimmicks isn't what bothers me, but how they're implemented. Changing out the T-800 arms is a great idea to expand on the bit in the film where he loses an arm, but making him entirely sleeveless? Or the one where they put him in a tank top and his front half pops off to reveal a terrible Endoskeleton underneath with a giant hole in the chest? Here's a better idea, do a screen accurate T-800 that has a spring mechanism that when you press a button causes the arm to snap from the side to being outstretched. You add in a box of roses accessory that you plug into the fist and when the arm snaps up the box flies off to reveal a shotgun underneath?Or a T-1000 that instead of totally exploding like the Scorpion Alien figure they did, instead splits in half? Or one that is a regular 5 POA figure with colour changing paint so when you put it in warm water it turns silver?
>>11659585>Or if Finn had a trooper jetpack with zipline action.The Star Wars line was lousy with ziplines and over-sized cannons for a while there. You're not wrong about designs being boring, but I think the issue runs deeper than that.
>>11659619Kids thought it was cool, and back then an adult toy collector was a rare and sad sight in toy aisles. The market was all about the kids. Better verions were made for adult collectors later on.
>>11659633>Kids thought it was coolSpeaking as someone who was a kid when these came out, no, they sucked. Like I said the Alien and Predator lines were awesome, this specific line just blows chunks. Aside from the Endo, that thing rules and was (and still is) one of my favourite toys. I remember using blu-tak to sculpt an Arnie head on top of the skull and making clothes out of tissue paper and tape so it could tear it all off as he got "damaged."The McFarlane figure was definitely cool, although the gun is way too small and the proportions are wonky. The NECA is better for sculpt, especially the revised version with the better head, even though one of the thigh pistons snapped at the crotch almost immediately.Pre-emptive fuck you to Necanon.
>>11659556I had that Power Arm one, always thought it was weird how it had the Robocop extending spike fist thing. while no Robocop figure had that. Thought it was cool though.
Nah I loved them and they were fun as hell, pic related was my main Terminator and I also used him as Deisel with my wrestling figures.
>>11659787>Diesel
Had that endoskeleton. It was definitely the winner of the line. The eyes lit up from natural light really well. The rubber pistons in his waist were flexible but still held up more than 15 years later, you could see his joints turning in his chest when you move his arms. Real solid stuff.
>>11659873>The rubber pistons in his waist were flexible but still held up more than 15 years laterI have one that actually has a split in the piston and it's still holding on by a couple thing strings of rubber. Incidentally the rubber takes metallica silver Sharpie really well and is a perfect match for the silver on the rest of the figure, so if you have one in rough condition you can touch it up really cheaply.
>>11660114>metallica silver SharpieThey really sold out
>>11660115Hah! What a perfect time for a typo.
>>11659642>I remember using blu-tak to sculpt an Arnie head on top of the skull and making clothes out of tissue paper and tape so it could tear it all off as he got "damaged."Because I was feeling nostaligic I grabbed some Blu-Tak and had a quick go. Not my best sculpting job, I also used to use coloured chalk to add in flesh tones and stuff. Then when it was done I could just stretch out the tak and it would drop all the chalk dust off and be good as new.Take that limited use bio-regenerator powder!
Recently got these 3 ones in a lot with a bunch of Kenner Aliens. I think they're pretty good for what they are. I'm now trying to find an endoskeleton and the bike. I don't think the line failing is on Kenner, though. There just weren't many characters in the movie to turn into toys. Maybe if they had focused on the future soldiers from the intro with odd gimmicks or something.
>>11660300>There just weren't many characters in the movie to turn into toys.I guess that's true, and I know "boys don't buy toys of girls" but they couldn't do at least one Sarah? They did Ripley and Vasquez from Aliens. Maybe a "High explosive Miles Dyson" or "Tech Gear Miles Dyson." Also did they only have the license for T2 specifically? The did T2 3-D, doing Kyle Reese from the first film would have been better than doing a whole bunch of repaints.>I think they're pretty good for what they are.I'm trying to appreciate them for what are, and it's easier to do as an adult, but I just hold Kenner to such a higher standard, and maybe that's unfair. I think it hurts more because we still haven't gotten a decent Terminator toyline since.
What the fuck was Playmates thinking sculpting the upper teeth as a separate piece? It almost totally ruins a pretty decent figure. In fact why do so many companies sculpt the head with the mouth open? Kenner did it, NECA did it initially. It's weird.
>>11659556i always hated that t1000, thought he looked like joe pesci. Power arm t800, john conner, and the skeleton were the best, I didn't stick it out for the better ones, I got deep into crash dummies
>>11660326Back then it probably was a last minute scrapped action feature.
>>11659556T-1000 figure should have had the arm gimmick and come with normal arms, hook arms, blade arms etc. Or maybe he can look normal but turn silver in hot water. Seconding the giant mechs from the future scenes. Those would have been great.
