I've been thinking about this subject for the past week or so, just never got around to posting.
Mainly, my problem with sideshow figures is with the females.
Female problem areas:
1) They are in severe lack of an hour glass shape.
The main problem is in the thighs, they are too thin and stick figure like to contribute to this shape.
They also need a larger upper torso. there's nothing wrong with the bust, just the thickness of the rib cage area.
2) They need thicker thighs.
this is a part of the whole hour glass shape thing. but they need to be a little thicker in most directions.
3) Thin spindly arms (they look like sticks)
The upper portion of the arm needs to be slightly thicker with a bit more shape to them. The lower arm could also use some help in the same way, they're too straight as it is now.
4) They need a But!
the lower back portion of the body is too flat, it just needs a little more junk in the trunk to look more realistic.
5) No more Boot Feet!
The main problem here is that boot feet often cause the ankles to be weaker then they would be with shoes. the softer material would also help them stand better and prevent them from sliding on surfaces. they also really don't help in customizing the female Sideshow body.
6) They need to be an average female height in 1:6 scale.
often times, Sideshow bodies are too tall to look like the average height.
7) Joints need to be tighter.
they don't need to be immovable, they just need to be stiff enough to hold the figure's own wight.
8.) They need to be a little lighter.
Sideshow male and female bodies as they are, are too heavy. and when a figure has a sold plastic head, this makes them very heavy. I wouldn't want the head to be lighter because that means they would lose detail, so the body must be a bit lighter.
9.) The Ball jointed head needs more movement.
This is a problem that occurs on quite a few of them, looking up and down is essential to conveying character. But I wouldn't want a joint at the base of the neck, that would look ugly, just a better designed ball joint at the top of the head would suffice.
10) the legs need to join in the middle!
I've noticed on newer Sideshow females that the legs leave a huge gap in the middle and don't meet at the knees. This is also part of the thigh problem.
11) More shape to the upper back.
I've noticed that my Sideshow females lack any real definition in the back area. This does not mean they need to look like body builders, just that they need some shoulder blades.
12) Better jointed ankles.
This joint has the most stress and weakens the quickest. It needs to be designed better. I like the movement you get on Blue Box Generation 3.5 ankles, maybe looking at them would help better this joint.
13) tighter Joints in the upper thigh twist joint.
I've noticed this joint on both male and Sideshow figures has a tendency to be very lose. Maybe by using a rubber gasket or a softer plastic would help prevent this joint from loosening up?
The following are just more like areas that would benefit from some advancements. not that they are absolutely necessary to make the female figure perfect, but that they could possibly perfect the Sideshow body if done right.
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Fewer joints.
Joints are an eye sore, but they are inevitable. the main problem is the extra joint at the waist. it's maybe a little unnecessary. They still need to bend forward, backward, side to side, and twist, just that the articulation line and gaps don't need to be visible. I like the way the joint at the upper torso on Female figures looks, just not the lower joint at the waist.
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Better designed hip articulation.
This is the biggest problem with female figures in general, not just Sideshow's females but the Takara (CY-Girls), Dragon, BBI (perfect body), Hot Toys, etc.. female figures. They need full articulation, but don't need any type of gap or joint line. I'm not suggesting that a soft cast type skin needs to be used to cover the gap, that stuff can breakdown over time. Just some type of innovation needs to be used. I like the perfect body type hips, but they have a ugly gap in between the legs. maybe using a similar type joint, but with something covering the gap in between the legs would work? I'm sure the people at Sideshow could perfect it. If not, just use the standard hip joint but perhaps with less of a gap showing where the leg meets the hip.
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Less opaque color.
I've noticed that the slight transparency of the plastic on CY-Girls figures causes the joints to be less visible by allowing light to inter the joint area and defuse the shadow there. They don't need to be completely transparent, they need some color.
I'll chime in latter about my thoughts on the Sideshow male body.
Things seem better than they used to be but loose ankle joints still plague the ladies. And as Screamingmetal said, once you get a heavy head onto the body too you've got to have tight joints from the waist downwards.
) would be somekind of modular body where you could clip in different bust sizes, fat stomaches, thin/muscular arms/legs etc. combined with the articulation offered by a Takara microman.
