Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Paul of S Club 7 and Possible Body Styles for New 1D Band?

Curious about how Hasbro might create a member of a pop music group? Let's look at their past work - in this case, Paul from S Club 7. What body type does he have? How accurate is the resemblance? You may have seen Paul before on the Keeping Ken site, but here he is out of his box.

First, here is Paul in his box. While we tend to associate Hasbro with G.I. Joe, Hasbro has created other doll lines before - Jem, Maxi, Destiny's Child, S Club 7, etc. so neither dolls nor capturing celebrity likeness is new for them. (Aside: although the Destiny's Child dolls are not necessarily ones to brag about. Their Beyonce was on the homely side.)



Note Paul's profile ... decent resemblance to the singer.



Next his body type: can you say "fashion doll?" Why? Straight arms (or permanently bent ones) and click bend knees. Manufacturers working in "fashion doll mode" did not like the look of articulated bodies. See Paul stretching to show off his plump calves; no nasty breaks for joints.



Here is Paul goofing around with two Hasbro G.I. Joes - Lamont A. Morris (1992) on Paul's right and Marvin F. Hinton (2003) on his left to show the body variety of Hasbro's male figures. Mr. Morris can twist his arms to face in or out while Mr. Hinton has joints at his elbows and wrists. All three Hasbro males from Paul's fashion doll body (straight arms and bend leg knees) to Mr. Morris' hybrid doll/action figure body (arm direction ability and bend leg knees) to Mr. Hinton's action figure body (joints at elbows, wrists, and knees) can extend their arms out from their side and spread their legs wide. So there is some additional body posing available to Hasbro figures.



But what about the S Club 7 today? Check their updated website.