mild franchise makeover: detroit lions toy truck edition

Thanks to Phil Zaroo of Mlive's Highlight Reel blog, we finally have the first honest-to-goodness leak of the real, true, actual logo. BEHOLD!


 
Okay, several things: A) this is a toy truck, and the picture is neither large nor high-resolution. Waxing philosophical over it is likely futile, since we can barely see it . . . of course, that won't stop me. 2) The simple addition of white accent lines contrasting one part of the lion from another do WONDERS. III) the new script "Lions" faintly echoes the old "Rinestone Cowboy" look that never made any kind of sense, yet looks completely new and meshes much better with the lion logo--though all those hours spent copying that script in third grade are officially wasted.

Now for the waxing: the first things that catch the eye are the waving white lines around the neck, delineating the flowing mane from the rest of the body. Near it is a curving white line, outlining the front shoulder. The front arms and paws are much more anatomically correct, and much more clearly separated from each other. The head and mouth are a hundred zillion times better, with an open mouth that is actually a mouth, exposed incisors, but not a sharklike maw full of teeth. Sleek, slanted eyes--just shaped whitespace, no detail--that appear aggressive without being excessive or anthropomorphic (like furrowed brows). There are some lines separating the legs and stomach, and that's it. Well, not quite it. The angle of the legs and body now look a lot less "leaping" and a lot more "rampant", as if Bubbles is lunging forward to strike, instead of jumping a hedge. The overall look really ratchets up the aggressiveness, without getting at all cartoony or exaggerated. The only issue I have is how well some of the detail will translate to sewn patches, like on ballcaps. Oh, and the "Silver Splat"--is that field of silver going to be a theme on the helmets or unis, or is that unique to the truck? I think the ghostly image of Ford Field laid out in the silver puddle points toward being a truck-only detail . . . I hope I'm right (UPDATE: I am, it's been pointed out that all the other teams' truck toys have this second-color blotch).

Now . . . let's see the uniforms.