My main problem with Jabba himself is the in his "chest"...the articulation joint. I know the old 1 twists and turns but I just wish they would have made it look like it was one piece.
I hadn't thought about it. Probably for the same reason you already pointed out--that's how the original was. In other words, I'm probably more forgiving of the obvious joint because that's simply the way it was with the one I had as a kid.
I suppose they could have sculpted the joint to "flow" better with Jabba's body. Or, not have the joint at all. I'm thinking, as a kid, the only reason I turned the original's head was to move his tail and knock over an unsuspecting victim.
Not sure how handy you are at customizing, but I suppose a guy could fill in the recesses of the joint with a molding compound, smooth to the proper contours, and then paint. Some of the customizers in these forums could probably tell you what to use if you wanted to tackle it.