>>6388727Well, the thing is, it never really left entirely. Even now some modern SHFs get the swing-down hips. Also, the "modern" covered hip system was actually first used back in 2008, on Domon Kasshu, the 8th SHF ever made. Bandai just went back and forth, using those hips and the swing down ones alternately. Like, the original Kuuga had the covered hips for instance.
So basically, both joint types sorta existed for nearly the entire run of SHF, it's just that in the first half of the line they heavily favored the swing-down type, and nowadays they're starting to favor the covered type.
