Ok, before we get any further on this.
The Hin have nothing to do with 3 or 4e. That they borrowed/continued the name is all well and good. But they were not created then.
The HIN was the name used for the halfilng people in "the Known World" a.k.a. Mystara goin' allll the way back 1988, to the BECM version of the game.
Ok. Now that I feel better about that, I'll take hairy feet over cornrowed square-eared flat-heads every/any day...but I don't see nor ever thought/played that that meant they had to be "fat or tubby" figures, though were often portrayed that way. I always preferred Jeff Dee's take.
But hairy feet/no shoes is more important to me than whether they're fat or skinny. (preferably "slightly pointed ears" reminiscent of elves but not as tall/high as elf ears, but I'll be good with hairy feet.)
--SD