Robots in Disguise: Side Burn

Some of the very first releases in the RID line were the three 'Autobot brothers', who were Side Burn, X-Brawn and Prowl. Although the concept of transformers being brothers was a bit odd to me at first, it was somewhat explained by Optimus Prime as when two are built at the same time. Whatever. Stupid RID TV show. On to the toy!

Now, I have always been a Viper fan, and this one is quite excellent. The vehicle mode is very tight and stable, and rolls quite well. What more could you want? As far as vehicle mode goes, this is top notch. It even has rubber tires, not crappy plastic ones. Very sweet.

Ugh, transformation. Side Burn has an amazingly complicated transformation. At least one thing is certain; we have come a long way from the days of G1 where the transformation was simple and you ended up with a statue. I can't even begin to describe his transformation, and I wouldn't even attempt to do it without instructions. Just be warned. You may want to take a picture of his car underside before you start transforming him as well.

Once you manage to get him transformed you end up with a pretty decent looking robot, though it is plagued by kibble and bits sticking out of every which where. For instance he has a bumper on his right shoulder (which pops off very easily, might I add) and his hood and doors (which split in half) hanging on his back and his roof and windshields on his left arm. Kinda weird looking, though I suppose they could be makeshift wings and his roof is obviously a shield. Still, makes him look weird.

Also, this may be an isolated problem, but my Side Burn has amazingly loose ball joints. I had to struggle to get him to stand for the picture, and I wanted him to hold his gun another way, but his elbow joint is not very tight either, so I had to settle. Like I said, I don't know if this is isolated or not, but I'm pretty sure it isn't as I played with another Side Burn before and he was fairly loose as well if I remember right.

At any rate, Side Burn has great potential, but his pain in the ass transformation and annoying at best robot mode severely limit the coolness of this toy. Hopefully the repaint that's coming out will be tighter, since that would make this toy a whole lot better, despite said annoying transformation.