Sideswipe
(Hyper Speed) [Battle Charger]
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original Battle Charger Sideswipe toy. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original Battle Charger Sideswipe toy here.)
Hyper Speed Sideswipe
looks an aw-fully lot like regular Sideswipe. A HECK of a lot like regular
Sideswipe, in fact. This version has the same plastic colors as the original
Battle Charger Sideswipe-- only some of the paint apps are different. The
windows are now a duller, darker blue, with "SIDESWIPE" emblazoned along
the front of the windshield. I rather liked the previous window colorization,
and I'm not one for TFs having their names on their alt modes, so I'm not
fond of that change. The black-painted headlights don't make a whole lot
of sense, either. However, the other minor changes I like, to a minor degree--
the nifty "speed" paint apps on the car doors; the black-painted spokes;
the painted Chevrolet sign on the car hood; and the headlights, which are
a slightly lighter shade of red. Other than these minor changes, everything
else, including paint apps are the same-- yep, none of the colors of the
"robot parts" have been changed at all.
No mold changes have
been made to Hyper Speed Sideswipe.
I'm really not sure
why Hasbro decided to do an "upgrade" to Sideswipe that's so incredibly
similar to how he originally looked, even moreso than practically all the
other same-character movie repaints. They should've just kept Sideswipe
in the assortment, probably would've saved on development costs. Well,
anyways, this Sideswipe has a few minor things that are worse than the
original, and a few minor things that are better. It all balances out,
so if you want to get one, just pick the one you see first, I guess.
Review by Beastbot