Given the Go-Bot gimmick and the very young age this little subline is aimed at, it should come as no surprise that Sideswipe's vehicle mode is a bit superdeformed, but MAN is it superdeformed. The open roof for the convertible-- with the accompanying seats molded inside-- takes up far less of the overall car mode than it should, and the curvy Corvette is way wider proportionally than it should be. This can actually work a little bit for close-topped cars, but for a convertible the super-chibi look doesn't mesh quite as well, in my eyes. The color scheme is classic unpainted Sideswipe-- i.e., a dull milky light gray with black, hardly something that's going to catch most kids' attention in the toy aisles, even if it is screen-accurate. Coating it with an all-silver finish would have worked wonders, but I can see why they didn't do this, given how easily it could scratch given the target audience and how rough they usually play with their toys. The mold detailing in this mode is what's needed, and no more-- appropriate for the subline. The paint detailing is also adequate enough, painting Sideswipe's window a light blue-- one of the few stand-out colors on this toy-- with part of his sides in robot mode painted silver, in addition to a few minor red paint apps on his front bumper. There's almost no robot extras in this mode-- you can see the bottom of Sideswipe's wheel feet from the back end, but that's pretty minor. As part of the "Go-Bot" gimmick, pull back on him in this mode and then let him go, and he'll speed ahead a surpisingly long distance (assuming he's on tile or another very flat surface and not carpet or something).
    Just like any Go-Bot, to transform Sideswipe all you do is pull back his hood and stand him up-- certainly appropriate for the age. His robot mold detailing is a bit more involved here, though it's still not TOO complex to ruin the child-friendly look. He's got pistons and the like on his large back panel, along with all the relevant robo-bits they could fit onto his chest and legs. The "swords" coming out from behind his hands are so incredibly tiny I wonder why they even included them, to be honest-- they look more like he has spiked knuckles than anything else. His face sculpt works surprisingly well in the more "kid-friendly" proportions, and is done quite well. As far as paint apps go, he's got a few bits on his chest and face, but little elsewhere in this mode. I like the addition of the metallic goldish bits on his waist, though I wish they were less green-tinged. As far as Sideswipe's articluation, it's not much-- he can move at the head, up and down at the top of the legs, and back-and-forth at the shoulders, though the latter point moves back into its default position once you let go of it-- just like the other Go-Bots. Like all Go-Bots, Sideswipe's pull-back-and-go gimmick still works in this mode, but it's particularly hilarious here-- as he goes forward, his arms move back and forth, his leg panels move up and down, and his head moves from side-to-side-- all super-fast! Not only is it an impressive gimmick, but it looks hilarious at the speed it's going, and is definitely the highlight of the toy.
    The DotM Sideswipe Go-Bot may be a bit "funny-looking" in both modes, but given the target demographic the chibi proportions are probably a good thing. He has the same hilarious, awesome gimmick that all of the DotM Go-Bots have, but the color scheme itself is really dull, and the super-short proportions in vehicle mode don't work quite as well for a convertible as they do for a closed-top alt mode. My least favorite of the Go-Bots because of his colors and vehicle proportions, but he still has that fun gimmick.

Review by Beastbot

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