Sideswipe's vehicle mode has undergone a bit of an underhaul for Dark of the Moon-- although he's still a Corvette Centennial Stingray sportscar, he's now an open-topped version of that car. Proportionally, he's still perfect (as you'd expect a mainline Transformer with a licensed alt mode to be here), with no real robot extras EXCEPT where you can see through his "open top". Although there are seats molded in there, it's pretty obvious from the gaps in this space that they're on the back of his upper legs, and overall it just pulls you out a little. What pulls you out even more is that Sideswipe's silvery shiny paint finish that's been on most of his previous toys is gone, with a very dull brownish gray plastic taking its place. It doesn't look remotely like a car's finish, and combined with the fact that all of his other major colors-- fron black to a grayish blue to gunmetal gray-- are rather monochromatic, he has a very boring color scheme. Sideswipe's Mechtech weapon is quite cool-- if you push forward on the back end if the blaster, a blade pops out to make it a sword. It's a simple but neat conversion, though more than most others this Mechtech weapon could REALLY use a "locking" feature for its "transformed" mode. Sideswipe has three Mechtech ports-- one in the center-back, and one on each side in front of the rear wheel.
    Sideswipe's robot mode transformation is considerably more straightforward than his previous deluxe toys, but unfortunately it also ends up with a lot more back kibble. Nearly his entire car body-- the center of his hood, the car doors, the back end-- all hang off his back unceremoniously. They compact a little, but they don't tab or lock into place anywhere, and his center roof piece in particular can pop off easily during transformation. His feet are also extraordinarily awkward; he still has the chicken-walker feet and can stand up pretty steadily, but the front sections of his bumper that are supposed to form the "toes" are instead, weirdly, the heels in the recommended transformation, with little tiny pieces for his actual "toes". It looks off. If you rotate the heels and toes around on each feet, it does look better, but then the feet point in the wrong direction. It's a bit of a sticking point with me, given how unnecessary it seems. The upper leg, chest, and arm proportions are all spot-on, though, and Sideswipe's arm-blades now look a bit skinnier and more like actual blades than on previous versions of the toy. Sideswipe's mold detailing on parts of his robot mode is quite good-- particularly on the chest, upper arms, and legs-- but his paint detailing is only on what's absolutely necessary and pretty much no more. He's got no paint on his arms and only one paint app on each of his legs and chest (not counting the wheels). It's a shame, as more could've really brought out all that neat detailing. Sideswipe can hold his Mechtech weapon in this mode, but like on most other deluxes, it's a bit large for him; plus, his swords can sometimes get in the way a bit. As for articulation, Sideswipe can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and ankles-- pretty average for a deluxe these days.
    DotM "mainline" Sideswipe is a bit of a disappointment, overall. I LOVED both of his previous deluxe toys, but here he ends up looking very boring (though proportional and mostly kibble-free) in vehicle mode and with a ton of kibble in robot mode. I think making him a convertible was a bad idea, as it left less room to hide some of his bits. I'd get one of the other mainline versions of the character over this one.

Review by Beastbot

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