Sideburn

Allegiance: Minicon
Size: Mini-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Metallic red, tannish pale pea green, black, and some silver and lime green
Rating: 7.2

(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 Backtrack. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Backtrack here.)

    Armada Sideburn, even though he's a repaint, is a bit of a throwback to RiD Sideburn. For one thing, his vehicle mode is somewhat similar in design, but he also has almost the same color scheme in that mode that RiD Sideburn's "Super Mode" had. It's certainly a good color choice for a sportscar Transformer, although he still needs a bit more paint detailing, just like his predecessor Backtrack. In robot mode, I'm also not too fond of the color choice used for his upper legs, arm connectors, and waist- it's almost the color of puke, and it looks just plain ugly. On the other hand, the lime green headlights and head visor, while at first a bit funky, actually blend rather well with the red.
    No mold changes have been made to Sideburn, although this version doesn't seem to be quite as fragile as Backtrack.
    Sideburn is a pretty good repaint, but that odd puke green color that you can see a bit of in his robot mode puts him slightly below his predecessor Backtrack. A nice nod to the RiD version, though.

Skid-Z

Allegiance: Minicon
Size: Mini-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: Dark brown, dull gold, and some bright orange, charcoal black, silver, and white
Rating: 6.5

(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 Spiral. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Spiral here.)

    Although not a throwback to his RiD version, Armada Skid-Z is still a pretty decent repaint. The brown and gold go together great, especially in the vehicle mode, and the white headlights and silver tires and bumper are also really nice touches. The main thing I'm not quite fond of is the bright orange highlights, but luckily, they're used sparingly. The charcoal black used for his upper legs and waist I'm only lukewarm on as well- more of a pure black would have been better.
    No mold changes have been made to Skid-Z.
    Like his Mini-Con partner, Skid-Z is a nice repaint, but his predecessor still upstages him slightly. Namely because blue is a bit more of an eye-catching color than brown, and the neon orange highlights on Skid-Z are a bit ugly.

Predacon

Allegiance: Decepticon
Size: Max-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Color Scheme: Metallic gunmetal gray, reddish brown, dark jungle green, and some silver, dull gold, lime green, bright orange, white, red, and tannish pale pea green
Powerlinx ports: 4 (0 gimmicked)
Rating: 8.3

(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 Megatron Transmetal. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Megatron Transmetal here.)

    Predacon (yes, that's his name... stupid lazy Hasbro trademarkers) certainly has an original color scheme. In my opinion, though, it works, for the most part. The different shades of green and brown certainly make him look more reptilian, while the excellent metallic silver and gray make him look very mecahnical around the midsection (or shoulders and legs, depending on which mode you have him in). The orange detailing here and there works, since it signifies energy patterns (unlike on Skid-Z), and the red also works as a nice highlight color. The color I don't like, though, is that awful tannish pea green, which, as noted earlier, is the color of puke. More of a traditional green would have worked in its place, methinks. Although I think that, overall, Predacon's color scheme doesn't quite have the visual appeal that Megatron Transmetal's had, he defintiely has loads more paint apps. I mean, if there were any more, I'd consider him downright crowded. And, on top of that, you don't have to worry about any chrome plastic flaking, so that's certainly a big plus.
    Just like the other Armada beasts, Predacon has been remolded with Minicon ports to help him fit in with the line's gimmick. He has two on his shoulders- which are fairly good places to put them- as well as two in the middle of his rotating engines. On one hand, it's a pretty creative place to put them, since the parts they're on spin, so you can spin Minicons on 'em. On the other hand, the ports don't seem to hold Minicons very snugly in place. Hrrrm.
    Predacon is a pretty creative remold, and the Minicon port are placed well. If it wasn't for that darned yucky puke green, he might have made it up to Megatron Transmetal's level, but as such, he sits slightly below that point.

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Review by Beastbot

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