Sideswipe's vehicle mode is a Concept Centennial Corvette, and man is it SLICK. It's one of the sickest vehicle modes for a Transformer I've ever seen, with an incredibly futuristic look (yet still based enough in reality since it's an actual concept car, of course). This thing looks like it could go 500 mph without breaking a swat, it's so sleek. The toy's vehicle mode has no extras whatsoever, and with the exception of the inevitable "cracks" in the vehicle mode due to the transformation, is incredibly solid. The windows are a nice transparent blue, but they're dark enough where you really can't see the robot "innards" inside them, either-- the best compromise between painted and truly translucent windows, methinks. The clear headlights and transparent red tailights are also nice touches-- really, the only thing design-wise that one might be disapppointed with is his trunk and doors can't open or anything. (Honestly, though, that's a bit much to expect at this scale.) He's also covered with some really nice metallic silver paint, which all but makes the mode-- I mean really, this thing would look SO much more dull without this silver. Kudos to Hasbro for not repeating the same mistake they initially made with Movie Jazz.
    Sideswipe's pretty movie-accurate robot mode is incredibly impressive, and manages to maintain it without an overly complex transformation as well. He retains the sleek look from vehicle mode while still looking powerful with bulky army and some pretty impressive swords attached to his lower arms that rotate around during transformation in a pretty cool manner. His legs are rather skinny, but in a good way-- they help emphasize his speediness, and I like the "chicken-jointed" look he has there that many of the other Movie TFs also share when it comes to their leg design. Having wheels for feet is also really cool, though the little tabs coming out of the front and back that are his "feet" barely add to his stability at all. As such, it's EXTREMELY hard to get him to stand up by himself-- one of this toy's few real weakness, in my opinion. Moving the legs around causes some pretty cool things to happen, as well-- for one, his "Mech Alive" feature is that little blue panels and pistons on his knees slide up and down when you move him around in that area. Also, his legs are connected to the main body at FOUR points-- two per leg-- which makes for an interesting look that I think adds to Sideswipe's "alien-ness". I also really love the other robotic detailing on Sideswipe-- it's really impressive, with little gears and alien-like metallic details all over. His headsculpt is also great, with the same "sleek yet strong" look on it. However, many of Sideswipe's "silver" parts in this mode are actually just unpainted gray plastic, and next to only a little black and transparent blue, Sideswipe has a rather boring color scheme in this mode. Of course, it's realistic too, and fits in with the movie look, so I can hardly blame Hasbro much for carrying on with that in this new toy. Sideswipe does have some noticeable vehicle kibble in this mode on his upper back, but fortunately it all tucks away very well and doesn't get in the way of movement, so I consider it a minor downside to the figure if that. Speaking of articulation, Sideswipe's is fairly good-- he can move at the neck, shoulders, elbows (at two points), hips (at two points), knees, ankles, and slightly inward at the wrists. Some have complained that Sideswipe's waist comes unpegged from his chest too easily, but it isn't a universal problem as mine isn't afflicted with that-- just something to keep an eye out for.
    RotF deluxe Sideswipe is a fantastic figure, and one of the best figures of its size (and certainly of this character) to come out in the line. A sleek, futuristic vehicle mode and an excellently-done robot mode with only stability and minor kibble issues. It's particularly impressive when you consider how movie-accurate it is at this scale, as well. Highly recommended (though if you don't care about movie accuracy, I'd spring for the Strike Mission redeco instead.)

Review by Beastbot
 

Second Opinion by VBBN

Difficulty of Transformation: Medium
Rating: 9.4

    In vehicle mode, Sideswipe is a Corvette Stingray concept. Man, do I LOVE this vehicle mode. It's a really good homage to the original Corvette Stingray, with the triangular windows and similar body shape. It's a shame this car won't make it past the concept stage... In any case, we get a very nice toy to represent the car itself. The shiny silver looks great, and although his vehicle mode color scheme is essentially the same as Jazz's, I find the blue windows to be a nicer shade, more dark. The transformation lines are visible here, but that's not a huge issue. I would have liked if the Corvette logo on the front hood was painted, but I already customized mine to have that, as well as to be fully silver in robot mode. More on that later. On a final note, I really like that this guy folds up extremely well. He's one of the smoothest-rolling figures I have.
    Robot mode isn't as flawless as his vehicle mode, but still good. Firstly, I like his headsculpt, and his thin appearance isn't too bad, at least compared to his larger counterpart. So, the two biggest issues this guy has been dubbed with is the backpack and his feet. I'll start with his backpack. It's not bad if you know how to fold it up. The best way I know, is if you get the pieces with the side mirrors to be sideways, and flip his panels under and back up, so the backs of them are visible from a back view, with the front headlights pointhing straight up. His feet, though, have caused a lot of trouble for people. It's actually not that hard to get him to stand if you know how to do it, so let me explain. Firstly, there are little silver pieces on the back of the feet. You can fold these in if you want, but if you want him to stand, then don't. Leave them as they were in vehicle mode. Next, make sure that the front of his feet, the silver chunks on the front, are pushed up as far as they will go, touching his ankles. Finally, bend his knees ever so slightly, and his will stand will a lot less fiddling than before. And in regard to what Beastbot said, his legs are actually only connected at 1 point each, it's a clear ball joint at the top of his thigh. Make sure these are pushed up all the way, to give him that wider hip look. Now, he does have 4 gray tiny ball-joint-rubbery-things tabbed to the front of his legs, that move around when you move his legs, which is neat. The panels on his knees are pretty boring though. As for what I did with mine, I painted all of his gray bits silver here, and painted the corvette logo on his chest.
    Overall, Sideswipe is a really nice figure, one of the better deluxes from the movie line. He does have many versions out, including a red redeco, a strike mission deco, and as partof the 2010 Transformers line, a new remade one with guns instead of swords. Any version is good really, I would rate them all about the same, so be sure and look out for reviews of those ones to see what you like best.

Review by VBBN

Back to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Index