The G1 Journey

Bio:

Sideswipe is nearly the equal of his twin brother, Sunstreaker, in the combat arts, but less cold-blooded. Relishes a fight to the finish with an opponent. Uses underhanded tactics when absolutely necessary. Arms act as powerful pile drivers. Flies for up to 2 minutes with rocket backpack. Fires flares visible for 18 miles. Rash actions often lead to injuries to himself. Takes them all in stride.

Introduction:

Sideswipe, the character, always seemed to be the cool bot among the Transformers. In the G1 cartoon, the Marvel comics, and later incarcerations of him just oozed with confidence and swagger (his G1 toy bio alone captures his personality very well). With that being said, his toy definitely needed to convey that somehow for me to really like the figure. I’ve already handled this mold before with Red Alert, but I am expecting a little more appeal from Sideswipe due to the character and that slick red paint job. Not to mention Sideswipe is an in-house name right ever since collectors have gotten their hands on the new Masterpiece Lambor (Sideswipe) from Takara! It’s Sideswipe’s time and the hype is big! Let’s see how his G1 toy stacks up with taking a look at the Hasbro reissue of him.

*** As a reminder, please click on the images to view their full size ***

Alt Mode:

The alt mode is gorgeous, I’ve already ranted about how awesome it is with Red Alert’s review; bottom line though, love it. Handling Red Alert already, I know what to expect from this figure, but the red deco really takes my liking of this toy up a notch. Like so many G1 toys, the stickers, rubber tires, die-cast and realistic features make the toy something special. The Lamborghini alt mode is complemented well with some racing type stickers and even a knock off Lambo hood emblem. From the front, side, rear end, or angled, there’s not a position I dislike while displaying Sideswipe. This alt mode worked very well for Red Alert, but this is Sideswipes vehicle and he fits it beautifully.

The stickers of Sideswipe really bring out a lot of Lambo personality: fast, dangerous, and energetic. The knock off hood emblem is my favorite touch to this G1 beauty.

The rear end light stickers are a great touch to a very well detailed alt mode. They’ll be prone to rubbing off though as they do not sit on a flat surface.

Robot Mode:

Transformation from the red Lambo to Sideswipe’s robot mode is quite simple: pull down and separate legs, pull outwards his arms while separating forearms, and then rotate his car hood down to reveal his head. A very easy process like I’ve come to expect of G1 figures.The result though is a well balanced and great looking robot mode with a near perfect blend of red and black, which happen to be my high school colors so they are a favorite of mine. The stickers that brought the alt mode to life carry over to this mode beautifully. As an avid fan of hating stickers, I’ll eat my words when it comes to G1 figures because the stickers have done a lot of justice in bringing out so much character. With that, Sideswipe’s weapons do just as much. I love the shoulder cannon that really makes Sideswipe who he is; Sideswipe always needs a shoulder cannon! The articulation is limited as expected, but it’s there in his arms/forearms which surprisingly gives the toy some great firing poses. Overall, another fun and great looking toy for the collection.

Weapons are always locked and loaded! Well, kind of … his missile launcher doesn’t have a spring in it 😦 

One feature I enjoy about Sideswipe is his sturdiness. With his well proportioned frame he’s not falling off an collection shelf.

Forearm poseability. Yay!

Sideswipe’s head seems tiny in comparison to his body; this is a feature that has plagued even later releases of the toy.

Evolution:

I’ll get this out of the way now: there is a definitive, end-all-be-all Sideswipe toy out there and it’s a landslide of a victory. Masterpiece Lamor is it.

The DEFINITIVE Sideswipe figure … like it should be with the Masterpiece line 🙂

It was genuinely hard for me to do this Evolution segment. Photographing all three of these toys (G1, Classics, and Masterpiece) you really find out that the MP Sideswipe trumps all by a large margin. I believe I said this about Sunstreaker and his Classics update, but the Classics mold really doesn’t convey that Lambo feel. Comparing Classics Sideswipe (Universe 2.0 to be precise) to G1 is fine, because it’s a decent update, but when you put a Masterpiece Lamor into the picture you HAVE to favor the MP figure … and it’s not even a true “Classics” update. I know the Masterpiece is an “adult collectible” scale figure and is much higher end than a retail Classics figure, but it’s almost enough to change my opinion of which figure should be on my Classics display. Bottom line, I’d recommend the MP-12 Lamor for any collection and quite possibly even a Classics focused collection. However, take MP Sideswipe out of the discussion and I am still more than happy with my Classics update. Check out the pics to determine your own thoughts.

Alt Mode Comparison:

Although the Classics (Universe 2.0) version of Sideswipe is a nice stand alone figure, it doesn’t capture the Lambo feel. It does have some nice details that are high points, but overall leaves me desiring just a little more.

MP-12 is an official licensed Lamborghini product … it’s also a badass Transformers figure.

So … which one do you like the most?

Robot Mode Comparison:

One of my complaints about photographing Sideswipe figures, nearly every version of him seems to have a bloated chest in pictures. Very hard to capture an appropriate angle.

I love the headscuplt of this Classics update, but as an overall figure it falls flat in my opinion. One idea a friend of mine mentioned is to purchase the Heroic Duo upgrade kit to give this figure a much needed boost. Check out the kit here, which I’m preordering for sure! BBTS Heroic Duo Upgrade Kit

One word: gorgeous. Two G1 type figures worthy of display.

MP-12 Lamor is barely taller than the Classics Sideswipe … which is why I believe he can be stuffed into a Classics collection possibly.

Overall: 7.5/10

I enjoy Sideswipe a lot. The mold is not new to me, but the character’s personality is really brought out by the candy red deco and assortment of sticker details. What makes me appreciate the G1 toy even more is its evolution of a toy from Classics to even Masterpiece. The Classics version is an okay stand alone figure, but what the Masterpiece figure achieved was remarkable on nearly every level, including actually having the license to do this from Lamborghini itself. As a toy, G1 Sideswipe will be a stand out figure on my collection shelf, even more so knowing the character has gotten much rewarded attention in the Masterpiece line.