TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

numbat's Review: Sideswipe (Legends Class)

Name: Sideswipe
Allegiance: Autobot
Subgroup: Revenge of the Fallen Legends Class

Sideswipe was a favourite character of mine from the G1 cartoon. Transforming into a snazzy red Lamborghini Countach LP500S, with an equally cool robot mode, he was also a character I didn’t own a figure of (until I recently acquired the Universe 2.0 version), instead owning Sunstreaker – my favourite of the two G1 Autobot brothers.

Corvettes are my favourite cars. I particularly like the Z06, but they’re all very nice.

Roll on Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF), and news is that Sideswipe will be featured – as a concept Chevrolet Corvette Stingray! (Although for pedantic reasons, I would have preferred the name ‘Tracks’ for this character...)

Needless to say, this in itself was enough for me to order the Deluxe version of the character (which I think is fantastic), and given my penchant for wee Transformers it should hardly be surprising that I picked up the Legends Class figure.

However, unlike Deluxe Class Movieverse figures, which are generally rather good, their Legends Class compatriots have been rather poor overall. How does ROTF Sideswipe compare? Average at best...

Alternate Mode:

As we’ve already established, Sideswipe transforms into a Chevrolet Concept Stingray Corvette. Ditching the G1 red (for complications with CGI technology), Sideswipe is now shiny silver. Or, at least he is in the film and ROTF Deluxe figure. The Legends Class figure is unfortunately moulded in tacky pale metallic grey plastic, sporting the standard swirls.
There is little detail – although, that is consistent with the Stingray Corvette, which is very sleek. What detail there is has been moulded nicely, with the headlights picked out in dark grey, breaklights in red and wrap-around windscreen picked out in blue, with a gradient from deep at the front to pale at the edges (which is a nice touch). There is also a small black Autobot insignia on the rear. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with contemporary Legends Class figures the rear windows have not been painted, and are actually quite difficult to pick out at all.

The vehicle rolls well on its black wheels, and measuring 3” (7.5cm) in length presents a decent small scale version of the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept car. A little more paint on the windows wouldn’t go amiss though.

Robot Mode:

Sideswipe’s transformation is not complex, but is relatively well thought out. The result is a robot standing about 3” (7.5cm) tall. Unlike many Movieverse Legends Class figures, ROTF Sideswipe has few ‘false’ car parts in the robot mode, and actually rearranges the vehicle parts to create the robot mode – on the whole. The exception are the wheels that stand in for Sideswipe’s feet – these are moulded, with the actual car wheels behind on the back of his legs. This is actually a bonus, compared with the Deluxe version, as it means he can actually balance quite easily. The downside is that Hasbro neglected to paint them black, and instead left them the moulded pale metallic grey plastic, and so they really don’t look very wheel-like, while the real alternate mode wheels stand out like sore-thumbs in black plastic.

Sideswipe is mostly the pale metallic grey of the Corvette mode, but black is used for the shoulder connections and thighs. Sideswipe’s face is nicely detailed and painted with dark grey facemask and blue eyes. Dark grey is also used for details on the abdomen, while the red breaklights and the black Autobot insignia find themselves on Sideswipe’s chest.

The iconic blades Sideswipe sports in the film are present on the arms – although they are really just the sides of the car – and he also has moulded three-fingered hands, faithful to the movie design.

Sideswipe isn’t badly endowed for articulation in comparison to many Movieverse Legends Class figures to date, but that’s really not saying much. Ball joints at the shoulders and hips provide coupled with hinged knees allow Sideswipe to strike more dynamic poses than many Movieverse Legends Class figures, but still limit his displayability.

Overall, ROTF Legends Class Sideswipe is better than many contemporary Legends figures, but he’s still poor compared to many Legends figures preceding him.



Marks out of ten for the following:

Transformation Design: 4 – The transformation is simple, but effective.
Durability: 9 – Sideswipe appears to be pretty solid for a Legends Class figure, but the ball joints mean the legs and arms do pop off occasionally, and those arm blades are a slight concern, in case they snap off and leave a gaping hole in Corvette mode!
Fun: 4 – Sideswipe is ok fun. He is more dynamic than many Movieverse Legends Class figures, and has a very nice car mode. But he’s still quite limited.
Aesthetics: 6 – Sideswipe looks great in Corvette mode, and not at all bad in robot mode, when compared with other Movieverse Legends Class figures. However, there are far better figures in this size class from the Cybertron and Universe 2.0 lines in particular, so there’s no excuse for the slack shown by designers here.
Articulation: 6 – Sideswipe is not badly articulated for a Movieverse Legends Class figure, but again, older figures of the same size class display far better poseability.
Value/Price: 7 – I picked up Sideswipe at £3.49. I think this is a fair price for a Legends Class figure, but the design itself could be better. Frankly, I have picked up older Legends Class figures at retail for less that have delivered more.
Overall: 4 – Legends Sideswipe – take him or leave him. He’s one of the better Movieverse Legends Class figures to date, but he’s nothing spectacular, much like his film appearance.