Bot Reviews: Transformers: Kingdom Deluxe Sideswipe/Skywarp Battle Across Time 2-Pack

Since the start of Siege (or maybe as early as Titans Return), Transformers Generations has seen a long line of exclusive multipacks made up of a seemingly random grab-bag of characters and concepts. On one hand, I often dig how strange the combinations can be. On the other hand, it’s sometimes hard to find a set where you want everything in it, thus making you purchase stuff you’re not interested in (and maybe try and sell it off) or hit the aftermarket yourself for the parts of the set you want. The two sets in Kingdom’s Amazon exclusive Battle Across Time Collection are like that, each pairing a G1 Autobot with a Beast Wars Maximal, each of whom are completely different in terms of the character and collection niche they’re trying to fill. I got lucky, though, and each set contained figures I was into for different reasons, so I snapped them both up. Sideswipe and Skywarp are the first set, so let’s have a look at each figure, and see if they’re individually worth tracking down, and how the whole set shakes out. These are both retools of figures I’ve already looked at, so I’ll be brief (and link back to the originals).

Sideswipe

Sideswipe is, of course, that fine young Autobot Warrior with absolutely no distinguishing characteristics that’s popular entirely because he changes into a cool car and was a part of the Year One lineup. He was also one of the first releases in Siege (reviewed here). Back then, he was a pretty great, if workman-like figure (simple, straightforward, but well-executed). Siege’s big idea was to put every character in their pre-Earth Cybertronian modes and slather them with battle damage, but in Sideswipe’s case, he wound up looking like a fancy modern Earth concept car, and the battle damage (only visible in his robot mode) fit the (thin) characterization he had. So, when a few of the Siege characters started getting retools, or entirely new figures in Earthrise that changed into their Earth modes (much to my annoyance, as someone that hadn’t expected their Siege toys to be immediately invalidated), no one expected Sideswipe to get a do-over. And when his brother, Sunstreaker (reviewed here), saw a release in Earthrise as a totally different-looking car (the two of them traditionally change into the same thing, with Sunstreaker getting an extra engine in the back), most fans figured they were just going to look different. But then this Battle Across Time release happened, taking Sideswipe, and retooling him into a new, more Earthly form, designed to specifically match his brother.

This retool almost feels pedantic, but I like the tooling, so I gave it a whirl.

Robot Mode

Compared to the Siege version, this Sideswipe immediately looks cleaner, and brighter. His slightly-remixed color layout features whites that are more white and less yellow, reds that are more vibrant, and former silvers that have been changed to white in a way that evokes cartoonishness. Plus, all the damage is all gone. The brighter colors, the red especially, gives him pleasantly toy-ish vibes, and comes out surprisingly nice.

In this mode, the retooling on his body isn’t terribly different. Basically, he’s got a new chest, backpack, and back-of-the-lower-legs. When I reviewed the Siege version, I said that he felt like Sideswipe’s Masterpiece figure, but scaled down. Thanks to the colors and sculpting, this new one REALLY feels like the Masterpiece, to the point where a deviation from that design really sticks out: I’d said before that the folded-up doors sticking out of his abdomen were a bit of an eyesore, but this one looking so much like the Masterpiece (which has the budget to fold them away into a backpack) makes them even more obvious.

Another good thing is that, after so many repaints and retools, the joints on this version still feel nice and tight, with the same great poseability. There’s one wrinkle to him feeling the same, though: He still has the same parts-fit problem where his hood-chest doesn’t want to peg into his torso, due to the peg being slightly too small. It’s very odd, considering both Covert Clone Sideswipe and Gigawatt fixed this issue. It’s never been a critical problem, in that it doesn’t prevent it from staying in place, but it’s a bizarre step backwards.

Sideswipe’s accessories are mostly new, and he comes with just enough stuff that he no longer feels under-armed. Firstly, he’s got a brand new, larger gun, based on his original toy (and show) one, cast in black, painted solid white. Next, he still has the same shoulder launcher as the original, also cast in black and painted white. It can still slot into his shoulders, and is still double-sided when it comes to equipping his third accessory, a white missile.

That (painted white, cast in red) missile’s odd, though, in that it’s not the same one that his Siege iteration came with. Instead, it’s been retooled to not give it a handle on the bottom, so Sideswipe can’t hold it like a small pistol anymore. You basically have to keep it as an unlaunched missile, or have him hold it like a baton. It’s an odd choice to neuter a tiny bit of functionality.

They didn’t neuter his War for Cybertron compatibility, though, and he still comes with ports on his feet, one on his back, and one on each forearm and shoulder.

Additionally, his new gun has a sideways port on its back, though it’s kind of a tight fit, and might not actually be intentional.

Car Mode

Sideswipe’s transformation is just as simple, and just as good, and changes him into a car mode that’s almost totally different, thanks to the retooled hood, roof, and car back. Well, I say “totally different,” but thematically, it’s kind of the same thing, since it’s not like they had the license to make him into a Lamborghini like the original or Masterpiece figures. The Siege figure’s vehicle mode looked like a rich person’s concept sports car, and this is…a different rich person’s concept sports car.

It looks really nice, though, especially with that vibrant, pleasant red that pops nicely against the steely-blue windows. And I guess he does look marginally more Earthly (he has proper windows on his doors, his roof isn’t made of glass) but, like, barely. After all, he still has miscellaneous tech detailing right beneath his windshield.

That being said, he deserves points for being a more cohesive Earth mode retool than Galactic Odyssey Ratchet was. Still, the black bits near the doors (likely a matter of sprues and paint) stick out a bit.

Of course, the big gimmick is that his new made-up car model is the same fake model as Sunstreaker’s, who’s a totally different tooling, and getting them side-by-side is kind of impressive. They’re the exact same size, with the same basic shape, and nearly all the lines replicated between them, including little things like the ridges on the back, and the weird colored lines over the doors.

The only differences are the transformation seams, and Sunstreaker’s big engine block in the back (and some stuff around it), plus the wheels. A lot of work was put into making them match, which makes it a bit odd that they’re not quite painted the same, with Sideswipe’s bumper and headlights being blocked out slightly differently.

For features, Sideswipe still has War for Cybertron weapons ports on roof and on the car’s sides, which admittedly stick out a lot more on the bare red plastic of an Earth mode, when the Siege one hid them in his roof-glass and between sculpted details. Still, he can mount his guns on any of them, though that white missile can’t face forwards. You can do some funny stuff with it, though, and make it into a spike on the side, or a funny hat.

Overall

I’m almost annoyed at how well this retool came out. You don’t think it’s going to be better, but all the little tweaks do make it better. The colors, the sculpting, it’s all an improvement, and makes him more pleasantly toy-ish. The new look overcomes my grousing about neutering the missile, or not fixing the torso peg. But recommending him’s a bit more complicated.

If you don’t have a Sideswipe and want one, this is definitely the better one. But I can’t say it’s worth the aftermarket prices on its own for the upgrade, especially when the Siege one is still so nice, and so much more readily available. So, I’ll say, if you can get it for retail, or want the whole set, it’s worth it, but it’s not enough of an improvement to make it worth braving aftermarket prices.

Skywarp

Sideswipe was an A-lister who was retooled into a pedantically accurate version of himself, and Skywarp is the opposite, a weirdly obscure pull. Here’s his story: In the second year of the Beast Wars toyline (most of which didn’t make it onto the show), there was a Maximal combiner named Magnaboss, who split into three component robots: A lion named Prowl, an elephant named Ironhide, and an eagle called Silverbolt (no relation to the noble winged wolf, also from Beast Wars).

Magnaboss then got imported by Takara as part of the Beast Wars II line, still named Magnaboss, but with a bunch of extra paint added, and the components renamed Lio Junior, Santon, and Skywarp, respectively.

They even made it into the Beast Wars II anime, which I haven’t seen, though the Transformer Wiki informs me Skywarp’s personality was that of a stuffy teacher to the young Lio Junior. This choice of character’s definitely a strange one, but I suspect it was a case of them trying to figure out who they could repaint Kingdom Airazor (reviewed here) into, and going with the Takara version of the character in case they make the other, more well-known Maximal Silverbolt in the future. In my case, I had Magnaboss as a kid, so an update to a part of that, made from one of my favorite Kingdom toolings, was something I had to check out.

Robot Mode

All things considered, this tooling looks a lot nicer than expected in these colors, and evokes the original a lot more than I thought it would. Skywarp’s mostly colored in two different shades of brown, with white accents, and the whole deco feels warmer than I’d have expected from photos. I don’t have the original anymore to compare it to, but memories tell me that they color-matched it pretty nicely.

The sculpt itself also fits better than I’d think. The fact that both Airazor and this guy had backwards bird-feet in robot mode certainly helps, and he resembles the original even more if you unfurl the wings to their full spread.

And taking out the question of accuracy, Airazor’s a dynamic sculpt, and Skywarp keeps that dynamic nature.

Skywarp only got one bit of new tooling: His head, which has a funny bit of fake kibble in the form of a second eagle head. The original had a round, silver face with his altmode head on top, and this replicates that by giving him what looks like an eagle hoodie. Impressively, the tiny eagle head replicates the sculpting of the original toy, with its “angry” eyes and forehead ridges. And, like Airazor, there’s a LOT of paint on this face to bring out all these details.

Airazor’s greatest asset was her articulation, and it’s all still present here. It’s fun to pose him mid-flight using a stand, and play around with his highly-articulated wings.

And on top of that, the QC issue I had with Airazor’s waist constantly popping out has been fixed, and Skywarp’s stays in place.

The original Skywarp/Silverbolt was armed with a pair of white blades, and missiles embedded in his wings. This has neither! Just the same wrist-rockets as Airazor, though they’re solid white to evoke the original accessories. I kind of wish he could hold them like blades, or that there were mounting points on his wings to imitate his old launchers, but no dice.

Eagle Mode

Skywarp’s transformation is still nice and involved, and it results in something of an odd bird mode.

That’s because, basically, it’s a falcon painted up to look like an eagle.

I’m no ornithologist, though, so it mostly works for me, because it’s at least got the colors right. In this mode, Skywarp’s a lot more dark brown, and features a nicely-painted white bird face with blue eyes and a yellow beak.

Like Airazor, Skywarp looks kind of dicey from the bottom, a hodgepodge of different shades of brown and white, but it’s hard to hate on a sculpt this articulated.

He’s still got a million wing joints, a massively articulated head, and it’s not hard to make this bird look good.

Overall

Skywarp’s a super deep cut, one that you’re either into it or not. I suspect this one will be easier to get on the secondary market, at least. As a Beast Fan, I’m into it, but more importantly, it’s a clever repaint of a figure that was already one of my absolute favorite Kingdom releases.

That being said, I think Airazor is still the better version of the tooling, due to general design coherence (especially in bird mode). Still, this is a great remake that shares a lot of the original’s goodness.

The Set Overall

Well, it’s two really good figures, even if they’re doing different things. If you get the set, you’re getting those two good figures, so it’s really a question of “do both of these very different ideas appeal to you?” If yes, you’ll like it, if not, well, you can always flip one of them.

However, neither’s worth mad aftermarket prices, unless you’re a big Beast Wars II fan. I will say, while fun, I don’t really consider either of these guys “essential” (well, no toys are “essential,” but you get the idea), so, if you missed the boat on them or can’t get a good price on them, it’s not worth losing sleep over.

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