Retro Bot Reviews: Transformers: Siege Deluxe Sideswipe

Originally written way, way back in February 2019.

Sideswipe occupies an odd place in the canon of Transformers, in that he’s an unusually popular, prominent character, despite not having much to him in terms of characterization, or appearances in the cartoon or the comics. He was a part of the very original group of 1984 characters, which automatically earns him a bit of popularity. Personality-wise, according to his various profiles over the years, he’d a warrior who’s kind of boisterous, but outside of that, he has has literally never done much or been very present in much media. He’s a C-lister with A-lister representation.

I have a theory about that, though, and it has to do with his design. On every aesthetic level, Sideswipe is the quintessential classic Autobot. He’s a heroic red sportscar that transforms into a robot, and even his transformation elements, like having his car’s hood on his chest, are familiar and universal. If someone thinks of Transformers, and they aren’t specifically thinking of one of the big few characters (Optimus, Bumblebee, etc.)., they’re probably thinking of someone that looks like him. Also, most of his toys tend to be really, really good. Important or not, his design makes for a slick figure. He was even the first of the smaller Masterpiece cars, ahead of more prominent characters like Hot Rod or Ratchet.

Naturally, as an inadvertent poster boy for the brand, he’s a part of the first series of the Transformers: Siege toyline, Hasbro and Takara’s love letter to the collector’s market, featuring the best-possible interpretations of classic characters.

Robot Mode

Admittedly, size-wise, Sideswipe’s kind of puny for a Deluxe, but he still looks good, with a svelte sculpt, mostly. I say mostly, because he’s got a skinny body with a backpack that juts out sideways from his back, expanding his silhouette a bit oddly, something the Masterpiece iteration of the design fixed by making it fold and compress a bit more.

In fact, it looks like the designers started with his Masterpiece figure, and scaled the design down, particularly with his headsculpt, which looks like a straight copy. This is a good thing , though, and the rest of his design looks equally slick, even parts that could have come off as awkward, like his hood-chest, which can be too broad on other designs. It’s also a surprisingly clean design, without the piles of sculpted-in tech detailing the rest of Siege is known for.

Color-wise, they’ve muted Sideswipe’s usual red-and-white appearance a little bit. He now sports a dark red, a creamy off-white, and black and silver. An aesthetic choice of the Siege line is to make its figures look combat-worn, and in Sideswipe’s case, this translates into metallic silver paint brushed onto his feet and waist, looking like worn-out metal, and it’s a look which he wears well.

Like the rest of the line, his articulation is excellent, and above previous mainline Transformers standards, with the expected knees, hips, shoulders, arms and head augmented with those wonderful ankle tilts, so he can stably stand with his legs spread out. He doesn’t have swiveling wrists like some of the larger Siege figures, but I wasn’t expecting them at this size. His waist is jointed a bit oddly to me, in that, while it twists, the actual joint is well below where a human waist turns.

So, Sideswipe’s well-painted, well-articulated, and for the most part, very stable. The one exception is that his chest doesn’t actually lock down. It seems like it’s supposed to (there’s a rectangular peg, and a rectangular hole inside his gut), but the expected fit and snap doesn’t actually happen. On one hand, the figure’s design means it doesn’t flop around, or come undone or anything, it still stays put, but it’s a bit of a disappointment on a figure that’s otherwise meticulously engineered.

In terms of accessories, Sideswipe feels a bit under-armed. He has a two-piece non-firing rocket launcher, with a black base and red rocket, sculpted like his classic launcher, that can fit on either of his shoulders, but thanks to some pegs on its side, only works on his right side. That’s where it’s supposed to go, anyway, according to his classic design. Sadly, the launcher can’t elevate, like many previous versions of the character, and is stuck pointing straight forwards. The rocket itself can detach, and be held in his hand like a smaller laser pistol, to accompany his shoulder launcher. The launcher itself can also be held in his hand, and you can give him one large gun, or two smaller guns. Still, it really feels like he should have come with one more accessory, to give him his full shoulder launcher and a handheld weapon at once. On the other hand, that’s what the line’s gimmick is: Different weapon expansions being sold alongside the figures, so you can further arm them beyond what they come with. To that end, he’s got mounting points beneath his feet, on his upper and lower arms, on his lower legs, and on his back, perfect for swapping in weapons from other sets in the line.

Transformation

It’s a pretty simple, straightforward transformation, not that that’s bad, at all. It’s basically just an evolved form of his original toy’s transformation: Fold the hood up, fold the legs in and around, hide the arms in him, that’s it. It’s nice and simple, but with enough going on to feel satisfying. Curiously, his transformation exposes lots of hidden tech detail on stuff you wouldn’t usually see, only visible here, like wires and panels.

Vehicle Mode

That quick transformation changes Sideswipe into a sleek red sports car. According to the designers and promotional copy, this is supposed to be a Cybertronian vehicle, from before the Transformers came to Earth. In practice, though, it looks like one of those modern, expensive, concept vehicles very rich people own. Basically, it could be Earthly or alien, though those nicely-painted silver rims make it look earthly to me.

Outside of those silver rims, he’s got a lot less white and a lot more red in this mode, as well as a smoky clear plastic windshield that exposes tech patterns sculpted into his interior.

For features, he rolls nicely, and comes with mounting points for his weapons on his roof, and on his sides. He doesn’t have any dedicated storage for his weapons, though, so you either peg them into some of these holes, or discard them. To the credit of the designers, these holes feel like they should be intrusive in this form, yet somehow manage to not be.

Overall

Sideswipe is kind of simple, and kind of small, but this simple, straightforward design is executed well, and looks nice. While it feels like he could be more ambitious, he instead focuses on doing what he does as well as he can, and does it well. He’s marred by one annoying issue in his robot mode (that non-locking chest), he could use more weapons (which you can buy), could be bigger, but he’s as as well-done as the rest of Siege. While I don’t consider him the best Siege Deluxe (I think that honor goes to Ratchet), he’s still a very good one. Much like the character is the definitive classic Autobot, this is your definitive Deluxe Sideswipe.