Review: #328
Name: Sideswipe vs. Anvil
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Autobot vs. Decepticon
Line: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Year of Release: 2016
Size Class: Commander vs. Mini-Con (Mini-Con Battle Packs Wave 1)
Mold Status: new
ANVIL:
Let's start with Anvil first since he'll be quick and easy. He is a Mini-Con and transforms into a spiked spheroid.
In this mode, he can be launched by Deployer Crazybolt or Overload. Otherwise, this alt-mode is pretty rubbish.
Transforming Anvil into robot mode is very easy, you unfold the halves of the shelve and they are geared to automatically fold down the legs. Although you will still need to flip down the feet.
He has the two halves of the sphere as kibble and there is no poseability whatsoever.
There is a lot of sculpted detailing but while the sphere halves are meant to act as wings or a cape, it doesn't work that well since his arms are pinned to his sides.
As a Mini-Con alone, Anvil isn't much fun, you really need a Deployer figure for the interaction.
SIDESWIPE - VEHICLE MODE:
Onto Sideswipe, who transforms into the familiar red sports car with bright blue windows.
The only play value in this mode is the rolling wheels. Unfortunately, there's no way to attach the armor in this mode which seemed like an oversight that you have to put it aside.
This is a brand new mold although it is heavily based around the engineering of the smaller Legion figure.
Sideswipe is approximate Commander sized. Above is a size comparison with Prime Commander Dreadwing.
Still an attractive sleek vehicle. He feels solid in your hands and is pretty good for what he is.
SIDESWIPE - TRANSFORMATION:
As mentioned, this version of Sideswipe borrows heavily from the Legions figure. There are a few little tweaks such as elbows and the fact that the vehicle hood is hinged slightly differently but all in all, transforms pretty much identically. This means that it is simple to convert Sideswipe between modes and fun to boot.
SIDESWIPE - ROBOT MODE:
Sideswipe's robot looks absolutely fantastic. The Legion was already good, but the upsizing worked really well here, and hazard to say even better looking than the larger Warrior figure.
Unfortunately he carries the vehicle hood as a massive piece of kibble on his back and it doesn't even peg in, it just sits there loosely...
The headsculpt is nice and he can turn his head from side to side.
When compared to the Legion version you can see similarities but also there are a lot of marked improvements including better proportions.
He is approximately the size of a Commander in robot mode, not quite up to the bulkiness of the older Scouts but definitely a bit more mass than previous Commanders.
Poseability is excellent, and unlike the Legion toy, he has good solid feet and knees so he doesn't fall backwards that easily.
Unfortunately the stability doesn't extend to when you're trying to do really dynamic poses. His shoulders also have an amazing range of articulation.
The key gimmick of this set is the additional transparent armor which comes in seven pieces.
Attaching them to Sideswipe you get a powered up robot that has a distinct samurai influence.
He retains most of the articulation when he has his armor. Sideswipe only really loses his head articulation thanks to the helmet being attached to the chest armor.
He has a club weapon in this mode in addition to the claws. Sideswipe looks so much more powerful in this mode.
The black and red color scheme works well. If you think about it, there isn't really that much paint applications in robot mode so the fact that it doesn't look bland is quite an achievement.
The key feature of this set is the rivalry between Sideswipe and Anvil. Sideswipe is supposed to be fighting Anvil and capturing him.
Of course, you can also only attach specific pieces of armor to Sideswipe as you see fit. Sideswipe can hold the club as a weapon normally.
You can also attach the claw weapons which look really cool and powerful.
The other thing you can do with the armor pieces is to combine it into a massive weapon.
It turns into a claw type weapon for Sideswipe to wield. Thankfully, Sideswipe's balljointed elbows are strong enough to support the weight of the weapon.
It actually feels a bit scary disassembling the weapon since it is in clear plastic and the plastic tolerances are tight when you're pegging and unpegging the posts.
Guessing that this mode is what Sideswipe will use to actually grab onto and capture Anvil...
A fantastic robot mode where the simplicity works and the armor massively increases play value.
OVERALL:
This set, if you can get it on sale, is a lot of fun. Excluding Anvil who is more of a write-off, the Sideswipe figure is well engineered even if it did borrow a lot of its engineering. Nevertheless, the additional armor pieces make the robot mode very versatile and just heaps of fun.
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