Review: #740
Name: Sideways
Brand: Transformers
Allegiance: Decepticon
Line: Generations - Studio Series
Year of Release: 2022
Size Class: Deluxe (Wave 17)
Mold Status: new
VEHICLE MODE:
Sideways transforms into a generic sports car bearing a resemblance to the Audi R8 from the movie, Hasbro couldn't (or didn't) get the licensing for him.
This is a really nice car, thanks to the liberal amount of metallic silver paint.
The robot weapon can loosely peg onto the back, but looks quite awkward there. Still better than nothing, since the bottom of vehicle mode is packed and there's no space left.
While the car looks quite good from the front, you can see that the back end just kind of ends abruptly, making the car feel a bit too short. There are also heaps of panel lines breaking up the surface, making the vehicle look messy.
Nevertheless, this is a nice looking vehicle.
TRANSFORMATION:
Not too complicated or simple, the sides, including both front and rear wheels, form the robot arms. The way the front wheels fold into the forearm, with the bigger claw hands is quite clever. The front folds to form the chest, while the rear and roof compacts into a backpack. The legs are just from inside the car, and so is quite skinny as a result.
ROBOT MODE:
The robot mode looks great, and some of the silver carries across, but is mostly dark unpainted plastic that isn't bad at all.
Most of the mass is in the upper body, including the compressed car panels that acts as a backpack. It sits flush against the body though so isn't in the way at all.
The head sculpt is a bit messy, not helped by it completely being painted silver, blending the details together.
Unfortunately, Sideways is small, very short and small. Above is a comparison against Siege Deluxe Sideswipe.
As part of the Studio Series line, he comes with a cardboard stand, depicting his one and only scene from ROTF.
Articulation is fine, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, hands, waist, hips, knees and ankles.
He comes with a gun, and it's a fairly big one at that.
The reason is that the gun covers his hand, so it appears integrated. It's a neat idea, although since his arms are already quite long, this makes it even longer.
Unfortunately, due to the design of Sideways and the inconsistent quality control, you'll mostly like have a figure with weak ankle balljoints, so that he easily keels over.
It's not fun when he loses his balance and that is his greatest flaw, otherwise, this is another strong figure in the Studio Series line.
OVERALL:
Sideways is a nice figure. It's a shame that his vehicle mode couldn't be licensed but the designer has done a decent job at making a cool looking car that resembles the actual vehicle. The robot mode is also good, but the poor quality control strikes again meaning it's luck of the draw on whether you can get a figure that easily stands on its own, or one that constantly face plants itself.
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