Well, to get things started, Red Alert is our first look at the Earth mode retool of Siege Sideswipe, and since everyone (and their dog) has handled a copy of that mold by now, there really are no surprises, engineering wise. Much of the basic structure is shared by its predecessors, but, really, that's OK! It's always been a solid mold and that continues on here, too.

That said, this has always been a solid mold, and that continues on to this iteration.



As a long time fan of the Countach, Red totally looks the part. Everything looks the way it should, and while the spoiler is a disappointing omission, that's a problem that is easily fixed. Mine has a bit of an alignment issue where the black sections on the sides don't quite line up, but that could be simple tolerances, and could vary figure to figure.





Put up against Siege Red Alert, the colours on Kingdom do pop more. The white is just a bit whiter, but the red (what little of it there is) is definitely more vibrant. Siege does have a bit more deco appeal with the red section, though.



Once in robot mode, Red Alert lives up more to his name with red in the arms and legs. The eyes (as well as the car mode lights) are painted in a teal, and the shins get a grey finish. If you're a stickler for toon or toy accuracy, you may find the deco choices off-putting (though I'm certainly not bothered). He comes with the full weapon loadout of the mold, with the rifle, as well as the shoulder cannon. Kinda feels like it's about time.

Joint tolerances on mine feel good with nothing overly tight or loose, and articulation is every bit the same as before. Nothing too exciting, which is totally ok.



Standing next to Siege Red Alert, the deco differences are quite apparent. I do prefer Kingdom's layout as it is more eye catching, though that's totally subjective.

Overall, I am pleased with what we have here. I'm happy for the upgrade and eagerly looking forward to Kingdom Sideswipe later this year!

 

I love the red hips and arms, I found the Siege robot mode a bit dull in terms of color. That said, I wish this version had the red detailing and hubcaps of the Siege vehicle mode.

 

The red arms and thighs do look a lot better than I thought they did originally, but I still want a more cartoon-accurate deco, so I'll be on the lookout for Siege Red Alert for some parts swapping. He looks really good, though, and the teal headlights are a nice touch.

Any chance at comparisons with his partner-in-firefighting?

 

Of course that was the set of pics I never took today! It'll have to wait until next week, or if someone else from the community can do it first!  

But they DO make a good pair!

 

In a lot of the earlier comparison photos he appeared to be a smidge taller then the other mold is that the case or was it just photo angle?

 

I'm thinking it was just the photo angles, since the basic structure of the robot is exactly the same as Siege. I took these earlier, if it helps:

 

IMO Siege has the better vehicle mode, but Kingdom has the better reboot mode.

 

Is the head of the Kingdom version painted red or cast in red plastic?

 

I'll have to double check, but I felt like the head was painted red since it looked to be the same shade of red as the car hood paint as opposed to the duller red of the arms and legs.

 

Huh, weird color choice for the shins. I'm kinda into it though.

 

Wasn't a big fan of the Kingdom Sideswipe, But this looks really nice.

 

I going to switch the red arms out for some white ones. I get why they had to be red, being part of the same mold as as the legs, but I don’t like it.

 

I'm actually loving the red arms and legs way more than I thought I would. Kingdom Red Alert is totally a worthy replacement for Siege Red Alert.

 

My Kingdom Red Alert with his arms swapped out for the Netflix Red Alert arms

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IIRC the Heads are on the shin & feet sprue so would be cast in grey here so are painted.

 

Finally got Kingdom Red Alert from TCP. Swapped some parts with tigertracks and painted his upper biceps red in an attempt to make him more g1 cartoon accurate. Also gave him nonnef weapons.

Before:


After:


All in all, he’s a great figure and I love how he looks with his fellow Kingdom mate Inferno.

 

I must be one of the lucky few that don't own one of the Siege versions of this mold  

But I did pick up Red Alert yesterday. First impression: why is his head so deep in his torso? If you look at him straight from the front, his mouth is barely above his chestplate.
I do like this little bot, though, both in robot and in carmode. However, the shouldercannon looks weird when you put it on his right shoulder, with the 5mm peg behind his head. But then I found out you can put that red part also on the other side of the base, which makes it look a lot nicer.

Some pics may follow soon.

Oh, and did they stop giving those collectors cards with the Kingdom deluxes? Not that I really collect those, but I was just wondering why there isn't one in the box. I think there was one with Arcee.

 

Well, I wouldn't say you're lucky for not having had the mold before now. Even in Siege getup, this was always a very sound carbot, doing everything quite well. You DO save on not buying characters over and over again, though!  

Yeah, the Siege version also suffers from that deep seated noggin. I do wish that was corrected somehow with the Earth remold, but sadly that wasn't the case.

I think it's just exclusives that don't get cards. People said that T-Wrecks is the same way.

 

well, I didn't pick one up cos I just dont like the Cybertronian cars. I prefer the earthmodes. From the Prowl/Smokescreen/Bluestreak/Barricade siege mold, I only have the sparkless bot, the rest I have from Earthrise (except barricade. I dont need him).

But yes, if the siege-mold for Red Alert is almost the same as the Kingdom version, then it sure is a nice bot, the transformation is quite good.