I was going to review both figures in the box, but I'm undecided on whether I'm keeping Skywarp or not, so for now this thread is just for Sideswipe.

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PACKAGING
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Both figures come in a very nicely illustrated box. Unlike similar releases from Earthrise such as Dirge and Ramjet, these are instead tied down with paper ties to a cardboard tray. My instruction sheet was a little creased from the knots on the back of the tray, so that's something to be aware of if you like keeping your instructions mint.



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SIDESWIPE
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Well, there's not much to say really. If you have either the original Siege Sideswipe figure or any of it's various repaints, or the recently release Kingdom Red Alert, then you know EXACTLY what you're getting when you mess around with Kingdom Sideswipe.

His joints are a little loose on my copy, but not to the point he can't stand or hold his arms up, they just turn a little more freely than the other copies of this toy I have.



What you're getting this figure for is most likely the alt-mode. A close approximation of a Lamborghini Countach LP500S, Kingdom Sideswipe is a faithful update of his original G1 design. Unfortunately there's something about him that just looks 'off', and it's the complete lack of a spoiler. I didn't mind Red Alert missing his, but Sideswipe just looks WRONG without it. Hopefully there'll be an upgrade kit soon.




He still looks great though, and fits in great with the other Earth-mode Lamborghinis, and looks especially great next to his 'Lam-bro' Sunstreaker. Still annoyed by what the camera does to Sunstreaker's yellows...





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COMPARISON
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Sideswipe was one of the stand out figures of the Siege line, and has remained one of the best examples of a deluxe figure in the WFC trilogy. I personally was going to stick with the Siege toy, but the allure of the Countach was too strong.

When compared to the Siege figure, Kingdom Sideswipe has brighter reds, whiter whites, and more paint apps on his forehead, waist, and shins.





I'm not a huge fan of the silver behind the light blue windows. It detracts from the car being a supposed Earth vehicle when the interior looks like a solid block of nothing IMO. Darker windows would've worked better I think.

Of course, the figure still has the exact same drawbacks the original figure had. The waist piece doesn't tab in when in robot mode, and the vehicle mode STILL has those ugly black squares on the sides.

He can still use the jetpack that came with the Centurion Drone.



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OVERVIEW
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Like I said at the beginning, if you already had Siege-swipe then there's not a lot here that's different, but what is different is done very well. The Lamborghini mode is great, with the exception of the spoiler which he really does look odd without, and the robot mode is equally good looking.

I would've been fine keeping the Siege figure, but I don't regret picking up the Kingdom one in the slightest.

 

Very slick, although I do wish the intake vents were painted on him like they are on Red Alert. But considering he's far more reliant on looking similar to Sunstreaker, I can forgive it somewhat, since it'd be even weirder for one of them to have that detail painted and the other not to.

I do agree that he just looks a bit off without a spoiler in a way Red Alert doesn't, and I feel like a lot of that is just because there's not much going on with the back half of his vehicle mode. No black on the back "shutters" or the intake valves just leaves him with a big block of red that's begging for something interesting like Sunstreaker's back-mounted engine. But with people having Red Alert in their hands for a little while now, I have no doubt we'll see tons of different spoilers addons for the ER Lambro mold. I know there's already one from JRC Studios, and it's only a matter of time before Matrix Workshop and Nonnef throw their hats into the ring.

 

still really digging him, but DANG, all the remolding they did and to not apply a spoiler is just baffling, unless, possibly it's a legal consideration of getting TOO CLOSE to a proper Cuontach for Hasbro's lawyers comfort.

He and Sunstreaker just look so completely wrong without them.

as you pointed out, silver inside the window is pretty baffling, calling MORE attention to the weird tech details.

Bot modes pretty much 100% great though.

 

Good review.

I know he’s not the same as WFC Sideswipe. I know a lot of details changed. But I just can’t bring myself to want this release because I have the WfC one. Despite folks pointing out the differences, I just can’t seem to see them as different enough to justify the purchase. Especially when the WfC one isn’t all that far off from an earth car.

 

The only real value in this version of the toy is in how much you want Sideswipe to resemble Sunstreaker. If you regard the fact that they have the same car mode as very important to their aesthetic, then this version becomes more desireable (or at the very least, maybe the battle damage mismatch bothers you). But the toy itself doesn't offer any new experience, so if that's what you value more, then it's not really worth it.

 

I get that – I never got WFC Sideswipe because the alt mode annoyed me so much + I'm really digging the bright white on this version.

It was probably a bridge too far given his transformation scheme, but I really wish they'd figured out a way to get his doors on his forearms with the remold.

 

Hopefully with the rotation system Nonnef used for his siege spoilers.

 

I wonder if I'm in the minority saying this, but the big reason I went in on this was the tweaks the chest pieces on SS and RA just simply look way better more squared like the MP figures. Getting both weapons and the brighter paint jobs help.

I don't know if I would go further in on rebuying the Lambos, other than maybe the G2 SS just happened to come out in a non-frustrating manner. But I am all over a Clampdown if it's from the Kingdom mold.

 

Sideswipe is definitely worth it, had him for a while, hell, I even saved painting the Centurion jetpack until a proper Earth version came along...well worth the wait in the end.

I'm just saying that if you really liked Siege Sideswipe and are craving one with better and brighter colors PLUS he matches his brother then this figure is right for you.

Maybe it's just my love for the character talking but I can definitely see this being a high contender for one of my favorite figures of all time.

 

LazyEyeBrow have 3d printed spoiler for him. After adding some missing paint apps, Sideswipe looks nicer paired with the other lambos.

 

Anyone else have QC issues? The backend doesn’t tab together for me and splits the back.

 

Looks nice! Got a link where these can be obtained?

 

I'll chime in with my own pics. There's not much to say that DaftRaider didn't already. Good update to the line. If you like the lambos (lambos before bros) then a definite buy with Maximal Skywarp.

 

Just got mine today. Only gripe is the torso not tabbing in at all and popping out. Other than that, he's exactly what I expected.

 

Terrific pics. Not to derail the thread but curious how you were able to so finely and cleanly paint the black on Sunstreaker's shoulders? Would love to mirror what you did.

 

Thank you! I honestly just used a thin brush and free handed it all, no masking or anything. I guess years of being an artist led to my hands being extremely steady in this case.

 

My K. Sideswipe seems to go together fine and has no obvious loose joints. Only thing I'm not real crazy about is the blue under the windshield (or that pattern beneath it, a design concept which also plagues ER Sunstreaker and SS86 Kup). Anyhow, I am considering swapping the launchers between him and K. Red Alert. I wouldn't mind a version of this that keeps the legs of the Siege mold and the upper body/front vehicle of the Kingdom.

+-MWG-+

 

This isn't a full-on review, more of a quick impression.

Admittedly, I was not excited with the notion of re-buying Sideswipe for his Earth mode, knowing that he was a slight re-tool of the already excellent WFC Siege mold. It was perhaps the first time in my ordering any Transformers where I had zero anticipation of when he arrived. But here we are today and I must say it is AMAZING how a little adjustments can elevate an already good representation of a G1 classic.
While I would have loved to collect all of the Masterpiece TF's (I only own first Prime, Megs, Prowl and Shockwave), there is something satisfying about seing Sideswipe close to the size of his original toy, but with cartoon accuracy, amazing detail and the full-on range of poses. The whites on this pop beautifully, really bringing to light how drab the Siege version is, with it's "battle damage smudges" and muted tones.


The completest in me needed this version to further push my agenda of collecting the original Ark crew. With the upcoming Mirage due to hit soon, my outlook has gone from a simple "meh" to a strong interest on what he'll be like in-hand!

 

I knew what to expect mold wise because of Kingdom Red Alert.

Nothing prepared me for that deep dark slightly supersaturated shade of red (it's glorious) though as all the pictures look like a slightly darker shade of G1 red.

I've wanted something like this for decades. Unboxing it was a magical experience that took me all the way back to the 80s when I opened G1 Sideswipe.

As expected, the white paint doesn't match the plastic (the paint is like super ultra mega mega blued white). My Nonnef weapons are a slightly warmer (redder shade of white) but, that can be fixed at some point with paint and, it's not a big deal because weapons/accessories look odd to me when they are an exact match to the main deco. I'm only mentioning it because someone somewhere will want to know.

Fantastic toy, 10/10 would buy again.