Has anyone tried swapping his wheels with the Siege version so that he has the red rims? I like how this guy looks in robot mode, but the vehicle modes looks super sparse compared to the Siege figure, and that swap might help break up the large patches of white a little more

 

well, they were going for an earthmode for the vehicle, not a clownmode.

 

Just got this figure as a first experience with the lambo mould in general.

My copy doesn't like to tab the torso in at the waist section (if that's supposed to secure things in robot mode) and I have similar rear section alignment issues for alt. mode that the OP has, but I'm quite pleased with how he turns out in-hand. Vangelus' much lauded/praised "workhorse deluxe" does exactly what he is meant to do without any extraneous bells or whistles and transforms quickly and efficiently. The white on the gray shins is painted (mine had stringy bits peeling) and the head looks to share a sprue with the gray pieces and be completely painted red/silver/teal as a result. I prefer his shoulder missile plugged in on his left so the 5 mm peg isn't mashing into the back of his head.

Pretty solid toy overall.  

 

So this is my first exposure to this mold as I was away from collecting when Siege was a thing.

I have to say, I love this figure. My only nitpicks on the figure are:
- could have used a bit more articulation.
- wish the shoulder area was painted white vs black to have it look great in alt mode.
- wish that it had a spoiler.

Getting that out of the way, this thing is Fantastic.

- Transformation is simple and intuitive and love how quickly it could be done. I know it’s not for everyone, but I love me a good transformation with no need to over complicate it.

- Bot mode looks great. Not sure what else to say but that.


- Alt mode is as close as we are getting to a Lamborghini without getting a license.


Super happy to have him.

 

Got my copy in today, and it's my first real proper look at the mold, as the only Sideswipe mold I'd interacted with prior was my cousin's Netflix Sideswipe without any weapons. I really like this guy, he's got a very competent transformation and looks gorgeous. I won't lie, I was one of the people who was poo-pooing the color choices, but with him in-hand I take it all back. The white is nice and bright, and the red breaks up the white/black very well. The grey is a bit unfortunate, but I'm not too bothered by it. While the lack of a spoiler has bothered me a ton in pictures, he actually looks really good without it in hand. Still looks a bit off, but it doesn't feel like there's a glaring error like how so many pictures might make it feel. Still am gonna buy one of the million and one upgrades to give him a spoiler, though.

My main thing is that his shoulder cannon just doesn't look right, but there's a reason 3P kits exist. Might be time to order a couple sets of Nonnef's shoulder cannons for Red Alert and Sideswipe.

 

I was really surprised to learn that he had a new warhead, without the molded handle that Siege Sideswipe's had.

 

Just for fun… who needs MPs?

 

I still do not understand the reason behind not doing those shoulder/torso connection pieces in a color that matches the car mode. If they were in white they would match and blend in with the hood/chest in bot mode and the car mode would be clean without those big black blocks along the sides. It also feels pretty lazy that HasTak made no effort to give him a spoiler in his earth mode as that really would have been a win across this, Sideswipe, and whatever other releases of this mold are yet to come.

I like mine fine. The red forearms are a nice touch. My only real issue with the mold from a functional standpoint is that on my copy the abdomen piece doesn't firmly connect to the body when you swing the hood down. It stays ok thanks to gravity and the little bit of friction that it has but it comes loose as you handle the figure and is just definitely not as firm as on any of my siege versions.

 

Got mine in and he's great, but my one qualm with him is that the waist piece doesn't tab in.

Otherwise he's a great upgrade to the Siege version that I now hafta get rid of.  

 

I haven’t decided what to do about them. Red Alert is different enough he could just be a vague Cybertronian medic, but Sideswipe I’m not sure. G2 and Netflix Deep Cover are sticking around.

Here’s hoping they do Clampdown with the Kingdom mold though.

 

Pros:
* All the good stuff about Siege Sideswipe/Alert ( solid design, no-stress transformation, nice looks in either mode)
* Selection of weapons/accessories - launcher, rifle, light bar.
* Updated Lambo car car mode is pretty nice, and matches well next to ER Sunstreaker.

Cons:
* All the issues of the Siege mold (broad upper body, black 'chunks' in car mode, chest does not lock into place for robot mode.
* Front and back half of car mode doesn't line up easily for me, and the black plastic of the shoulder joints stand out even more obviously in car mode than on the Siege toys.
* Wish the car mode had a rear spoiler of some sort, Car hood deco is a bit blurry on mine, and it could use some paint on the tail lights.
* Gray panels on fronts of shins look a bit out of place to me, an accentuate the gaps near the tires, though not that badly in person. Updated car hood makes a big chest look even bigger.

Overall:
* It's pretty safe to say that if you like the Siege mold, you won't have many problems with this one. The differences of this mold from the Siege design kinda hit home how it's not really that different from the Siege mold at all, and borders on pointless for those not heavily focused on small details. If you really want "Earth" Red Alert, her you go, but if you already have the Siege version and aren't overly picky, you could pass on it just as easily.

 

What everyone else has said - if you've played with the Siege mold, you know what you're getting.

Honestly, the biggest "improvement" is doing away with those "spikes" on the "doors" that fold up behind the torso, since they ain't gonna snap off anymore lol, but you trade that off for a car mode that doesn't go together nearly as cleanly.

Other than that, this version is a lateral shift and really only "essential" if you're horny for Earthmodes or are some kind of psychotic Red Alert/Lambro completionist.

 

Love the figure.

A mini mp.

 

I agree: I have all of the Siege->Earthrise Prowls and Ironhides and I can see why they saved Sideswipe for last/exclusive -- it definitely feels the least necessary to me. In hand, the robot mode looks more like a redeco than a remold except for the shape of the chest (I guess that's true for ironhide too), and for car mode, I actually really like the rounded look and raised air intakes of the Siege mold and think it looks fine with the group of the earthrise cars (but I don't have much of an eye for 80's cars).

Some of the remolding feels like a regression, too:
* the car doors that swing up to transform and in behind the chest are designed differently -- the cut-out is inverted -- so they are squared off to match the rest of the car mode and this catches like a stop on the clear plastic a little when transforming
* the chest hood hides a little more of the face when looking straight on
* they somewhat inexplicably added another tab for joining the two legs together (by the feet), which makes it more awkward transform since I do the tab on the Siege one as a slide-in rather than a press-in
* the chest tab doesn't even push in at all on mine, while on Siege it at least pushes in (but doesn't really hold)
* this may just be mine, but the left elbow is squeaky tight

I almost regret getting it and am thinking about canceling Sideswipe (except I've already got all of the other remolds....). However, on the plus side, I do actually like the redeco (brighter and more red in robot mode, and brighter white), and the creamy white of siege sideswipe looks a little off next to everyone earthrise. And the thing that's IMO coolest about it is that they did a great job matching this to Sunstreaker, and really nailed the "same alt mode -> different robot modes" effect.

 

This is correct and is easily the best thing about these retools. I don't think we've had a Sunstreaker/Sideswipe pair that had the same altmode but different engineering since... uh.... G1, I guess? Every other time they've just been retools of each other to some degree.

So that is really neat, but it's prrrrrrobably not worth paying scalper prices for those Amazon 2-packs to get a Sideswipe, at least IMO.

(I'll be getting the 2-pack because I do want a matched set of the twins but also Maximal Skywarp is weird and interesting and I sort of want him just as a TFing bald eagle that I can then put my own personality spin on etc. - they're basically going to be a fairly straight take on Stephen Colbert's old gimmick.)

 

Finally FINALLY got him from fedex today,. Looks great, but i've noticed that his chest pannel attaches even more loosely than the siege versions of the mold.

I swear i've seen discussion about what's wrong and possibly fixable about it on the boards but I can't find it. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

 

Kinda

I noticed with the mold that you have to slightly push the chest plate in order to secure it tightly. Tigertracks and Deep cover are similar. That's what I do but not sure if this is what you mean

 

I mean I'm pushing as push as I can. It doesnt tab or secure or anything.

 

No it's kinda friction that holds it or gravity. Not tabs in the way some of the older car bots had like say g1 hot rod whose chest tabbed into the waist

 

I just realized last night… Red is missing his light bar. Is it supposed to be on him in the box or did I throw it away with the packaging? I got a $9 Siege one from Walmart on the way. Do they have the same light bar?