ROTF.Human.Alliance.Sideswipe Pt.2

This is part 2 of ROTF Human alliance Sideswipe review. Part 2 will take a closer look at the transformation and the robot mode.







Transformation:

Human alliance Sideswipe was clearly built for its vehicle mode. There are few part lines on the vehicle chassis. Hasbro had clearly planned and design it in such a way that the vehicle mode is clean, free of unsightly split lines. Even where places with split lines, they are conceived and looks like part of the body.

To start, the entire root section is being lifted and turned to the car rear.

This is followed by pulling the rear wheels out to form the arms after which the entire car chassis is being separated from the inner core.


The inner core forms the basic of the robot spline.


Turning the toy around will reveal the details. The rear of the vehicle forms the shoulders and chest area.

The legs are then extended. Lower section is folded inwards to form his skates.


Robot mode:

There were mix reviews about how the robot mode look. I would give Hasbro 5 stars for keeping the vehicle clean from unsightly split lines but in terms of robot mode, its BAD! The robot mode suffered badly due to fact that the outer shell has to be kept in "one piece". This results in the clam shell hanging over his back like a "turtle" or whatever that you can imagine. I would rather that they make it detachable to form a shield or something.

The front looks sleek and movie accurate. The back as highlighted earlier had a huge clam shell hanging over his back. The lower limbs are shorter that normal. I did extend the legs but they are still short.

Other than his twin blades, Sideswipe is also packed with firepower too. On his left shoulder is the blaster that is used by the Human figurine. On his right is the missile launcher.

The head design is one of the best design in the movie series. It resemble the head of a dragon in some ways. On the top right of the head, there is a Cybertron tattoo which might have some meaning to it.

Taking a closer look at the details, you can see how well define they are.

Left: Both  arms are equiped with blades that were used to cut through sideways. There are some gimmicks to it which i will show you later. Right: At the lower part of the body, you can find 4 rubber connectors that connects to the legs. These might look cool but it actually restricts the movement of the leg area.

The leg to the feet is very detailed. i like the piston extension that they made. The piston can be seem in the picture on the right.

Gimmicks not explained in Instructions;

There are a couple of unexplained features in this toy. some had some rationale some hasn't. Below are some that I found.

1) The face plate can actually be pulled up from the chin to unmask. The unmask face design looks a bit odd though.

2) There is a gear set at the wrist area of both arm. the gear will only be engaged when you push the hands inwards. Picture on the right shows the position of the rivet when it is connected.

When the geat is connected, turn the wheel to rotate the blades. Very cool gimmick.

3) There are many pegs on the arms area that are meant for the human figure.

Pegs on the arm for figurine to attached to.

 

Pegs on the seat for figurine to be secured when seated.

Sideswipe do not have the best articulation for posing. I tried several movie pose but either the arms movements are restricted by the shoulders or the legs are restricted by the rubber joints. Not something I expect who shows great flexibility in the movie. Disappointing stuff.

To the battle field together. 

Combine forces works better than alone.