Binaltech BT02 Lambor

OK, here's where Binaltech gets a little confusing. It seems that, when Takara first approached Lamborghini with the concept of the line, their application for a license was flatly rejected... They had similar responses from several vehicle manufacturers, and were working with the Dodge Viper as an alternative to the Corvette Z06 for Tracks. Somewhere along the lines, GM changed their mind, so Tracks got pushed back in the schedule to accommodate the ideal vehicle mode, and so the Dodge Viper alternate mode was repurposed as Sideswipe - or Lambor, as he's known in Japan.

Of course, he was called 'Lambor' because that was short for Lamborghini... only now he's something else entirely...

TransFormers Adventure VS04 'Joint Struggle' Sideswipe & Stepper

Having bought one of Takara Tomy's TransFormers Adventure 'Versus' packs - Drift Origin Mode & Jazz Battle Mode - at the first TFNation, I had a quick look at the others, but didn't see much that tickled my fancy. It helped, in a way, that there just weren't that many RID2015 figures that I'm at all interested in - TAV VS01 was Bumblebee and Steeljaw, VS02 was Grimlock and Gregevor (the latter, aka Greejeeber - a reference to the G1 Combaticon repaint Rollbar/Jeeber who formed part of RID/Car Robots' Baldigus/Ruination - being a Decepticon repaint of Strongarm), VS03 was Strongarm and Phantomjaw (a police-type repaint of Steeljaw), none of which lit my candle in the least, and there were only four unique molds across the three pairs. VS04, however, was a two pack of figures I knew to be tolerable, one of which was a rerelease of Takara Tomy's more screen-accurate Sideswipe, while the other was the almost inevitable repaint of Jazz into Stepper/Ricochet.

Having been grossly disappointed by Hasbro's version of Sideswipe, and being curious to own at least one version of Stepper/Ricochet, I dug this set up on eBay more or less on a whim... But was it a good move..?

Hunt for the Decepticons Sidearm Sideswipe

Revenge of the Fallen's take on the G1 character Sideswipe wasn't exactly a fan favourite. Everything about him was wrong, from the make of car to its paint job, from the look of the robot to the minimal characterisation. The original version of the toy wasn't brilliant, with a couple of clumsy, boring Mech Alive gimmicks and huge chunks of car panels hanging off its back, but Hasbro decided to take a mulligan in the Hunt for the Decepticons subline, creating a version of the character with guns rather than swords, and tidying up much of the transformation scheme.

Revenge of the Fallen Swerve

Back when I wrote about the original Deluxe RotF Sideswipe, very nearly eight full years ago and less than a year into this blog, I noted that the Corvette Stingray would look awesome in red, since that would have been a far more fitting colour for Sideswipe. It didn't take too long for Hasbro to release a red repaint, albeit as a difference character... Though, in a lot of ways, it looks more like a cheeky way of producing a more G1-referential version of movie Sideswipe considering Swerve had traditionally been a truck rather than a sports car...

Robots in Disguise (2015) Sideswipe

I genuinely intended to skip RID2015 completely. The look of the TV series - not to mention its focus on Bumblebee as team leader - just doesn't appeal to me. Then again, I said that about TransFormers Animated before sitting down to watch some episodes, and that won me over just enough to get me collecting the toys. RID2015 might be just as entertaining but, for the moment, at least, I don't feel inclined to give it a try.

The toys, meanwhile, look pretty terrible - cheaper-looking construction than TFAnimated, more simplistic than many of the TFPrime toys and the design generally has been a real let-down... but, on the upside, that's one toyrange I can save money on, allowing me to focus more on the likes of Combiner Wars.

Then Sideswipe came along... and, while I've heard and read lots of bad things about the toy, it looked interesting enough to be worthy of a closer look...

TransFormers Collectors' Club OTFCC 2003 Sunstreaker & Sideswipe

It's funny to think that there was an annual BotCon before the current license-holders, Fun Publications, took it on, developing it into the bonanza of boxed-set toys it is now. Originally a small-scale affair with no real star guests, it led to the formation of a company whose raison d'etre was to run BotCon and which, in 2002, became Hasbro's officially licensed TransFormers convention operator (albeit operating under the less catchy name "The Official TransFormers Collectors' Convention" because the company split and the guys who owned the name 'BotCon' were no longer involved. Shortly thereafter, the company lost its license, and Fun Publications jumped in.

I only have a few of the pre-FunPub exclusives - these two and 2002's Tap Out - and it seems they're neither highly regarded or much sought-after. I have to confess that I probably only bought these because of one of my strange OCD issues: When it comes to TransFormers Lamborghinis, I've gotta catch 'em all...

Henkei Lambor

Nowadays, when folks refer to 'The Twins', they're invariably speaking of the much-maligned Skids and Mudflap from Revenge of the Fallen. Back in the days of Generation 1, however, 'The Twins' were Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, the brutally effective fighting team who somehow managed to be Autobots, despite their obvious penchant for violence. I don't recall anything being made of their status as 'brothers' in either the G1 TV series or the Marvel comics... and in the IDW series where Sunstreaker seems to get blown up, Sideswipe isn't even around to see it, let alone offer any kind of reaction... Still, better that than street-talkin' stupidity and slapstick 'humor'...

Human Alliance Sideswipe

It's a very strange thing... First, you have the announcement that Sideswipe would be appearing in Revenge of the Fallen (good news), then that he would take the form of the Corvette Stingray (interesting news, since that car would be more appropriate for Tracks) and that it would be silver, rather than Sideswipe's trademark red (messing with the character)... Then the design appeared... and it looked pretty awesome, then the film happened, and many people wondered what the point had been - he had maybe two lines in the whole film and, while his assault upon poor Sideways was no doubt impressive, it served as evidence that the Autobots were little more than a bunch of vicious killers.

Toy-wise, Sideswipe has been a mixed bag. The original Deluxe - already repainted several times - was a bit of a let-down in terms of poseability and stability, then the Sidearm version was a huge improvement, but still not great... So how does the larger-format Human Alliance version stack up?

Revenge of the Fallen Sideswipe

One of the first wave Deluxes from the new movie line is controversial for several reasons - not least that, while it's a popular character choice, the make and colour of his alternate mode don't match the G1 original, being more suited to another G1 character, Tracks. The design of his robot mode - particularly the animal-style legs and wheel feet - has given him a 'love him or loathe him' element and, for the record, I love it.