General Information:
As Hasbro tries to retake many of its lost Transformers copyrights and trademark names, they are reusing many classic names for Armada characters. The latest Transformer to take on a name from the first Generation is Sideswipe, who is paired with a Mini-Con named after yet, another Generation One character: Nightbeat. Fans were actually worried for a bit when the RID Spychanger Side Swipe was released. Although close, the space between the two words in the name seemed to indicate the original "Sideswipe" name had been lost. It's nice to see that Hasbro still has it,especially if they're going to reissue the classic toy down the line!
Vehicle Mode: Nightbeat is rather simple color-wise, primarily consisting of yellow and silver. The front of the headlight is a metallic red. The wheels and the bars connected to them are black. Overall, the vehicle mode looks nice and the level of detail is definitely appreciated. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: Nightbeat is a curiosity more than anything else. A cute little Mini-Con, but not some super warrior.
Vehicle Mode: Where this vehicle mode suffers is its deco. The car is almost all blue. The windows are translucent orange. Shades of silver and black can be found on the front o the car and the spoiler. Metallic red paint has been used for the rear lights and part of the headlights. Heat stamped Autobot symbols rest on either side of the car right above the tires. A larger Autobot symbol (sculpted) is on the top of the hood, near the center of the windshield. On the windshield itself you will find the word "Transformers" applied to the top edge of the windshield, something reminscent of stickers that Generation One Transformers such as Jazz had. While the front of the car is nicely decorated, the rest of the car is super plain. For the most part, the rest of the vehicle is a big mass of blue. The wpoiler is painted silver, and the rear lights are metallic red, but that's it. Now, normally if you were talking about some average, every day compact car this would not be an issue, but what we have here is 1) A toy that has to draw you in visually and 2) A car meant to be some type of street tune up car. Keeping those two things in mind, much more detailing should have gone into this design. Flames, lightning, any generic pattern such as this would have really helped elevate this deco from mundane to being exceptional. In terms of abilities, Sideswipe's vehicle mode has two: one which is very cool, another which mystifies me.
Overall, the design of the vehicle is nice (except for the odd gimmick that doesn't do much) but the deco really should have been amped up a bit. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: At first glance, Sideswipe is not a bad looking design. His head is somewhat reminscent of many past characters (including, as some have pointed out, Rumble and Jazz). Sure he has huge forearms, but they look tough enough to bash a 'con in battle. His main body looks nice and tech, kind of less streamlined than some of his fellow Autobots, but still nice, especially with the Autobot symbol right at the center. It's when you get down to the legs that things start to get iffy.
Sideswipe's legs have the front halves of the car windshield/door section on it. The result is that he looks like he has two huge saddlebags on him.
The idea here is not just to improve the way the saddlebags look, but also to add a level of interactivity with Mini-Cons. The other thing which kind of bugs me is the "secret compartment" from the vehicle mode is so prominant in between Sideswipe's legs. It's just...there and doesn't contribute anything to the mode. However, given the design limitations of having a nifty feature like that and then somehow integrating it into the robot mode, it's understandeable why it's there, it just bugs me personally. So, is there anything positive for me to say here? Well, yes there is. Sideswipe has two Powerlinx points in this mode on his legs, and one on his back. Attach a Mini-Con to his back and push it up and down to activate his right arm's "quick draw" feature. Basically the arm moves up and down, but it can also be used to simulate a punch. This gimmick is nice. The other two points are just dead pegs that you can attach a Mini-Con to. nfortunately, not every Mini-Con will fit since the tires kind of get in the way. Sideswipe has ten points of articulation, which, for an Armada figure is pretty darn good. Just because Sideswipe may look like an unposable brick, it doesn't mean his is one. His arms move up and down and to the sides a bit. His legs can move out to the side (side kick anyone?) or forward and back. You can lock them together for added stability when he's just standing there (not that you have to). His weapons are neat. You can use them as separate weapons or together as one gun, plus I like the translucent plastic being used for the weapons. In terms of detail, Sideswipe is actually nicely sculpted. His forearms have tube and machine like details. His legs have a nice cross of vertical and horizontal details. His legs have tubing, vents, missiles and line cuts that all add up to a nice looking set of details. A bit of extra paint or wash would have helped bring details out. I would have loved to see silver/gun metal gray details on his forearms for instance, but in general Armada is not done like that so I won't complain since this is hardly an abberation. If there was ever a mixed bag with an Armada toy, this is it. I can't totally damn the toy since it does have some cool features. Nor can I wholeheartedly endorse a toy that took me well over a week to even approach liking. My recommendation is to see if you can borrow someone's Sideswipe, play with it and judge for yourself whether or not you want him. At best, I recommend him mildly.
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