Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1870 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Transformers
• Model: 89158
• Released on: 2009-05-29
• Dimensions: 12.00" h x 7.50" w x 2.75" l,

Features

• He teamed up with DEMOLISHORearly on, and hopes that if the AUTOBOTS find them, the big CONSTRUCTICON can keep him safe
• Team up with this DECEPTICON soldier and get ready to take on AUTOBOT forces
• Detailed robot-to-vehicle figure features MECH ALIVE
• Unleash a spinning “saw blade” courtesy of MECH ALIVE gearing in robot mode
• Get ready to roll over the competition

From the Manufacturer
"Back on CYBERTRON, SIDEWAYS was a simple courier who avoided combat at all costs. He tried to always remain in the shadow of larger DECEPTICONS, where the AUTOBOTS might not notice him. On Earth, he’s keeping much the same practice. He teamed up with DEMOLISHORearly on, and hopes that if the AUTOBOTS find them, the big CONSTRUCTICON can keep him safe. Team up with this DECEPTICON soldier and get ready to take on AUTOBOT forces! Unleash a spinning “saw blade” courtesy of MECH ALIVE gearing in robot mode. Then, with a few twists and turns, convert the robot figure to a super sleek sports car in vehicle mode – and get ready to roll over the competition!"

Customer Reviews

Taking Sides
Sideways is a new face we will see in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) in a couple of days. According to the package he's a wimpy decepticon courier who likes to befriend larger robots to protect him. I wonder how that will play out in the movie.

For kids:
Eh, I think you'd do better to pick up Sideswipe kid. But if you need someone for him to knock around....

For Adults:
As much as I liked Sideswipe I had high hopes for Sideways but he doesn't quite live up. In car mode he is an Audi - well an approximation anyway- and while he looks nice he does have some flaws. One is that the panels of his vehicle mode don't hang together as solidly as many other transformers making him feel a bit more fragile than I like. This lends itself to another issue in that there are many clunky cut lines - even more so than Sideswipe. In particular there is an "H" shaped hinge right in the roof that sticks out like a sore thumb. They sculpted the rear window to imitate the engine you can normally see in there on this type of car but they didn't paint it so it adds noting to the vehicle and only makes the window look funky. Last and worst is that his robot body rather clumsily fits into the car and if you set him on a flat surface his wheels don't actually touch the ground. That's right - this is a car that doesn't roll.

His transformation starts off strong. With the push of a button his front wheels snap up and his chest piece snaps down. After that it's all the standard unhooking of panels and bending of legs and arms. I'll say this - it's not nearly as smooth as many other transformations and of all the ROTF toys I've tried seems the most rushed together. He seems much more like a robot stuffed into a car than a car that turns into a robot and therefore much of the car is left hanging on his back. I believe the term is "kibble" in the transformer community.

In robot mode he looks OK but not great. He has tiny feet and skinny legs but with a light touch he'll stand fine. His arms are pretty poseable and have some moving bits inside when you bend them at the elbow which I assume is his "mech-alive" feature. If so it's a bit weak. His hand blade is touted as a feature on the box but is just a spinning wheel. I was excited to see that he had wheels on his hands at first and was expecting some unique transformation where a wheel splits and becomes part of the hands but was disappointed. The wheel on the hands is a separate piece and the actual wheels fold away. I understand this type of thing sometimes but it still felt like a cheat. He has an odd color scheme with a bright red midsection. And his head kind of flips up and sits on his chest on a plate and so doesn't feel as integrated a part of his body as normal. Overall he doesn't look horrible but not the nicest looking robot in the line.

I think 2 ½ stars is fair and since I'm a nice guy I'll round up to 3. Overall pretty average to slightly below.

Audi R8 lookalike that transforms into Barricade lookalike...
Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) has generated a lot of speculation about the new characters and plot a couple of weeks before it's opening day.
If you looked at the product picture, or at the movie's trailer, you already know that Sideways is a Decepticon robot whose alternate mode is an Audi R8... at least it is in the movie.

The new line of toys for this second movie seems to be better made than the toys from the first movie. The Deluxe and Voyager lines of toys feature crisper detail in the molds, more accuracy to the screen appearances, better articulation and better paint applications. Some characters (Optimus and Starscream) even got updated and look gorgeous compared to their old 2007 selves.

So, overall we can expect better looking robots and, of course, vehicles. This will appeal to more mature collectors (I'm 32), and certainly won't set back kids that play with their toys.

I value the accuracy of the vehicles, and in this area the movie producers have one big advantage, because they use movies to advertise products and companies will even pay them to appear in the movie.
On the other hand, toy manufacturers like Hasbro or Takara must ask these same companies for a license to use such vehicles as toys (and probably have to pay these same companies).

Hasbro expressly states the license when a vehicle is depicted by one of their toys: just look at the back of the box of ROTF Deluxe Sideswipe and Bumblebee and you'll see GM's logo and the licensed vehicle's name (like Corvette Stingray Concept, Chevrolet Camaro) or the new Starscream (Lockheed Martin's F-22). This basically means that the company approved the toy and the toy depicts such a vehicle.

Sideways's box does NOT show a license from Audi, and I strongly believe that Hasbro didn't get a license from them.
Because of this, the Deluxe toy car looks like a bootleg Audi R8: It's like that car, but with the wrong vents, grille, lamps, exhaust, air intakes and body panels; with a longer bonnet but without the cool "gills" below all the lamps, or even the Audi logo.

This is such a shame, when you consider the nice work they did with the GM cars (these cars feature the company insignia), or even the 2007's Saleen Ford Mustang that Barricade transforms into.

So, overall:

PROs:
- Vehicle mode features painted body panels and transparent head/tail-ligths (BIG plus compared to 2007's Jazz Pontiac Solstice). A kid wouldn't mind the "bootlegginess" look of this toy.
- Nice articulation in robot mode.
- Nice representation of robot mode concept art.

CONs:
- Gear Alive gimmick is useless.
- Lots of big transparent plastic that seems brittle and easy to break.
- Vehicle mode looks like you didn't transform it well and couldn't get the pieces to fit.
- Robot mode paint application is non-existent: most parts are the wrong color when compared to concept art from the internet.

- This is not a problem of the toy itself, but conceptual design of the character looks too much like a recycled Barricade.

At this moment we don'k know how big a part will this character play in the movie, and this could boost the coolness and "desiredness" of the character's toys.
Based on the toy itself, I believe it'll appeal to younger collectors and kids older than 7. It's not suitable for small children because it's got pointy, sharp edges and brittle clear plastic in large proportions.

Great but not the Best
I hate that this figure is not as well received as the others in the line. Sideways is just as good as most of the other movie toys. The thing is that some of the others are so great that they overshadow Sideways and others.

For a deluxe movie transformer I think Sideways is well above average expectations. He transforms well and is sturdy. This is a great transformer. Sure Sideswipe is tons better but he is an exceptional bot.

As for the movie time, he is only in it briefly, but this is a toy review, not a movie review. Pick up Sideways if you are a movie fan and I doubt you will be disappointed.