Sideways

Naming the motorcycle "Sideways" - is this an Akira reference? Sideways is a mysterious warrior. Following a great dark force, he plunges the Transformers into chaos. The rider on the motorcycle is not a hologram, but a Mini-Con that can combine as Sideways' head unit. Utilizing its ability to change appearances, Sideways operates in the shadows of the battlefield, switching between Autobot and Decepticon forms. Armada Sideways was, when I was getting back into Transformers, one of the figures that really excited me: cool design, cool character concept, and a play gimmick that was one step beyond the average "robot in disguise." So when it was announced that he'd be getting an update in Age of the Primes, I was naturally hyped, and have been hunting the shelves pretty hard to finally bring this one home! Back in the day, Sideways' head-handlebars stuck out behind him, pointing down; according to the instructions on this toy and the art on the box, we're meant to have them sticking up. Presumably because the kibble on his back sticks up higher today, and so you wouldn't be able to turn his head if you had them in the right place. Of course, you could just remove the kibble: instead of being assembled normally, Sideways' wheels just plug into his back with big 5mm pegs, which means they already get bumped out of place very easily when you're transforming him, and frankly just fall out on their own any time you move them. This was a very stupid way of doing them. Additionally, we lose one of the important play features: instead of his allegience shifting depending on which alternate head you give him, he just has a panel on his chest that you can manually flip between Autobot and Decpticon... as long as you don't have his normal head folded away. That also means we can't ever leave him in "unaffiliated" mode, making this version worse in two ways. At least the articulation is good? This toy has much bigger feet, making for a sturdier base, which is great when you really start posing him. He has swivel/hinge ankles, hinged knees, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge hips, a swivel waist, balljointed wrists, hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, and a balljointed head. He still has missiles sticking out of hie forearms, though they just plug into place, they're not actually launchable. To convert Sideways, tip the head down, unplug his shoulders, lift the chest and turn it around, straightern the wheels, reattach the wheels after they fell off while you were straightening them, turn that entire assembly 90°, reattach the rear wheel because it fell off again, open the shins so you can fold the lower legs up onto the upper legs, swing the feet around and fold them into the center, reattach the rear wheel because it fell off again again, open the forearms to tuck the hands away, turn the arms around, and press them together underneath. But only after you plug the wheels in again, since they'll have fallen out by now. The altmode is a racing motorcycle, though the big square back end looks like the saddlebags on a touring cycle. The rear wheel spins more freely than the front wheel does, but there's a permanently molded kickstand so the bike won't fall over. Obviously the rider can sit on the bike, but it looks too small. The colors are based on the old cartoon, rather than the old toy It's bad criticism to simply call something "lazy" - comics, videogames, toys, no matter the medium, making something takes a lot of concentrated effort, a lot of work, and sometimes concessions have to be made to meet with deadlines or budgets or whatever. But still, between Sideways proper and his Mini-Cons, this is a hugely disappointing figure. They made something worse in 2026 than they did in 2002, and that doesn't make any sense. Like, the toy was already solved; all they had to do was copy the old engineering, but sculpt a better frame around it. If this were some new character, it'd be fine; but we know this idea can be done better. It already was, a quarter century ago. So I don't want to call it "lazy," but... it's sure not any good. -- 07/21/26 Is this lazy? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.