Transformers War For Cybertron; Siege Deluxe Class Sideswipe and Red Alert: Before you ask, no I don't know cars well.

Sideswipe and Red Alert have been characters I can't help but feel I'm in the minority of when it comes to views on them. Both characters have their die-hard fans, and while I get why, neither of them ever clicked for me most of the time. I didn't find them memorable in Generation 1 and in terms of what I grew up with, the less said about the Unicron Trilogy Sideswipe, the better. Sideswipe had an interesting design in the movies, but the only interesting moment he had was cutting Sideways in half, and his Robots in Disguise 2015 appearance is really generic. While Red Alert hasn't had much of a presence on screens, I personally prefer his Unicron Trilogy incarnations (both Armada and Cybertron).

The main reason for this (aside from first exposure) is one nagging flaw I've had with Red Alert since Generation 1. Why does the fire department need a Lamborghini? Truth be told, I forgot it was meant to be the fire department, but that might be because I grew up exposed to the Need for Speed games, and the idea of a Lamborghini as a police car makes a bit more sense (even if it's still unnecessary). While yes, you can make the argument that making him an ambulance makes him more generic, I disagree because the off-road nature of his modes is unique compared to previous ambulances, not to mention "how many transformers turn into ambulances?" I can think of three characters, one's a Micromaster, one's a combiner limb, and the third constantly changes the style of ambulance anyway (at least in the modern-day).  It might be why the three main forms of Unicron Trilogy Red Alert has stuck with me as childhood grails. I bring all of this up as a way of making it clear that there is a strong chance of bias for me, it's something that can't really be helped.

What isn't a factor of childhood bias though is the biggest problem I have with these two, along with a lot of other characters in the Siege line. These do not look like Cybertronian cars. These two look like they took the G1 toy, and tried to make it look more like sci-fi cars, but being afraid of going too far. Do they look objectively bad? No, I think they look good when put into a completely objective perspective. They're good sizes, have a lot of paint on each of them (though I believe Red Alert has more overall), and they're fun cars to mess around with. But that being said, I wanted something riskier, something that doesn't look like it belongs on earth, and I don't get that from these two. Most of the Deluxe Class toys fit into that category honestly, but not many get a pass due to release rarity, and these two don't get that excuse.

To robot mode then, and taking gear out of the equation, look good in robot mode. They're nice updates to the G1 designs, with the only major issues being a backpack that's a bit too wide. To purists though, they are notably missing gear. Both toys come with two accessories, for Sideswipe, it's two handheld guns that can combine to form his shoulder-mounted cannon, and for Red Alert, it's a nicely sized rifle and a light bar that can combine to form the worlds least useful pickaxe. I wish that they both also came with the accessories of the other (minus the light bar for Sideswipe) to help the two of them look more complete. Both are a bit hollow in the arms and thighs, though it's something that I can easily overlook, and none of the games feels obnoxious to look at. They're not huge holes that kill the illusion. Articulation is your average affair for Siege Deluxes, though a QC issue I've heard about relates to Red Alert sometimes coming with a painted version of Sideswipe's head when he's meant to have a similar, but a slightly different head.

Even ignoring my bias for Red Alert, I can't help but feel that these two, while good, could have been better, with a lot of it coming from my views on their car modes. The robot modes are a nice update on the G1 looks, though could go for a bit more in terms of gear to use, while the car modes are boring retreads on the old looks (and to bring the bias back in for a moment, why does the Autobot security guy turn into a Lamborghini, a car not meant for transporting much of anything, let alone fire rescue gear) for the fire department?). I'm honestly hoping they don't milk this mould too much more, the G2 Sideswipe is all well and good, but do we really need a Tigertracks, Deep Cover, and a heavy retool into Sunstreaker? (Ok that last one I'd be for depending on what they do with it). It just feels safe, and I hope we'll see more risks coming out of the Siege deluxe class soon.

Before I go, something a little fun. Five robots are ready for review, and I'd like you to help pick who goes first, and the order to review them (and who to not bother with if someone doesn't get a vote. You can find a link to the poll here: https://www.strawpoll.me/18386486

Transformers Power of the Primes Deluxe Class Punch/ Counterpunch: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but as a Transformer... why is it not being used more often?

Time for another delve into the late G1 reimaginings of old characters that even a lot of die-hard fans don't really care about. It's safe to say that at the tail end of G1, Hasbro was trying to make anything it could stick in order to keep the attention of its fanbase. Headmasters, Targetmasters, a six-changer, more cassettes, gimmick, after gimmick, after gimmick, each with what could be seen as less effort than the last. "What do we do with these characters?" "Give them two Targetmasters!" "These Pretenders aren't working well, what do we do?" "Make a combiner out of them!" (I think Monstructer was a Pretender combiner... or was it one of the Micromaster combiners...). Regardless, one of the ideas to come out of it was a double spy, a Transformer that has two robot modes, an Autobot one, and a Decepticon one. Though he had a minor appearance in the G1 cartoon, Punch (the Autobot mode) and Counterpunch (the Decepticon mode) have faded away into obscurity, left to wander around life, sustained only by exclusives when a mould can handle two robot modes, which as you can imagine, didn't happen often. Come 2018, and Hasbro decided to make a brand new mould for him, and releasing him as one of three limited edition toys that represent the three parts of the Prime Wars Trilogy, with the other two being a western, stand-alone release of Takara's Blast Off, and a retooling of Titans Return Twinferno (originally known as Doublecross, though I'll admit the new name is cooler) as the third and final Monsterbot, Repugnus. How well does it hold up though?