Name: Sideswipe
Partner name: Whisper
Allegiance: Heroic Decepticons
Function: Warrior
Timeline: Shattered Glass
There is only one rule now; revenge!
Profile:
At first glance, Sideswipe is not the kind of 'bot you'd expect to see among Megatron's Heroic Decepticons. Sideswipe's sullen and dour attitude can dampen even the most enthusiastic moods, and he has some serious anger issues. He's more than once punched someone for making the fatal mistake of asking him if he is alright. Sideswipe is a Decepticon out of convenience only. He cares little for concepts such as "honour" and "fair play"; to him, rules are made to be broken. Sideswipe will take any shortcut and use any underhanded trick to come out on top. They're attributes that made him an ideal member of Optimus Prime's vicious Autobot legions before his defection. When he was an Autobot, Sideswipe was a member of an elite Autobot kill squad, the Firestormers - a unit known for their resolve and discipline, even in the face of impossible odds. Sideswipe was the most ruthless and brutal of the team, yet looked up to his team leader, Drench, who was a strong believer in balancing a stern hand with compassion. Unfortunately, Drench's attitudes placed him at odds with Optimus Prime, who had Drench killed when he decided to purge "undesirables" from his ranks. Due to his loyalty to his commander, Sideswipe was also marked for death. Heavily wounded, Sideswipe managed to survive through pure rage, until he was rescued and repaired by the Decepticons. Even though he fights for his own selfish reasons instead of sharing Megatron's higher-minded goals, Sideswipe has become a dependable ally to the Decepticons and a nightmare to the Autobots, recklessly throwing himself into battle with no concern for his personal safety. In honour of his fallen commander, Sideswipe has adopted the colours of Drench. He intends to make sure they are the last thing Optimus Prime ever sees.
Sports car mode:
Whisper
Sideswipe is usually accompanied by Whisper, a "Micromaster" class Decepticon who Sideswipe affectionately calls his "Mini-Con". In contrast to Sideswipe's dour personality, Whisper is an energetic and enthusiatic little 'bot whose middle name would be "teamwork", if Cybertronians had middle names. Whisper's optimistic attitude endears him to everyone around him, and helps to motivate Whisper's friends to do their best in all things - be it battling the Autobots, or laying out the necessary infrastructure for future operations. He is fiercely loyal to his friends and protective of all those around him, including his adoptive brothers Nightflight, Stom Cloud, and Tailwind, and even Sideswipe himself. "He grows on you," Sideswipe says, "like a bad case of rust rash. But he's a lot more welcome. Don't tell him I said that." Whisper was originally assigned to Sideswipe to keep an eye on him, as Megatron initially did not trust the former Autobot. Sideswipe knows this, but surprisingly, doesn't mind, as he genuinely enjoys Whisper's company and finds him to be very endearing - not that Sideswipe will ever openly admit it.
Jet mode:
Toys of Transformers Shattered Glass Sideswipe
Convention Exclusive Transformers Shattered Glass Sideswipe
As one of the Botcon exclusive Shattered Glass characters, this represents a mirror universe version of Sideswipe. What I liked about this toy was Fun Publications too the opportunity to take a cancelled exclusive and make it available; plus it creates a deco with a bit more distinctiveness than the mess of black decos and Autobots with Decepticon colours (or vice versa) that dominated around 80% of Shattered Glass.
The toy is an Armada toy, so set your expectations accordingly. He's big, chunky, and robust, with the main gimmick being the gullwing doors that swing open when Whisper is attached to the port on Sideswipe's roof. That's a cool gimmick and it reminds me of the Thunderhawk from MASK. Articulation is decent for an Armada era mold - the arms and legs swing forward and back at the shoulders, and Sideswipe has elbows and one wrist that rotates. He's also got some lateral shoulder movement but it's a little awkward given the articulation is on the arm, below the shoulder section. There's no head movement, but there are articulated knees and even toe movement - albeit these last two are to enable the transformation, so weren't intended to be used for poses. Whisper has limited shoulder movement and can move his legs at the hips, but he can't really strike poses. Overall, the poseability is fair; nothing spectacular but he can at least do a few action poses.
The weapons on this mold always felt a little weird, since they're missiles which are being used as... clubs? Fighting poles? It always seemed a bit random, but at least the articulation allows for a few decent poses using them.
One complaint about the deco is the symbol on the chest. A lot of Armada toys did this thing with ""blob symbols"" where the Autobot or Decepticon logo was molded in and then washed over with the respective colour. Sideswipe's Autobot symbol is one of those, a solid blob of purple with no definition of the parts around it. As an exclusive, I'd have liked to have seen some white lines to pick out the Autobot symbol a little better.
Overall, SG Sideswipe is a fun toy, and it's always nice to get an opportunity for a cancelled toy to be offered to fans through some means.
More information on Convention Exclusive Transformers Sideswipe at TFW2005
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Convention Exclusive Transformers toys in my collection.
