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Transformers: Armada
Sideways

By Daniel Lipkowitz, Assistant Editor

Mini-Cons

Sideways includes two Mini-Cons, the Twins: Crosswise and Rook. Crosswise is the dark and purple-gray "good twin," with nice robot-mode proportions and a face that looks uncannily like the Vehicon symbol. He's a little taller than most Mini-Cons. Rook is the "evil twin," in black and dark gray with a more angular and slightly insectile appearance. He has very long legs and stands a good bit taller than his apparently fraternal twin. Neither Mini-Con has a vehicle mode or a faction symbol, but they do have vague "weapon" modes that will be described later. Both have a small amount of orange-red paint detailing, but could stand to have a bit more color, especially on their eyes and faces.

Crosswise has rotating shoulders and universal-jointed knees. As his hips are located most of the way up his back, he does not have any meaningful upper leg movement. Rook has very limited ball-joints for his shoulders, ball-jointed hips (although when properly transformed, he can't really make use of them) and universal-jointed knees.

Crosswise and Rook can ride on Sideways' vehicle mode individually or together, although Crosswise's entire torso front must be swung forward to give his legs clearance for riding. Each Mini-Con has a small plastic tab on its rear that plugs into either of two slots on the motorcycle's seat area to hold it in place while riding.

The Mini-Con Twins can also merge to form a single, sadly unnamed "Larger Robot," with Rook's body forming the upper half and Crosswise's the lower. The combined form holds together well and has good proportions, with a face that resembles a less cylindrical version of Crosswise's own. Thanks to using the legs of both Mini-Cons for its limbs, the larger robot has ball-jointed hips and universal joints at the shoulders, elbows and knees. It fits well on Sideways' motorcycle mode (although, being smaller than a properly-scaled human rider would be, it sits forward of the actual seat), and the concavities in its hands fit onto the handlebars for a natural-looking riding pose.

[Ed. Note: I have taken to calling the combined robot "Castle". Those of you who play chess will recognize "castling" as a move where the rook and king switch positions, or "cross paths".]

Vehicle Mode

In vehicle mode, Sideways is a sleek motorcycle. With its purple and yellow color scheme and eye-like metallic blue headlights, the cycle is very reminiscent of Thrust from Beast Machines. There isn't a lot of sculpted detail here, but that seems appropriate for this kind of streamlined vehicle. The vehicle has very little ground clearance, helping it to roll a good distance and letting it rest almost upright on its wheels without a kickstand. The toy's two missiles, transparent with painted orange tips, project back at an angle as exhaust pipes. The gray handlebars, which have textured grips and molded brakes, are adjustable for the various arm lengths of the Mini-Con riders.

Transformation to Robot Mode

Sideways' transformation is quite original, with some surprising complexity for the Transformers: Armada line. Pull back on the seat area to extend the legs, then separate the halves. Flip back the seat, push in the ankles and fold the seat halves to form the feet. Pull up on the motorcycle front, rotate it 180 degrees and push it down onto the back of the bike to form the robot chest. Split the cycle sides and fold them up to peg the shoulders in place. Rotate the lower arms 180 degrees so that the missiles are on the outside. Rotate the wheels 90 degrees and fold them up side-by-side on the back. Pull up on the handlebars to raise the robot head, then rotate them back and down.

Robot Mode

With his short torso, thin legs and cylindrical head, Sideways is a pretty unusual-looking robot. Long missiles project from launchers on his forearms, and the motorcycle's handlebars stick out from the top of his head. His cyclopean face looks stoic and alien. The triangular windshield of his vehicle mode forms a window on his chest, with a curved gray panel visible inside.

Articulation

While not the most poseable toy around, Sideways is not nearly the stick figure that he appears to be. He has ratcheting universal joints at his shoulders and hips, and his feet can swing back at the ankle. His lower arms can rotate to the sides, and he has a hinge just above each wrist. The purpose of this last joint is uncertain; in the package, Sideways' hands are rotated up in vehicle mode, but this prevents the halves of the motorcycle underside from meeting and is not shown in the instructions. He may simply have very low elbows.

"Headmaster" Feature

Here's the gimmick that Sideways was designed around, as well as the reason why he comes with two Mini-Cons. Crosswise and Rook can each become a new head for the larger robot, transforming by raising their arms, spreading their legs in a sumo-like crouch and sliding up a plate to reveal eyes in the middle of their torsos. With Sideways' own head pushed down into his chest, the head of the Mini-Con plugs into a hole on top of the regular noggin, with the smaller robot's arms sliding into holes on Sideways' shoulders. Each Mini-Con's fists push down a different plate behind the triangular window on the larger robot's chest to reveal a faction symbol. With Crosswise's gray head in place, an Autobot symbol is exposed on Sideways' chest. With Rook's more sinister black visage attached, a Decepticon symbol appears. Sideways the neutralist thus becomes either an Autobot or a Decepticon depending on which Mini-Con forms his head. It's a very neat idea and executed pretty well, although it must be said that the splayed, antler-like legs attached to the new heads do look kind of silly.

Robot Mode Features

• Attack Mode: In addition to its head transformation, each Mini-Con also has a "weapon" mode. Crosswise's involves raising his arms and flipping his chest up to hide his face. Rook's involves raising his arms and swinging his legs up so that his feet point backwards. In these somewhat questionable forms, the Twins can be attached to the Powerlinx pegs on Sideways' arms to unlock his missile launchers. The missiles are pressure-launched and require a fair bit of force to be applied to the attached Mini-Con, explaining why Sideways' arm joints are so strong and heavily reinforced.

Overall

What a strange, wacky Transformer this is. I'd love to have seen a bit more articulation, but given that Sideways has two Powerlinx missile launchers, two Mini-Con pack-ins and one heck of an elaborate gimmick, it's easy to see where the cost of extra joints went. Pretty keen!

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