PRICE POINT/SIZE: DELUXE FUNCTION: SPEEDY KNIGHT MOTTO: "Speed limit? What speed limit?" 'Sideburn got a new spark engine and was amazed at the results. His speed and acceleration power jumped up to infinite levels, and he is now able to warp short distances on the highway. He loves to go fast just to enjoy the blur of the world as it shoots past him, but he knows that his speed is important in the fight against the Predacons.'

Strength:  Intelligence: Speed: Endurance: Rank: Courage: Fireblast: Skill:

6 8 10+ 7 8 9 8 8

Sideburn is the youngest and most erratic of the Car Brothers. He's portrayed as brash, irresponsible and fun loving - much akin to Cheetor in Beast Wars and Hot Rod in Transformers.

VEHICLE MODE:
Since it's always best to start at the beginning we'll start here. Sideburn is a blue Dodge Viper with yellow tinted windows and a large flame motif on his bonnet and sides. The engine block is shown protruding from the bonnet, it is detailed in chrome silver and red and looks like a rev head's dream. The wheels, like the rest of the car brothers, are made of chrome silver and rubber tyres, and he rolls very well - better far than the other two car brothers - on practically any surface. Except carpet, he hates carpet, unless perhaps if it's red...

Aside from the opening doors and the Autobot symbol showing from the back window there's nothing really cool or gimmicky about this mode, though it is very nice to look at and is solid as a brick for the most part. As stated his major colour is blue, with blue details and blue bits showing. White is used to accent the flames and grey is used on the front grill. Despite first impressions he is quite a colourful beggar with the silver, chrome red, translucent yellow and grey, white and light blue detailing all over. He's a sleek and speedy knight indeed.

TRANSFORMATION (ROBOT MODE):
Oh, please, for the love of God please don't make me describe his transformation! >ahem< anyway. He is a complex little guy to transform, but lets give it a shot anyway, eh? First, detach the exhaust thingy and set it aside, then do the same with the rear bumper. Open his doors and swing down the back bits that have the back wheels on them, then fold out his legs. Fold the front bumper down and separate the windshield from the bonnet and pull it to the side, split the bonnet in half and raise each part out of the way as much as possible. Twist the waist to the opposite side from the blue bit that holds his arm and fold his arm around while simultaneously folding down the part that holds his chest and engine block, folding out his arm from there, and folding out his head. The whole lot folds into a nice neat little package about his chest... most of the time... At any rate, turn the front bumper around and fold it down, fold the shield/car roof out a little so it doesn't impede posability, do whatever you like with the bits on his back as they'll get in the way no matter what, and stand. put his missile launcher in one hand and his blaster/knife dealie in the other, whack him on the ass and send him to the front lines.

ROBOT MODE:
He may be a pain to transform but once you get him in this mode there's a fair bit to look at. His chest block stands out on his chest and is surrounded by a lot more light blue and white. The rich blue of his vehicle mode is still present, but slightly dulled so that it's more of an accent then a prevailing colour. His head is blue on the top and back with a grey face, red eyes and a funky translucent yellow bit over his left eye which might be a HUD or might be left over decor. his face is moulded in a slight smile that disturbs me a little. I've always wondered how complex a transformer's face must be that it can pull facial expressions. The engineering must be incredible. anyway, the main body is a lighter blue than his vehicle mode but with the darker blue on his chest behind the engine block, that helps it stand out more - and when that much vac metal is on your chest, it can never stand out too much. His lower body has some white and red detail on the pelvis and some moulded detail, but nothing too flash. Most of his arms and his upper legs are flat white with an Autobot symbol embossed and chromed in red on his left arm. His lower legs are painted in blue that matches his robot mode, and his feet are light blue.

Sideburn isn't the ugliest nor the sexiest of the RID toys, he sort of fits into the middle somewhere. He's a spindly little runt though, with none of the tricks employed by Prowl to make him look more proportioned or like he could actually stand under his own weight. But nevertheless he's pretty cool.

It's entirely possible that Sideburn is the most posable of the car brothers for no other reason than he has two joints for some regions; he has a total of 16 points, including ankles, knees - a hinge and a ball joint - hips, waist, shoulders (two in each case), elbows (hinge only) and neck. He's fairly light, but back and top heavy and he has fairly small feet so he falls over easily. the fact that the ball joint on his feet gets very loose very quickly is a pain because it means you can't rest one leg on the toe - which I frequently do when posing - and at any rate the toe is round and he slips easily. Discounting that, though, he's a versatile and mostly fun toy.

OVERALL:
Sideburn isn't my favourite of the car brothers. In fact this particular version is my least favourite, with the repaint being my second favourite of the repaints - but that's a story for another day. That doesn't say much, though, since I love the lot of 'em, and sideburn is no exception. He's sleek, cool, and a good size (not in the MallRats sense.) and is a lot of fun. I recommend the "super" or red variant of this one, but at the same time, this is a kick ass toy.