Sideways vs. Axer - RiD - Figures


As everyone knows, motorcycles are expensive, impractical, and dangerous---and we'd all love to ride one. Although there's scads of Wal-Marts in Canada, I have yet to see one carry an exclusive TF toy, so thanks go out to Anthony Brucale for sending me Axer and Sideways. I should just move to the States already.

AXER

Robot Mode
G1 fans will remember the original Decepticon Axer from the much reviled/praised Action Masters line: https://www.unicron.com/tf1990/toypics/axer.htm . Showing how much they care about the older fanbase, Hasbro has taken it one step further with the name reuse by making RID Axer the same character. Don't you just love them?

Anyhoo, Axer is a recolour/remould of G2 Road Pig(horrible name). He stands about 10 cm(4") tall at the head and is overwhelmingly black except for assorted silver and gold details, midnight blue thighs, and a clear windshield, eyes, headlights, and cannon barrel/exhaust pipe. His head is sculpted to look like a ninja's mask, however, he's got a build that makes him looks more like a sumo wrestler than a stealthy ninja interceptor. Gotta cut down on those energon burgers, Ax. Maybe Road Pig wasn't such a bad name after all.

Axer is articulated at the head, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. Unfortunately, the wheel on his back and his loose hip joints make him rather unstable, so I carefully popped off his legs and coated the knobs with crazy glue in order to make them stiffer. Pressing down on either his back wheel or his chest plate causes the barrel of his magnetic-lock destabilizer cannon to light up red. With the attached wire, it looks more like a flame thrower. You can also detach the barrel piece and use Axer as a flashlight. Just don't shine it right into someone's eye.

Transformation
Pretty good for a Basic-sized toy, involving extending the rear of the cycle, folding down the windshield, and swinging out the robot arms. Axer's shins worry me, since they sound like they're about to snap off whenever I fold them down.

Vehicle Mode
In cycle mode, Axer is a type of Harley Davidson, similar but not identical to an Electra Glide: https://www.rebelusa.com/images/FLHTC1.jpg . At 11 cm(4.3") long, he's much nicer and more realistic than Road Pig, who was nearly all black except for a little gold, silver, and red. The detailing in this mode is superb, with engine parts, circles on the console that could be interpreted as a speedometer, odometer, and fuel indicator, and grid patterns on the headlights. Also a flip-out kick stand to keep the cycle upright. Both the front and rear wheels spin freely.

Pressing the small gray button on Axer's console will cause his exhaust pipe to light up red. Unlike Road Pig, his handlebars allow for a Basic-sized figure with fist holes to grip them. Right now I've got Gas Skunk straddling Axer, ready to rock 'n ride. Wooooooohoo!!!

All in all, this is one nice hog. The only annoying thing about it is that the robot fists on the underside really need to be pressed into their pegs for them to stay in place.

SIDEWAYS

Vehicle Mode
A recolour/remould of G2 Road Rocket, Sideways is a sleek, sexy Yamaha-type bike, most resembling a GTS 1000: https://home.planet.nl/~knoes132/Yamaha-GTS1000-1993.jpg . He measures about 12 cm(4.7") long. Whereas Road Rocket was mainly red with black, blue, and silver, Sideways is black and yellow with gray and silver, a clear windshield, headlight(you can see one of his robot fists through it), and weapon, and an Autobot symbol on his front fender. Looks much, MUCH nicer. His right side features an exhaust pipe; the left side has the weapon on it. Pressing the gray button on his console causes it to light up red. Both wheels spin freely, the front wheel more so.

Like Axer, Sideways features a flip-out kick stand to keep him upright. Also like Axer, his handlebars have been remoulded to accommodate certain figures. Out of my limited collection of Basic-sized Maximals/Autobots, Skid-Z fits best, although he'd probably find Sideways a bit too slow for his taste. And finally like Axer, Sideways is a teensy bit unstable in this mode, again due to a robot fist on the underside that requires excessive force to stay in place.

Out of the two, I like this bike the best.

Transformation
Swing around the bottom half of the cycle, extend the legs and rotate the waist, then attach the weapon part to the right arm. Not too shabby.

Robot Mode
Sideways is 9 cm(3.5") tall at the head, 11 cm(4.3") including his back. He's also 11 cm wide thanks to the wheels hanging off his shoulders. Probably they spin wildly in battle, painfully scraping his enemies. Sideways' head too has clear eyes and a ninja feel to it. Interestingly, the upcoming Minicon gestalt Perceptor bears an uncommon resemblance to this guy.

Sideways is articulated at the head, shoulders, elbows, waits, hips, and knees. Several problems though: 1) his arms are so laden with kibble that poseability is limited; 2) the wire connecting his weapon to the battery pack in his body limits poseability in his right arm even more; 3) his thighs are extremely short and his shins are extremely long; 4) his shins have a habit of sliding up, causing him to topple over. Ergh. Additionally, the yellow paint on his right forearm is already flaking. Double ergh.

At least his light-up weapon is cool. Instead of a gun, he's got a wicked-looking buzzsaw for slicing and dicing his enemies into metal bologna. The Bruce Campbell or Hooper_X of TFs, ladies and gents. Groovy, hur hur. Like Axer's gun barrel, the buzzsaw can be removed to give Sideways a red flashlight.

Overall
Susp Sez: For toys that are almost a decade old, Axer and Sideways are a great addition to RID. The cycle modes look realistic with excellent colour schemes; the robot modes have nifty light-up weapons and reasonably good poseability. Certainly worth getting, especially for those who don't have Road Pig and Road Rocket. Axer gets an 8/10, Sideways gets 7.5/10

Susp

"No prey is too large, no fee is too small." -Axer

ReviewerSuspsy  
DateJune 13th 2002  
Score 8 stars (8 out of 10)  
Reads6471


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