Toy Review – Transformers – Transformers Timelines Side Burn

The Geek Bits

Name: Side Burn
Toyline: Transformers
Subline: Transformers Timelines
Size Class: Deluxe
Released: August 2011
Availability: The Official Transformers Collectors Club
Price: Free with membership
Includes: Side Burn, weapon with flames/missile, instructions
Worth the price? For free? Yes. For a price? Oh, yes. This is a great toy.

SIDE BURN (or Sideburn; he’s listed as both on his bio card) is the free membership toy for 2011 from the Official Transformers Collectors Club (www.transformersclub.com). Based off the 2007 Classics Rodimus toy, Side Burn is a redeco in blue and white, to match his 2001 Robots in Disguise toy. How does he look? Read on!

Vehicle Mode

The original Side Burn toy was a blue Dodge viper, with light blue flames, yellow-tinted windows, a red Autobot symbol on the roof, and a silver and red engine block. This new Sideburn toy is a blue sports car, with light blue flames, yellow-tinted windows, white spoiler, a red Autobot symbol on the roof, and a silver and red engine block. In short, it’s a perfect translation of the deco from the decade-old toy. While the spoiler is brand new for this mode, it perfectly accents the car body. You just can’t ask for any better short of bringing back the old toy, which I don’t think anyone really wanted.

One of the neat things about this mold is that the weapon can be stored underneath the car, and if you attach Side Burn’s missile, it looks like he’s got flames shooting out his exhaust as he speeds into battle. This is also a nod to the original toy, as his tailpipe also became a missile launcher, albeit only in robot mode. You can also slightly disconnect the rear panels and swing the weapon up into a launcher for an attack mode. I don’t recall ever doing this with my original Rodimus toy, so this is a nice bonus.

Robot Mode

The original Side Burn was pretty much a shellformer, with parts of his car mode just hanging off his robot mode. This new version only slightly has that — he has a backpack formed from the roof of his car, but it in no way hinders the robot mode. In fact, this allows you to display the spoiler behind him.

In another nice touch, the engine block on this new toy is almost perfectly designed after the old toy, with three red stripes intersecting the silver panel on his chest. Not to mention, they added a bit of red on his hips just like the original toy as well as a tampographed Autobot symbol on his left forearm.

And in the best callback to 2001, they painted his right “eyebrow” yellow and gave his left eye a yellow “outline” to simulate the deco given to the original toy. Add that to the blue helmet, red light-piped eyes, and white on the side of his face, and it looks like this mold was almost made for Side Burn himself.

I can’t say enough good things about Side Burn. This is, by far, the best free toy that the Club has put out, and I’d dare say that he should have been one of the toys you had to buy instead of the freebie. He’s that good. Awesome job, Club guys. Awesome job.

The Good
Everything about this Side Burn toy is great. Great mold, great deco, great choice of character to fit the mold…. Wow. It’s a home run.

The Bad
Okay, if you weren’t a member before March 16, 2011, you didn’t get this figure. Honestly, if some fool decides to part with it on eBay, go get it if you don’t have it.

The only other negative thing is the bio. Good gravy, the text could have used several more rounds with an editor. Beyond containing sentence fragments, there’s a line that just doesn’t make sense. Seriously, read the bio once, grimace, then just play with the toy.

The Final Rewind
It’s a shame that Side Burn is going to be hard to come by if you don’t have him already. He’s that good. If future toys are like this, then the Club should have many happy customers. Kudos!

The Gallery