Badcube’s Steamroll gives us a Sideswipe update that was sorely needed.
Producer: BadCube
Price: Approx. $90 USD
Release Date: June. 2018
Item Height: Approx. 6.5″
Item Weight: N/A
Batteries: N/A
WHERE TO BUY: BigbadToyStore TFSource
In what’s becoming one of the more polarizing figures of recent memory, Badcube has just released their homage to the Transformers character Sideswipe with a more updated, toon-oriented bot mode in the latest of their Masterpiece-scaled Old Timer Series; OTS-14 Steamroll. They really did a lot of good with this one which I go over in video above as well as a written breakdown and gallery below. Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments.
Presentation: The box is a thick cardboard and I absolutely love the layout of the plain colored front with nice text vectoring and extremely good artwork of both of Steamroll’s modes on the back. The figure itself comes nicely packed in its alt. mode within the plastic clamshell.
Build: Steamroll is an entirely plastic piece and well built in the sense that nothing felt in any way, shape, or form like it was frail or there are any “danger” points during transformation. It’s a well put together and engineered piece however even by the standard of all plastic Masterpiece-scaled Transformers toys it does feel very light weight. I wish that there was some more density in places like the leg or front fenders just for the sake of giving it a more weighty, high end feel.
Accessories: The accessories that come with SteamRoll are pretty much what’s to be expected out of a modern Sideswipe toy; a face, blaster, and a variety of tools to swap in place of his hands. The blaster can be stored (and looks great) in Steamroll’s alt. mode but unfortunately there’s no robot mode storage. Both of the faces are well done and cartoon accurate on top of being good choices in a stoice and “yelling” face which I’d definitely choose over things like a smirk.
Articulation: This is an area where the improvement from the Takara Masterpiece isn’t even subjective. Outside of individually articulated fingers Steamroll really has a great amount of articulation and even better is that joints are firm but buttery smooth in play making for a fun desk/play piece as well. The only thing that I would change is the neck from the current style to a ballpoint as it looks amazing but is a bit hard to tilt the head up and down.
Overall Score: 7.0/10 – As stated in the video review I can’t state that this Steamroll figure will be the end-all-be-all Masterpiece-scaled Sideswipe due to materials used and a couple of aesthetic nitpicks (and a lack of weapon storage in bot mode… grrr,) but it’s still a damned good toy and in my opinion a heavy upgrade from the dated Takara official Masterpiece in favor of more modern articulation and visually fitting in much better with the more cartoon-oriented direction that Takara themselves have been taking with their most recent Masterpiece figures. Steamroll is definitely a worthwhile purchase but doesn’t strike me as a showstopper.
Check out the gallery and even and if you’re interested in purchasing one of your own, order from TFSource!
