Age of the Primes Sideways

Series: Age of the Primes
Allegiance: Decepticons
Categories: Deluxe
Year: 2025

Prelude: Now this might be a pet peeve of mine, but if you make a new version of a previous figure, it should be at least as good, preferably better, than the original figure was, right? Or is that just me? Anyway, if the figure you’re making a new version of is already quite excellent, that makes your job that much harder. Case in point: Cybertron Sideways aka Galaxy Force Noisemaze. Can the Age of the Primes figure top or at least equal this 20-year-old figure? Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: It’s been over 20 years since I reviewed the original Galaxy Force Noisemaze figure here on TFU, but I still own it and pulled it out for this review. Damn, that is still one cool Transformers figure, but my old review was a bit short, looking back.

Anyway, we’re here to look at the new figure and putting it side by side with the old one, they seem near-identical at first glance. If you don’t know which is which, I guess you’d be hard-pressed to figure out which is the new one and which the 20-year-old. Well, my wife guessed wrong, at least. They do differ in some details, such as the new figure featuring no light-piping in the head and the old one having more colored highlights, but one thing is pretty clear: these two are meant to be the same guy.

In terms of articulation the newer figure trumps the old one in some regards. It’s got hip rotation and ankle tilt. The original, as I already mentioned, has a few more colored highlights, such as on the chest cockpit. Another thing I noticed, the original figure uses ball joints to connect legs to hip, the newer one has different ones (no idea what they’re called), so odds are they’ll be a bit less wobbly in twenty years. All these are miniscule differences, though.

Where the new figure does differ from the old ones is the gimmicks. While it does feature pretty much everything the original could do, it does so without any springs or other mechanisms. The faction symbol changes when you move a lever on the back, not by inserting the (much smaller) Cyberkey. The orange blades (no longer transparent) have to be unfolded manually, too, and the whole arm weapon can detach. What’s identical is that Sideways can use the two wings from his legs as blades, wielding them either separately or combined into a larger blade.

So bottom line: Age of the Primes Sideways is a very faithful recreation of the original figure. It has some minor advantages, such as more solid joints, and some minor disadvantages, such as fewer paint applications. Overall, the new figure seems a bit better suited for playing with (despite being more of a collectors figure than the original was back in the day), while the original looks better. Still a great-looking robot, very original, and simply awesome.

Alternate Mode: Sideways transforms into the same kind of alien-looking jet that he did 20 years ago, of course. The transformation is nearly the same, though they left out the rather complicated mechanism that moves the wings from the legs to the sides. You simply remove them in robot mode and plug them into a different place in jet mode.

The resulting jet is clearly meant to be the same alien spacecraft as 20 years ago and still looks great. Here, though, the differences to the original are a bit more evident, as you see a whole lot more orange. The orange blades on top are very visible, as are the orange parts on the sides, which are the robot’s ankles. Also, the original toy could elevate the middle piece on top and extend the blades in jet mode, too. No way to do that here.

So bottom line for the jet mode: still looking awesome, but in direct comparison I have to say the older one both looks better and handles better, too. Again, though, the differences are not that great.

Remarks: Sideways, called Noisemaze in Takara’s Galaxy Force, was a double agent from Planet X, doing his best to play Autobots and Decepticons against each other. He might or might not be the same guy as Armada Sideways. He is also one of the most awesome and original designs in a toy line that was very awesome overall and I’ve collected almost all of its variants. We’ll see if Age of the Primes Sideways will end up being reused as Ratbat and/or Scourge, too.

I hesitated for a bit before buying this figure, seeing as previous experiences with new versions of Cybertron figures (Siege Galaxy Upgrade Optimus Prime and Legacy United Hot Shot) ranged from disappointing to unnecessary. Being an old Cybertron / Galaxy Force fan, though, I eventually relented and got him. Having him in hand now, I’m not upset with getting him, but I think I wouldn’t have been upset not owning him, either.

Bottom line for this figure is pretty much the same as for Legacy Hot Shot. It’s a cool figure and if you don’t already have the original, you should definitely get it for its fantastically unique look and alternate mode. If you do own the original, though, then this new version here will not show you anything new and you might be better off spending your money on something different.

Rating: A-