I'm very curious about this one, as modern articulation can change up the only real weakness of the original, which was the awkward posing of the lanky legs. Some of it will remain just because some of the proportions are more or less the same, but the ankles will be a big help in at least keeping it stable.
There's some kind of special juice in the vibe of this pair of Cybertron remakes that I didn't really feel from, say, Starscream (who still looks great). Hot Shot and Sideways don't change nearly as much, but improve things nonetheless. I guess Hot Shot/Excellion does noticeably change up the upper body proportions, leading to a weirdly lanky torso. The chest doesn't extend past the folded-in arms, so it's kind of smooshed into a narrower, longer-looking torso that reads like a rectangle with extra corners. It's kind of distracting, but is kinda saved by the rest of the robot mode having a lean, dynamic feel. (And then there's the face sculpt, which is unpleasantly flat-with-extruded-lips next to the original). Nonetheless, the overall execution is so good I kind of want to backtrack and get Hot Shot (despite his unsightly two-tone blue in altmode) after having made a beeline for Excellion. I now also kinda wish we could get a new-mold do-over for Cybertron Defense Hot Shot, because Sky Blue Hound is not really it (ironically, THAT headsculpt is really good).
This Sideways looks to sidestep even those issues, and just looks amazing. I hope it gets a reasonably-wide release in Noisemaze Mass Production Type colors.
