I'm not even a huge Back To The Future fan, but I couldn't really say no to this figure. I'm glad that Hasbro is doing a bunch of these pop culture mash-up figures, because this is just a great looking vehicle mode and their choice to retool the Siege Sideswipe figure was a solid one as I'm just a fan of the engineering and design work of that toy.
As a retool of Sideswipe, Gigawatt has a nice fresh new paint job plus we get those great DeLorean doors and the wheels that flip down for hovercar action. The detail work on the car is amazing as well, with a really nice paint job and detailing work as it includes the Mr. Fusion generator and the lightning rod. I'm also a huge fan of when they're able to get a figure's gun to successfully and subtly becomes part of its vehicle mode undercarriage, so extra points for that bit.
His robot mode looks great as he has that fresh new head sculpt and the great Flux Capacitor chest design, but the downside of that great design is that he's a bit clunky with that broad chest that kind of swallows up his head at times. There also elements of his transformation that are a bit more stiff and prone to scraping the paint job off, so I'm always a little nervous about flipping out his chest panel.
He's still pretty articulated though, and as I said I'm just a fan of the engineering and design of the Sideswipe mold. This does unfortunately make me a mark who has already bought three previous iterations of this mold and will probably be buying two more repaints of it down the line, so I do appreciate the extensive retooling this time around so that I feel like less of an idiot.
I'm giving Gigawatt an 8/10, he's got some clunky aspects but he looks great and he's built from a great mold.
You can learn more about Gigawatt here.
Unfortunately I don't have any tech specs to share, so check out a nice art splash from his IDW comic debut!
