Armada Universe Wheeljack Single Body Evolution Transformers Legacy United Deluxe Item No.: Asst. F2990 No. G1035 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: 2-part blaster, two swords Action Feature: Transforms from robot to car Retail: $24.99 Availability: January 2025 Other: Formerly G1 Sideswipe and SG Sideswipe, to name a few
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The original toy that inspired Armada Universe Wheeljack hit stores over 20 years ago, and this very early 2025 release aims to look more like the cartoon/Japanese toy than the US toy release. It's also a retool of Sideswipe, and this mold was previously sold (with Mini-Con!) as Shattered Glass Sideswipe - kind of amazing that it got the sidekick, and this one didn't.

This Wheeljack started life in 2019 as Siege Sideswipe. It got retooled around 2021 as Kingdom Sideswipe to have a slightly more Earth-ish vehicle mode. It was retooled again in 2023 as Shattered Glass Sideswipe - this time adding a new head, swords, and chest. And now it has been repainted as Armada Wheeljack. Sound confusing? It should. This mold, its prepaints, and its previous tools, have made at least 15 toys over the past few years. It's also a very good mold, so I am not complaining about having seemingly bought them all. Armada Wheeljack's schtick is he was an Autobot who joined the Decepticons - hence the graphic design. It's a smart idea from a toy perspective in that he looks like a good guy, but also a little bit like a bad guy, and kids could probably put him in any scenario.

In his transition from $10 toy to $25 collectible for adults, he gained a lot of articulation and cartoon-accurate paint. He no longer has his Mini-Con, pop-out door wings, or rocket launcher. The forearm Decepticon symbol has also been dropped. It's still pretty good.

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Since you no doubt have multiple versions of this mold already, I'll spare you from explaining that the detail is mostly all the same. The head sculpt is very good, and more like the cartoon. Black horns adorn a white helmet with a gold face, complete with blue optics. His chest is black, with blue stripes surrounding a molded and slashed-out Autobot symbol, with a Decepticon one underneath. I'm kind of surprised they didn't just bolt a new Decepticon symbol over the old Autobot one, but I guess this looks more dramatic. His limbs all move nicely, and rather than bright yellowish orange bits, he now features gold. Looking at the cartoon, this was probably the right move. Similarly, the stills on TFWiki don't show the purple forearm symbol in the cartoon so I'm not going to gripe that it's gone. Despite not being a taller robot with spring-loaded action features, Hasbro captured the essence of the character to the extent that you'll look at it and say "yup, that's him!"

He's a joy to pose, especially with his accessories. Unlike any previous Armada Wheeljack, he has a two-part shoulder-mounted blaster with non-firing removable rocket. It's based on previous Sideswipe accessories. You can also put it in his hand. New to Shattered Glass Sideswipe and this Wheeljack are a couple of swords, modeled on projectiles, that he can hold or stow in car mode. It's hard to poo-poo anything here, every aspect of this toy seems like a good execution of the concept given a limited amount of new molds to maximize for repeat use. If Hasbro did an all-new mold, it might lose some of the niceties of the original Sideswipe design, particularly its transformation.

I don't love complicated transformations - so I love this toy. Hasbro goes back and forth between simple things and things that somehow don't budge and stab you somehow. Transformation is a breeze - every panel swings nicely and everything fits together well. The swords fit on the sides of the car, the blaster mounts on top, and at no point do I feel like a chump for having spent at least $300 on various incarnations of this mold over and over. Everything works. You get a car, and it looks like a car.

A departure from the actual Armada Wheeljack, this toy has clear blue windows. The slashed-out chest is now the hood, the rear window area is now silver instead of white, and everything basically goes where it should. Sadly you lose all of your Mini-Con hardpoints on this toy, but aside from that it's pretty much what you might want. I won't say to throw your original in the trash - Armada SuperCons are largely excellent toys for the money/time/even now - but this is pretty much as good as a car alt mode gets in 2025. And given that it's a design that originated around 2019, I think it's worth giving Hasbro a few bucks again in this new format.

Hasbro has suddenly got a lot more receptive to "repaint" or "reissue" waves, and Wheeljack joined G2 Breakdown, Origin Bumblebee, and Cosmos for a wave that seems like it aims to try to please everybody. The two newer paint jobs aren't perfect matches for the originals, but they're pretty good and should please the G2 and Armada fan contingents. (I would have liked a Mini-Con for Windsheer, and if Hasbro wants to redeco this toy with his buddy in toy colors, I'd buy the set for $35 or so.) The repacks are also good if you missed them - it's a pretty good batch of characters and hopefully ones that won't sit in stores. As of my writing this, I haven't seen them in the wild yet. The deluxe price point has been magic for Hasbro for almost three straight decades, even though the price has crept up. I'd say go ahead and buy this guy unless you're in the future and a version with a Mini-Con sidekick was produced, in which case, get that one instead.

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