Side Burn (RID)

Side Burn is an Autobot originally from the Robots in Disguise continuity family.

Ladies...

Side Burn is an adolescent speedster and turbo-revving young punk. His brain development has yet to catch up with his ego and robo-hormones, and if he gets bored or preoccupied he'll wander away from his assignment or get in the way of someone else's without a second thought. This is particularly annoying to his law-abiding brother Prowl and the fussbudget Autobot computer known as T-AI. Even the more easygoing X-Brawn can grow tired of his antics. They're no fun anyway, and he can always outrun them. He can outrun just about everybody and everything except his own foolishness.

His greatest folly is his fixation on red cars. Transformer or not, sentient or not, he can't resist chasing after a pretty little thing of the red persuasion, proclaiming loudly and often his libidinous designs. This is usually a bad idea, and occasionally a very bad idea, like that one time the red car turned out to be Megatron in drag (yes that happened, and no we don't know who let it happen). What's more, upon powering up his Supercharge Mode, his cool blue paint job switches to a bright, seething red. It's best not to think too much about that.

Side Burn is a good talker as well as a good racer. He can tell a real tearjerker of a story if he's in the mood. Ask Slapper about it some time.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon

Voice actor: Wally Wingert (English), Punch UFO (Japanese), Mikhail Tihonov (Russian), Francesco Pezzulli (Italian), Seok Jeong Yang (Korean), Carlos Íñigo (Latin American Spanish), Jorge Destez (Brazilian Portuguese)

"That's one good synopsis of Battle Protocol, alright."

As usual, Side Burn was chasing a red sports car when Megatron attacked New York City. So engrossed was he that Prowl had to interrupt him to answer T-AI's summons to the Global Space Bridge. The three brothers reached New York where Side Burn commented that he'd forgotten how ugly the Predacons were, and proceeded to see off Dark Scream with a missile. The battle ultimately ended with Megatron abducting Koji's father, Doctor Onishi. Battle Protocol!

The Autobot Brothers were later assigned to intercept the Predacons, who were prowling Metro City and stealing batteries from cars. Prowl again interrupted Side Burn's red sports car hunt to point out that he was supposed to be patrolling. The pair soon spotted Sky-Byte attacking the very sports car Side Burn had just been chasing and his heart was broken when the car was subsequently destroyed. An Explosive Situation

Assigned to protect the Linear RFG bullet train, the Autobot Brothers found themselves tangling with the Predacons, who were trying to blow up a rail bridge on the train's path. Ultimately they were unable to save the bridge, but the train was saved by Team Bullet Train. Bullet Train to the Rescue Together with Optimus Prime, the brothers protected a Plutonium Energy Generator from the Predacons. They escorted the generator as it was transported across the city the next day, with Prowl becoming increasingly exasperated by Side Burn's endless complaining. They were brought to a halt by a traffic jam engineered by Slapper. Fortunately the Spychangers were able to lend a hand and the Autobot Brothers got to sit back and watch the Predacons' defeat. Spychangers to the Rescue

Side Burn IS Spider-Man!

On another mission, Optimus joined the Autobot Brothers at the end of the Global Space Bridge, which was terminated some distance short of a ship under attack by Predacons. Side Burn was the first to attempt to jump out to the ship... but chickened out at the last moment. After Prowl and Optimus made their attempts, Side Burn hitched a ride with X-Brawn and provided protection while his older brother repaired the stricken ship. The Hunt for Black Pyramid

To help cheer Koji up, Side Burn took the boy on a visit to the Payuma ruins. The pair soon found themselves tangling with Sky-Byte, who was also exploring the ruins, and were forced to get higher in order to radio the other Autobots to alert them to the problem. Side Burn's brothers stopped Sky-Byte escaping with a box which turned out to contain Doctor Onishi's microchip. This held much valuable information and would help the Autobots greatly in the struggle to follow. The Secret of the Ruins

Once Zed arrives, the party can begin.

The Predacons finally hatched a trap—Megatron disguised himself as a red sports car and lured Side Burn to a junk yard where the Autobot was captured and tied up by the other Predacons. Slapper asked him why he liked red sports cars, and he spun a tale of lost love when he was just a young tricycle. Unfortunately the kidnapping lured Optimus Prime to the car crushing plant where Side Burn was being held, and the Autobot leader was also captured. The pair were soon rescued by X-Brawn, Prowl and the Spychangers, and fought off the Predacons. Though Side Burn announced he'd learnt his lesson, a few minutes later he was chasing another red sports car. Sideburn's Obsession

The brothers were assigned to protect "Grandpa", an aging steam train. In the end Team Bullet Train did most of the work protecting Grandpa, but Prowl and X-Brawn were busy stopping Side Burn from chasing red sports cars anyhow. Secret Weapon: D-5 All three brothers volunteered to enter the International Grand Prix in order to try and find Skid-Z, a recently arrived Autobot who had scanned a racing car and become possessed by the urge to compete in races. Side Burn attempted to chat up a red sports car at the starting line, only to realise it was Sky-Byte when it talked back. Once the race began, Skid-Z failed to show up—but the Predacons did, and Optimus and the three brothers found themselves holding up a huge rock dropped onto them by Megatron. Fortunately Skid-Z himself finally turned up and destroyed the rock, allowing them to chase Megatron off. Skid Z's Choice

Ooooh, kinky!

Side Burn was parked happily ogling a red sports car in a showroom when he was abruptly towed away, protesting the whole time. Once Prowl had released him, he was introduced to the tow truck—the recently arrived Autobot Tow-Line. A few hours later, Side Burn was back ogling cars (though disappointingly the red car had been replaced with a yellow one) and was towed again by Tow-Line. This time, however, the other Autobot had been brainwashed by the Predacons and was carrying out their bidding. Side Burn found himself dumped into a pit at a power plant along with X-Brawn and Rapid Run. The trapped trio made some unsuccessful attempts to escape before they were rescued by a repaired Tow-Line and fought the Predacons once more. Tow-Line Goes Haywire

When the Predacons became convinced that the "Cave of the Dragon" harboured a powerful Transformer, the three brothers employed their acting skills to try to make the Predacons think that the disguises Optimus and Team Bullet Train were wearing were a giant transforming robot, and got fired on by Railspike for their trouble. The Ultimate Robot Warrior Called in to the Autobot Base, Side Burn and the rest of the Autobots watched footage of their old adventures and speculated on where the Predacon base might be located. Hope for the Future

Optimus and the Autobot brothers went to Castle Peak to investigate what turned out to be a crashed Autobot spacecraft. Unfortunately they were unable to prevent Megatron stealing the six protoforms inside and taking them to a nearby military base where the protoforms were reformatted into Decepticon warriors. The Decepticons Sent to Sherman Dam to investigate X-Brawn's disappearance, Prowl and Side Burn encountered the Decepticons and were both tossed into the lake behind the dam, at the bottom of which they were reunited with X-Brawn. The trio were freed when the Decepticons blew a hole in the dam and, in the ensuing fight, they aided Rail Racer in fighting off Ruination. Commandos

Sideswipe is a guy?!

After the Decepticon Movor was shot into space, he tracked the Autobots in an attempt to locate the hidden Autobot base. Side Burn was, of course, doing some tracking of his own—Kelly's sports car to be exact—and led the Decepticons on a merry chase. Informed by X-Brawn that the love of his life was waiting at Pier 7B, Side Burn raced there to find the other Autobots waiting to spring a trap on the Decepticons who were still tailing him. Attack from Outer Space

Mega-Octane met with Optimus, claiming that the Decepticons had rediscovered their Autobot sides. The Autobot brothers were skeptical, so Side Burn came up with the bright idea of testing their honesty by forcing them to do all manner of menial tasks. After watching them all day, the brothers finally admitted that perhaps the six Decepticons were honest after all. Of course, it wasn't long before the plot was revealed and the brothers were alerted to a brawl between Optimus, Scourge and Ruination. The Test

The three brothers were called to a power plant where they chased off Sky-Byte and the Predacons. Later X-Brawn was told by Sky-Byte that the Decepticons were going to raid the Bayshore power plant. The brothers rushed there only to be told by T-AI that the Decepticons had actually attacked the Crestline power plant instead. They proceeded to the correct plant to find the Decepticons had already been seen off by Rail Racer. The Fish Test

"T-AI! Don't scream over the comm like that!"
"That wasn't me, X-Brawn."

Sent to a diamond mine, the three brothers were brought up short by an incomplete Global Space Bridge, and were introduced to the Build Team. Keen to prove themselves in battle, the Build Team took over the mission at the mine. Wedge's Short Fuse Using the space bridge some time later, Side Burn ended up first on an island in the middle of a lake, and then in the middle of an indoor go-kart track, due to Decepticon sabotage. He was eventually able to rendezvous with the other Autobots in the Arctic, where they watched Landfill fight off Megatron. Landfill

In between all their adventures, the Autobots still had to perform some of the more menial tasks, such as regularly testing out the global space bridge. Lessons of the Past After being duped out of stolen oil by the Build Team, the Decepticons began attacking construction equipment. The Autobots attempted to stop them without involving the Build Team, but had little success. A final attempt to confront the Decepticons had the three Autobot Brothers turn up in the middle of nowhere—the Build Team had sabotaged the space bridge so they could confront the Decepticons themselves. A Test of Metal

Few know that the bathing T-AI toy was originally intended for Side Burn. Hope Prime's not peeking over the rocks.

While attempting to stop the Decepticons raiding an oil refinery, the three brothers were interrupted by a mysterious Autobot car carrier, who insulted them as the Decepticons escaped. Later they encountered the Autobot again and this time he scrambled their circuits and deposited them in a junk yard. Once they'd recovered, Optimus called them back to base for a systems check. Ultra Magnus Optimus confronted the Autobot, named Ultra Magnus, himself and was soon overpowered. The Autobot Brothers rescued him from the battlefield and took him to an island to recuperate. Side Burn kept Optimus company for a while, and learned that Magnus was the Autobot leader's brother. A short time later, Optimus was attacked by the Decepticons, and the brothers found the portal at the end of the space bridge had been blocked by Sky-Byte. They eventually broke through only to witness Optimus and Ultra Magnus combining into Omega Prime for the first time. Ultra Magnus: Forced Fusion!

Kaioken times me!

Tracking Ultra Magnus, the Autobot Brothers spied him talking with Sky-Byte and assumed he was betraying them. The trio soon found themselves captured by the Predacons and were promptly freed by Magnus, who informed them he was pretending to defect in order to gain information. Returning to help Optimus against the Predacons, the three brothers found themselves being beaten on by Megatron. All three of them received a sudden power boost which was somehow channeled through Magnus, powering them up and enabling them to fight off the Predacons, with a little help from Omega Prime. The Two Faces of Ultra Magnus Prowl and Side Burn went out looking for Ultra Magnus and soon found him. Tailing the Autobot, they saw him talking with Scourge and confronted him, only for him to flee and leave them to fight Scourge and Ruination. Although the two brothers powered up for battle, they began to experience an odd energy drain and had to be rescued by Optimus and X-Brawn. Power to Burn!

The Autobot Brothers were sent to guard the subway below Metro City as the Build Team was searching for some mysterious ruins. The trio were confronted by the Decepticons, come to find the same ruins, and left them to the tender mercies of Team Bullet Train. Wandering further, they encountered Ultra Magnus, and Side Burn was distracted by a hallucination of red sports cars, leading the group to the ruins themselves. Fortress Maximus To their surprise the ruins turned out to be Fortress Maximus, whom the Autobots set about concealing in Metro City. While patrolling to ensure the operation wasn't uncovered, the Autobot Brothers stumbled on Sky-Byte talking to Koji and confronted the shark. Koji discovered that the pod Sky-Byte had been carrying contained his abducted father and interrupted the fight to tell the Autobots that Sky-Byte had rescued his dad. The three brothers apologised to Sky-Byte, who realised his huge blunder and fled in panic. Koji Gets His Wish

"Tuxedo Mask is sooooo dreamy!"

Doctor Onishi and T-AI quickly worked out a way to locate the remaining O-Parts needed and soon the Autobot Brothers were locked in competition with the Build Team to find the most of the artefacts. Side Burn and Wedge were especially competitive and Side Burn was depressed when his team lost. At least until X-Brawn pointed out the approaching red jeep driven by Kelly. A Friendly Contest Back in the Autobot base, T-AI merged with the O-Parts. She soon sent Optimus and the Autobot brothers, with Koji tagging along, to a remote part of the Sahara Desert in search of the Orb of Sigma. The foursome located the Orb under the desert and fought Megatron and the Decepticons for possession of it, eventually returning it to base. Peril from the Past

With information extracted from the Orb, the brothers and the Build Team visited a temple from which they extracted Cerebros, the control robot for Fortress Maximus. They were confronted on exiting the temple by the Decepticons and Predacons who stole Cerebros. The Autobots were forced to go on the defensive against the Decepticons and guard Maximus' hiding place. Scourge managed to activate Maximus anyway, and the giant was only stopped by the intervention of Koji Onishi. Maximus Emerges

Dude! We're cruisin' the fast track! Back to Transformers on Fox Kids The Fox Box 4Kids TV The CW4Kids Toonzai, Vortexx... wait, I mean Fox Kids ABC Family Jetix on ABC Family Jetix on Toon Disney Disney XD... oh whatever, forget it.

Scourge attempted to control Maximus in the desert by magnifying the human portion of his bio-signature. Again Optimus and the Autobot Brothers rushed there. At Koji's insistence, Side Burn carried the boy closer to try to command Maximus to stop, but Koji was unable to override Scourge's control. Maximus was subsequently halted by the arrival of the Build Team and Team Bullet Train with a thousand children. The Human Element Having thwarted one attempt by Scourge and Mega-Octane to kidnap Koji, the brothers were assigned to guard him. Koji wasn't keen on being guarded and swapped clothing with his friend Carl, leading to Carl being kidnapped by the Decepticons in another attempt to control Maximus. Optimus and the Autobot Brothers were able to rescue Carl and retrieve Cerebros into the bargain. Mistaken Identity

Side Burn ponders if he could chase and harass himself.

When the Decepticons located and attacked Autobot headquarters, the Autobots led them into a trap and engaged them in a fierce battle. The arrival of Galvatron's Megastar turned the tide in the Decepticons' favour, until the Autobots were able to activate Fortress Maximus and destroy the battle station. Surprise Attack! Galvatron, however, was not through and began to drain energy from Fortress Maximus. The brothers attempted to shoot him down without success. After Galvatron managed to use cyber-bats to control Earth's children, Omega Prime called a retreat, but the Autobots were followed into the space bridge by the Decepticons. Galvatron saw this as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, and flooded the tunnel with molten lava. The Autobots, with the help of some urging from Koji, were able to escape the lava and confront Galvatron once more. Galvatron's Revenge The Autobots soon found themselves on the losing end of the battle, and shielded Optimus long enough for their leader to find Ultra Magnus and form Omega Prime. During the final confrontation between Galvatron and Prime, the rest of the Autobots were all held paralysed but provided Prime with moral support.

After Galvatron's defeat, Side Burn returned to chasing red sports cars and being told off by Prowl. The Final Battle

Dreamwave Robots in Disguise comic

"I've got the strangest feeling I'm being turned into something vague and nonsensical!"

When Scourge and Sky-Byte led an attack on Arizona to drain the energy out of a vague and nondescript building in the middle of the desert, T-AI tried to call upon the Autobot brothers to help, but Prowl, Side Burn and X-Brawn were busy tangling with Megatron in Oregon.

Megatron eventually fled the battle and Side Burn arrived to help Optimus, only to find the conflict resolved. Ultra Magnus...to the Rescue?

Universe comic

Voice actor: Michelle Carolus (English)

In order to build an army to counteract Unicron in the Universe War, Alpha Trion gave Optimus Primal the choice of any two Transformers from anywhere or anywhen. A Side Burn was one of these options. Ultimately, Primal chose Depth Charge and Rhinox. Homecoming

Later during the Universe War, Rhinox built a device to counteract Unicron's attempts to abduct Transformers from across the multiverse. Two such attempts were only partially successful, sending these would-be abductees, including Side Burn, Prowl, and Landfill from a universe, to a barren, icy planetoid and necessitating the deployment of a rescue team. Unfortunately, Unicron also sent a team of Minions to the planetoid. The rescue team worked together with Unicron's other victims as well as a group of Autobots accidentally pulled in from the past by Rhinox's device to successfully defeat the Minions. The temporally-displaced Autobots were sent back to their time Voice Actor Drama while Side Burn, Prowl, and Landfill were sent back to their home reality without ever participating in the Universe War. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/13

Legends comic

Side Burn was present at the Dimensional Patrol's Neo Brave Maximus when it was attacked by the Commandos as part of Scourge's attempt to rescue Devil Gigatron. He wondered if Emissary would be as effective, since there were no human children nearby. LGEX Scourge Prologue

Side Burn and the Dimensional Patrol later traveled to the Legends World at the request of Skids and Sky-Byte. They helped defend the inhabitants from the Zamojin army and the rampaging Majin Zarak. Legends World in Imminent Danger! Part One Side Burn's adventures with the Dimensional Patrol would continue under the leadership of Devil God Fire Convoy. Epiloge

Shell Game continuity

Side Burn loves a good game of multiversal cornhole.

Ask Vector Prime

Side Burn was pulled from his home universe of Viron 704.31 Epsilon by Unicron to fight in the Universe War on the eve of a critical battle, leading to Optimus Prime's defeat at the hands of Megazarak. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30

Cybertron comic

Eventually, both Side Burn and Prowl ended up fighting alongside their comrades Ratchet and Fireflight in the Universe conflict with Optimus Primal's Children of Primus against the Minions of Unicron. In the final battle against Unicron, the Chaos Bringer began to dissolve below them just as the Children's victory was achieved. To save themselves, Primal led his troops (presumably) back to his technorganic Cybertron through a transwarp portal. Side Burn and Prowl were personally thrown by Omega Prime (not the one of their home universe) through the portal. The two presumably made it safely back to Optimus Primal's universe. However, Omega Prime was diverted to Aurex 405.0 Epsilon. Revelations Part 2

Wings Universe

Side Burn, our eyes are up here.

Side Burn came from the same production run as Prowl; a glitch in the production run caused Side Burn to roll off the assembly line vastly different in appearance from the others, and especially different in personality from Prowl in specific. At the dawn of the Great War, the young Autobot joined the resistance movement against the growing Decepticon threat. The destruction of the production center that had created him was what had convinced him to join up. Side Burn's profile in Club magazine #39

In order to get sympathy from some sexy fembots, Side Burn posed as the survivor of the Combaticons' raid on the Elite Guard headquarters. It seemed to be working until Prowl showed up and called Side Burn by name. Since the real survivor's name was Dion, the ladies became less interested. Reminding Side Burn that it was a felony offense to impersonate an Elite Guardsman, Prowl dragged Side Burn away to his real duties elsewhere at the Autobot High Council Citadel. Side Burn was among the Autobot warriors present when Optimus Prime accepted his appointment as commander of the new Autobot military. Battle Lines, Part 1

Side Burn was absent from Optimus Prime's mission briefing. When asked about his absence, Prowl believed he knew where he was. It turned out, he was shadowing Magnum and the Elite Guard as they searched for Deathsaurus. Battle Lines, Part 2 Side Burn interrupted their search, claiming to know where their target's newest base was located. Though Side Burn didn't really know, he was loud enough that the Decepticons homed in on them first. The Autobots were suddenly surrounded by an immense Decepticon army led by Deathsaurus' new lieutenant, Starscream. Side Burn joined the Autobots in desperately fighting off their attackers, including grabbing Blast Off. But at a crucial moment, he was distracted by a hot femicon with a sword. Blast Off took advantage of this by shooting Side Burn, lecturing the Autobot on the importance of paying attention. Battle Lines, Part 3

Thankfully, Side Burn and the others were backed up by reinforcements composed of several of the Elite Guard previously thought dead. In the confusion, Side Burn was able to turn the tables on Blast Off by securing him with power bonds and sitting on him. Still, Side Burn remained distracted by Lyzack, especially when she started laying into Magnum with her sword, but his painting-her-red fantasies were cut off when Thunderclash belted her. At that point he realized he was standing right next to Starscream, and blasted the Decepticon. The Decepticons retreated and Side Burn returned with the other Autobots to their headquarters. Battle Lines, Part 4

One week later, Side Burn was in Iacon with Magnum and Optimus Prime when the pair were interrupted by another Decepticon attack. As they rushed to the walls, they saw them being broken through by the newly created Devastator. Battle Lines, Part 5 The ensuing battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons was won in the Autobots' favor, but not without Autobot death. An initiative to gather energy had an Autobot crew formed for the Ark. Side Burn was to be part of it, but a Decepticon attack blocked Side Burn and others from reaching the Ark. Thus forced to wait on Cybertron, Side Burn, with the other Autobots remaining on the planet, went into stasis hibernation pods, to preserve the little energy they had left till new sources were found. Battle Lines, Part 6

In 2012, Runamuck and Runabout stumbled on Side Burn's pod and it opened, waking the Autobot. A Flash Forward, Part 2 As he turned out to be amnesiac, they took him to meet Jhiaxus. A Flash Forward, Part 3 Jhiaxus took him to Qre, where Side Burn got very bored and resorted to racing with the Battlechargers. A Flash Forward, Part 4 He attempted to hit on Nightracer, only to be rebuffed with a comment that he was a little young for her. Undaunted and egged on by Runabout, Side Burn went after her. A Flash Forward, Part 5 When Jhiaxus's base was destroyed, Side Burn suddenly regained his memory. He was able to talk Nightracer into joining the Autobots, and persuaded the Battlechargers that they would be treated leniently if they turned themselves in. Back on Earth, he followed up that promise by speaking up for the pair to Ultra Magnus. A Flash Forward, Part 6

Rhinox and Prowl saw Side Burn in 2012 on a computer screen as Rhinox noted that Side Burn's home universal stream, Primax 509.28 Epsilon, was unaffected by the multiversal chaos triggered by Primax 207.0 Epsilon's destruction. Invasion: Epilogue

Side Burn was present at the signing of the Pax Cybertronia. A Common Foe

Spychanger continuity

In Viron 1103.12 Gamma, when Sky-Byte accidentally poisoned all of Earth's energon, Side Burn and the other twelve Autobots had to downsize into Spychangers.^[1] Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/18

Games

Transformers: Battle Tactics

Guessed my reward is the red princess I dreamt of!

Side Burn participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was a rare character that could be recruited by collecting 90 units of Cybermetal, 45 units of Transmetal, and 25 scout cores. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Toys

Robots in Disguise (2001)

Now where'd my little red sportscar get to?

• Speedbreaker (2000) / Side Burn (Deluxe Class, 2001)

• Takara ID number: C-004
• Accessories: "Exhaust Bowgun" rear bumper/missile launcher, tailpipe/missile, "Drag Knife" gun/knife
• Known designers: Hironori Kobayashi (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Released in the initial waves of the Car Robots and Robots in Disguise toylines, Side Burn transforms into a blue, hot-rodded Dodge Viper with flame decos on the hood. His "Exhaust Bowgun" missile launcher (named only in the Japanese release), which can be stored on a hole on the inside of his front bumper in robot mode, is formed from his rear bumper, and the projectile launched is his vehicle mode tail pipe. His small silver "Drag Knife" gun/knife can be held in two different positions (depending on what weapon one wants) and can be stored in both modes via a peg on his back, which doesn't need to be removed for transformation.

Side Burn is essentially a shellformer, with very few of his car mode pieces being incorporated into his robot limbs. He is also particularly notorious for being difficult to transform, even for adult collectors, with few robot parts locking into place in car mode, making it harder for car-mode panels to line up properly. As most of his shell parts are made of painted translucent plastic with very small tabs, caution and care is recommended when transforming him.

There are some minor differences between the Takara and Hasbro releases of the toy. The most immediately noticeable is that the Hasbro "Side Burn" adds an Autobot sigil to his car-mode roof that "Speedbreaker" lacks.

Sonokong also released this figure in a gift set with his brothers in Korean markets with no differences (to the Takara releases), other than the packaging.

This mold was retooled to make Universe Roulette and Shadow Striker.

• More information on Side Burn at TFU.info
• Japanese blog post comparing the Takara and Sonokong releases of Side Burn

"You must be a parking ticket! 'Cuz you've got 'fine' written all over you!"

• Super Speedbreaker (2000) / Side Burn (Deluxe Class, 2001)

• Takara ID number C-026
• Accessories: "Exhaust Bowgun" rear bumper/missile launcher, tailpipe/missile, "Drag Knife" gun/knife

"Super" Side Burn is a fire-red redeco of his prior Deluxe toy, retaining all the functionality and frustration of the original.

Again, there are differences between Takara's "Speedbreaker" (part of the seventh wave of Car Robots) and the Hasbro's "Side Burn" (part of the fifth wave of Robots in Disguise Deluxes), and again, it lies in car-mode sigils. Side Burn adds the Autobot emblem on his roof again, but also gains a small official Dodge Viper logo added to the front bumper, which had been added for licensing reasons, and would end up on all future Hasbro uses of the mold.

• More information on Super Side Burn at TFU.info

• Super Car Robo 3 Kyodai Set <Clear Version> (Multi-pack, 2000)

• ID number: C-026-S (Speedbreaker only)
• Release date: September 24, 2000
• Accessories: "Exhaust Bowgun" rear bumper/missile launcher, tailpipe/missile, "Drag Knife" gun/knife

As part of the "Super Car Robot 3 Brothers Set <Clear Version>" (S (スーパー)カーロボ3兄弟セット <クリアーバージョン>), a clear version of Super Speedbreaker was available as part of a giftset with clear versions of Super Wildride and Super Mach Alert. This exclusive set was first available at the Osaka Toys Land Show on September 24, then again at Super Festival 19 on October 9, both times for 6000 yen, with the set being limited to 1500 pieces total between the two shows. He was also available at BotCon Japan 2000.

• More information on Clear Speedbreaker at TFU.info

I don't feel like myself at all.

• Side Burn / Daytonus (Basic Class two-pack, 2001)

• Accessories: Rifle
• Known designers: Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Part of the second wave of Robots in Disguise Basic class two-packs, this Spychanger version of Side Burn transforms into a 1:64-scale Dodge Viper. He features through-axle wheel construction that allows his super-speedy rolling on smooth surfaces. His gun fits in his underside in car mode, forming his tailpipe. He was only available in a two-pack with Daytonus.

This mold was initially planned for an unspecified character in the Generation 2 Go-Bots sub-line before it ended.

This mold was also used to make Universe Autobot Jazz.

• More information on Spychanger Side Burn at TFU.info

Universe (2003)

• Side Burn (Deluxe Class, 2004)

• Accessories: Rear bumper/missile launcher, tailpipe/missile, gun/knife

A Walmart exclusive, Universe Side Burn was a particularly strange repaint of Super Side Burn, where the entire car mode retains Super Side Burn's gloss red base coat, but matte black has been applied over top of that everywhere except the bumpers and the rear wheelwell portions only visible on Side Burn's robot mode. A carbon fiber pattern has been added to the hood, as well as a giant Autobot insignia on the car roof. The gun/knife was painted silver instead of chromed. The Dodge Viper logo was also added to the front of the car as it had been for both Shadow Striker and Roulette.

This toy was repurposed as Shattered Glass Side Burn.

• More information on Universe Side Burn at TFU.info

Timelines

When he hits on Hot Rod, it's super creepy!
...or maybe not.

• Side Burn (Deluxe, 2011)

• Accessories: Thruster/missile launcher, "flame" missile

Timelines Side Burn is a blue and white redeco of Classics Deluxe Class Rodimus, transforming into a heavily-altered Dome Zero. Side Burn's rear-mounted thruster engine becomes a hand-held weapon in robot mode, launching a spring-loaded missile, or can remain attached to his back to act as a jetpack. His left arm hides a flip-out (non-spinning) buzzsaw.

Side Burn is the 2011 Transformers Collectors' Club free figure, mailed to new or returning club members who got their registration in by March 16, 2011. Due to customs delays, he was ultimately shipped to members in late July/early August. The remaining stock was put on sale at the Club store on August 17, and sold out in under three hours. Due to insufficient packaging, many Side Burns arrived with their spoiler tips bent. Like many later versions of the Rodimus toy, Side Burn sadly suffers from a loose left arm and an unstable backpack.

A noticeable percentage of Side Burns sent to international club members took an exceptionally long time to arrive, but most (or all) did eventually turn up... a full month or more after the advertised latest possible delivery date. Fun Publications won itself no praise by selling the excess stock of the figure through their store half a month before the actual delivery deadline was even up.

This mold was also used to make Timelines/Shattered Glass Rodimus and Gentei! Gentei! Wildrider.

• More information on Side Burn at TFU.info

Legacy

Got here before a Roulette redeco.

• Robots in Disguise 2001 Universe Side Burn (Deluxe Class, 2024)

• Accessories: blaster, roof shield, bumper
• Known designers: Mark Maher (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)^[2]

Released in the third wave of Legacy United Deluxes as part of the United subline imprint, "Robots in Disguise 2001 Universe Side Burn" is a redeco of Cyberverse Universe Shadow Striker with a new head, transforming into the latter's Cybertronic sports car mode.

Side Burn's accessories draw from his original toy: a bladed blaster (complete with posts for both orientations), a car roof that serves as an arm-mounted shield, and a detachable rear bumper that pegs into the blaster to evoke the original toy's missile launcher. The blaster can be stored in robot mode via a hidden port under his backpack, while it is stored on the roof in vehicle mode. The roof shield is also detachable and fits into 5 mm ports. The bumper can also act as a smaller shield and removal is required for transformation.

Side Burn was officially revealed on the April 30, 2024, fanstream, with pre-orders going up later that day.

Notes

• In Car Robots, Side Burn addresses X-Brawn using aniki (兄貴), a casual way of saying "big brother", and referring to Prowl with the more formal aniue (兄上), more in line with "elder brother". This, in turn, is a reflection of the personalities of his two brothers, in that X-Brawn is the more laidback, fun-loving brother while Prowl is more proper and takes his job very seriously.
• The alternate mode of Side Burn seems to be downgraded in horsepower, since there are eight exhaust pipes connecting to his engine block (which are clearly seen whenever he is in robot mode), indicating that his power comes from an eight-cylinder engine, rather than the V-10 engine all regular Dodge Vipers have. That is probably why he can never catch Kelly's little red sports cars.
• Side Burn's original Japanese name, "Speedbreaker", is a synonym for "speed bump". It's unknown if the irony was intentional. What was certainly unintentional, however, was the accidental use of the Japanese name in Side Burn's first Robots in Disguise toy's bio.

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• Given that the original Side Burn toy's English-language bio talks about his "new spark engine" and the enhanced attributes it gave him, while the bio of his super mode toy merely describes his personality and abilities, it seems that the two were accidentally swapped at some point in production. The same thing happened to Prowl.
• "Spychanger" Side Burn was the first official release of a mold originally intended to be released as part of the Generation 2 Go-Bots sub-line. Presently, the original identity of the mold is unknown, if one ever existed.
• Super Speedbreaker/Side Burn's vehicle mode served as an inspiration for the Earthly car design adopted by Hot Rod in the Devastation segment of the 2005 IDW continuity.
• A generic Autobot appearing in All Hail Megatron #14 is colored to look like Side Burn.
• In the "Bee in the City" script-reading at BotCon 2008, Beast Wars Megatron mistakenly calls Animated Bumblebee "Side Burn", as part of a running gag where the kid-appeal 'bot is called by various other kid-appeal-bot names from the Transformers franchise's long history.
• Speedbreaker was the first Transformers toy designed by Hironori Kobayashi, and it kind of shows. In a later interview, he admitted that the development process was a "painful experience" and made an "admonition" to do better in the future.^[3]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Speedbreaker (スピードブレイカー Supīdobureikā), Super Speedbreaker (S (スーパー)スピードブレイカー Sūpā Supīdobureikā), Side Burn (サイドバーン Saido Bān)
• Korean: Speedbreaker (스피드브레이커 Seupideubeureikeo)

References