New Pics of Human Alliance Sideswipe/Epps and Skids/Arcee/Mikaela

Japanese site Amiami.com has posted a bunch of new pics of the upcoming Human Alliance figures: Sideswipe with Sergeant Epps and Skids with Arcee and Mikaela. The first Human Alliance figure, Bumblebee, is starting to trickle into stores, but there’s still no official word on when these are coming out. Check out all the pics after the jump (and hear what I personally think about them, too.)

Personally, I think Sideswipe is less of an improvement than the Deluxe toy that’s already available, which looks far sleeker and thinner in Robot Mode. Skids, on the other hand just doesn’t have the same tiny charm as the Deluxe version, either, and unless Hasbro plans to make Mudflap as well, he’s kind of wasted here. Plus, the choice of throwing Arcee into the mix is baffling–she’s in no scenes with Mikaela (who herself is kind of a puzzle–wouldn’t Simmons have been a better choice?) and she’s a worse off robot than the Deluxe figure. Plus, why are we getting this when we still haven’t seen the third Arcee deluxe?

Sideswipe has cemented my purchase of the Deluxe version now–those swords just aren’t as good as the Deluxe’s. It’s a tough break, for this line–Bumblebee looks great and had me excited for the future, but these are disappointing. Here’s hoping that Barricade & Frenzy brings things back around. And, also, where’s my Ironhide, Hasbro? Come on, this line would be perfect! Pair him with Lennox and get on that.

So what are your thoughts on these figures? Drop by our forums and let us know, or read what other members of the TFViews community are saying about these figures.