TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Blackjack's review: Swerve

Name: Swerve
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Metallurgist/Fabricator
Retool of: ROTF Deluxe Sideswipe

Ah, Swerve. The original character was a red-and-white retool of Gears with a more humanoid face. G1 Swerve was released in 1986, during the time of the G1 movie's release. He was supposed to be a metallurgist or scientist or somesuch. Swerve first appeared in the cartoon as part of the Minibot contingent that tried very ineffectively to stop Trypticon from destroying the Ark. They failed, Swerve was stomped to the ground. Poor Swerve. In the Marvel comics, I don't think he ever appeared (save for one scene where Gears was miscoloured red-and-white. Or is that Swerve?). Swerve did appear in Dreamwave's G1 comics, as well as the current IDW comics. The name Swerve would later be reused as repaints. The Cybertron line repainted Clocker as Swerve. Universe repainted Armada Blurr red into Swerve. Universe had another super-exclusive Chevy Swerve mold that you get only if you buy a car. That somehow makes him the most expensive toy EVER. The 2007 Movie card game also had a Swerve character. Finally, more recently, ROTF repainted Sideswipe red as Swerve in deluxe class as well as Legends class, as a homage to G1 and possibly to keep the trademark 'Swerve' in Hasbro's hands. Also, a 'G1 skin' version of Sideswipe in the ROTF Game expansion pack is technically Swerve as well. Damn but he gets around.

So Sideswipe is included in the ROTF movie, as a badass swordsman-on-wheels, with his key scene slicing Sideways into two. But he's silver, unlike the G1 red colours. Like what I've said with Sideways, solid silver is too generic, so I waited for the Swerve repaint to get the Sideswipe mold. After all, they did day that this mold is awesome and all, and I can't resist a GEEWUN repaint. After all, I'm bored of silver cars.

Anywaaaay, I passed Sideswipe after seeing that there will be a red repaint. I got nothing against silver, but it's just not flashy enough. 'Sides, I need more red in my display racks. Too many blues, yellows, blacks and purples.

ALTERNATE MODE

Swerve transforms into a Chevrolet Stingray concept. Due to the whole General Motors bankruptcy and whatnot, the Sideswipe/Swerve mold may be the only way we can see the Stingray for now. Still, the Stingray is an a sleek and hot car, especially in red.

Black round out the colour scheme in the windows and wheels, a little yellow and white on the tail lights, and the Corvette symbol at the front painted in bright golden-yellow.

The license plate is situated above Stingray's four exhaust pipes. Instead of something like 'G1-51D35W1P3' or 'SWERVE', a red Autobot insignia sits snugly in the middle of the white license plate. Detailing is excellent, as with most other licensed vehicle modes in the movie lines. Those little grooves and cuts really give Swerve an Alternators-esque feel.

The robot mode pieces don't hold together very well in this mode, I'm afraid. The doors, each made by two separate pieces of the swords (I'll get to that in a bit) don't latch on very well to the other pieces of the car. Takes quite a bit of fiddling to get them to click on properly. Otherwise, it's an excellent vehicle mode.

Another quibble with Swerve is that it doesn't roll too well. Swerve's knees poke out from his underside. Unlike, other toys like, say Sideways, Swerve's knees are much worse and are practically scraping the floor when I try to roll him around. Not such a big deal for collectors, however. Still, continued play by younger relatives might scrape off the silver finish on the knees.

Overall, a nicely designed and heavily detailed vehicle mode, but not free of problems. Still, it's adequate as the toy focuses more on the-

ROBOT MODE

Swerve's transformation to robot mode is very fun to do, and rather well-designed. Swerve's very impressive, and looks actually sleek and nimble, something 2007 Movie Jazz failed to deliver. The first thing you would notice is the new head sculpt for Swerve. It's a nice thing to know that they actually put effort in making Sideswipe different from Swerve. Swerve's head is completely different from the visored smiling G1 face. Swerve's face seems to be a stern movie-ized samurai face. He has a samurai/martial arts master look with a 'helmet' and a long goatee at the chin. A veeery long goatee. Regrettably the goatee causes the head's articulation to be nearly nullified.

Swerve's front lid separate and become back kibble. The kibble is adjustable, and you can make it stay there as in the instructions, hanging there and hoping not to be noticed. You could also adjust them so they form window-wings like that of G1 Prowl/Bluestreak/Smokescreen, or you could simply point them down. I've heard people making them into chest-armour as well, but I can't manage to do that.

Colours shifted from nearly pure red and added more blacks and a little light gray and yellow to break it up. Swerve's chest is made up from the back of the vehicle, the cabin into the backpack while the front lid separates into the 'wings' and part of his feet.

Yes, his feet. We have to get there sometime, don't we? Swerve's feet, like Sideswipe's, are pure wheels. Now Landmine's and Jazz's wheel-legs are more retractable roller-blades, while Bonecrusher's wheel-legs have those claw-toes to support him. Sideswipe's CGI model made him only with wheels as feet. The deluxe toy makes an effort to be accurate, by making the wheels as the feet. (The legends class toy, in contrast, ignored that and gave Sideswipe/Swerve 'proper' feet) Parts of the car's front end up as stabilizing 'toes'. This doesn't effect Swerve's overall appearance much, though. Swerve is very unstable to stand, and I dread leaving him freestanding in display. Of course, with a steady hand and a pinch of patience, the 'toe' and 'heel' kibble can be adjusted so Swerve can stand properly.

Swerve's lower chest-section has a gold-painted Corvette symbol in it, a nice little touch to an already awesome toy. Two golden bone-like horns potrude on the side of Swerve's black-silver stomach, adding to his 'samurai' feel. I can't wait for Voyager class Bludgeon to come out...

The next point of interest is his awesomely designed legs. Fake pistons and springs adorn the knee. When the knee is folded, the pistons move and Swerve's silver knee-guards slide forward like tiny (albeit dull) blades. It's the Mech Alive feature to this mold. Nifty if you have to knee someone in the gut, and a nice little extra that doesn't effect the toy much. His hip joins are fantastic in design. The ball joints are cast in transparent plastic to give an impression of invisibility, I think. Moving rubber pistons are geared to slide when you move the legs.

Each of Swerve's swords is made up of two separate halves that make up a door. Pull half of the sword and the other moves as well through gears. A neat little effect. However, the end result aren't as impressive as it could've been. The swords don't look very threatening. Too thick and the two halves that make up each sword is very evident. It's not so impressive compared to, say, 2007 Movie Wreckage's spring-out swords or ROTF Leader class Prime's swords of face decapitation. Still, the effect is there and he can manage to strike a few cool poses with two swords. A pity that the swords can't separate and be launched towards unsuspecting Sidewayses.

Overall, he's an awesome toy with lots of those little features that makes me adore a toy. Moreover, he has both excellent vehicle and robot modes, which is a rarity. And he's a G1 homage!

Marks out of ten for the following:

Durability 8/10 Swerve's pistons seem to be fragile and might snap off easily. There's the silver paint problem as well. Also, the golden Corvette paint seems to be able to be scratched off quite easily. Otherwise he's sturdy.
Transformation 6/10 Nothing too challenging, standard Deluxe Class transformation. A little tricky for the young 'uns, perhaps, but easy enough. It's no Leader Prime.
Fun 8/10 The swords aren't as impressive as I'd thought (not after seeing what they had done with Prime and Wreckage anyway), which is a shame as the swords define the character. Still, wheel feet!
Price 9/10 This guy is worth the money you're paying him, that's for sure.
Overall 10/10 Swerve is a simply fantastic toy. Certainly more fun than Dead End, to compare. The swords are a little disappointing, but nothing that would detract from the sheer awesomeness of Swerve. If you haven't gotten Sideswipe, get him. In fact, get him anyway. He has a samurai head.