General Information: Images:
Swerve is not a name some Transformers fans may recognize. While there was a Transformers Universe toy with that name last year, this is clearly intended to be the G1 Mini-Bot reborn in a new form. Swerve is rather different from most other figures in the Alternators line in that he does not have a Binaltech equivalent figure currently in stores. Should Takara ever put one out, it will be months after his release domestically. However, he is not an original sculpt, but rather the third use of the sculpt originally put out for Binaltech Tracks. Check out his review as well as that of Alternator Tracks for details on the toy. This review will cover the changes made to the toy for this release.
Vehicle Mode: The primary color of the vehicle is red. This is a very appropriate redeco color choice as once upon a time, the original G1 Tracks had a red version that was quite hard to find. This was even depicted on packaging artwork, confusing many kids who wound up with a blue Tracks instead. Years later, E-Hobby would take it upon themselves to release a "Red Tracks" as Road Rage. Having a "new" red Corvette Transformer is a rather natural progression from the blue of Tracks and the black of Ravage. Also, red was one of the primary colors used on G1 Swerve, albeit a darker shade, so it also works as a homage color. Hasbro miscalculated a bit with the colors. While most of the car is a dark shade of red, the top section of the car (over the cabin) is painted a lighter shade. Unlike other Alternators where this is very minor and barely noticable, here it is quite glaring. This sounds worse than it is. While it certainly would have been nice for the color to be more unified, the vehicle mode still looks good, just a bit uneven in tone. As if to up the incentive to purchase this figure, Hasbro decided to include the flame decals that Binaltech Tracks came with to place on the hood (I have decided not to put them on). What is fascinating is they are the same exact label sheets created for Binaltech Tracks, so they still have his name on them.
Robot Mode: Swerve features a new head sculpt, which is a stylized version of the G1 toys' head with a helmet, crest and visor eyes. I must confess to being very pleasantly surprised that a relatively unknown character such as Swerve received the treatment of a whole new head sculpt. The helmet section of the head is gold, with the horizontal brow piece painted red. His eyes are painted red, which I found interesting. For the most part, Binaltech and Alternators have followed the convention of keeping Autobot eyes blue, as they appeared in the television show. However, Swerve's G1 toy had red eyes, thus this is appropriate. The face is painted silver, contrasting nicely with the red. For the most part, all of Swerve's joints are just as tight as those on Tracks. However, the two hinges that his missile launchers rest on are much more loose than the same parts on Tracks or Ravage. They are still posable and hold their position, they just do not feel as tight. This could be just mine or possibly due to the tooling having been used several times already.
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