Images:
*Image from the Official Transformers web site.
Tech Specs: Rank: 2 Courage: 5 Firepower: 9 Skill: 3 Swindle is the latest addition to an ever-growing cast of Transformers characters who do not appear in the movie but are a part of the film's contiuity. He has already made an appearance in the the Prequel comic book by IDW and is set to appear in the upcoming Transformers Movie video game.
Packaging:
Vehicle Mode: Swindle is cast in orange, translucent grey and black plastic. A majority of the car body is orange (leaning towards a red-orange) while all the windows and headlights are a smokey translucent grey. The wheels are cast in black. His paint applications are quite distinctive. On the hood is a tiny Decepticon symbol in the center that looks very much like a car manufacturer emblem until you look at it closely. On the sides of the car are silver triangular designs. At the very back are Decepticon symbols painted in silver on either side. The sides of the wheels are painted silver as well. This color scheme works well with the generic form of the vehicle. He looks very much like a basic car someone took and tuned up and gave a (somewhat) flashy paint job. These are very common nowadays and most people would probably not give Swindle a second look as he drove down the highway. Lift up the panel on the back of the vehicle and press the grey button on the rear windshield and Swindle deploys his powerful looking cannon. Cast in the same translucent grey plastic as the windows,the cannon is actually made out of two rolled up rows of small cylindrical piece that look almost like crystals. It's a fairly alien looking cannon that differs from the typical weaponry of Transformers. Transformation to Robot Mode:
Robot Mode: Swindle's body is similar in design principle to Wreckage, where some of the movie design principles mesh with more traditional Transformers design. The traditional elements include the front of the car forming the head and chest as well as the use of clearly defined arms and legs without a lot of complicated looking machinery underneath. Where the figure borrows from the movie is the paneled look of some parts such as the rear windshield pieces forming armor over his knees, his three fingered hands and the slight chicken walker shape of the legs. This combination of designs work well for this figure and give us a Transformer who is both familiar and alien looking all at the same time. Most of Swindle's body form is fairly smooth, so there is not a lot of room for tinier details. Still, some can be found especially on the main body and arms. The arms all have raised and cut details running from the shoulders down to the forearms, which have a really nice set of multi-layered sculpted details. Swindle's mid-section has several parts that look like tubes and springs on them, looking like something that could have been from the internal workings of his vehicle mode. The upper legs have line details etched deep into them in broad strokes, which look really nice. Swindle has twelve points of articulation, mostly focused in the arms and legs. His head does turn a tiny bit, but I won't count that. I was disappointed that his head did not raise up at all. Although it would have cost a bit more to add in joints to extend his head, it would have been nice to see. Without a neck, Swindle looks a bit odd. The cannon from the vehicle mode now serves as his primary weapon in this form. Press the grey button (now on his back) and the cannon extends forward from his gut.
Final Thoughts:
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