Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen
Deluxe Class
Bio: SWERVE is highly intelligent, though you wouldn’t know it to watch him drive. His duties as a metallurgist and fabricator for the AUTOBOTS®* expose him to a lot of toxic chemicals, which his circuits have been constantly exposed to for years. He has trouble holding a straight line as a result. The other AUTOBOTS prefer to keep him far away from battle, since he aims about as well as he drives.
Introduction: Wow, my first review of a deluxe figure! Yeah, I'm way behind. I still haven't finished the initial wave of basics yet. Nevertheless, let's get going on this one. Anyway, Swerve is a redeco/retool of the Deluxe Sideswipe mold, released in wave 5 while the mold's original version was released in the initial wave of figures at the start of the line. In addition to a red color-scheme based on Sideswipe's generation one form, Swerve boasts a remolded head and the characterization of the Generation 1 Mini-Vehicle he shares his name with.
There have been a number of Swerves in recent years, with the name often being applied to red cars as opposed to the original toy's truck form. A bit more fitting, really, as Swerve is a name I'd attribute more to a sleek, fast moving vehicle rather than a truck. But then, Swerve is named as such because he's a horrible driver, so it works just as well.
I am reviewing Swerve instead of Sideswipe due to Sideswipe's upcoming Human Alliance figure, which clearly offers more play value than his deluxe incarnation. This further justifies Swerve's purchase, as the deluxe version of the toy is a bit different than the HA one, and can thus offer two completely different experiences for those who don't like buying more than one version of a toy. Nevertheless, as I will explain in my review, the Serve/Sideswipe mold is pretty nice anyway, and worth buying twice.
Vehicle Mode: Swerve, like Sideswipe, transforms into a Corvette Stingray concept car. One look at this toy and you can tell it's sleek, modern, and the kind of vehicle you'd want to own to impress chicks. While Sideswipe was a metallic silver color, Swerve is a more traditional, non-metallic red that makes the vehicle look a little bit more pedestrian - less "look at me, damn I'm good." Nevertheless, it looks good on the toy, and I'm a sucker for red cars. And this may just be me personally, but I think the color-scheme makes the toy's numerous panel lines that exist for transformation's sake look less conspicuous than Sideswipe's did, a trait which was fairly distracting on the mold's original version. Furthermore, Swerve has a few more paint applications that Sideswipe did not, including the "swoosh" symbol at the front of the vehicle (painted gold), a painted grill (black), and an Autobot license plate. All in all, a pleasing vehicle mode, and a blatant homage to Sideswipe's G1 form - but then, I'm a sucker for red car Transformers. He does share one visual element with the original version of the mold - both he and Sideswipe have blue, translucent windows.
Transformation: Okay, time to be perfectly honest here. Sideswipe and Swerve's robot mode is one of the biggest cheaters in the history of TF-dom. If you look at Sideswipe's CGI model, you'll notice that his car mode parts are distributed throughout his entire robot mode, with the biggest "block" of them being the rear of the vehicle forming the upper body. Well, the toy doesn't do that. Basically, the majority of the vehicle ends up folding up into a large but nicely compacted backpack, with robot details being molded in. The arms and legs are all neatly folded up underneath, and aside from the rear forming the crux of the torso as in the movie, the only car parts that get incorporated into the robot mode are his arm swords and the front bumper parts on his feet.
But for once? This doesn't bother me. Swerve and Sideswipe's transformation is fun, with a nice head reveal, and an impressive way of getting the side panels that form the sword to turn together and form the blades. Move one of them, and the gearing in his arms will move the other with it. It's simple in concept, but the execution is wonderful.
Besides, the Human Alliance figure isn't any better about the kibble, so it's not like there's a better alternative out there. But either way, Sideswipe and Swerve's cheating transformation is justified by the impressive engineering and fun result. It can be a bit tricky to get it all together, but once you figure it out, he's one of your favorite TF toys to transform. Or at least, mine anyway.
Robot Mode: Shortpacked's review of Sideswipe had an interesting comment in their review of the Sideswipe version of this mold: something to the effect of, "If Transformers have sex, he's having it." And looking at Swerve in robot mode, I can tell you, that's a pretty apt assessment.
Even with his car kibble backpack, Swerve does a good job of looking pretty athletic. He has long, almost bird-like legs, but not too animalistic to make him look inhuman. His feet end in the movie version of Sideswipe's familiar wheels, which fits in with his role of a speedster. Car mode panels flip forward to form a pair of the mold's trademark swords, but can also be re purposed or re imagined as scissors due to their movement and gearing system. His torso is athletic looking, and well sculpted. Finally, his four rear exhaust pipes can be aimed forward, and push out to look like blasters or missile launchers.
The arms/swords and cool wheel feet aren't the only interesting thing about Swerve, though. His legs are truly impressive. Though possessing a traditional ball-joint on each of his hips, there are also four "extra" joints resembling long cables that lead up into his torso. How they got all of these to move so flawlessly as you pose him mystifies me, but they don't limit his articulation in any meaningful way. It's a nice bit of engineering that really adds to the mold's appeal. Then there's the mech alive feature. When you move his lower legs, an armor panel on his legs will shift. Not really remarkable, but all the same, impressive when you consider how much clever engineering is packed into his legs alone.
Again, Swerve's colorscheme is based on G1 Sideswipe. And like the vehicle mode, it's a bit more intricate than his predecessor's. He's a combination of red, black, gold, and light grey, with the shifting panels on his knees and face colored silver. The "horns" on his hips that point upwards are colored gold, where on Sideswipe they were the same color as the rest of his torso. Whereas Sideswipe was a combination of various grays with a bit of blue and black, Swerve is much more varied and has a completely different approach. Both are cool in their own ways, but it goes a long way to making Swerve stand on his own as a figure.
Now comes to the main appeal of this version - the head remold. It's colored black, with a red crest and cheeks, with a prominent, pointed chin. I imagine the intention was to be reminiscent of G1 Sideswipe along with the color-scheme, but honestly, it isn't really all of that evocative of him. It looks GOOD though, and again, helps Swerve stand out as a figure. What's more, it's a decent looking head design in its own right, and very much in line with the movie aesthetic. It has a bit of character of its own too.
One more note about the head - in a feat that shows just how much a remold can change the character of the toy, I think it gives Swerve a completely different feel from Sideswipe. It's a bit smaller, making his chest look wider; while Sideswipe was agile looking and samurai-esque, Swerve's head in combination with the rest of him makes him look more like a bruiser or a linebacker.
Articulation for this toy is good, hitting all of the spots it needs to. The one drawback of the mold is his feet, as the wheels make him rather difficult to stand up once you pose him. But honstly, this isn't a big deal to me, and I find people tend to exaggerate this when they talk about it as a flaw. It's not really a big deal.
Final Verdict: Swerve is a fantastic figure, and a great re-release of the original version of the mold. People might prefer Sideswipe because he's actually in the movie, but in terms of color-scheme and his remolded toy, Swerve is definitely worth getting on his own or even if you already have Sideswipe. Like I said with Knockout - he's a great Transformer who succeeds at doing everything its supposed to do and looks cool while doing it.
General Grade: A
Personal Grade: A+
Pointless Observation: If he were in the movie with THAT bio? I imagine GM would be pissed when Swerve inevitably crashes.
