Name: Swerve
Series: Generations
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Pick Up Truck
TRUCK MODE
Height: 3.5cm Length: 8.5cm Width: 4cm
A red pick up truck with some white detailing on the tray & a white front bumper. Swerve has black windows & silver painted grille & headlights. The tyres are black plastic with silver hubcaps. Aside from a notable shift from maroon to red this colour scheme is quite faithful to his G1 colour scheme - the layout is also close. I'd have preferred maroon to this red, but the colour map is very close so it still really feels like Swerve. There's no Autobot logo here.
It's amazing to think that this is the first toy of this character that's not a repaint of someone else (he was originally a retool of Gears while his Alternators is a repaint of Tracks & there's also a Kup repaint as well). It's also the first time we've seen a G1 Swerve tribute that's even trying to look like the original too - and while the red differs the overall look of this truck is a good match to G1. There is of course more detailing here than the simple G1 Minicar had. Swerve features side mirrors, fog lights on his bumper, rudimentary taillights o the back and windshield wipers as moulded details.
Swerve's play value is about as good as we could expect at this size. The wheels turn & there a hole on his roof for weapon attachment. Flanker's weapon mode can plug in, adding some metallic dark blue & a pretty decent gun considering it's a third mode.
A good truck mode that is easily recognisable as Swerve - and given the switch from maroon to red this means the designer has done a good job with the details. The colour switch should bother me more than it does, but I'm both happy Swerve is getting a tribute & impressed how much the truck still conveys the character. The play value is all we can expect here.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Detach and set aside Flanker, if attached. Fold out & split the rear to form his boots. Pull the sides out to form arms, pivot the roof down to collapse his chest into position. Pivot the hood onto his back, position his arms and attach Flanker as a gun, if desired. This transformation is in the spirit of his G1 toy's, with a little more complexity.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 9.5cm Width: 6.5cm
A red robot with white chest & boots, Swerve has silver thighs & breast detailing. His head is red while his face is white with a red eyestrip. There's a small Autobot logo on his chest now. The front tyres are prominent on his shoulders. The reds of this toy seem to be a halfway point between the maroon of the original & the red of that toy's head; both the head & body are the same red now. The face & eyes share their colours with the reissue Swerve (and his blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in the cartoon). Again it's a good colour scheme which captures the character - this is unmistakably Swerve. The thighs aren't chrome - but given how durable chrome can be (not very), I think this is a good thing.
The proportions of this robot mode are pretty good - and while the shoulder joints are alongside the head the original toy had a similar look. The front of the truck forms a sort of hood as well, but doesn't get in the way nor detract visually. His head is a round, almost tubular affair. While the original had only a face sculpted into the torso (and the IDW comic is somewhat similar), the suggested shape is tubular so it makes sense & looks good. As with many modern Transformers, his feet are sculpted for that "natural" stance & it suits this robot. There's not much of the vehicle mode here - just the front tyres on his shoulders - this was the case with his original toy. The enhanced facial colours really give Swerve character.
Poseability is pretty good here. Swerve's head and waist are fixed while his shoulders, elbows & hips are ball jointed. His knees are hinged although they don't feature rotators & this is my only real gripe with his poseability. The relaxed legs mean he's poseable enough but rotators for the knees would have been nice. The ankles & wrists are also fixed but I don't expect anything for those at this level. The other aspect of the play value is that Flanker can plug into either hand as a gun. While this gun is kinda big & a little ungainly, it's not the tip-over disaster that most Actionmaster guns are.
A good reinterpretation of a rather underused character from G1. Both robot & vehicle modes are strong and while the red isn't quite the maroon I'd have hoped for, there's no doubting that this is Swerve. The basic concept is preserved here with modern toy technology essentially just upgrading Swerve. Red aside, this is a great figure.
Name: Flanker
Allegiance: Autobot
Alternate Mode: Plane
PLANE MODE
Height: 2.5cm Length: 6cm Width: 5.5cm
A dark metallic blue plane, Flanker actually represents the Micromaster Sky High, although he's not a Concorde rather a fairly generic plane that reminds me of SixWing (who actually has a component called Flanker, as it happens). There are while lines on the wings as well as white & black backwards facing Autobot logos. It's a very simple colour scheme overall - and not one that reminds me of Sky High. There's no play value here & I can't discern any real life plane here (although I'm far from an expert).
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Flip up the nose, fold up the wings & stand him up.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 5cm Width: 3cm
A dark metallic blue robot with a white painted chest & head, Flanker has a red face & red central chest. Again the colours don't really remind of the G1 Micromaster (although that toy does have a red central chest & face). The underwings are also painted white, which is more for the gun mode. It's a good colour scheme in its own right, to be fair. The legs are a single piece - a very G1 trait - and the arms swing at the shoulders, which represents all of Flanker's poseability (also very G1). It's a nice enough looking robot mode, but he doesn't do much here except provide some more meaning to this weapon accessory.
TRANSFORMATION TO GUN MODE
Unclip the torso & pivot up (along with the legs) to form the gun barrel. Flip out the red handle between his feet & place into Swerve's hand/on Swerve's roof.
GUN MODE
A bulky blue gun with a while painted barrel & white painted sides (the underwings). There's a nice tri-barrel sculpted end & while it's certainly kibbly I'm happy to report that Flanker's gun mode really does look like a gun. It's big & while a smaller gun would have looked better, it's not too big so as to look ridiculous & doesn't overbalance Swerve.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of. Gears & Eclipse are repaints/retools of Swerve & Flanker.
OVERALL
It's about time Swerve got himself a dedicated toy. This one doesn't disappoint either - both modes are true to G1 with nice updates such as the robot mode head, vehicle mode detailing & enhanced poseability. The red should have been maroon but that's not enough to dampen my enthusiasm for an otherwise excellent scout. Flanker's really just along for the ride as a fairly mediocre gun - but provides some added play value & works well enough. Recommended if you enjoy Generations or like the MiniBot - 9/10
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