TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:
Alternate Mode:
Box Art:
Technical Specifications:
STR
INT
SPD
END
RNK
CRG
FPR
SKL

numbat's review of: G1 Swerve

Name: Swerve
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Metallurgist
Sub-Group: Minibot

"Molecular structure is the window to understanding."

If Autobots had drivers' licenses, his would have be revoked. A menace on highways. Doesn't pay attention to where he's going or the orders he's being given - easily distracted by anything. Hands' sensors can determine physical and chemical properties of metals. Goes 120mph, range 500 miles in car mode. Gets into lots of accidents.

With the Minibots getting in on the whole scientist act, here we have Swerve – the resident Metallurgist, don’t ya know.

A fairly minor character in the series, this figure was remolded from Gears, and released in 1986. As far as my love of small Transformers goes, I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the Minibots, and Swerve is pretty much your standard Minibot…

Alternate Mode:
Swerve’s alternate mode is pretty much identical, physically, to Gears. Basically, he is a pretty cool looking 4x4 flatbed with a rolltop cover and nice wraparound windscreen. The only difference – and it is minor – is that cover. Swerve’s is a lot more angular.

All in all, I far prefer Swerve’s 4x4 to Gears. The colour scheme of maroon and white works really well, and the rolltop cover looks far more realistic.

The heat sticker is located over the roof of the vehicle, but, as you’ll see from the photos, mine gradually wore away, and I actually removed the final remnants today. This has left me with a beautiful sunroof that was previously carelessly partly obscured by this sticker. I suppose this shows that the designers had not fully thought this guy through before recruiting him to the whole Transformer cause…

Otherwise, Swerve is great in this mode, and looks superior to a lot of Minibots on display. There are loads of details molded on, which really adds to the appeal. Of course, as a practical ecological conservationist, I must admit I have a love of 4x4s, so I am no doubt biased.

As a side note, it is interesting that Swerve’s later incarnations have both been sports cars (Universe Swerve, 2004 [recoloured Armada Burr] and Alternator Swerve [remolded Alternator Tracks]). Why this change in tack, I have no idea – but the Alternator version’s head is a very good homage to this original.

Robot Mode:
Swerve’s Transformation, like Gears’, is very straightforward. But, then, so are most of the Minibots’. In detail, you pull out each arm, and flip around each lower leg. Drum roll… And there you have it!

In robot mode he stands a precise 2 ½” (6.7cm) tall. This makes him a short, but stout, Minibot.

Whereas the maroon largely dominates in the 4x4 mode, Swerve is mostly white in his robot incarnation. He has chrome on his legs, to match off with the radiator grill in alternate mode, and maroon arms, but everything else is white. Bar, of course, his head.

Swerve’s head is perhaps the most beautifully and meticulously sculpted of all the G1 Minibot faces. Although the degree of colouration may not be on the same scale as his Alternator counterpart, his tiny face is actually more detailed!

He also possesses a nice techno-sticker on his chest, and an Autobot insignia on his crotch, which has worn away on mine.

The molding is a lot more detailed than with Gears, and a lot more linear. The grills which run up the side of his head are very nice, and the whole affair is extremely cartoon accurate – unusual for early G1 figures.

Articulation, as one would expect, is not particularly high. His shoulders move in a few directions, although movement beyond forwards and backwards is limited. That, though, is about it in meaningful articulation.

All in all, I have to say this guy is pretty good. He looks nice on the shelf, is fun to play around with, but hardly essential.

Transformation: 1 – He is as easy as they come, with no excuses.
Durability: 6 – Grossly, he stands up very well, with no structural problems. However, his chrome tarnished very quickly, and his heat sticker wore away fast, in comparison with my other G1 Transformers – and Swerve was hardly a popular character in my boyhood games…
Fun: 5 – He is more fun than you’d expect, but that’s about all I can say – and I like 4x4s…
Price: 10 – at an average of £3 ($5.25), there’s nothing remotely expensive about him.
Overall: 3 – He is hardly an essential, but he is a nicely sculpted Minibot, so is not unworthy of a collection. His face sculpt is phenomenal though!