TRANSFORMERS TOYS AND MERCHANDISE SECTION

Robot Mode:

Alternate Mode:

Box Art:

Sir Auros' review of: Swerve

Name: Swerve
Allegiance: Autobot
Function: Rapid Assault
Sub-Group: NA

I missed out on Armada Blurr and was reasonably excited about a Universe repaint of the mold since it appeared to be one of the very few worthwhile Armada figures. I found this one the other day in Walmart, and while it was nice to snag this one in the Universe drought my area's in, it would've been better to find the Cyberjets.

Vehicle Mode:
Swerve is a sporty, futuristic car and looks really good with this red paintjob. This mode works as a toy car and it's cool that the missiles can be launched in this mode too. The windshield is made of this funky orange, transparent plastic that seems to have glitter or something in it. Not sure if this is intentional or a manufacturing error, because it doesn't look all that great. I think the paintjob could've looked better with a coloration that makes it look more metallic similar to the Armada version of the mold. Overall though, the vehicle mode looks good, works as a toy, and is worth display.

Robot Mode:
Here's where I thought Swerve would really shine, but the figure ended up letting me down...though not as much as most Armada molds I've bought. Swerve's bubble-head lacks in articulation, as do his legs and, to some extent, his arms. So yeah, overall the figure really doesn't have much in the way of movement in robot mode. The arms move well enough though it would be nice if the legs actually bent at the knees. Swerve's hands (yes, it's an Armada mold with actual hands, I'm shocked too) are pretty weak because they're completely immobile and can't hold the figure's guns. The guns have pegs that attach to holes on the forearms, giving the illusion that Swerve can hold his pieces. The robot mode is relatively fun to play with and looks good on display, but due to the lack of articulation, it doesn't have a whole lot of dynamic poses available. Also, the missile launchers on mine only lasted a few shots before the springs went bad and the missiles will now barely exit the launcher before falling swiftly to the ground. They look good in the launchers, but they aren't very effective now.

Minicon:
Roadhandler a repaint of the same Minicon that came with Armada Blurr. This figure would be a lot better if the front half of the car mode could be detached and used as a shield or something, but it is nice that the right arm is incredibly articulated for a Minicon. The vehicle mode is really pretty sweet and certainly compliments Swerve's. The dominance of red kind of makes the figure look like a Micromaster or a cheap knockoff in both modes.

Transformation: 8 - Pretty clever and the robot mode's hidden well in vehicle mode.
Durability: 7 - The missile launchers barely work already.
Fun: 8 - Decent for play and display, but more articulation would've been nice.
Price: 6 - I'm not sure what Hasbro is thinking pricing Universe Deluxes at $10 when Energon Deluxes are selling for $7-$8 nowadays and they're actually brand-new figures instead of a mix of good and bad repaints of good and bad old molds.
Summary: 8 - I'm inclined to say this is one of the best molds from the Armada line, but that's sadly not really saying much.