Swerve
(Alternator)
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Alternator Tracks. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Alternator Tracks here.)
Swerve is the third use
of the Alt Tracks mold, though as with all Alternator repaints, he also
has a mold change. However, in Swerve's case, it's a pretty minor mold
change when compared with the other Alternators; all that has changed mold-wise
from Tracks is the head. The head itself looks nice, and is a very close
match to G1 Swerve's. The silver face and red lines on the brown head all
blend together very well, though I wish the paint on the lines on his forehead
would have extended all the way to the back of his head instead of stopping
halfway around. Swerve can also tilt his head slightly in any direction,
whereas Tracks and Battle Ravage could only
swivel theirs from side to side. Swerve also comes with a flame decal to
put on his car hood-- it originally came with the Japanese (Binaltech)
version of Alternator Tracks, but Hasbro instead decided to include it
with Swerve, since he's the third use of the mold and they obviously wanted
to still make him unique. I can easily see many Transfans using the sticker
on Alt Tracks to make the toy more G1-accurate and leaving Swerve's hood
barren, so hey, whatever's cool with you. Still, in spite of his little
sticker extra and the remolded head, a few more mold changes should have
been made, perhaps to the vehicle mode or something, as Swerve still looks
mostly like a red clone of Tracks. But his color scheme is nice-- red and
black have always gone well together, and the gold, gray, and brown are
very nice filler colors. The red paint used for the hood in vehicle mode
is a shade or two lighter than the red on the rest of the car, though,
and it is a little noticeable. I do wish the gun had been painted different
colors this time around, as well-- it's kinda boring, now that all THREE
iterations of the mold have identical guns. Another, really minor complaint--
Swerve's license plate just says simply "Swerve" with an Autobot symbol
next to it. I kinda liked the license-plate-esque abbreviations on the
other Alts, like RVG for Ravage and the like.
Alternator Swerve has
a good color scheme, and the inclusion of the flame hood decal was a nice
idea. However, given that he has almost no mold changes from Tracks, whereas
all the other Alternator redecoes have significant mold changes, I can't
recommend Swerve if you already have Tracks when your money would be better
spent on other Alternators. If you don't have either, though, it's up to
you as to which one to get-- I like both of the toys about the same overall.
So in that case, if you like red more than blue, go for Swerve, and if
you're of the opposite opinion, go for Tracks.
No Stats
Review by Beastbot