Swindle
(Combiner Wars)
Swindle-- like some other CW deluxes such as Streetwise-- uses the same transformation, articulation, general proportions, and a few of the same pieces as a predecessor (in this case Rook), but nearly all of his pieces have been "re-shelled" to give him a new-looking vehicle mode and a fairly newish-looking robot mode. (The only obvious pieces that are shared with Rook without any remolding at all are the waist, upper legs, wheels, and a few minor connector pieces.) For all that he shares with Rook, check out Rook's review for a full rundown on the transformation, articulation, and the like. It's in his jeep mode that Swindle most looks like a new design completely; all of his vehicle mode details have been reworked, with a surprising amount of mold detailing, such as little "packs" on the sides, "bolts" on armor plating everywhere, and various other greebles detailed in here and there. He has various bars around the center of his jeep mode, which SHOULD reveal a fairly empty area around the drivers' seat-- but because of the transformation, they don't. There's VERY obvious arms-- complete with molded-in fists-- right in there. This is most definitely Swindle's biggest drawback-- it's very hard to see this as "just" a jeep without two big arms stuck on top, even if the bars are painted a nice metallic charcoal black around Swindle's otherwise mostly unbroken tan color scheme in this mode. Both of Swindle's weapons have been changed, as well; he's got a small machine gun that mounts on the top of this mode, along with a dual-blaster weapon that's his hand/foot/gun. (Unfortunately, this weapon is that really boring shade of light milky gray-- luckily, other than his waist, that's all of the gray on Swindle.) Obviously he's been remolded to only have four wheels instead of six, as well.
In robot mode Swindle looks considerably better, taking the generally excellent (albeit barrel-chested and bulky) proportions of Rook and mostly changing only the details. The only real change beyond the details is that the jeep front and part of the top is behind his back instead of Rook's more bulky vehicle front, so it isn't as big and obvious of a backpack on Swindle here. The mold detailing has nearly all been changed here, with gas pipes molded in pretty nicely on his legs (though otherwise the details there look a bit hollow-ish), along with a faux jeep front on his chest and waist. His head is also pretty classic Swindle, complete with rather large rectangular optics. (That said, a smirk on Swindle's face would have complemented the look rather nicely, giving it a bit more personality.) The color scheme is broken up considerably better in this mode than in vehicle mode, thankfully, with a good amount of black showing up on the chest, middle arms, head, and upper legs, along with some charcoal black paint on the pipes on his legs and his feet. There's also some dark purple on the chest, waist, and eyes, though it's dark enough that it sort of "fades" into the black except under strong light. The light blue used for the headlights contrasts with the purple and black excellently, and is a neat little detail; I wish it was used a bit more.
