Swerve's alternate mode is a tiny, "chibi" little 4WD vehicle. Keeping in mind the chibi proportions used on most of the G1 Minibots, the overal look is pretty good and solid in this mode. The only real issues are with the two bumpers. The back bumper isn't really there, just empty little gaps where the knees rotate into for robot mode. Alternately, in the front the bumper goes down further than you'd think, due to the robot head and top of the chest being down there. When you're familiar with the transformation, it's also fairly obvious his feet are on the top back end, but they fit the overall look and silhouette of this mode, so that's a minor issue at worst. Mold-wise the detailing is fairly sparse, as is the G1 norm, but there are some important details, such as the treaded details on the tires, the side rims, a chrome silver grill on the front, and molded-in headlights and a nifty "W/M" (depending upon which direction you're looking at it) design above the front grill. The long, curved black window has a nice look to it as well. The color scheme is pretty basic; the body of the truck is mostly a dark, dull red, with black on the tires and windows, and white on the underside of the front bumper and the lower legs on the back end. There's also some chrome silver on the wheel hubs, as well as the aforemetioned front bumper. It's a basic scheme, but it works, even if I would've liked some actual paint apps in this mode. There's only even one sticker, and it's just the rub allegiance symbol, stickered sideways on top of the top window, of all places.
    It's hard to imagine Swerve's transformation being much simpler; just rotate the back ends out and apart slightly, then pull out the sides and stand him up. Voila! You're done. Thus, the truck sorta has Swerve's robot mode on the underside, and the robot mode sort of has much of the truck on the back. Still, it's a tiny '80s toy, you're not getting THAT much out of the transformation! Anyways, from the front, this mode looks pretty decent, though looking quite stiff, as most G1 toys do. The legs have small chrome bits on the upper legs, and there's big, bulky lower legs. The arms have nice shoulders with the wheels being nice "bicep" accents, but the lower arms are too short and weird, especially since there aren't even any robot fists molded into the insides of them-- it looks like he just has little blocks for hands. The chest is fairly flat, but largely works, and the addition of more white to the color scheme makes him look a bit better in this mode in that respect. The head I'm a bit less enthused about, as it's kinda sandwiched between his large shoulders, with the front bumper sticking up behind it. The face is more just molded right into the body rather than being an actual head. However, what's interesting to note is that-- like the other Minibots Wal-Mart Reissues-- the facesculpt has actually been remolded from the the original G1 toy. It's now more toon-accurate, with more molded-in details on the red helmet, the blue visor, and the silver face. It's actually weird, since it's so much more detailed than the rest of the toy (and indeed, is the only place that has any paint on it). It DOES look good, though. There's two stickers in this mode-- one with a bunch of multi-colored buttons on it, which goes on the chest, and an Autobot symbol on the waist. For articulation, Swerve can move back-and-forth at both the shoulders and at the knees; however, his feet are so thick that most poses with the knees don't work all that well (seriously, don't look at this toy from the side in this mode, he's way too thick).
    G1 Swerve is one of the better of the Reissue Minibots. Sure, he doesn't really have much of a head, and he can look awkward in robot mode from certain angles, but compared to some of the other limitations in the other G1 Minibot designs, they're relatively small things. Especially if you're a fan of the character or just nostalgia, I'd recommend this toy the most out of the various Wal-Mart Reissue Minibot molds (though Gears looks slightly better color-wise).

Review by Beastbot

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