Hello all...
I just got Alternators Swindle this weekend...and I love him. I knew I liked him from the first few pics of him, but man he rocks. I transform him differently so his tires are up into the front instead of hanging down like Hound's. I also attached G1 Swindle's Blaster to him. Overall he is one of my Favs.
Here is a basic review for those considering whether to get him...
This is a point system...Each section gives a total of 5 points...then the points are added up and the Total is given. Possible Total of 20 points.


Character: Does this seem like the original character?
Swindle, to me, passes well enough to be a new Jeep Sport. He looks like he fits it well. The fact that he was Trailbreaker does make it a bit harder to really get a feel in this area for him. I give him 3 out of 5 points on this.

Transformation: Easy or too Difficult or Pointless.
An easy transformation that offers just enough extra effort to make it worth doing. No great challenge here and of course no difficulties. A child could handle this figure no problem. Only problem that could be here is for those that prefer a good challenge when dealing with Transformers. But I'll give him a 4 out of 5 here.

Design: Good, Bad, Ugly?
Swindle has a nice design...it is of course based on Hound's mold and was a version of Trailbreaker. His vehicle mode is excellent and really worth half the price of the figure alone. His robot mode is good and his head can definitely pass as a new-age Swindle, even though it was meant to be Trailbreaker. His color scheme is very smooth-looking and was handled very well. My only complaint in this area is his gun...he really needed a new gun or atleast a heavily remolded gun. Swindle being a Combaticon or Ex-Combaticon in this case needs a better weapon than he got. I give him a 4 out of 5 on this one.

Posability/Play Value: Displays Well, Fights Well.
His posability is good. It is easy to notice he was an older Alternators mold though. His arms lack a good range of movement and can't fully go straight out or in high-angled positions. His legs are very nicely done and completely superior to the Sideswipe/Dead End or the Smokescreen/Silverstreak molds. His hands are good but not great either, the way they are designed kind of takes away from some good posing. His play value for those that do more than display them is good, not great but good. He can be used in poses in fights and firing his gun and such. But he can't do any great super-poses for those that have grand-scale battles with their toys. His durability for play-wear is nice though, only thing is his front guard looks as if it could break off if rammed into objects too hard. His rollbars on his back can get in the way sometimes too when holding him. I give him a 3 out of 5 here.

Total I give Swindle a 14 out of 20. Nice figure and a cut above the average (10).

the main thing that bothered me was the,, purple speedo

Great review, you should put it up on TFormers....


I like him (as much as I dont want to) but feel cheated by the lack of a hard top (will never get over it) and I still think those bigger wheels get in the way of already hindered posebility

The tires, if transformed like I said in the first post don't get in the way at all really...the only thing then is his waist can't rotate...but his legs will get much better posability and motion with this. So if you're not big on hanging them down, jsut put them up into the chest and you'll get better lower poseability and less upper poseability...to me it's like the lesser of two evils.

Thanks for the comments...and how would I get it on TFormers?

not really sure... PM Wheel Jack or Behold Galvatron

I agree, but what wonders a little matte black paint on the speedo and orange on the visor can do...

Why orange on the visor? The purple color really makes it feel more like Swindle. And as far as teh "speedo" goes, it doesn't bother me at all...I like the combo of Purple with the Yellow. Infact I plan to match that purple and put various paint ops in that purple on his arms and legs to match it all together.

eh, most of them have speedos anyway. I'm curious about Swindle because I did like that character. And if all else fails I can swap his head with Alt Shocky and make a sweet Alternators Blot figure.

This figure really does feel like Swindle to me. The color choices and the overall look really makes him more of a real Decepticon choice than what happened with Dead End.

His vehicle mode is just great and he'll probably remain as my Fav. Decepticon as long as they stay as cars.