Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Deluxe
Item No.: Asst. B0974 No. B4661 Manufacturer:Hasbro Includes:Comic book, turret, hand/foot/weapon Action Feature:Transforms from Robot to Off-Road Vehicle to Hand to Foot Retail:$15.99 Availability: November 2015 Other: Heavy Rook Retool
Sometimes, Hasbro really puts a lot of work in to a remold. The most famous of the Combaticons, Swindle is a heavily retooled Rook. If you put them side-by-side, you'll note the chest combiner mechanism, the connecting shoulder piece, the thighs and crotch, and the elbow connector pieces are shared. Everything else? Totally new. Even the combiner hand is new - Hasbro really put in a lot of work here.
Coming to you as a robot, Swindle is unusual in that he actually has Swindle's head. The character is famous for scheming deals and big eyes - thus making it the closest analog this line has to the Ferengi. (The Fall of Cybertron figure had a head that looked a lot more like G1 Trailbreaker.) Articulation is effectively identical to Rook, with about 15 joints - more if you count some of the bits intended for transformation. Rook's nifty wrist fist weapon mounts have been replaced by Swindle's more traditional hands and wrists, plus there are shoulder mounts so you can put Swindle's grey molded (but gunmetal painted) blaster in the hole of your choosing. (That was a lot less dirty when I was typing it.)
The figure also has quite a bit of personality thanks to his face - there's a slight sneer in addition to rectangular glasses-looking eyes, plus a helmet with a few spare details that give him a little more "oomph." The body is positively over-detailed, with rivets, panels, and whatever holes are there on the legs. I have no idea why there are so many - clearly someone had some extra time to design this one.
Transformation is very similar to Rook, except there's a little finessing the roof on Swindle to make sure his arms fit in place. It's not a bother to convert this one, but it might take you a few seconds longer than Rook.
Since the robot is nice and beefy, so is the vehicle - the wheels look the same as Rook, but that's about all that carries over. You can mount Swindle's gun on the roof in three places, and there's no way you can really put a figure in here. There's no visible seat like there was for Hound a few years ago - and of course, this mold will be Hound before Spring is up. It's also worth noting the wheels roll nicely, which may distract you from the fact that all of Swindle's Decepticon symbols are actually quite small for a Deluxe toy. It's really quite a big change from how Rook's vehicle mode looks, but if you're starting from an armored box you can probably make any of a number of neat things.
As you would correctly assume, he works perfectly nice as an arm or a leg - by default he's a leg, but the arm mode is pretty solid too. Pictures of both can be found in the combined modes below, meaning you've got more options for your various combining Decepticons.
There aren't many post-movie G1 Decepticons with a lot of personality from the American fiction, so the likes of Swindle make for an exciting addition to those shelves. It's a good combiner part, a good robot, and a good vehicle - and a lot better than the last Cybertronian version a few years ago. I'd hesitate to say "you'll chuck the old ones in the trash" but I seriously doubt you'll ever want to play with them again after you get your mitts on this one. Or just wait for the G2 boxed set, because that's going to be good, too.
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