Swoop

Review by tanuki

G1 Swoop, the toy i always wanted as a kid but it was never released in the UK.

Made even worse when a Transformers video was released here with the two part episodes "Desertion of the Dinobots" which featured Swoop as a major character. I bought mine on ebay a few years ago, mint in box for £80, a steal.

The box is pure G1, with a 4 step transformation guide on the top of the box and art on the back with the Tech-Specs.

As can be seen on the rear box art, the artist did like to re-use the same characters i count 4 Grimlocks'.
At the bottom of the art are the Tech-Specs that can be decoded with the clear plastic strip, showing what abilities Swoop has.

Inside the box is the figure, the Transforming instructions, sticker sheet, two missile launchers, three missiles, Tech-Spec decoder and sword (which i seemed to have misplaced since moving).

Swoop was originally a Diaclone figure part of the Dinosaur Robo line and is the only Dinobot not to feature a cockpit for the driver.

When the figure was brought into the Transformers line they re-coloured him red, but the animators kept the blue Diaclone colours for the show.

The beak was rounded off at the tip for safety reasons (which i still contend that they`ll round off points or cut down Optimus Prime`s smoke stacks but continue to have firing pointy missiles that often fire off on their own in random directions, like eyes)

The body of the figure is Die-cast with the rest being plastic.

In Dinosaur mode the figure can stand upright on the feet, it also has molded "wheels" when you flip the feet up, these are non-functioning and are supposed to work with a flip out functioning wheel in the chest allowing the figure to roll but you cant roll fixed plastic wheels. The beak is clear plastic (as was used in all the Dinobots).

Transformation is really simple, flip out the legs from the back of the Dinosaur mode and then slide them up on pins then flip out the feet.

Pull the two halves of the chest out and then pull each arm out from either side of the chest, slide down the forearms on pins.

Flip the beak down into the cavity in the chest which will also reveal the head, finally flip the wing tips back.
My figure has a habit of leaning forward at the knees, i'm not sure if this was the same for all Swoop figures.

Swoop can hold his missile launchers in his hands, the left hand on my figure is a little wider than the right, also the peg on the right wing of my figure isnt deep enough to hold the missile launcher.

I still love this figure, but these imperfections are anoying considering the price this figure often goes for.

Swoop has an impressive wingspan of just under 9 inches, the figure itself is around 5 inches tall.
The face is really small and kinda looks like the animated model, if you squint and you`ve had half a bottle of vodka.

For all its flaws Swoop is still one of my favorite Transformer toys ever, this is most likely more to do with not having it as a kid and wanting it more than anything.

He`s hard to find in good condition and complete and even harder to find mint in box. I'm sure i`ve broken the hearts of many a Transformers collector in opening the sealed box, especially UK fans. I have a nice warm fuzzy feeling in my belly at the thought of that.

You hear that Transformer fans? give me your anger, with each passing moment you become, MINE!
MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.