It’s time for Core Dinobot number four, and we’re onto the flying member of the team, Swoop! Seriously, “the flying one” is basically his only personality differentiator in most of the media he’s in. He had a weirdly proficient career in the Marvel UK Comics, at least, where he used to be known as Divebomb, until the Predacon took his name from him, sparking a bitter rivalry. He was also briefly mind-controlled by the scientist who would go on to build the Centurion Drone, sparking another bitter rivalry.
Despite beating up his fellow Autobots while mind-controlled, this did not spark a third bitter rivalry.
All these rivalries, and his main one was with Hasbro’s UK division, where, despite this focus, his toy was never released!
Given how breakable I hear it was, this probably prevented some childhood heartbreak.
Speaking of that, the original was known for having a very different deco from his show and comic appearances (thanks to the original Diaclone deco being used for media reference), and also for having an easily breakable head, so any modern update of the design has two very easy mandates to fulfill, like this one here.
Robot Mode
He cuts a surprisingly dynamic figure.
This tall drink of water stands a bit higher than most core-class characters, and after three previous Dinobots that were all kind of oddly-shaped to one degree or another, it’s impressive to see one that’s just straight up person-shaped.
They’re on him for not also being an oddly-shaped weirdo.
And, for the scale, it’s pretty animation-accurate, too. Like the other Dinobots, there’s way more greebly sculpted detail across his body than the smooth Sunbow model, though, and I’m wondering if I’m looking at the as-yet-unrevealed Studio Series 86 CAD shrunken down.
A battle for the allegiance of this mini-masterpiece.
Whatever it is, it’s good-looking, and I like that it’s got some options for display, like furling or unfurling the wings on his back, which are his only altmode kibble, making for a clean silhouette. In fact, I’m astounded that nothing on him belies the fact that he’s part of a combiner, they made him astoundingly clean.
Swoop can swoop.
Swoop’s funky red head crest was always an interesting look, and it’s faithfully preserved here, along with a face who’s lines really specifically make me think of the cartoon’s art style.
His features are oddly chiselled-looking.
For colors, this is another case of both the sculpt and budget not quite being able to hit the highs of his original design, but that being a-ok, because it still looks good. I do kind of wish his limbs weren’t solid gray, though, save for the barely-visible racing stripes on the sides of his lower legs. Aside from that, he’s got the usual red, gold, and silver Dinobot accents, along with a splash of show-style blue on his torso (but not nearly as much as on the show), and wings that are, surprisingly, a lighter shade of gray than the rest of his body.
Meditating on his color choices.
In terms of build quality, this isn’t the substantial brick that was Slug or Sludge, or even Grimlock, the figure’s a bit on the lighter side. But that’s fine, it feels like a standard Core, and doesn’t need to be a load-bearing combiner component. He does have the same problem as Grimlock, though, where his lower legs are totally hollow from the back, though he also has the same trick of having enough of a footprint to pose well.
These legs go for miles, but there’s nothing inside them.
And, wow, the poseability! Finally, a Dinobot with elbows! It’s all here, proper standard Core articulation, done almost entirely via ball-joints, for extra range.
Showing off the goods.
We’ve got a ball-jointed neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. Meanwhile, he’s also got a swiveling waist, and swiveling thighs, as well as wings you can flare out a little bit, for dynamism. They combine well with his Very Shaped Design to make a figure with a lot of personality-laden posing potential.
Getting some revenge on Morris and his Centurion.
The joints are all nice and tight, too! I did get hit with a QC issue, in the form of the thigh swivel on his right leg coming out when I rotate it. When this happens, something in the mushroom peg’s a bit misshapen. But I can pose it and get it to stay in by holding it down as I rotate it, and doing so will often break in a joint.
In this John Woo homage, he’s his own bird flying away.
Swoop’s got two accessories, and they’re one of the only things that tip you off to his nature as a combiner. They’re a pair of pistols, painted black, that he can duel-wield in either hand, and the sculpting is doing its damnedest to try and convince us that they’re not a combiner fist split in half. I guess you can pass off the fingers as magazines, but it’s still pretty clear what it is.
He sided against Terrorsaur for giving Pterodactyls a bad name.
You can also mount them on his wings, like where the missile pods went on the original design, though they happen to look particularly fist-like in this configuration (and have bespoke attachment points that mean you have to mount them fist parts out). Still, if you don’t focus too hard on the fingers, they work alright, and he’s poseable enough to do some John Woo stuff. I’d say just about the only thing he’s lacking is 5-Millimeter ports, though the fist-guns have them, so you can always make some kind of omni-weapon.
Not that he needs it.
Transformation
I keep talking about how refreshingly straightforward the mini-dino transformations are, and this one in particular is smooth like butter.
It goes exactly how you think.
You just unfold the wings, flip the head up, put the chest-head over it, fold the legs back, and then do a bit of tabbing to put the whole thing together. I think this might be the 1985 transformation with no changes, even.
Dino Mode
The amazing flying brick.
Hypothetically, Swoop changes into a Pterodactyl. But with his folded-up robot legs sticking out above, and his robot torso more or less unchanged when viewed from below, he’s not really fooling anyone. Still, aesthetically, it works for me, if you take it less as an actual dinosaur mode, and more as a sci-fi flying altmode with dino trappings, including wings. You could always say the legs are turbines, or something. No idea what to say about the highly visible fists, though.
He always has the higher ground in debates with his squad.
For colors, Swoop’s gold head is the centerpiece here, with its blue eyes, and red Autobrand and crest. Meanwhile, his folded up robot legs get a red racing stripe, which actually goes a long way to making them feel more like an intentional design element, and less like altmode parts.
The wings are mostly for show.
Swoop’s not got very much in the way of articulation, but his wings do have two joints in them, so you can get some flapping action happening, if you like. He can’t really roost, or stand up in his bird mode, thanks to his robot torso, and the fact that folding his altmode head down instantly exposes his robot head. Still, if you take him as less of a bird, and more of a fancy jet, it works.
Time for the big finish!
In terms of accessories, you can still mount those two fist pieces on his wings, Seeker-style, for an attack mode. I think he’s the only Dinobot so far with this kind of attack mode.
Age of Extinction.jpg
Arm Mode
One of the reasons Swoop works so well as an individual robot is that he barely needs to do anything to become an arm. From his robot mode, you’re basically just flipping up his head, revealing a combiner peg in his chest, rotating his waist, and plugging the combined fist-gun into his feet. And yeah, on his own, this mode kind of looks like Nothing.
Showing off his bicep curl.
Plug the port into Volcanicus’s shoulder, though, and you can instantly see what he’s supposed to be. And he makes for a pretty good arm, too, by combiner standards!
He beat Centurion to give Volcanicus a leg.
I’ll reserve judgement until I have the full robot assembled, but any worries I had about the 5 millimeter joint he attaches with being unstable seem to be unfounded, he stays on there good, and it works as a shoulder joint. Outside of that, his waist joint becomes an arm swivel, and his legs become an elbow joint/bicep curl. Meanwhile, his fist’s the right size to hold a standard Transformers accessory.
And also, a weapon.
So, yeah, he makes for a good arm, while managing to still be a good singular Transformer at the same time.
Overall
If it wasn’t already clear, this is the best one of these mini-Dinobots so far. He’s the only one that isn’t compromised for the sake of the combination in any significant way, and on top of that, is just a good Core-class figure, poseable, expressive, fun to transform, all those good things. The worst I can say is his dino mode’s a bit odd, but unlike Grimlock, it feels a bit more deliberate, and it’s not because of his arm mode.
This conversation would be murder on the ears.
Even if you’re not collecting all the Dinobots, this is an easy one to recommend strictly on his own merits. Core class can be a bit pricey, but this one feels worth what he costs.
One last dramatic dive!
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