Bot Reviews: Transformers: Legends Swerve with Phaser, and Tailgate with Groundshaker

IDW Comics is probably the best place to go if you want good Transformers stories. One of my favorite ongoing comics they’ve put out over the years was More than Meets the Eye, and its follow up series, Lost Light, both written by James Roberts, and both of which collectively ran from 2012-2018. The series focused on a scattershot crew of Transformers aboard the starship Lost Light, questing across space to find a mythical group of knights, but mostly getting into misadventures. It was a big crossover hit, won several awards, and was popular enough to filter backwards and impact the main Transformers Generations toyline.

See, one of quirks of the comic’s cast was that many of them were pre-existing D-list G1 characters, who’d had virtually no fictional appearances until then, and suddenly found themselves with fanbases who demanded new updates, with comic-accurate designs. Swerve and Tailgate were two examples of this.

Both Swerve and Tailgate were minibots introduced in the third year of the G1 toyline.

Thanks to an already-bloated cast, the pair made blink-and-you’ll-miss-it background characters in the cartoon’s third season, with no lines, and were mostly ignored by subsequent stories, until More than Meets The Eye got ahold of them.

In Swerve’s case, he was now written as a distractable, energetic motormouth, eager to go on quests, who’d become the bartender of the Lost Light’s pub, named after himself.

Tailgate, meanwhile, had been trapped in stasis for millions of years, missing the entire war, emerging as a naive, innocent soul, desperate to fit in. Both characters became fan favorites, and because of that, both received new figures in 2014’s Thrilling 30 toyline, based directly on their comic designs (which, to be fair, were already stylized versions of their G1 looks). These two were some of the first of that larger Legends scale I rhapsodized about when I looked at Vertebreak, and are fine examples of the size class. So fine, that Takara’s Legends line repainted them and released them in a two-pack, which is what I’ve got here (I did own the Hasbro versions back in the day, but flipped them after getting these). This set of repaints made a few little adjustments here and there, which I’ll talk about as I go.

Swerve, Vehicle Mode

While the crew of the Lost Light had Cybertronian modes (that they barely changed into), since these figures double as G1 updates, the designers opted for Earth vehicle modes instead, meaning Swerve changes into a straight-up pickup truck.

Despite his small size, he manages to feel pretty bulky, and he’s well-sculpted with little details, like headlights and sideview mirrors. Even the accessory peghole on his roof manages to somehow look like a natural part of the design. The only aesthetic issue here is that his truck bed is blatantly filled with robot feet, but I don’t think that could be helped at this scale.

Picking him up, he feels pleasantly chunky in hand, like he’s built from solid blocks of plastic, and like he could survive a throw across the room (not that I’d test that). His only bit of instability is that the transformation seams along his altmode doors don’t always want to sit flush.

For colors, Swerve’s mostly a dark, maroon red, with black painted windows, feet picked out in off-white, and a lot of incidental paint apps, like a silver and off-white bumper, painted silver rims, and an Autobrand on the roof. It really feels like they didn’t miss anything. He’s not too different from the Hasbro version either.

That one’s just a brighter cherry red, with minor different paint apps (no black on hood, no Autobrand, less white on feet). I’ll note, though, that technically the brighter red of the Hasbro release is more comic-accurate, while the darker red is more G1-toy-accurate.

For features, he rolls really nicely, which is all you want from a tiny truck like that. He’s also got that weapon port on his roof, for his partner, Phaser, but I’ll get to him a little later.

Transformation

This is really, really simple. Flip out his feet, spread out his arms, fold back his hood, and you’re done. This isn’t a bad thing, though. It manages to feel very satisfying, and is the kind of back-and-forth transformation that makes him into an excellent fidget toy.

Admittedly, going back is a tiny bit more tricky, but only in the sense that you need to line up his arms and hood well enough to clip together.

Robot Mode

This version of Swerve was ripped straight from his MTMTE design, including details like his stumpy stature (though not as stumpy as he was sometimes drawn), vents on his chest, wheels on shoulders, it’s all there. Only a few small details are different, like where his Autobrand is, and, of course, his altmode parts.

The fact that his MTMTE design was just a slightly stylized version of his G1 look certainly helps.

The face on this guy is just great. The buckethead, the visor, but more importantly, the open mouth with his enthusiastic, chatting smile are just spot-on.

I talk about a figure giving off personality sometimes, and this is what I’d consider to be the golden standard, because this guy drips with it. Even standing there, he’s got so much character. That’s his big selling point to me.

His colors are similarly lush. He’s the same maroon and off-white, accented with silver bits on his thighs and chest, an Autobrand on his chest, and most importantly, a well-painted blue visor. Aside from the shades of red, and the amount of white on his feet, this is also nigh-identical to the Hasbro version.

He still manages to feel really chunky and solid in-hand, and he’s nice and stable thanks to his big feet, which is good, because he’s impressively poseable for his size. While his head can’t turn, thanks to how he’s built, it can look up and down, which I really appreciate.

Outside of that, his shoulders, elbows and hips are on balljoints that are still tight in 2021, and he’s got swiveling knees. Really, this articulation was just made to help his personality shine through even more than it already does.

Phaser

The initial series of Legends that came out in Thrilling 30 had a nice bonus, in the form of Micromaster partners for each character, years before Siege brought them back full-force. Swerve’s partner was Flanker for his Hasbro release, a re-named version of Sky High. For the Takara release, he was now Phaser, a totally different Micromaster (being tail-end G1 characters means they’re both obscure nobodies, though)

Phaser’s alternate mode is a sort of small drone aircraft, though his white coloration, with black trim on his wings (plus an Autobrand) makes him look more like a space shuttle that’s missing its cockpit. There’s not much to say about it, but it looks nice enough.

He has an incredibly basic transformation, where you just flip back his wings and cockpit, and stand him up to make his robot mode.

As a robot, he has the mother of all backpacks, and is more like a robot sculpted into the bottom of the shuttle. That being said, it’s an unusually well-sculpted little robot, that feels like he fits in with the MTMTE cast’s Alex Milne-drawn designs. It’s something about the lines and angles on his arms, torso, and helmet that do it for me.

He’s also oddly well-painted for a bot this small, with a red torso and helmet, blue thighs, and a little yellow face, plus a bit of yellow on his arms. He’s got a totally different color scheme from Flanker, who was mostly dark blue, with white and red accents. Those arms are also his only point of articulation, but you know what? Unlike the floppy, unstable Siege Micromasters, this guy can actually stand up.

So, his weapon mode is where the appeal is, and is a large part of the Takara set’s appeal to me. Fold out his torso, and pry a peg out from under his cockpit (it’s a tight squeeze to get out, you really need to dig your nails in) and you have a big, bulky blaster, with three tips at the end that suggest a Gatling gun.

Weapon mode is where the appeal is here, and I’d even say where the whole Takara set’s appeal is. So, while the sculpt is totally different, this weapon’s white body, orange tip, and blue and yellow accents were designed to make it look like the My First Blaster.

In the comics, Swerve was a bad, hazardous shot with his gun, so he was given the My First Blaster as a training weapon. It may not have been initially sculpted to look like it, but Phaser’s colors are a good match, and it’s a really great homage.

Speaking of that, it’s kind of funny that these Takara repaints mostly opted to move away from IDW accuracy and towards G1 accuracy, but then included an incredibly direct IDW homage.

For his part, Swerve can hold it in his hands, giving him a vaguely unhinged look, with that grin of his, or you can mount it on the top of his vehicle mode.

As a bonus, the placement of the peg on Phaser means you can do a few extra fun things with him, like mount the drone on the top of his altmode…

…or mount Phaser himself on Swerve’s robot back like he was carrying a baby.

Tailgate, Vehicle Mode

Like Swerve, Tailgate’s vehicle mode is a stylized take on his G1 toy, so he’s a muscle car. It’s an interesting design, because they opted to give this version a lot of funky angled lines, making him look almost like a fancy-shmancy bougie concept car, which contrasts with the typically more Brutalist Muscle Car Vibe, especially with the big tailpipes in the back.

Tailgate’s colors are actually pretty different from the Hasbro version, aside from both being mostly white.

Namely, he’s missing the blue flames the Thrilling 30 version had on its hood, trading them in for silver paint on the bumper, and a larger, red Autobrand, as well as swapping the silver windows for black.

It does make it more G1 accurate, but I kind of miss the flames, since the altmode now comes across as a lot more plain, even if it’s got a comparable amount of paint apps.

For features, while he can roll, his ground clearance is, unfortunately, not great, thanks to his folded up robot legs sticking out just a little too far. I’ve messed with his transformation a lot, and I don’t think there’s a decent non-scrape configuration I’m missing.

He’s also got a weapon port on his hood for his partner, which I’ll get into later on, again.

Transformation

Tailgate’s the exact opposite of Swerve, in that he’s an exploding, fiddly shellformer, where you crack his car shell apart, and unfold his legs and body. On the upside, it’s not really a difficult transformation, and where everything goes is fairly intuitive.

It’s getting him back into car mode that’s a challenge, thanks to all the panels you need to line up and click together, combined with all the stuff you need to cram into a relatively tiny space. Plus, I always forget how the legs go.

While it’s not exactly hard, it’s a bit ungainly and involved for his size.

Robot Mode

Tailgate had a heavier redesign for MTMTE than Swerve did, so this is more Lost Light than G1 in aesthetic (they’d circle back and do a more G1 toy version a few years later in Power of the Primes). Tailgate’s got kind of a unique look, with dainty ballerina legs, a wide torso and arms, and a small, cute head, and it’s a look that the toy replicates pretty well.

However, this figure’s got a lot more car panels on him compared to his comic design, including wheel chunks on his hips, a big shell on his back, and big panels on his shoulders and forearms, so it’s not as sleek as it feels like it should be.

Still, the whole thing mostly gels. In particular, I really like his headsculpt, with its angular shape and little visor and mouthplate.

Tailgate’s colors, again, are pretty different from the US release, which was aiming for IDW accuracy, whereas this one’s more G1 toy accurate, with its much darker blues, and silver highlights.

There’s one change that I definitely think benefits this version, and that’s the coat of silver paint over his head. While it’s not comic-accurate, it picks out the details a lot better, where the unpainted white on the western release rendered them indistinct.

Tailgate’s surprisingly stable for someone with his feet, legs and general proportions. Those feet may be thin, but at least he’s got huge heel spurs.

Theoretically, he’s got poseability that includes swiveling ankles, ball-jointed knees, hips, elbows, and shoulders, and a swiveling neck. In practice, though, he’s got some clearance issues thanks to all those panels. Moving his hips backwards, posing his arms, and rotating his head are all games of navigating around panels, and shifting them away. Still, he holds his poses, getting there just requires some effort.

Groundshaker

A blending of obscure characters, Tailgate’s partner is based on the Micromaster Neutro, but named after a different member of this team, and then painted in totally different colors. He’s also nigh-identical to his Hasbro release (Groundbuster), just rendered in darker shades.

Whoever he is, he changes into a bulldozer-like vehicle on treads, with a big claw upfront. It’s a nicely-sculpted little vehicle, with a surprising amount of color on it, between its blue body, grey claw, white roof, and black treads.

Remember how I said Phaser barely transforms? Well, this guy basically doesn’t transform at all, you just stand him up to reveal the sculpted robot on his other side.

It is, again, a strangely well-sculpted, Milne-esque robot, he’s just hiding inside an entire bulldozer. He’s even weirdly well-painted, with a silver face and red details on his body. Amusingly, he does have normal-sized arms, they’re just hiding on the insides of his oversized treads, which he can swing from his shoulders as his only articulation.

Again, his weapon mode’s where the fun is. In bulldozer mode (bulldozer position, really), he extends into a grabbing claw, and it’s jointed in such a way that the claw opens up as the whole thing impressively unfurls. Once extended, the claw’s even a little bit poseable (the whole thing’s meant to be a bomb disposal unit, which was Tailgate’s initial job early in MTMTE). It’s a nifty gimmick.

Tailgate can hold it, though it’s kind of awkwardly big and heavy on him, introducing stability issues as a result.

Alternately, you can stick it on the front of his car mode, or, if you’re having trouble keeping him standing up, you can just fold the claw back up, and have him menace foes with a miniature bulldozer.

Overall

Swerve’s basically flawless. Like, he’s one of my favorite Transformers figures ever. I wholeheartedly think everyone should get one, just for the amount of fun and personality they crammed into this small package.

Tailgate is a bit more compromised, in that he’s a bit more fiddly and panel-laden in bad ways. But the figure itself looks nice, and is still one of the better Legends they put out during the whole Thrilling 30 to Power of the Primes run. Plus, it’s a good rendition of his IDW comic design, and his partner’s neat.

As for how these Takara repaints compare, while I personally prefer a few of the touches the Legends repaints gave them (especially with Phazer), it’s not really a night and day difference like some Legends releases, and I’d say, go for whichever versions of them you can get, and if you already have the Hasbro releases, those are perfectly good, and mostly more IDW-accurate, anyway.

Regardless, as a pair, these two are still some of the highlights of this entire size class, and are excellent little figures, and are among some of the favorites of my collection. Everyone should check them out.