The Toy Room - REDUX : Toy Reviews | Transformers : Alternators

Swindle - the seemingly 'evil twin brother' of Autobot Hound, is basically a repainted and retooled of his Autobot brethren, so I won't go into details about the main body itself. For that, read Autobot Hound's review. Instead, let me touch on some of the differences between the two…

First and foremost is the color. Since the original Swindle G1 character had an orange/yellowish color, so does this updated model for the Alternators line. What I miss is his huge cannon that mounted in the back of the jeep, but it's ok - might have detracted from this Jeeps cool look anyway ;) There is also a fancy looking new chrome grill on the front as well, which adds a touch of class to his look. Overall, I can't complain with the Jeep mode - I think it looks and stands out more than Hound.

Now the robot mode - Swindle is virtually identical to Hound in every way, except one - the head. The head looks like a nice update again of the G1 toy and cartoon character. I really love the way Hasbro is trying to stay really true to the essence of its G1 characters. This head sculpt alone makes me leave Swindle in this mode most of the time - that and he keeps trying to cut deals with my Cobra Commander figure, silly Swindle.

Bottom Line

Normally I frown on repaints, but in the cases of Alternators, they do make sense, especially with the little retooling that normally goes with it. Its not unreasonable that some Transformers would have the same car or jeep bodies. And to top it off, Swindle is the better looking of the two - in my opinion. So, the Bottom Line, is he worth the pick-up? Definitely, if for the styling alone - Happy hunting!