Power of the Primes Swoop

Robot Mode: The first thing I noticed about this figure was that it seemed a good deal darker than I was used to. Not only does he feature the Diaclone blue (as seen in the G1 cartoon) instead of the Hasbro red (as seen on the G1 toy), but he also adds quite a bit of black, giving the figure a much darker paintjob. I like it, mind you, but it took a moment to get used to. Second thing I noticed, the wings. They are fully extendable and I just have a thing for winged robots, so putting Swoop into all kinds of winged poses is just a lot of fun. Articulation-wise Swoop leaves no room for complaint, either.

In terms of weapons Swoop comes with his familiar red sword. What irks me a bit is that he has neither a gun nor any missiles. Given that his function is “bombardier” (even mentioned as such in the profile text), it seems strange that he doesn’t have any missiles or bombs in either mode. As an additional accessory he comes with a fist for his combiner mode (see below) that doubles as chest armor. Here is where he can place one of the Prime Masters if you so choose. I have to say, though, that Swoop looks misproportioned with the chest armor. Plugging the big hand into his forearm looks much better, if you wish to use it.

Bottom line: Swoop in robot mode looks as you want him to look, nicely capturing the G1 cartoon character. A few more weapons would have been nice, but apart from that I have no complaints.

Alternate Mode: Swoop transforms into the familiar robotic Pteranodon we remember from the G1 cartoon. The transformation is pretty much identical to the G1 toy, too, as he folds his legs onto his back and the beast mode head on his chest flips up to cover his robot mode face. Which doesn’t quite work, on my version at least, as the connection between robot mode head and beast mode head isn’t really solid. Not a big thing, though.

In dinobird mode Swoop can either adopt a flying pose (with toes pointed backwards) or a sitting pose. Either looks good. Much like in robot mode I’m missing his missiles, but that’s just about the only complaint I have here. You can store the chest armor / combiner hand on his back in this mode and his red sword can be fitted underneath he beak (in flying pose only). Overall a nicely done Pteranodon mode, still a bit limited, but that’s in the nature of the design. Personally I have left Swoop in this mode after taking the pictures and he sits on top of stuff around the living room all the time. Nicely done.

Combiner Mode: Though it’s not advertised on the toy’s packaging at all, Swoop is a working combiner limb in the Combiner Wars style. He can become either an arm or a leg. In arm mode he uses the chest armor as a hand, in leg mode he needs the foot piece that comes with a Voyager-class PotP figure. Nominally he is part of the Volcanicus Dinobot combiner, but he is compatible with any Combiner Wars style combiner.

Remarks: I’m going to out myself here: I am not, nor was I ever, much of a Dinobots fan. Oh, I love Grimlock as much as the next guy, don’t get me wrong, but I was never looking to own all five Dinos in Masterpiece size, nor am I planning on getting the entire team to form Volcanicus. That said, I always had a soft spot for Swoop, the only flying Dinobot. So when I saw this guy at my favorite childhood toy store in Berlin, I just had to get him.

As a toy Swoop is nice. For Dinobot fans he is probably a must-have, but for me he is merely a good Power of the Primes figure. He works as both an arm and a leg for a combiner, he has a good robot- and beast-mode and while he lacks a certain something extra, he is an all-around good toy with no flaws worth mentioning. Recommended to combiner and Dinobot fans.

Rating: B