Swerve (Chevy)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Swerve" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Swerve (disambiguation). |
- Swerve is an Autobot from the Robots in Disguise continuity family (via the 2003 Universe toyline).
"A mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma, blindfolded and dunked in delicious milk chocolate" would be a charitable way to describe Swerve. He is the result of the most unusual toy release in the history of the brand.
Contents |
Fiction
Shell Game continuity
In Viron 704.31 Epsilon, Swerve was one of Optimus Prime's loyal Autobot soldiers, but on the eve of a vital confrontation with Megazarak, Swerve and several of his comrades disappeared, having been abducted by Unicron to fight in the Universe War. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/07/30 He succumbed to Unicron's mental influence and arguably became a Minion of Unicron. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/09/13
Toys
Universe (2003)
- Swerve (Deluxe, 2008)
- Known designers: Alex Kubalsky (TakaraTomy)
- The very last toy released under the 2003 Universe banner (kinda? we'll explain in a moment), Swerve transforms into a licensed Chevy Aveo LT. He has a light-piped head modeled after the Autobot faction insignia. His transformation is fairly intricate, with the car shell being formed mostly from folding panels, and his aesthetic is similar to that of the original characters created for the the 2007 live-action movie toyline. In terms of articulation, the toy notably has ankle tilts, but like many toys of the time he lacks bicep swivels, meaning his lower arms can only move forwards and backwards. Unmentioned in the instructions, Swerve's neck is double-jointed, allowing it to raise up a bit so his head isn't as buried into his chest hood... but just by that much.
- Also unusually for toys of the time, Swerve lacks any kind of gimmick or accessory, and he is not compatible with 5 mm posts. By chance, weapons with 3.5 mm posts fit relatively well in his hands.
- Despite his alternate mode and the timing of his release, he has no relationship to Aveo, Sphinx, or the rest of the Chevy Autobots. Furthermore, his instructions (to all appearances standard for toys at the time) feature the logo of the original 2003 Universe line, but otherwise mostly use design elements from instructions of the 2006 Classics line, with a couple from those of the then-upcoming 2008 Universe line, plus the General Motors logo typical of movie toys. Filing the toy away as part of any one line is a misguided endeavour, but for organizational purposes we've stuck to the logo.
- The toy comes in a two-piece plastic tray, molded to its shape and taped shut, sealed inside a polybag (written in English, with a Hasbro copyright), stickered with a barcode labelled "PROOF OF PURCHASE". On the inside of Swerve's chestpiece, behind the bumper, is a small white sticker with a seemingly-unique ID number.
Creation and release
Polybagged samples of Swerve originally surfaced on Asian websites in August 2007. All "final" samples were the same red color; one specimen appeared to be yellow, but in fact had been hand-painted. The instructions lacked an assortment number, leading to the conclusion that it was a standalone release, presumably an exclusive, though the venue was unknown; for that matter, whether it would even be released at all seemed uncertain for a long time.
When the first samples turned up in China, some of the dealers claimed the toy was supposed to be available as a freebie for buying a Chevy Aveo, which would have made it far and away the single most expensive official Transformers toy. However, contradictory rumors claimed the toy would be available as a freebie for test-driving a Chevy Aveo, or that it was a promotional Chevy exclusive to be only available in China. None of those reports were ever verified, and it is unclear whether the toy was ever officially available in China or whether all the samples from Asia were of the usual stolen "leaked" variety.
Early reports throughout the fandom, tepidly verified by Hasbro sources, suggested that the mold's creation had been commissioned by Chevrolet for that company's exclusive use; neither Hasbro nor TakaraTomy could use it in their own lines. This amounted to the first time that a "mainstream" Transformer mold was created to be an exclusive (as opposed to things like Happy Meal toys, which are distinct from standard product and cost far less to design and produce).
On March 25th 2008, the Chevrolet online store began to offer Swerve as a "special featured item"... but only from its branches in Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Swerve officially sold for €12.80, which, depending on the order location and currency conversion rates, translated into to approximately $20~$30 before shipping. However, orders from customers in the United States were subject to a "processing" fee of over $50 and a "trans-Atlantic shipping fee" of almost $100(!). Less than two days later, the order page was taken down without explanation. By the end of the month, purchasers reported that their Swerves were indeed arriving—but the toys had sold out so quickly that some customers who had placed acknowledged orders never got them.
A month later at BotCon 2008, Hasbro explained that the toy had been produced for Chevy at cost as thanks for their successful partnership. It was designed for a promotional campaign in European markets, with the toys given away to people who took a test-drive of a Chevy Aveo (but it's unclear if, when, and where this promotional campaign actually happened). The toys were never meant to be sold; a handful were left after the promotion had ended (assuming it happened), and they were shunted onto Chevy's website.
Over a year later, Chevrolet/GM made Swerve available again through a contest promotion at several mall displays in Ontario, Canada, running from June 18th to August 2nd, 2009. Swerve figures were one of several incentive prizes used to entice customers to fill in an entry form for a contest (the ultimate prize being a 2010 Chevy Camaro).[1] As before, numbers were extremely limited—contest managers reported that they had fewer than twenty Swerves to distribute each day, with a limit of one per customer—but this time they were given out for free.
After about another year, the toy surfaced officially for a third time, when Hasbro supplied some to the popular online dealer BigBadToyStore in May 2010. The initial price there was $75, though this dropped before the full stock sold out.
In 2020, over a decade later, a few dozen Swerves surfaced in a dollar store in Ontario—perhaps scavenged from the mall promotions—still in their original bags. With no knowledge of how many Swerve figures were actually produced, there could be any number out in the wild, waiting to resurface one day...
Notes
- Alex Kubalsky designed Swerve's robot mode and transformation under a four-week deadline.
- Chevrolet themselves seem to think that the idea of a transforming Aveo isn't exactly the best marketing strategy, based on a 2008 commercial for the Aveo.[2] Although the truth probably is that they were just jealous that Citroën had beaten them to the idea by several years, before GM even got involved in the Transformers movie.[3] (The commercial was also the work of Chevrolet's European division and produced in the Netherlands.[4][5])
References
- ↑ Message board announcement of the 2009 Canadian release
- ↑ Chevrolet Aveo commercial, featuring a transforming and dancing Ford Focus and a non-transforming Aveo.
- ↑ Citroën C4 commercial featuring a transforming and dancing C4, the commercial spoofed by the Aveo one.
- ↑ Background of the Aveo commercial
- ↑ Production details about the Aveo commercial
