Fans Toys FT-58 Diverge (Masterpiece Swerve)
Fanstoys items usually come with an outer plastic baggie to protect the box.
Ye ole Fans Toys protective film sheet
As usual, the figure comes out of the box slightly mis-transformed to minimize the box dimension. In this case, you’ll have to shift his shoulder joints down (mine was wrongly oriented on one shoulder).
You’ll also have to open up the top flap (vehicle mode front grill) and fold it down on itself.
Since this is a Third Party, non-official item, it doesn’t come with a faction symbol. It’s best to get some stickers from Reprolabels/Toyhax.com to make this guy more “toon-accurate”. Alternately, you can also use “water slide decals” to make them look even more flawless (you won’t see the edges, unlike with stickers) but I’ve never really had the proper skills, or time (usually needs to be individually cut first) to work with those.
For water slide decals, most folks recommend the one from Ocean Studio. Here:
http://www.unclebillyshop.com/decals-poster/ocean-logo-decals.html
To apply stickers, I find the best way to stick the stickers on is to use the tip of a blade, or a flat, small-tipped object, this way you have more control over the application, as compared to using one’s stubby fingers. You can also use the blade to help gently peel off a corner of the sticker in case you didn’t center it right and need to re-apply.
Since my water slide decal skills suck, I’ll just stick with stickers.
Functioning as the Autobot’s metallurgist, Swerve has sensors in his hands that detect and analyze the properties of all types of metals. A bit of a scatterbrain, Swerve easily gets distracted, rarely paying attention when driving or even when he’s in the middle of a battlefield. Considered a hazard on the road, even by his fellow Autobots.
While Diverge isn’t a simple redeco of Variator (Gears), they do share the same engineering elements.
I really love the clear chest window for this figure. It’s a classy way of reinterpreting the old G1 design, instead of just giving us a simple-painted chest panel.
Diverge stands roughly 5.5 inches tall and weighs 209 grams.
Diecast parts include:
-Sections of the torso
-Thighs (the chrome parts)
-Feet
I got QC 34
Like Variator, Diverge features a mid-torso joint.
Diverge comes with a couple of extra faces.
To remove the faceplate, I find it easier to pluck out the default plate by the chin, as opposed to picking at his helmet.
Do note that the “toy colors” helmet only covers the front half of the head. The back portion won’t be a match in terms of color.
For weaponry, he only comes with his blaster, which is based on Swerve’s animation model from “The Five Faces of Darkness, part 5” episode.
The figure is a big leap in terms of detail and paint over the older Masterpiece Swerve (Bad Cube’s Slick) from a few years back.
In the G1 cartoons, Swerve pretty much didn’t amount to much, he helped out the other Minibots in defending Autobot Headquarters from Trypticon, only to be stomped on into the ground in Season 3, his only appearance in the entire cartoon series, aside from being a background character in vehicle mode during a race sequence in “Forever is a Long Time Coming” episode. He wasn’t never given any speaking lines nor assigned a voice actor. Sad.
Luckily, his character would get fleshed out a whole lot more in the IDW Transformers: The Lost Light comics run. A WHOLE LOT more.. In the IDW comics, Swerve would also be best known for opening his own bar, “Swerve’s” and live his dream of being a bartender, a friendly face serving engex to both Autobot and Decepticon alike. He would also go on to have a lot of adventures with the Lost Light crew in the comics.
It’s a shame Fans Toys didn’t include Swerve’s “My First Blaster” as an accessory. In the IDW comics, Swerve is a notoriously lousy shot due to his stature, Brainstorm makes the little guy a special rifle, designed to make it easier to hit his target (and inflict heavy damage) and even makes audio prompts whenever Swerve scores a direct hit. This little gun would encourage Swerve to practice his aim more as the series progresses.
Clear windows, nice.
To attach Diverge’s gun, you’ll need to have this connector post flipped out during the leg transformation and then mount the gun on it.
Overall, a pretty fair release. While a definite improvement over the old Bad Cube’s Slick for a proper Masterpiece Swerve figure, I wish Fans Toys gave us more than just one gun for Diverge. It really is unfortunate we don’t get Swerve’s “My First Blaster”, since Fans Toys did previously do IDW homages (look at FT Quietus/ Cyclonus) and the blaster is somewhat iconic to Swerve in the comic run. Maybe the current heads didn’t read the IDW comics? Ah, well…
Gold
