Swoop (G1)/toys

Of the Dinobots, Swoop has the most toys after Grimlock.

Toys

The Transformers

Yes yes me Swoop know Pteranodon not actually dinosaur, me Swoop know.

• Swoop (Dinobot, 1985/1986/1992)

• Takara ID number: 30
• Accessories: "Thermal Sword", 2 missile launchers, 3 missiles
• Known designers: Kōjin Ōno (TakaraTomy)

Released in the second year of the US Transformers toyline (first year in non-US markets), Swoop is a slight redeco of the Takara Diaclone "Dinosaur Robo Pteranodon" toy, transforming into, big surprise, a robotic Pteranodon. Swoop can stand on his beast feet or lie on his stomach in this mode, but additionally has fold-out "landing gear" located in his feet and chest (though one has to split his chest open to access the latter wheel). Along with his sword, he also comes with two spring-loaded missile launchers that mount on the underside of his wings in beast mode; he is the only Dinobot to have two projectile launchers (and no non-firing gun to boot.) These launchers have severely weakened springs in the Hasbro release for safety reasons, but are full-strength in the Takara releases.

In Japan, Swoop and the other Dinobots were also offered as mail-away items during Operation Combination in 1992. Swoop cost 1800 yen (his original retail price, less than the other four) and two Robot Points.

Swoop is notable for being one of the more fragile Generation 1 toys, and as such commands a respectable amount of money on the secondary market due to the difficulty in finding one intact.

He underwent a fair few changes from Diaclone to Transformers, with the biggest being the change from a blue-painted robot torso to team-matching red; the blue coloration would go on to be how he appeared in the original cartoon. His sword, missiles and beast-legs were also changed to unchromed, softer red plastic, plus his beak, tail and wing-tips were rounded off to comply with US safety regulations. However, the remolding of the tail kept the customer-applied tail sticker from fitting correctly. Interestingly, despite being a former Diaclone toy, Swoop is the only Dinobot not to have an obvious cockpit for a Diaclone driver figure.

• More information on Swoop at TFU.info

Beast Wars

• Swoop (1997)

Men in Black, who had previously created the Onyx Primal exclusive for BotCon 1996, wanted to make two exclusives for their non-licensed Transcon2 convention in 1997. Albitron and Swoop, redecoes of the original Beast Wars Megatron and Terrorsaur respectively, would have been available singly as well as in a two-pack.

However, Men in Black solicited the toys before they had gotten approval for them from Hasbro, which reportedly led Hasbro to turn down the proposal. Nonetheless, the basic Terrorsaur mold was to eventually be recolored in "Dinobot" colors as Terranotron (and Swoop!) several years later.

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

Classics

• Dinobots (Mini-Con Team, 2006)

Part of the first wave of 2006 Classics Mini-Cons, Swoop transforms into a robotic Pteranodon. His jointing allows him to stand on his hind-feet as well as assume a normal "flying" position; while his beast mode feet are misassembled (they're flipped upside-down) this does not significantly impede his ability to stand. This misassembly was corrected on some later releases of the mold. As a Mini-Con, he has a "Powerlinx" socket that allows him to attach to larger toys with compatible Powerlinx plugs.

He was only available in the Dinobot Mini-Con Team set with Knockdown and Terrorsaur.

There are numerous paint operation differences between the hand-painted prototype of Swoop depicted in the stock photos on the back of the Dinobot Team's packaging and the final product. One possibility is that since the Classics Mini-Cons were originally intended to be released in two-packs (as part of the Cybertron line) rather than three-packs, the number of available paint operations (which are carefully monitored) per piece was larger in the two-pack arrangement, necessitating some omissions for the three-pack release.

• More information on Classics Swoop at TFU.info

Age of Extinction

It's Classic Strafe! Probably. Maybe. *cries in corner*

• Strafe (Evolution 2-Pack, 2014)
  • 26 OF 30

Available only at Toys"R"Us stores in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia, this Age of Extinction two-pack features the Generations Deluxe Strafe toy, with no known differences from the normal retail release, packed with a maybe slightly redecoed iteration of Dark of the Moon Mini-Con Rav with possibly darker blue or other negligible changes.

Unlike Rav's hideously warped Powerlinx socket, Strafe's socket remains undamaged & intact.

The packaging for this two-pack mistakenly^[1] uses Technobot Strafe's original Generation 1 package art instead of Swoop's G1 art on the side of the card bubble and lists him as a "stealth fighter" (what our wiki describes 2010 Transformers Strafe as).

• More information on Rav/Age of Extinction Strafe at TFU.info

Transformers (2014)

• Dinobots Generation One 4-pack (Deluxe Class, 2014)
  • Accessories: Crossbow/launcher, missile, 2 swords

Available only as part of the Hasbro Toy Shop exclusive "Dinobots Generation One 4-pack" that was first made available at San Diego Comic-Con 2014, Strafe transforms into a twin-headed Pteranodon monster, and features heavy use of vacuum metalization, transparent plastic and paint applications to recreate the look of the Generation 1 Swoop toy. Twin swords peg onto his wings, and the swords can also be hand-held in robot mode. He also comes with a pressure-launch missile-firing "crossbow". Pegs on the crossbow allow the swords to attach and create a larger weapon. Strafe is packaged with Grimlock, Snarl, and Slug, and their box unfolds into a diorama of the crashed Ark in Mount St. Hilary. A similarly-themed toy of Sludge was released via Amazon in Age of Extinction packaging.

• More information on SDCC Strafe at TFU.info

"Where did thermal sword go? Me Swoop can't feel toes anymore..."

• Strafe (Legion, 2014)

Part of the Generation 1-inspired 2014 Legion Class assortment, Strafe is a redeco of Cyberverse Beast Hunters Windrazor, and transforms into a vaguely avian dragon, although his package art is recolored from the RIA cover of Rage of the Dinobots #2 and depicts a mechanical pterodactyl.

In the United States, Strafe has thus far been found at Big Lots, Dollar General, and Family Dollar stores. In Australia and Europe, he is available at general retail again, just like the previous wave of Legion Class figures.

The stock photo on the back of the packaging depicts him with Windrazor's crossbow weapon, which is also listed as an accessory in the Hasbro website product listing for this toy. The actual toy doesn't include a weapon. Furthermore, the instructions printed on the back of the packaging are completely inaccurate, as they are for an entirely different "Strafe" toy! Even if the instructions had been accurate, they probably wouldn't have mentioned that Strafe can also form the arm of Abominus (or a combiner of his redecoes). This sculpt was also redecoed into Beast Hunters Divebomb, Go! Barara, and The Last Knight Rupture.

• More information on Legends Strafe at TFU.info

Hero Mashers

• Bumblebee & Strafe Team Pack (Team Pack, 2014)
  • Pieces: 23
  • Accessories: Jetpack, axe/missile launcher, 2 "Dino Claw Missiles", buzzsaw, 2 twin-blasters

Part of a "Team Pack" with Bumblebee, "Strafe" is a non-transforming action figure with ratchet-joints, about five inches tall... but with an impressive near-18-inch wingspan. His pterosaur form takes many design cues from the Age of Extinction Strafe, but with only one noggin and a definite "Generation 1"-inspired color scheme so yeah. He has multiple peg-holes all over that can be used to mount any Hero Mashers accessory.

He is designed with a removable head, wing-tips, and legs (fewer removable parts than any other Hero Mashers Transformers figure; all of the others had at least one set of limbs made of two removable parts each), all of which use the same clip-peg/hole joint. This means his pieces can be swapped around in any order, as well as swapped with any other Hero Mashers figure... which includes figures from Marvel Comics, Star Wars, and Jurassic World, meaning you can make some pretty freaky combinations.

There are two different releases of this set, each one containing the same parts, but arranged differently. One has Strafe much more visibly pulled apart, with the resulting part-spread meaning the jetpack ends up hidden under the packaging photo on the lower-left corner under Bumblebee's feet.

Platinum Edition

• Dinobots (Platinum Edition 5-pack, 2015)
  • Accessories: Crossbow/launcher, missile, 2 swords

Part of the Platinum Edition Dinobots 5-pack, Strafe is a G1-inspired redeco/new-head retool of Age of Extinction Deluxe Class Strafe.

Strafe was bundled with Grimlock, Slog, Snarl, and Slug.

This set was initially released as a Toys"R"Us exclusive in Canada in October 2015, followed by Singapore a month later (although it's currently unknown whether it was exclusive to any particular store there or not). Much later, it became available via the Australian Toys"R"Us website (but never found in stores). In the United States, it was initally only available online via Amazon and BigBadToyStore before being found at discount chain Ross a year after its intial release in Canada.

Kre-O

• Kreon Class of '85 (Kreon figure set, 2015)
  • Set number: B5152
  • Voted: Most Likely to Have His Identity Stolen
  • Accessories: Sword

Kre-O Strafe (thank you, trademark!) is a small brick-built Kreon figure, using the 2015-style construction with raised hands and the sturdier "peg-in-peg" torso/waist connection. His deco is heavily toy-based, including a red chest, and a visor instead of individual eyes.

He was only available as part of the San Diego Comic-Con-exclusive "Kreon Class of '85" 30-Kreon set. This set was also sold online through Hasbro Toy Shop after the show.

• More information on Class of 1985 Strafe at TFU.info

Titans Return

• Autobot Ptero (Titan Master, 2016)
  • Accessories: Gun/Pteranodon/jet vehicle

• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro)

Part of the third wave of individually-packed Titans Return Titan Masters, "Autobot Ptero" transforms from a robot based on the original Swoop toy to a head based on Swoop's animation model (in the original toy's colors). In this mode, Ptero can serve as the head of any Titans Return Deluxe, Voyager, or Leader Class figure. He also features ports in his feet that allow him to peg onto a wide variety of Titans Return figures. Ptero's own head, meanwhile, is based on Swoop's original Generation 1 toy, including the angled visor.

Ptero is packaged with a triple-changing accessory that can transform into a gun-nosecone jet for Ptero to ride, a crossbow with a 5 mm post for other figures to wield, or combine with Ptero to form a Pteranodon (though it honestly doesn't need Ptero). The stock photos of the figure mistransform both the Pteranodon (Titan Master upside-down) and jet (wings not folded up) modes.

Ptero was reissued for the fifth wave of Titan Masters alongside Apeface, Overboard, and the new Ramhorn. Like his wavemates, Ptero never saw wide release in Malaysia, due to shelfwarming in the first and second waves.

This toy also doubles as the separate Beast Wars: Uprising character Ptero, and was retooled into Titans Return Rodimus Prime.

Power of the Primes

• Dinobot Swoop (Deluxe Class, 2017)
  • TakaraTomy ID number: PP-12
  • TakaraTomy release date: 2018-06-30
  • Accessories: Sword, Prime Armor/combiner hand, Prime Master gap filler/gun

• Known designers: John Warden (Hasbro), Robby Musso (concept artist), Marcelo Matere (packaging artist)

Power of the Primes "Dinobot Swoop" (he got his name back!) transforms into a robotic Pteranodon, as well as form a limb for Volcanicus or any other Combiner Wars-style combiner (or one of Legends Godbomber's legs). Like the other Dinobots in this subline, Swoop is partially composed of translucent plastic with gold paint on the inside to give him a 'layered' look reminiscent of his original toy. The same transluscent plastic is used to create his sword, although the red paint applied to it removes the translucent effect

Like all other Power of the Primes Deluxe Class figures, he comes with Prime Armor that has a place for a Prime Master, Enigma, or Matrix core, and can transform into a hand for a combiner. He also comes with a piece that can fill the gap in the chest armor or be held as a gun. Swoop's instructions don't explain how to connect the armor to his chest; both "thumbs" must be folded inward so that the tabs on them can peg into holes on either side of Swoop's Pteranodon head. Also not mentioned is the fact that the armor can be worn on his back in robot mode by pegging into holes on his wings.

Swoop suffers from a number of design flaws. The cradle used to connect his head to his body is improperly molded, and as such does not reliably tab into the top of his body for either robot or dino mode so much as it does sit atop it. Some buyers report their Swoops do not suffer from this issue, but the overall response indicates this is the exception more than the norm. Many Swoops also have drooping beaks in any mode other than Dino mode. In arm mode, the tabs on his shoulders are too thick to fit in the slots inside his wings, meaning they'll come apart pretty often. The robot legs also have a tendency to split in arm mode with little effort.

Though stock renders of Swoop (including the box art) depict him with a red torso and a clear beak lacking any gold paint, more akin to the original Generation 1 figure, the final toy was changed to have a blue torso and gold paint inside the beak, based on his appearance in the Generation 1 cartoon.

In China, he was also released along with the other 4 Dinobots as a gift-set, exclusive to Hasbro China's TianMao site.^[2]

This mold was heavily retooled into Terrorcon Cutthroat and further retooled into Selects Kraken and Terrormander.

Generations Selects

• Dinobot Red Swoop (Deluxe Class, 2019)
  • Series: Power of the Primes
  • Accessories: Sword, Prime Armor/combiner hand, Prime Master gap filler/gun

• Known designers: AJ Piejko-Brown (packaging)

A Generations Selects accompaniment to Power of the Primes, "Dinobot Red Swoop" is a redeco of the Deluxe Class figure above, with a red torso and a clear beak, as featured in the original release's CG stock renders.

Individual reports indicate this release of the mold suffers from extremely loose joints, which causes the most amount of complications when used as a combiner arm. Due to matching the original's color for color, the lower half of Red Swoop can be swapped out with the lower half of the original Swoop for tighter joints.

• Volcanicus (Gift set, February 27, 2021)
  • Hasbro ID number: TT-GS11
  • Accessories: 2 guns, 2 swords, 2 Magma Swords, 2 arm-mounted cannons, twin 'stunner' laser rifle, 2 foot-plates, left & right fists

Generations Selects Swoop is a redeco of his Power of the Primes figure, but now with a G1 cartoon-inspired deco. TakaraTomy Mall gives this figure the title "Dinobot Artillery Warrior Swoop".^[3]

War for Cybertron Trilogy

• Behold, Galvatron! Unicron Companion Pack (Leader Class, 2022)

War for Cybertron Trilogy "Dinobot Swoop" is a non-transforming and immobile minifigure, barely 10mm tall – and most of that height is a tapered plastic peg meant to evoke the flight of the tiiiiiny Pteranodon mode perched atop it. Swoop is scaled to interact with the immense War for Cybertron Trilogy Unicron figure and its clear display base. This was one of a set of 14 minifigures in the "Unicron Companion Pack" that was included with the "reformatting" version of Galvatron. The set was exclusive to Hasbro Pulse.

Legacy

Perfect size to throw at someone's eye. ...please don't do that.

• Dinobot Swoop (Core Class, 2023)

• 5 of 6: Volcanicus
• TakaraTomy ID number: TL-42
• TakaraTomy release date: October 28, 2023
• Accessories: Dual blasters / right Volcanicus fist
• Known designers: Evan Brooks (Hasbro), Shuhei Umezu and Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)^[4]

Part of the third wave of Legacy: Evolution Core Class toys (sixth wave of Legacy Cores overall), Dinobot Swoop is a miniature rendition of the character turning into an absolutely adorable Pteranodon. Swoop comes with two blasters, which have a 5 mm post-hole in each. Unlike most of his Dinobot brethren, Swoop's articulation is on par with the other Core Classes in the line.

Swoop also forms the right arm for Volcanicus, the first combiner released within the Core Class scale, with his dual blasters coming together to form a fist for the combiner. His nature as a combining Pteranodon, is quite similar to Yokuryu, the right arm of Dinoking. Hmm...

While Swoop's combiner arm can attach to the left side of Volcanicus's torso, the dual blasters/gestalt fist is only designed for the right hand.

Swoop was revealed in an interview with Evan Brooks on February 21st, 2023.

• Design notes on Legacy Swoop (and Scarr) from Evan Brooks on Instagram

Studio Series

SWOOP, THERE IT IS!!

• Dinobot Swoop (Leader Class, 2024)

• Movie: The Transformers: The Movie
• Hasbro ID number: 86-26
• TakaraTomy ID number: SS-132
• Accessories: 2 rocket launchers, Thermal sword, Energo-sword, "Battle of Autobot City" backdrop (1st version)
• Known designers: Evan Brooks (Hasbro), ^[5] Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy)^[6], Mario Carreiro, Christina Murphy and Amy Bence (packaging), Marcelo Matere (packaging artist)^[7]

Studio Series Swoop is a Leader-sized figure that transforms into his classic Pteranodon alternate mode. Unlike most toys of Swoop, this one has his cartoon model's rocket launchers. While they do not fire, the missile tips are removable and can be combined with Fire Blast effects to create a launching effect. He also comes with 2 swords: one based on his original toy's sword and the other meant for Studio Series Grimlock, who lacks his toy-based sword. Like (most of) the past Studio Series Dinobots, Swoop has a blast effect peg in his dino mode's mouth.

Like Snarl, his included backdrop depicts the Battle of Autobot City instead of the Quintesson judging room, so the stegosaurus bot won't be too lonely.

There are reports that some figures have extremely tight pegs that can make transformation difficult. In particular, his chest snaps together so tightly in Pteranodon mode that it can be difficult to separate it for transformation back to robot mode.

This figure's existence was teased on March 28, 2024 during one of several Hasbro Pulse Fanstreams throughout the month commemorating the 40th anniversary of the brand. The toy was fully revealed at WonderCon on March 30.

• Designer commentary on Studio Series Swoop from Evan Brooks on Instagram

Merchandise

Decoy

• Cybertron Hero Collection 22 (multi-pack, 1986)

Note that the number on his back is a sum total of the 8 tech spec values (Strength, Speed, etc.) from his original file card.

• Swoop (1987)
  • Decoy number: 3

The figurine was later brought over to Hasbro markets as part of the Decoy promotion, largely identical to the Japanese release except for the fact that the number on his back was replaced with a simple "checklist" number. Like all Autobot Decoys, he was a randomly-chosen pack-in available with the carded Throttlebots, Aerialbots, Protectobots, and Technobots.

• More information on Decoy Swoop at TFU.info

First 4 Figures

• Swoop (2006/2007 unreleased)

Intended for release in First 4 Figures' "Generation One" series, this would have been a full body resin statue of Swoop. His digital sculpt was first shown to the toy press at New York Toy Fair in February 2006;^[8] First 4 Figures allowed BigBadToyStore to solicit him for sale the same month.^[9][10]

Unfortunately, Swoop and the rest of the "Generation One" series were casualties of the general discontinuation of First 4 Figures' Transformers output, which was attributed to a challenging market and a lack of retailer support.

Proceed on your way to oblivion. This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release.

The Loyal Subjects

Me Swoop can't see with blast shield down!

• Swoop (2014)

The Loyal Subjects Swoop is a Wave 3 figure with standard articulation. He is based on his original toy, as illustrated by his red chest and visor. For every 16 figures, there is 1 Swoop.

Like most of his wave, Swoop's bio card plagiarizes this wiki article's opening paragraphs, and even uses the ridiculous opening caption as his new motto, even though it makes no sense out of context.

• Swoop "Cartoon" Ed. (2014)

Collect them all! This character article is a stub and is missing information on their toys & merchandise. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it.

Transformers Trading Card Game

• Dinobot Swoop, Fearsome Flyer (2018)
  • Wave 1
  • Rarity: CT
  • Card Number: T19/T40
  • Stars: 6

Dinobot Swoop, Fearsome Flyer is one of forty double-sided character cards available in Wave 1 of the Transformers Trading Card Game.

The artwork for the card is reused from the Transformers Legends mobile card game, with line-art for both Bot and Alt-mode by Dan Khanna.

• Dinobot Swoop, Bombardier (2019)
  • Wave 2: Rise of the Combiners
  • Rarity: RT
  • Card Number: T21/T46
  • Stars: 7

Dinobot Swoop, Bombardier was released as part of the Transformers Trading Card Game Wave 2: Rise of the Combiners. Like all other members of combiner teams released in the set, this version of Swoop is a folding card, with the Bot and Alt modes being depicted when the card is folded in half, and a holofoil portion of the the combined mode depicted when unfolded. The reverse of Dinobot Swoop, Bombardier depicts Volcanicus's left arm, which is formed by Swoop in the artwork.

The artwork for Bot and Alt Mode is reused from the Transformers Legends mobile game.

Dinobot Swoop, Bombardier can be used to form Volcanicus, Fiery Champion with the use of the Action card Dinobot Enigma while he and the other Wave 2 Dinobots are in Bot mode on the battlefield or KO area.

Notes

• Swoop was originally a Diaclone Dinosaur Robo Pteranodon type piloted mech. Whoever made Swoop's animation model used this Diaclone toy as a reference, as the Dinobot sports the pre-Transformer's blue chest, and gold lower beak, missiles, and dino feet. Swoop's box art has the Transformer toy's red chest, but keeps the gold parts from the Diaclone toy.
• Artwork for a Generation 2 Swoop toy in lime green surfaced alongside a screaming yellow and turquoise Grimlock, indicating a planned second wave of Dinobots in Generation 2 that was ultimately dropped.
• The Energon Swoop toy was originally intended to be the original Generation 1 character, and was to be released in Universe. However, it was ultimately shunted into Energon, reportedly for a combination of budgetary concerns and keeping the combination gimmick (since he combines with the packed-in Grimlock to form a super robot) only in the main-line, which had combination as a central theme.

References

External links

• Toy review of Diaclone Dinosaur Robo Pteranodon Type Part 1 and Part 2