Swerve (Chevy)

2008-05-30T01:45:24Z

69.1.16.64:

{{disambig3|Swerve}}

:''Swerve is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Universe]] [[continuity family]]''

[[Image:Swerveaveorobot.jpg|right|thumb|250px|International Man of Mystery]]

"A mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma, blindfolded" would be a charitable way to describe '''Swerve'''. He is the result of the most unusual toy release in the history of the [[franchise]].

==Toys==
===Universe===
*'''Swerve''' (Deluxe, 2008)

[[Image:ChevySwerve_car.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Mystery Machine]]

: Swerve transforms into a licensed Chevy [[Aveo]]. Any relationship he may have to [[Aveo]] and [[Sphinx]] should be totally coincidental, since Swerve is not part of the [[Transformers (2007)|live-action movie toyline]] and doesn't match the design of the Aveo robot from the "[[Transformers: Rise of the Chevy Autobots]]" game. He has no [[gimmick]]s whatsoever, not even a non-firing weapon.

: 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. Depending on the order location and currency conversion rates, he cost 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.

: Whether Swerve will ever be made available again is unknown.

{{-}}

==Creation and release==
Swerve has had an... interesting past. The Swerve toy surfaced on Asian auction websites in August 2007. Samples were packaged in polybags that had English text printed on them, and came with English instruction manuals. 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 it was an [[exclusive]], though the venue was unknown; for that matter, whether it would even be released at all seemed uncertain.

Early reports throughout the fandom, tepidly verified by [[Hasbro]] sources, was that the [[mold]]'s creation had been commissioned by Chevrolet for that company's [[exclusive]] use; neither Hasbro or [[TakaraTomy]] can use it in their own lines. This amounts 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 obviously distinct from standard product and cost far less to design and produce).

Those rumors were proven true at [[BotCon 2008]]. Hasbro revealed that it had produced the toy at cost for Chevy 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 real Chevy Aveo. The toys were never meant to be sold; a handful were left after the promotion had ended, and so they were shunted onto the website where these last few remainders very quickly sold out (so quickly that some fans who had placed acknowledged orders never got them).

There is currently no indication that the Swerve toy will be reissued by Chevrolet. For Hasbro to issue the toy on their own, they would have to negotiate for the rights, and they currently have no plans to do so.

We knew Chevy/General Motors had gotten close with Hasbro, but, ''damn''.

==See also==
* [[Misconceptions and urban legends about Transformers]]

==External links==
* [http://www.chevrolet-store.com/chevrolet/default.asp?mscssid=ddgnxs23f7s59h0wtehelvbwt6bja5u0s2h0t6 Chevrolet website that was selling Swerve for about 36 hours]

[[Category: Autobots]]
[[Category: Exclusives]]
[[Category: Universe characters]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

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Swerve (Chevy)