Swerve and Gears [Wheels 01–Roll Out]

Swerve and Gears are a fun pair to look at together.

Originally, Swerve was a repaint and slight retool of Gears in the original Transformers toy line. Gears himself comes from a Microman Microchange mold, which in turn traces back to an unused Mysterians concept. There’s a lot of toy history baked into these two.

Now with Blokees Wheels, things come full circle. They’re clearly built from the same base, but this time they’re released together in the same blind box series instead of one being an afterthought repaint.

Personally, I’ve always preferred Swerve’s toy, but I like Gears’ character more. That mostly comes from their appearances in the original cartoon—Swerve barely gets a personality, while Gears gets a whole episode dedicated to being a grumpy ass.

Meanwhile, Swerve went on to become a fan-favorite in the IDW comics, and it’s his Cybertronian vehicle mode that this Wheels version is based on. Gears ends up being the repaint/retool here.

Blokees really did bring it all the way back around.

Even though they share a lot of parts, there are some nice differences beyond just color.

Swerve comes with his “My First Blaster” gun, which can mount on the rear of the vehicle. I really like how that looks—it actually reminds me a bit of the Sophia from Blaster Master. If you don’t want to use the weapon, there’s an alternate rear panel that gives him a cleaner look, closer to his original G1 toy.

Gears, on the other hand, leans more rugged. He’s got a roll cage with a spare tire, which gives him a totally different silhouette. He also includes a rocket exhaust effect piece that attaches after removing the rear bumper.

It’s impressive how something as simple as alternate rear sections and color choices can make two nearly identical builds feel so distinct.

The builds themselves are very similar, of course. The Wheels line uses a universal chassis system, so once you’ve done one, you’ve basically got the foundation for all of them. It makes assembly quick and pretty satisfying.

That said, the instructions are printed on the back of the included mini trading cards, and they can be a little hard to read. I’m honestly considering picking up a small magnifying glass for my modeling kit. Maybe Daiso has something like that—I take a weird amount of pride in grabbing medeling tools from there.

One thing I really like is that parts of the rear section are made from Solidex, giving them that satisfying die-cast feel. It adds a nice bit of weight and makes them feel a little more premium than you’d expect.

Both vehicles have opening canopies, although from what I understand, the Blokees driver figures don’t actually fit inside. That’s a little odd and I haven’t tried it myself yet. Maybe something like another Inchman style figure would work better.

It’s funny—I didn’t expect to enjoy the Wheels line as much as I do. As I’m writing this, I’ve got a box of Series 2 on the way and I’m basically chomping at the bit to get into it.

Blokees has clearly cast some kind of spell on me… and I’m not even trying to resist it.

Megatron [Wheels 01 – Roll Out]

I’ve been meaning to talk about this particular Megatron from Blokees Wheels Series 1 – Roll Out since assembling him. It’s one of the larger kits in the series, and it’s pretty damn impressive. Unfortunately, having more parts apparently means no Solidex pieces like the regular-sized kits include. That’s unfortunate, as that would have been especially nice on Megatron considering his design.

Megatron is based on his appearance in IDW’s Stormbringer comics, a design by Don Figueroa that gives the Decepticon leader a pretty cool-looking tank alt mode. Thankfully, the turret articulates with a satisfying click, which keeps it in place when posing instead of spinning freely, as is often the case with tank toys. It can also be removed to allow a driver to be placed inside.

The detailing and colors create a sharp-looking little tank that I could easily see blending into a Diaclone battle scene.

Wheels kits are generally pretty easy to assemble; however, each kit’s instructions are presented in the same format as a Defender Class, printed on the back of the mini trading card included with the kit. For a Defender, that’s not a problem, but Wheels kits have more parts, and it can sometimes be tricky to determine the correct orientation from the smaller diagrams. After assembling Megatron’s front treads, I think investing in a magnifying glass for future builds might be in order.

It’s a minor quibble that doesn’t result in a lesser product, so it’s not actually a real issue. Overall, despite how much better Solidex would have made Megatron, he has a very satisfying build process, and the final product is pretty impressive.