The Energon Pub

wow, so much hate for the lens-heads in this thread.
for me, they're quite good. someone else (he hates the lens-heads i think) in another thread has compared the lens-heads to the ringwraith in LOTR, because of they are all "faceless" (and mindless too, maybe). But this comparison is just like a compliment to the lens-head, because faceless & mindless ringwraith is cool.

if sauron sent the nazgul to take away the ring from frodo, imagine if in the movie, the lens-heads are sent by megatron to take away the allspark cube from sam.
man, i think these drones toys will be sold like hot cakes now.

Archaim wrote:someone else (he hates the lens-heads i think) in another thread has compared the lens-heads to the ringwraith in LOTR

That would be me, and I complimented them for it =D

Rushie wrote:

Archaim wrote:someone else (he hates the lens-heads i think) in another thread has compared the lens-heads to the ringwraith in LOTR

That would be me, and I complimented them for it =D

ah, my mistakes then. sorry for the inconvenience
i just remember the comparison to the ringwraith thing, and i couldn't agree more about it.

i personally love the lensfacers, the fact that they just have this one eye makes them more... characteristical. and they look like they had no feelings.

I don't have any of them because the figures themselves aren't that good. What annoys me is that they have the SAME head, regardless of type. It just seems so lazy.

The lens itself isn't bad. It fits Payload.

Granted they aren't the best figures in the movie line by any means, but I quite like 'um.

Well, Swindle and Dreadwing anyways, Payload hasn't been released over here as far as I've seen.

I will admit Swindle is a bit 'basic' looking, for lack of a better term.

For the first week I had Dready, I liked him more every time I picked him up. I can't really explain why I like him so much...

Payload is too small, and I just don't like the design on dreadwing at all.

Swindle is actually OK, but it just doesn't thrill me. I may get his gray repaint for kitbash use.

I admit the boring heads are a turn off to buying the figures for me.

rpetras wrote:Payload is too small, and I just don't like the design on dreadwing at all.

Dreadwing reminds me a lot of Bonecrusher, he’s really good, but you have to get used to him a bit.
Payload is small in alt mode but is a wee bit taller in bot mode, besides we’re adults, do we have to have the biggest toy in the shop to look at its good points?

Nekoman wrote:

rpetras wrote:Payload is too small, and I just don't like the design on dreadwing at all.

Dreadwing reminds me a lot of Bonecrusher, he’s really good, but you have to get used to him a bit.
Payload is small in alt mode but is a wee bit taller in bot mode, besides we’re adults, do we have to have the biggest toy in the shop to look at its good points?

Payload wouldn't have to BE the biggest toy in the shop to be buyable. I, personally, would have bought him if he was voyager-sized. I think Hasbro missed out on an opportunity to have ground-based Decepticons that could face Ironhide and/or Ratchet face-to-face.

I would have loved to see Payload, Dreadwing, Stockade, Bonecrusher, and Wreckage, and even Brawl all as voyager-sized figures, because voyager-size is closer to being truly representative of their real-life vehicle mode sizes, without costing as much as leader class. Look again at my list of characters that I would have loved to see in a bigger size: They're all Decepticons. So, once again, Hasbro stiffs the `Cons.

This is just another example of Hasbro's short-sightedness. Alot of people complain about repaints, especially in the Movie line, but I think people are more likely to buy a repaint if it has a faction change. It would have been cool to see Payload, Dreadwing, Stockade, Bonecrusher, Wreckage, and Brawl all as voyager-sized figures, and then repainted into Autobots.

Same for the Autobots. Do we really need 2 or 3 versions of Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Ratchet? Wouldn't it have been better to have 1 of each character, and then have each character repainted into a Decepticon character?

Well, I know I've gotten off-topic, I'm just saying Hasbro could have done more with Payload and Dreadwing if they were voyager-sized instead of deluxes. I don't think people would have minded lense heads on them if the overall figures were bigger and better.

Jaz-Zen wrote:

Nekoman wrote:

rpetras wrote:Payload is too small, and I just don't like the design on dreadwing at all.

Dreadwing reminds me a lot of Bonecrusher, he’s really good, but you have to get used to him a bit.
Payload is small in alt mode but is a wee bit taller in bot mode, besides we’re adults, do we have to have the biggest toy in the shop to look at its good points?

Payload wouldn't have to BE the biggest toy in the shop to be buyable. I, personally, would have bought him if he was voyager-sized. I think Hasbro missed out on an opportunity to have ground-based Decepticons that could face Ironhide and/or Ratchet face-to-face.

I would have loved to see Payload, Dreadwing, Stockade, Bonecrusher, and Wreckage, and even Brawl all as voyager-sized figures, because voyager-size is closer to being truly representative of their real-life vehicle mode sizes, without costing as much as leader class. Look again at my list of characters that I would have loved to see in a bigger size: They're all Decepticons. So, once again, Hasbro stiffs the `Cons.

This is just another example of Hasbro's short-sightedness. Alot of people complain about repaints, especially in the Movie line, but I think people are more likely to buy a repaint if it has a faction change. It would have been cool to see Payload, Dreadwing, Stockade, Bonecrusher, Wreckage, and Brawl all as voyager-sized figures, and then repainted into Autobots.

Same for the Autobots. Do we really need 2 or 3 versions of Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Ratchet? Wouldn't it have been better to have 1 of each character, and then have each character repainted into a Decepticon character?

Well, I know I've gotten off-topic, I'm just saying Hasbro could have done more with Payload and Dreadwing if they were voyager-sized instead of deluxes. I don't think people would have minded lense heads on them if the overall figures were bigger and better.

I think a voyager Mixmaster would have been nice to go with the camera heads or to fight ratchet, I do see why they made most of them deluxes though, reason why is because that’s the cheapest price point with unique figures, so they can make a bit more money off little Timmy if they make more affordable toys.
Regardless, I second you, there weren’t enough voyagers, especially something like a ground vehicle.

I don't mind "camera heads". I think they're kinda cool when used on certain bots.

A bigger annoyance of mine is TFs that have a jet alt mode, and in robot mode they have a huge triangular body standing on little legs, making them totally top-heavy and awkward-looking.

In other words, Dreadwing (movie version)'s body shape bothers me much more than his "camera head".

Nothing's wrong with them. They're actually kinda cute.

Mr.Bond007 wrote:well, all 3 are crappy figures imao. And a lense head just has no expression to it. Can't tell character or anything

the real gear camera head has character, although strictly he seems to have tiny squashed eyes under the lens. For the ultimate lens toy im looking forward to animation lugnutz!

To me, it's not the lens head that is the chief culprit of 3 pedestrian figures(Payload, Dreadwing, and Swindle), but just one of numerous problems I have with each figure. The lens head just exacerbates the problem, really; I can't say for certain if I would have liked these figures more if they had different heads, but I'm willing to bet to say I wouldn't.

Payload's claw is kind of fun to play with, but how it just sticks out of his back just doesn't look good any way you slice it. Plus, he has trouble standing due to his odd feet and parts of him easily fall off in relation to his claw. His alt mode isn't bad, which is really why I bought him in the first place.

Swindle just looks like a cheap figure, IMO. There isn't much too him and just has an overall look of inferior quality.

Dreadwing is the only one of the trio that I would say if he had a different head, I might buy him, but again, his "squattiness" just doesn't look right, so it's not just his head that bothers me. I might end up buying the repaint of him.

As for the comparison to Shockwave, I'm just not in agreement. The lens head is different than Shockwave's head with a small bulb/eye on the front of it, Shockwave's head is quite unique in the TF catalogue. The fact that there are 3 lens head already destroys any quaintness that unusual head may have had initally.

I got DREADWING. I would say he's an interesting Drone or Camerahead robot. His fighter jet mode is well designed, close to a real MiG-29. His "urban" fatigue bodypaint fits him well in both modes, emphasizing that he's a real cold and merciless Decepticon warrior but unfortunately not intellectually inclined.. I have no regrets picking him up.

SWINDLE will surely swindle many uninformed buyers out there.The body design esp robot mode is simply a POS.

PAYLOAD looks great, almost similar to SHOCKWAVE, but never-ending complaints and horror stories on parts falling off easily or parts separating themselves away even when you leave the figure alone are enough reason for me not to get him...

The real exception is DROPKICK! His lowrider pickup truck mode kicks ass!His robot mode design is totally new and not boring.I wish to have him too...

Nekoman wrote:And the lens head isn’t meant to have any character to it, they’re mindless cannon fodder for Megatron to boss around.

What you said is what I don't like about them.

I'm fine with lens faces etc, it's not much different to G1 Shockwave, but I have no interest at all in just a bunch of robots.
People buy TMNT figures because they like the characters, not because they like actual turtles, and it's the same thing here.

Outside of Minicons and real gear, every TF I buy is a personality or resembles a personality from another TF show it could represent.

Lycantendencies wrote:People buy TMNT figures because they like the characters, not because they like actual turtles, and it's the same thing here.

Then why do people buy multiple Cobra troopers to troop build? The Cobra trooper is a very popular figure and people buy him regardless of the fact that he has no character.

I got in to Transformers because I like robots, I hate Dreadwing’s bio, but love the figure regardless.

Yeah, the lens heads lack originality and just are a lame way to finish off a TF. Why put all the detail into a robot then give him a flashlight for a head?

All I can say is they disgraced the Swindle namesake by making him a lame brain drone. His body is very well made, but to have it be topped off with such an unflatering lack of a face, it's just bad business.

The only way to even come close to making that mold better is by customizing it into a Shockwave, in my opinion.

I haven't gotten a Dreadwind yet, nor do I really plan to. So, I cannot speak for him yet.

I've had Payload and sold him, and not because of his face, but because of that ridiculous part sticking out of his back!

The drones in general are rather blah, eh & meh. Although, I do kinda like Dropkick, but I'm probably gonna sell him sooner or later anyway. To be honest, the Movie line really didn't do it for me.

thedistinctroom wrote:All I can say is they disgraced the Swindle namesake by making him a lame brain drone. His body is very well made, but to have it be topped off with such an unflatering lack of a face, it's just bad business.

The only way to even come close to making that mold better is by customizing it into a Shockwave, in my opinion.

Isn’t bad business something more like re-releasing a highly desirable exclusive because so many people wanted it?

Any way, how does that ruin the namesake any more than making him a small green train, can we look at this guy as new character instead of always pointing at the G1 counter part? He’s clearly not meant to be a representation of his G1 self, how come nobody ever says something about how Barricade is too much change, he’s always been a blue missile tank!

Nekoman wrote:

thedistinctroom wrote:All I can say is they disgraced the Swindle namesake by making him a lame brain drone. His body is very well made, but to have it be topped off with such an unflatering lack of a face, it's just bad business.

The only way to even come close to making that mold better is by customizing it into a Shockwave, in my opinion.

Isn’t bad business something more like re-releasing a highly desirable exclusive because so many people wanted it?

Any way, how does that ruin the namesake any more than making him a small green train, can we look at this guy as new character instead of always pointing at the G1 counter part? He’s clearly not meant to be a representation of his G1 self, how come nobody ever says something about how Barricade is too much change, he’s always been a blue missile tank!

Well, you asked the question and I gladly answered.

thedistinctroom wrote:

Nekoman wrote:

thedistinctroom wrote:All I can say is they disgraced the Swindle namesake by making him a lame brain drone. His body is very well made, but to have it be topped off with such an unflatering lack of a face, it's just bad business.

The only way to even come close to making that mold better is by customizing it into a Shockwave, in my opinion.

Isn’t bad business something more like re-releasing a highly desirable exclusive because so many people wanted it?

Any way, how does that ruin the namesake any more than making him a small green train, can we look at this guy as new character instead of always pointing at the G1 counter part? He’s clearly not meant to be a representation of his G1 self, how come nobody ever says something about how Barricade is too much change, he’s always been a blue missile tank!

Well, you asked the question and I gladly answered.

Of course, I wanted for nothing more than an answer. Its just kind of fun to debate this sort of thing.

Nekoman wrote:Of course, I wanted for nothing more than an answer. Its just kind of fun to debate this sort of thing.

I actually wish that they would re-release highly desirable exclusives like those Botcon Classics in Classics 2.0.

The lens heads make the figure seem devoid of character. He's just like another robot. Not a living robot that transformers really is.