The Energon Pub

To me it seems like a lot of people really dislike figures that are drones, such as Payload, Swindle, Dreadwing and on and on, but I have no problem with these figures, in fact Payload has been one of my favorites from the entire movie line. Payload to me, feels more detailed than the rest of the movie figures, I know he’s fragile, but I have dealt with figures in the past (not only transformers) that are more fragile. I have no problem with the movie drone figures, but a lot of people do, so now tell me what’s so bad about them?

I don't hate them either. I think there nice. I don't think any of the movie figures are bad (Voyager Megs is. That's half truth).

I just don't like their design but I agree that Payload isn't that bad. I don't have the other two though

Payload is the only one of the dones that I own, and he is probably my least favorite movie figure. My main complaint for PL is the capture claw gimick, which gives him that giant stick coming out of his back. As you said he is fragile, and mine is very loose, and the head always pops off. I didn't pick up Dreadwing because of the out of proportion bot mode and the lack of hands, loved the alt mode though. Swindle I've considered picking up many times, and may still. As far as the camera heads go, I guess people just assume that equates to no personality. I'm not big fan of the camera head, but I would prefer a "face".

I think a lot of people just don't like the actual design of the drones. The camera heads are another nail in the coffin. I happen to like Payload. Swindle on the other hand is not in one piece anymore. I never picked up Dreadwing and probably never will. If the camera heads were on a better figure such as Ironhide or 09BB, I think would be accepted easier.

I like Payload, and think the capture claw was a good idea in theory, but is a bit bothersome in practice.

Swindle was a impulse buy, and is possibly the worst figure I own in terms of design, plastic Quality, QC Issues, and only second to 08 Bumblebee in terms of terrible paint.

The drone head just makes the figure devoid of much of it's character. I know that is the point seeing as they are only drones, but since the figures themselves are not overly fantastic, it reeks of laziness on Hasbro's part not to add a proper head to the toys.

I absolutely dig the Lens Trio. In fact, they are my favorite Movie Deluxes, along with Wreckage, Dropkick, Longarm and Scorponok. (Bumblebee 2009 is nifty, but totally overrated)

Their simplistic heads and generic bodystyle allow for your imagination to work fully. Ironhide is buff and bulky for example. You can already guess what kind of character he is. Same goes for Brawl, Jazz, Optimus etc.

To me, the lens faces are comrades in arms and totally off their nut. Psychotically sadistic creatures who loosely follow Megatron's orders but are otherwise a freelancing and chaos-inducing menace. I can just imagine their hollow faces laughing maniacally as they swoop the battlefield, scurrying around their foes, giving them no chance to counter-attack.

Dreadwing is the most psychotic of the trio. He's very fast and agile and uses his flight capabilities and flame throwers to swoop in and out of battle, switching close combat and aerial bombings at an intense rate. He's only really interested in combat, though his comrades have little effort restraining him from totally berserking out.

Payload is the rough and tough brawler of the group. The strongest and toughest, he rarely gets exhausted. He uses his claw attack to surprise his smaller foes and instantly snap them in half. His tough armored exterior provides protection for the resources he is often entrusted to protect. It takes little effort for him to bat off numerous foes, even when fully loaded with cargo. He is the most dimwitted of the three and easily distracted.

Swindle is the leader of the Lens Faces. She is the most intelligent and very precise. Her belly cannon is fast and accurate and her agile arms provide optimal acrobatic skills. She is capable of avoiding even the larges foes and her tactical skill keeps her comrades out of battle. Her advanced lens eye features built-in sniper vision and her car mode is small and swift.

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

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

Could you give a bit more of a reason why you think they are crappy? And the lens head isn’t meant to have any character to it, they’re mindless cannon fodder for Megatron to boss around.

I don't have problems with any of the lense-heads - I rather like Swindle and Dreadwing and Payload will grow on me with time just like a few others have.

As for the lack of a human-esque head, big deal - they aren't humans and they're probably easier to manufacture/repair than the eyes/mouth combo.

Depending on how he's posed, Dreadwing can be very expressive. Mine seems to be rather inquisitive, actually. I wasn't big on his figure until I realized that.

He's probably just looking for someone to push down the stairs, though.

Simple lens optics for mass produced, mindless drone legions - Makes sence to me.

I'll buy both Overcast & Camshaft once they come out.

Yes, a lens-head is for a mindless drone who has little/no feelings in the first place. For that reason I really don't dig the lens-heads. I don't buy them. IMO, if one does not like it, one should not purchase it.

A bit off-topic, though...is Dreadwing considered a seeker? He's a jet, but he's a drone...and much smaller compared to our Voyager seekers.

Nekoman wrote:

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

Could you give a bit more of a reason why you think they are crappy? And the lens head isn’t meant to have any character to it, they’re mindless cannon fodder for Megatron to boss around.

well, Swindle just looks cruddy,cow feet, no head articulatation, dreadwing has floppy legs and 2d body, and Payload has a giant stick up his butt and falls apart.And the lence head lacks detail and just gets old for doing it for every drone.

Simple:

Dreadwing: His flippin' knees bend the wrong way, and his body is just a jumbled mess in robot mode. Don't mind the big "missile" on his belly in plane mode, though.

Payload: A very small Deluxe figure. Parts come off with just a look. Capture claw gimmick is stoopid.

Swindle: The least worst of the three. I have no particular issues with him, personally, only that he just does not look right.

Lens-heads don't look like Transformers. Transformers have FACES. Whether it is alien, or human-like, they all have faces with expressions. Lens-heads have none of the sort. Nada. Just a big honkin' lens. Meh.

Sportimus Prime wrote:Lens-heads don't look like Transformers. Transformers have FACES. Whether it is alien, or human-like, they all have faces with expressions. Lens-heads have none of the sort. Nada. Just a big honkin' lens. Meh.

That pretty much sums it up. Drone-heads don't really have much personality.

Swindle is so butt-ugly, there is a Swindle at my local Loblaws. he has 3 dents in his package, (so i know it's him.) HE'S BEEN THERE FOR OVER 3 WEEKS. Ugly monkey...

Meh, Dreadwing's stupid.

And Payloads a weird little box with wheels.

for me, that's simple: When i go to buy a tf, the first thing i look at is the face. if the face doesnt impress me, then i won't have any interest in the figure. from there you can reason that a lenshead wouldnt be enough to spark my interest in a figure.

Okay for one thing my camera heads have all had nice and tight joints, so I’m starting to think its QC that turn you guys off of them, second they aren’t meant to have personality, they’re DRONES!

Sportimus Prime wrote:Lens-heads don't look like Transformers. Transformers have FACES. Whether it is alien, or human-like, they all have faces with expressions. Lens-heads have none of the sort. Nada. Just a big honkin' lens. Meh.

Shockwave has a camera head, what’s so bad about these? And what’s this rule that they have to have a face?

Nekoman wrote:Okay for one thing my camera heads have all had nice and tight joints, so I’m starting to think its QC that turn you guys off of them, second they aren’t meant to have personality, they’re DRONES!

Sportimus Prime wrote:Lens-heads don't look like Transformers. Transformers have FACES. Whether it is alien, or human-like, they all have faces with expressions. Lens-heads have none of the sort. Nada. Just a big honkin' lens. Meh.

Shockwave has a camera head, what’s so bad about these? And what’s this rule that they have to have a face?

Shockwave was a camera-head, but in a different way. His lens did not take up his ENTIRE face/head. He had a small lens, surrounded by a dark cowl that gave him a bit of an eerie look to him.

There is no rule of them having to have a face. It is just that 99% of them did of some kind. Lens-heads have nothing.

I never cared much for Shockwave's head. It's not bad, it's not great. It's good. But what made him great was his weapon mode, and his robot mode was really nice. His head is far better than today's movie lens things.

I would have liked to see a dial that could be turned to make the lens look like it was focusing in and out. It probably wouldn't work on a deluxe though.

OptimusPrimeRib wrote:Payload is the only one of the dones that I own, and he is probably my least favorite movie figure. My main complaint for PL is the capture claw gimick, which gives him that giant stick coming out of his back. As you said he is fragile, and mine is very loose, and the head always pops off.

This is the problem with my Payload figure. Dreadwing's the only one I don't have yet, and that's just because I'm too lazy to go get that one.

I don't mind drones though. My all-time favorite figure besides Kup is BM Jetstorm, and 1 of his 4 repaints was the Sonic Attack Jet "aero-drone" that Jetstorm was General of.

Grahf wrote:I would have liked to see a dial that could be turned to make the lens look like it was focusing in and out. It probably wouldn't work on a deluxe though.

That would be hard for them to make, but if they could it would be great. Reminds me a bit of the Votoms mech too.

Leon S Kennedy wrote:Swindle is so butt-ugly, there is a Swindle at my local Loblaws. he has 3 dents in his package, (so i know it's him.) HE'S BEEN THERE FOR OVER 3 WEEKS. Ugly monkey...

Meh, Dreadwing's stupid.

And Payloads a weird little box with wheels.

I’m not asking how popular they are, I’m asking what’s so bad about them, plus Swindle has some of the best weight distribution I’ve seen on a figure, with it he can do all sorts of poses.

And what’s so stupid about Dreadwing, Do you even own the figure? As for Payload, an armored truck is a box on wheels, he’s just a accurate representation of the vehicle

I've got nothing against them per se--if I was given one as a gift I would very happily accept it. However, when I am allocating my own resources, they are just low on the priority list. It's not because they are bad toys--they seem great, it's just the rest seem better.

Sportimus Prime wrote:

Nekoman wrote:Okay for one thing my camera heads have all had nice and tight joints, so I’m starting to think its QC that turn you guys off of them, second they aren’t meant to have personality, they’re DRONES!

Sportimus Prime wrote:Lens-heads don't look like Transformers. Transformers have FACES. Whether it is alien, or human-like, they all have faces with expressions. Lens-heads have none of the sort. Nada. Just a big honkin' lens. Meh.

Shockwave has a camera head, what’s so bad about these? And what’s this rule that they have to have a face?

Shockwave was a camera-head, but in a different way. His lens did not take up his ENTIRE face/head. He had a small lens, surrounded by a dark cowl that gave him a bit of an eerie look to him.

There is no rule of them having to have a face. It is just that 99% of them did of some kind. Lens-heads have nothing.

I never cared much for Shockwave's head. It's not bad, it's not great. It's good. But what made him great was his weapon mode, and his robot mode was really nice. His head is far better than today's movie lens things.

Payloads lens doesn’t take up his entire face.

I'm fine with the lens-heads, as they're drones.

Fits in with the "lack-of-personality" concept....


As for the toys, the only one i like is Payload.

Swindle and Dreadwing aren't on my want-list, and I rather get the Dreadwing repaint instead.