As a kid, my little sister had the idea that his belly gun was an ice cream dispenser (the same way soundwave made energon cubes). Hence, at least for us, Swindle stayed close to his roots as a sorbet dealer for our other toys.
So I was too young to be a collector in 2007 (an actual toddler) and I can't believe I missed this absolute gem. It's design is weird enough to be a conversation starter and its torso gimmick is probably the best one I've ever seen. I didn't know that alien chest bursters existed in the bayverse, like what?! Also damn that, that torso weapon gives aoe galvatron and his olive garden cheese shredder a run for his money.
Payload is similarly weird with a claw that extends out of his abdomen. Very similar robot mode, similar interesting transformation steps, similar bizarre design choices.
@@aweirdredtoad3637 I never did read IDW. What’s with Spike dropping decepticon bodies left and right, because this is the second time I’ve heard of spike killing a decepticon, which one of the constructicon’s being brutally killed by him. They made spike into a badass it seems.
@@anotherrandomguy8871 I wouldn't say he was a badass for it, the mini constructicon that survived being destroyed by Ramjet was hunted down and used to hack into a conference. So he executed it after using it for that purpose.
When I was a kid I had the silver one. I loved it. The doors came off but I put them back on. And when I was a kid I didn't know that chest gun was actually a weapon. I always played with it, making it seem like the Autobot was taking out their spark. This figure was one of the first trasnformer figures I ever got and it holds a very special place in my heart.
I think the actual design conceptualized in the game and in the original concept art is actually really cool looking. I just think it couldn’t (at the time) be properly recreated/represented in plastic. I’m sure if hasbro or a third party company tried this design today it would be much closer to it’s in game appearance.
This toy holds a special place to me. My dad coincidentally owned a Cobalt at the time this movie came out. Same color, even had the design on the side. He didn't, and still doesn't, know a thing about Transformers. But the fact he turned into a car my family owned makes him special to me.
To me, this figure encapsulates the entire 07 line PEEFECTLY. He's the perfect mix between movie design and Cybertron repaint. I always wanted him due to how weird he was, as well as Dreadwing/Overcast.
I fondly remember this figure from when I was younger. The game he comes from being a real old favorite, younger me not knowing the origin for the name and not really hating the transformation lead to me loving him immensely. I still have my original and got a new one a year back for old times sake. I will say, my old one aged... poorly to say the least.
As someone who has had this figure since its release this is hilarious to me, I know the insides and outs of this fig never had problems, guess I'm just used to it. The transformations takes me less then a minute and seeing you get frustrated is crazy. I will forever love this figure. Eh maybe I'm just biased
For real! I had to whip my own Swindle copy out just to fiddle around with him and I found no issues with the back. I always enjoyed this toy a lot no matter how flawed or low he is ranked on other lists
I used to own this when I was a kid, he's one of the figures in the line that was made to promote the tie-in video game. His game appearance is way better than the toy, tho.
This 'Thing' is Swindle? What About Vortex and Blastoff? Did they get 2007 Film Designs? I Know Onslaught was in The Last Knight, But that's About it really Lol
I had the camshaft repaint of this and I left it a a burger king as a kid by accident and re bought it when I was 16 and because of that I love the toy and in my mind it can do no wrong.
IIRC, the midriff gun is actually designed so in addition to extending the barrel, the whole cannon can extend out of the torso. So it doesn't tab together to make folding it out easier.
I had the plane one, got sand in it so it didn’t fully transform. I’d love to pick up all the drone figures, definitely the Decepticon variants though, as I feel the decepticons are more likely to use drones in canon so it would work better in my brain
At first I'm planning to get this figure for my Movie Decepticon Troopers, but the more I look at this figure, the more I'm not interested to getting this guy. Plus I do like his design in the game, in the game he looks really cool. But this figure left alot to be desire. Plus looks at his arms, how is he gonna throw a punch or have a fighting chance against an Autobot yet alone the one how are high class Autobots like Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and Ironhide. I hope we can get an updated version of this guy in The Studio Series line.
Hot take: This is unironically my favorite (tied with Longarm and Stockade) of the B-list bayformers from 2007. Sadly the spring inside broke years ago but I managed to close up the belly hole and tighten the hips. He does fit the "robots in disguise" prompt better than most. He's weird and chunky and that's why I love him ^ v ^
the version of swindle was the transformer toy I ever owned, but it was confusing odd. my friend wondered where was his head, he taught the large eye was a weapon for his vehicle mode. So thanks for making this video
I had this toy as a kid. Didn't know who Swindle was as I just knew him as the grunt Decepticon from the tie-in game and thought it was cool to have him. I don't remember him being this frustrating though
Well no wonder the door has stress marks, after being manhandled that hard. I love all the drone designs from the game and i wanna see them get redone in studio series.
I have the silver repaint of this figure which I loved as a kid. But now, I would agree this figure isn't as good as I used to think. Plus while the wings on mine haven't broken yet, I know the window pieces on the legs have
I have Dreadwing that broke the first week I got it. That was my fault. I also plan on getting a bunch of the 2007 movie toys, but I’m probably not going to get Swindle.
I bought this used and I actually like it. To me, it's nothing more than if Megatron wanted mass-produced cannon fodder to throw at the Autobots and they chose this model for a car mode to be anonymous enough to hide in plain sight, and the robot mode was secondary. You're not going to use your best parts on something that is designed to be blown away as you make your own move, thus the lens head and the cheap assembly. Just give them enough to be remotely functional and if they survive, they MIGHT get upgraded to a better body with full limbs and a face! Although yeah, those doors are a pain, and that loincloth is just aggravating! (My Kingdom for an extra tab to lock things together!!!) but the worst is like you said, that damned cannon popping out ever 1/2 second, lol!
I am aware this is one of the TF2007 Game drones, but... why did they give the name to one of the most commonly seen Combaticons to this? (not to mention one of my favorites too).
You have to remember this was before the excessive glut of G1 nostalgia wank, we had just come hot off the heels of the Unicron Trilogy and G1 was mostly restricted to the generations line and a comic.
I had the autobot equivalent it. The name was camshaft, It came in a rotf leader class Optimus prime and I remember I enjoy paying with camshaft more just cause he was so simple to transform and every little issue with it was exactly correct. Great vid
I love this toy. It's one of the first transformers I got for the movie line as a kid and I always played with him and would like make him the main character in my games
Micheal Bay had the perfect chance to bring in Bruticus, he had Brawl, Blackout who could easily have been Vortex, for another plane Blast off could've been there, Onslaught was in TLK, and if he had a proper Swindle we could a had the Combaticons. I WANT MY COMBATICONS PLEASE!
Had the Camshaft version of this mold, and while it's currently in storage, I can say the doors never broke, but the knee windows did and so did the chest cannon, to where i eventually removed the cannon and just glued the trunk section to the chest to keep it together
seeing this guy reminds me heavily about "playing" the game as I would just play around as both autobot and desepticon in the opening levels and I can hear "bumblebee head to the meteor landing site" from prime in my head lmaoo my favorite drones though would be the dark red ones as ig they looked cooler I'm drawing a blank lol but nice review
I got the camshaft repaint of this figure with revenge of the fallen Megatron. As a bonus, I didn't even get the instructions for it. I got ones for a completely different toy. I don't remember what toy I think I threw it away since I didn't have it.
I've got this guy and kind of like him. Sure, he's a weird design, but at least he has a design instead of just being a random pile of pointy bits like just about everything else on the shelves was at the time. I've got him standing in for Zeemon in my collection.
I think something cool studio series should do is have something like battlepacks like Lego starwars. Perhaps something like seeker battlepacks or the vehicons from prime or Devastion in a 2-4 pack would be nice and same for the autobots! Who doesn't want a deception army?
just imagine if they revamp 2007 swindle in todays studio series, give him some tabs, make him out of stronger plastic and redo the figure completely, we could have a solid a ranked 2007 toy
During release only had a budget for the main Autobots, and Decepticons so skipped most if not all these secondary game inspired designs. Ended up with the jet drone years back in a forum grab box and agreed not a good toy in any sense of the word. Best thing I see with Swindle is the decent enough alt mode, and painted rims. Still have a soft spot though for the tow truck/Sector Seven SUV, and sports truck whichever that was.
The car doors are supposed to rest on the shoulders, so the robot would look more accurate to its game counterpart. Comparing Movie Swindle with Universe Hot Shot is a bit exaggerated, the latter one is a mess of panels and balljoints that can be easily crushed with a single stomp, while the first one is more durable and solid than that. I understand if it was a Masterpiece or a 3P figure, but it looks like nowadays every TF collector aims for robot articulation more than the transformation itself... in normal retail figures!
I really should have called this thing a decepticon drone because it really looks like the decepticon drone from the original transformers game made for the PS2
HOLY FUCK, i had the repaint of this mold when i was younger. It was a gift and i loved it so much, i played with it so much too. I wasn't the most careful child, so i ended up losing it, i still have it's arm tho. Honestly, thanks for giving me some form of idea on what it was, cause i couldn't remember it, now, i can try to find and buy one. Thanks.
I'm late to the party, searching for videos to help me transform this guy because I was having the same problem that you had at 7:00. Turns out his legs were swapped around. The ball joints his legs attach to are off centre on his hip piece, sitting a little bit forward/backward depending how youre looking at him. Soon as I swapped the legs the whole back end of the vehicle mode lined instantly with no issues.
My only problem with this figure is that the head can't move due to a design flaw (it's supposed to move, but the shape of the piece the head connects to doesn't allow any movement), and the car is kind of boring. Other than that, I really like it. Also, I've never encountered any of the problems you mention except the floppy crotch plate (which can be solved in robot mode by messing with the double joint it's in), mine's torso holds together really well and I've never popped out the doors.
Does anyone else see a classic Go-Bot look to this figure, or is it just me? The bot head can be a head-mounted laser, the headlights on the chest can be the eyes, and the cannon... Is still a cannon
I genuinely love this figure as well as all the other game drone figures. Not sure why this review seemed so mean spirited, there are worse figures out there. But hey, everyone has their own opinion
"This isn't a case of 'look what they did to Swindle!', is it?" -Thew Thew has poisoned my brain into liking this stupid thing and I've never even seen one IRL