So hey, I heard you wanted a shuttle form for Blast-Off. Listen, I got this sweet deal lined up... trust me, it will work out. You just give me the cash and I'll get him... but I'll contact you! Don't contact me! Could ruin the deal. Robot A retool of Rook Swindle looks really nice. Much, if not all, of the figure has been reskinned, as it were, with only the skeleton being the same as Rook's. Wonderful headsculpt and great accent pieces. Even standing him and Rook side by side... it is hard to tell they are the same mold. They just look like brothers. Vehicle Again, a VERY nice retool. Transformation is the same but enough things have changed to alter his profile and really make him look different than Rook. Great colors and even with the exposed fists he feels complete and not lacking. Weapon NEW WEAPON! Swindle gets a great gun that has a nice big hole in it to let you peg it into vehicle mode organically. Okay, as an aside... I hate Mech Tech and what it did to Transformers. Now most weapons are treated as loose bits that can kinda, sorta, be jammed onto the figure. It just looks silly. But here they took the time to make the weapon FIT the vehicle mode so that you don't want to swap it with something else. Very well done! Final Result Swindle joins the ranks of Sandstorm in 'Retools that Did It Right'. He takes what worked for Rook and improves it and makes it his own. He doesn't feel like a toy you already own... he feels like his own bot.
It's really impressive that Swindle's able to look so different from Rook like how Onslaught was able to look and feel different from Hot Spot. Those are two examples of retools done VERY well. Looking forward to get him along with the others.
It just looks way too much of a Bruiser for Swindle. They should have just remolded First Aid/Offroad instead.
My opinions on Swindle: Great figure with lots of new molding and details. He also has hands this time. Rate: 9 out of 10 Here's some better pics. of Swindle:
Am I missing something with the transformation? I cant seem to line the pegs up to tab in correctly for the vehicle mode.
Are you talking about the arms? Optibotimus' video review goes into some detail about how to tab them into place for jeep-buggy mode.
This guy is my favorite of the wave. I'll put up a more detailed review with pics later, but for those hunting, here's the UPC:
I foresee many using Swindle as the arms/ tech/ goods dealer in their comics or displays (I wonder if Megatron_91would use him)
i want this version of the mold but didn't know as who. finally decided on armada leader-1. or maybe that'll be from onslaught.... now i want to do a combiner of all the armada decepticon minicons, lol.
Best of the Combaticons and an example of a retool done right. Only problem is the left thigh pops out of place whenever you move it. Best of the wave.
I love this guy's bot mode and he will definitely be my "classics" swindle, but man.... WHAT were they thinking with that "jeep" mode? I just can't get over how blocky and jumbled he looks. He looks like a playskool version of ROTF armorhide or at least based on that vehicle or the ROTF dune runner. I guess that's my big issue with the alt mode, it looks a lot more like a dune buggy than a jeep. How hard could it have been to modify this mold to look more like classics hound or something more "jeep-like"? It doesn't seem like it would have taken much. So, IMO: blast off becoming a jet = nice choice to fit with the WWII vehicles....BUT.....Turning swindle into a dune buggy = huh?
He looks so good. I'm starting to think they made this mold with the intention of it being Swindle and Rook was the pretool.
Wish they had made the eyes a little lighter shade of purple. and the hips pn mine are loose, he can stand and everything, but looser than I would have liked straight off the card.
Definitely loving him. I gave him two spare guns from Topspin to outfit his vehicle mode a little more.
Pros: * A remold perhaps, but an excellent one in that 'I'd believe it was all new if you told me' way. It has a totally different number of wheels than Rook, after all. * Looks nice and acceptably Swindle-y in all modes. Unlike most CW toys, Swindle's vehicle mode doesn't have a lot of obvious robot bits on the vehicle underside. * Transformation is nice and easy without being overtly simple. Aside from a few small tricky bits, everything holds together nicely in either mode. * Ankle tilts * The included weapon is good, if a smidge small, and there's lot's of useful weapon mounting options. Cons: * The looks might not be for everyone. The robot mode has a broad chest, big shoulders, and narrow waist/hips like a bodybuilder, and the arms pose about as well as some real bodybuilders' do. It could be seen as ill-fitting for a swinlder like Swindle. Some might not like that the vehicle mode is more buggy-like than Jeep-like or Hummer-like, though I see it more as a variation on the vehicle form of the G1 toy. * People who get bent out of shape over hollow spaces won't be happy with the empty inner legs or the backs of the forearms. One of those "better in person" things for me though. * The hip joints were a tiny bit looser than I would prefer them to be, but some Future floor polish tightened them right up. Overall: I don't have Onslaught yet, but I'm pretty sure Swindle this is the best of the Combaticons. I'm thinking maybe he bribed Brawl's designer to 'take a dive' on that waist joint to eliminate a threat to his toy supremacy.
