Transformers Reviews

Soundwave

January 10, 2009 4:45 pm Ryan Animated, Deluxe, Toy Reviews

Soundwave: superior. Lack of reappearances in later episodes of the show: inferior.

Yeah, I love Soundwave. I don’t know why (probably the voice), but he was the character that stuck in my head the most from G1. I never had a G1 Soundwave, or any of the homages in later series. I picked up the Classics Soundwave when it was at Toys R Us, which is close enough for me. But this review isn’t about that, it’s about Animated Soundwave! Unlike his previous incarnations, Soundwave turns into a station wagon rather than a tape deck or whatever else he’s been over the years. He’s a pretty solid little car, and rolls well despite the low clearance (although I find that he’s not always rolling on all four wheels). I think it’s fair to break out the dreaded descriptor neon for his paint job, with electric blue detailing against a dark blue body. Actually, maybe argon is a better choice for that, but I don’t think it’ll catch on. He’s got a pattern of electric blue creating a vaguely cassette spool-like design on the doors, a power symbol (IEC 5009, to be precise) on the roof, and in gold on the front bumper he’s got a duplicate of the original Soundwave’s control buttons. All he really needs is an eject button. There is also unpainted detail molded into the back window of two more cassette spools with a bar graph in between.

Transformation from Car to Robot

Swing the rear fender section and doors out and forward, and fold the hands out. Swing the rear wheels down.
Fold the panel on the undercarriage in half, and shift it up (it’s one of those double swivel arm dealies that they seem to use a lot in Animated) so that the top (or rear, depending on which mode you’re referencing) edge is flush with the adjacent piece.
Split the hood/legs, and flip the bumper parts with the gold detailing down.
Swing the legs around, so that the thighs go through the opening where the bumper used to be. Fold the feet up against the calves to cover the other opening.
Do a 180 degree rotation of the waist and of each knee.
Head reveal! The head swings down from behind.

Feel free to peg the guitar in at this point. The tuning knobs peg in to the screw holes on his forearms. I refuse to believe that that’s just luck. Soundwave’s deco is pretty much unchanged in this mode, although he gains some spiffy red shades. He’s got some nice looking electric blue speakers outlined on his shoulders, and his chest is a pretty nice homage to G1 Soundwave, with the familiar window to his cassette bay (with a very subtle molded in bar graph and spools) and control buttons. He’s got a fair amount of posability, perfect for rocking out. This is another solid Animated figure, and a solid G1 homage at the same time. He’s a bit boxy, and the door panels on his arms are bit cumbersome, but overall it’s a good, well integrated robot mode.

Articulation Breakdown

Head - Swivel joint
Arms - Double swivel shoulders (arguably, you could use the swivel under the neck as well), ball and swivel elbows, swivel wrists
Legs - Swivel waist, ball joint hips, ball joint knees, swivel ankles

Score

Deco: Rating: . I like the argon blue effect (it suits the character and altmode), and it’s does the job of homaging the G1 character, although silver in place of gold would have been nice too. I absolutely love the cassette deck details they worked in everywhere.
Posability: Rating: . He’s got a lot of articulation, but it’s a bit awkward in places.
Transformation: Rating: . The folding on his chest really, really bugs me. It’s a clever idea, but it’s too stiff for my liking. The rest of it is nice, though.
Soundwaviness: Rating: . Animated Soundwave is rock and roll. This toy is rock and roll. ‘Nuff said.
Vehicle mode: Rating: . Good roll, solid deco. What more could you want?
Robot mode: Rating: . I can’t think of a thing I’d do differently on this figure, short of busting apart some earbuds and mounting them in his backpack.

Overall, Overall Rating: . Definitely a highly recommended figure, and hopefully we get more releases of him with different cassettes instruments.

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