Soundwave

Animated, Deluxe, Toy Reviews No Comments

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. Read the rest…

Laserbeak

Animated, Toy Reviews No Comments

OK, now for another xmas gift, this time from my lovely wife. It’s time to rock out with… Laserbeak?! Yeah, I’m reviewing Laserbeak separately from his packagemate Soundwave. This’ll be a quick one, for a simple toy.

His guitar mode is pretty straightforward. It’s molded entirely in black plastic, with a splash of red. There’s not a whole lot of features here, although you can adjust where the headstock sits on the neck (yes, I had to look those names up, I’m not a musician). There are a couple of pegs on the body that fit into Soundwave’s arms, and he can also be mounted on Soundwave’s roof in vehicle mode, which looks silly. Read the rest…