Tag Archives: Decepticons

#3736: Soundwave – G1 Universe

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

SOUNDWAVE — G1 UNIVERSE

TRANSFORMERS: LEGACY UNITED (HASBRO)

Transformers, a brand with virtually no footprint here on the site for my first five years, is sort of returning to its roots, I guess?  I don’t really talk about it as much any more.  I mean, sure, I looked at one of the Blokees back in October, but the last time I reviewed one that actually transformed was back in May.  It was a Soundwave, which is sensible, since he’s one of my two go-tos.  And, you know what?  I’m gonna go to it again.  Here’s another Soundwave, you guys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

G1 Universe Soundwave is part of the third Leader Class assortment of Transformers Legacy: United, the third year of the Legacy branding.  This marks Soundwave’s third inclusion under Legacy, at a third size-class no less.  We’ve had Core and Voyager, and now Leader, so all that’s left is some form of Deluxe?  Go for the full spread?  Whatever the case, this guy is, as his name denotes, another G1 Soundwave.  In his robot mode, he’s about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 25 practical points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s exactly the same as the Walmart-exclusive War For Cybertron release from 2020, which is a mold with less uses than you might expect for such a solid updating of the G1 Soundwave figure.  Prior to this year, it was only available in its initial run and as Shattered Glass Soundwave in 2022.  Earlier this year, it got another re-use in the Dramatic Capture three-pack, and now it’s been used again here.  Yay!  It’s a re-working of the Siege mold (which was *also* re-released in Legacy), and still holds up as a strong offering four years after the fact.  Since he’s using the WFC mold, that means this guy’s alt-mode is a cassette player again, which is how Soundwave do at his Soundwave best.  As with prior instances, it’s good when viewed from the front, but a bit spottier at the back.  This Soundwave’s color work isn’t drastically different from the Walmart release, but it tweaks things every so slightly still.  It adds back in the missing red details from that release, and also makes the other colors match-up a bit better with each other, so no mixes of yellow and gold, and the greys and silvers are also a little closer in finish this time.  It results in a slightly punchier look.  The real test, of course, is whether this one will face the same discoloring issues as the last one.  Like the last release (and the Siege release as well), he gets his two cannons and folding gun, and to justify the Leader class price point, he also adds in three cassette buddies: Ravage, Buzzsaw, and Frenzy Rumble.  Ravage is once more using the Siege mold, with a deco that matches the WFC pack-in, albeit with black limbs now instead of grey.  Buzzsaw’s actually a big deal because this is the first time he’s been done in the Siege compatible style.  That took a surprisingly long time.  He’s a repaint of the WFC Laserbeak re-tool, which isn’t much of a surprise, I suppose.  Frenzy Rumble is re-using the Studio 86 mold, just now in proper toy colors.  Of course, he’s named “Rumble” on the box, despite “Frenzy” very definitely being the name on the blue cassette guy for the toys, but I won’t split hairs here.  I know what his name is in my heart, and that’s all that truly matters.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As someone who got the Walmart release at retail (which is something an unfortunately high number of collectors can’t say), I didn’t *need* this release.  Of course, it *is* a Soundwave, and it *is* different from the prior offering.  On top of that, the pack-in cassettes do a lot to sell me on it this time around, since I’ve been waiting patiently for Buzzsaw since 2019, and I also won’t say no to a toy-colors update to the 86 mold of Frenzy.  I’m glad I snagged it because, if nothing else, I got to mess with the Walmart mold one more time, and I do always forget just how much I like that particular mold.  This is a nice set if you missed the Walmart version, and honestly the superior offering if you have that one already, so I’m happy with my purchase.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3635: Soundwave

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

SOUNDWAVE

TRANSFORMERS REACTION FIGURES (SUPER 7)

Fun FiQ Fact #0114: This is the fifth non-transforming Soundwave I’ve reviewed on the site.

Before I can jump into any given Transformers product line, I always have to ask an important question: is there a Soundwave and an Ultra Magnus?  If there’s not, I’ve got some serious thinking to do.  Super 7’s ReAction had one, but not the other for a bit, and then both, but it took me a bit to get them, so, you know, more waiting.  But it’s okay!  No more waiting now!  Well, I mean, I guess a tiny bit of waiting, since I’m only reviewing one of the two.  It’s Soundwave!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave was released in the first series of Super 7’s Transformers ReAction Figures line, which hit in 2020.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As with the rest of the ReAction line, he’s going for that vintage Kenner style, which is…well, it’s certainly a divergent style when it comes to Transformers.  They’ve gone animation model styled for these, which has been pretty much Super 7’s bag for TFs.  I’ll hand it to them, there’s a lot of internal consistency between this guy and the Ultimates version, so they’re certainly doing a good job of pulling the same general stylings there.  This one is, of course, a lot more rigid.  In fact, he’s downright pigeon-toed, which is just a tad goofy looking.  Other than that, though, it’s a decent enough sculpt.  Very squared off and technical, and very clearly Soundwave.  Hard to argue with that, really.  His paint work is basic, but decent itself.  It matches again with the Ultimate (or, I guess the Ultimate matches this one, since the ReAction came first), which goes hand in hand with the animation stylings.  The application is clean for the most part, with minimal fuzziness or bleed over.  Soundwave is packed with his concussion blaster, which is just one solid piece this time around, rather than having any of its usual collapsing components.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I recall seeing this one when the line launched, but I just wasn’t sure I wanted to jump in on it, especially without the certainty of a Magnus.  I did come very close to grabbing him on multiple occasions, though.  Unfortunately, by the time Magnus was announced, sources for this one had largely dried up.  Thankfully for me, a loose one got traded into All Time, and, hey, there we go.  Non-transformy-sound-boi.  He’s nifty.  I don’t know that it really elevates beyond that, but I wasn’t really expecting that.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3264: Blackout & Scorponok

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

BLACKOUT & SCORPONOK

TRANSFORMERS: MASTERPIECE MOVIE SERIES (TAKARA TOMY)

I really don’t talk about the Michael Bay Transformers movies much around here.  It’s for the pretty good reason that I just didn’t much care for any of the Michael Bay Transformers movies, so, you know, I just don’t have much call to own stuff from them, or by extension review much from them either.  Thus far, I’ve looked at a Soundwave and a Jazz, characters that, notably, I care about outside of the Bay films, so that colors the opinions ever so slightly.  On a different, but still related note, I’ve not yet reviewed anything from Takara’s long-running Masterpiece line of Transformers, which are rather high-end, generally more screen accurate figures, which also seek out proper licensing for all of their alt-modes (where needed, of course).  It’s been a running theme since 2003, at first sticking to G1 characters, but moving onto other themes, with the live action films getting their own sub-line starting in 2010.  The most recent release from the live action sub-line is actually a twofer, since it’s Blackout and Scorponok, based on their appearance in the first film, and I’m taking a look at the two of them today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blackout and Scorponok are the lone 2022 release for Transformers: Masterpiece Movie Series, where it is item MPM-13.  Though billed as “Blackout and Scorponok” on the package, Blackout is clearly supposed to be the star piece, with Scorponok as an accessory.  In his robot mode, Blackout stands about 11 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of workable articulation.  In terms of scaling, Blackout is certainly quite a sizable figure, which is appropriate, since he was also one of the larger ‘bots in the films.  The articulation scheme is a pretty good one for a Transformer, especially one as bulky as this one.  Of particular note are the hands, which even have separately articulated fingers.  Blackout’s sculpt is a unique one (thus far, at least; if they follow the Studio Series layout, he might get a re-use for Grindor later down the line), obviously based on his film appearance.  In the movies, most of the TFs are kind of a jumbly mess of random angles when in their robot modes, and Blackout is no exception.  On the plus side, the toys, by necessity, do clean things up a little bit.  This figure does a pretty good job of doing just that, while still sticking pretty closely to the design as seen on-screen…I mean, when it can be seen, which is, admittedly, pretty tricky to do.  They sure did love to hide those designs.  Whatever the case, this one is pretty cohesive in his look, and he’s properly big and imposing, and there’s a ton of smaller sculpted details, which are pretty impressive. Blackout is packed with two mountable miniguns, two blast effects for the miniguns, and a rotorblade weapon.  The rotorblade should *technically* be mounted to the back of his hand, as opposed to being held in his hand is it is here, but otherwise it’s a pretty cool piece.  Also included is the previously mentioned Scorponok figure.  He doesn’t transform (excusable, since he doesn’t actually have an on-screen alt-mode in the first movie), but he’s at least fully articulated, which is honestly pretty cool.

As in the film, Blackout’s alt-mode is a MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, which is an officially licensed take on the vehicle.  The transformation sequence to get from robot to copter is…well, it’s certainly a complicated and lengthy one.  It’s unfortunately a side effect of how the animation models were done for the Bay films, since there wasn’t really much actual science or engineering to how they worked; just lots of small greebly bits all moving in a mess of motion.  So, this figure’s dealing with that, but it does alright by it.  Still, it would up taking me about an hour and a half to work my way through the whole thing; getting his waist properly folded into the body of the copter was, in particular, quite tricky on my copy.  All in all, it’s a bit nerve-racking, but the end result is at least pretty convincing.  He’s even got a working hatch on the rear fuselage, where you can store Scorponok.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I touched on in the intro, I don’t really do much with the Bay films.  I saw the first one in the theatre.  It wasn’t really for me, and I’ve not really owned any of the associated product.  So, why do I own a Masterpiece quality figure based on a not Soundwave or Jazz character?  Well, my son Matthew was determined to get me something cool for our first Christmas together, and he was apparently adamant that he needed to get this for me.  (He also apparently found it on some sort of crazy clearance, which is good, because I really don’t expect him to be spending this thing’s full retail on a present for me)  On Christmas morning, after jumping up and down with excitement over the things waiting for him under the tree, he very excitedly handed me this guy, and told me I had to open my gift first.  I was certainly surprised, I’ll say that much.  I may not really care about the first Transformers, or really Blackout as a character, but I’ll admit, he does certainly make for a quite impressive transforming robot toy.  And, you know, the whole presentation did kind of help to further my general enjoyment as well.  So there’s also that.

#3263: Rumble – Blue

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

FRENZY RUMBLE — BLUE

TRANSFORMERS: STUDIO SERIES (HASBRO)

Are you guys ready for some controversy?  It’s okay, it’s nothing super important or anything.  Just a long stretching conflict going back three decades is all.  And what exactly is that conflict?  It’s simple: what is the name of Soundwave’s blue cassette buddy?  According to the vintage toy, the Marvel comics, and the Japanese version of the original cartoon, it’s Frenzy.  However, according to the US version of the cartoon, it’s Rumble, though, even then, it’s the finished product, since the series bible clearly dictates that the blue one is Frenzy.  But, since the cartoon has mass exposure, there’s still a contingent that thinks of Rumble as the blue one.  They’re wrong, of course.  The blue guy is Frenzy.  The My Little Pony crossover said so.  Definitely.  But these wrong people sometimes get thrown a bone by official channels.  And that’s why we have a Studio Series release of Rumble (Blue).  Let’s have a look, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Frenzy Rumble (Blue) is part of the fourth Core Class assortment of Transformers: Studio Series, alongside Dark of the Moon Laserbeak and a repack of Wheelie.  Frenzy Rumble (Blue) is part of the ’86 Movie sub-set of the line, and is thus explicitly an animation-based figure.  Hence the naming.  In robot mode, Frenzy Rumble (Blue) stands a little over 2 inches tall (just a smidge taller than the Siege mold) and has 13 workable points of articulation.  Frenzy Rumble (Blue) is making use of an all-new mold, which goes for a less chunky set of proportions than the Siege mold did, as well as greater detailing and a better range of motion on the joints.  I was cool with the Siege mold at the time, and I still don’t mind it, but there’s no denying that this guy is just an improvement on the prior mold across the board.  His color scheme is, as noted by the name, blue.  Well, blue-ish at the very least.  He’s patterned on the animation colors, so he errs a bit more on the side of purple than a proper blue.  It’s a good look, and the paint application is again a little more involved than the Siege version.  Frenzy Rumble (Blue)’s alt-mode is a proper mini-cassette; though he’s larger in robot mode, he transforms into a box that’s still compatible with the Siege/Earthrise Soundwave molds.  Yay for backwards compatibility!  Frenzy Rumble (Blue) is packed with the original G1 toy’s laser drill attachments, as well as the stomper arms frequently seen in animation.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Through an odd sequence of coincidences, I wound up with a bunch of Soundwaves that only had Frenzys to go with them, and never Rumble.  After getting to three of them, I decided I was just sticking with only getting Frenzy.  You know, the blue one.  Of course, I’ve had to go against the printed name a few times before.  The most important thing is the color.  He’s gotta be blue.  You know, because that’s the one that Frenzy is.  I got this guy as a stocking stuffer on Christmas morning, which was pretty cool.  He’s a rather fun offering, and an improvement on the Siege release…even if he’s got the wrong name.

#2873: Soundwave

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SOUNDWAVE

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: KINGDOM (HASBRO)

While the main Transformers line has largely shifted back to the G1 line’s “classes are dictated by the character’s scale within the overall set-up”, there have long been other lines that give us the characters in actually different scales.  The smaller, more affordable set-up is a particularly recurrent one, gathering a few differing names over the years, including Basic Class, Spy Changers, Legion Class, and Legends Class.  For the latest version, they’re now the “Core Class,” which has taken over the main line price point previously held by the Micro Masters in the last two main lines.  There are a few new characters, but the main focus is the heavy hitter G1 characters.  And, if I’m reviewing one, you know that means there’s gotta be a Soundwave.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave is part of the third Core Class assortment for Transformers War For Cybertron: Kingdom, alongside the brand new Dracodon.  In his robot mode, Soundwave stands about 3 inches tall and he has 15 practical points of articulation.  Soundwave is an all-new sculpt, patterned on his G1 cartoon design.  He’s rather similar thematically to the two Voyager Class releases from this trilogy, but is of course about half their size.  To facilitate this, his articulation is a little more rudimentary, but that doesn’t stop it from working pretty well from a practicality stand point.  The new sculpt is a very clean and sharply detailed recreation of the classic Soundwave.  It doesn’t have as much going on as the larger versions, but that doesn’t stop it from getting the feel of the character.  Moreover, it gives it a nice, basic feel, which I very much dig.  The paint work is like wise very clean and to the point, which I’m totally down for.  Soundwave is armed with both his handheld and shoulder cannons, as well as Laserbeak, who, much like the R.E.D. version, is permanently in cassette mode.  Speaking of cassettes, while it took three tries at the larger scale, this guy gets his cassette player alt-mode right out of the gate.  It’s a pretty simple transformation, as expected, but the end result is generally pretty decent.  The feet don’t quite fold down enough for the proper clean angles, but otherwise it looks nice, and it’s less fiddly than the larger version.  I do miss the spring loaded door, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Core Class was unveiled, it looked cool enough, but I stuck to my guns and swore to only get my two go-tos, should they be added to the line.  Sure enough, Soundwave got added pretty quickly, and I was onboard from day 1 for this guy.  The Earthrise version was really nice, but something about the simplicity and pure fun of this release really appeals to me, and he’s probably my favorite modern Soundwave release.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2696: Cyclonus

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CYCLONUS

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: KINGDOM (HASBRO)

Yesterday, I kicked things off in a decidedly not G1 fashion for this week’s Transformers reviews.  Today, however, I’m flipping the script, and going for the decidedly G1 fashion.  See, in addition to this year’s focus on Beast Wars, the main line is also splitting that focus to take a look at the other notable piece of media with halfway notable anniversary, Transformers: The Movie.  While most of the ’86 focus is in Studio Series, it’s overflowing a touch into Kingdom as well.  One of Galvatron’s two lieutenants, Scourge, made it into the Studio Series line-up, but his other secondary, and today’s focus, Cyclonus is instead part of the Kingdom line-up.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclonus makes up one half of the first Voyager Class assortment of Kingdom, alongside Optimus Primal.  He’s designed to be compatible with the Studio Series figures, so his design is generally closer to animation accuracy than prior main line figures.  In his robot mode, he stands about 7 inches tall and he has 25 usable points of articulation.  In contrast to the two Beast Wars figures I’ve looked at from the line, the articulation on this guy is pretty nicely designed and laid out.  The movement is pretty smooth, and he’s got a good range of motion.  The sculpt is very cleanly rendered, and followed the animation model very closely.  He’s appropriately sharp and angular, which is really how Cyclonus should be.  The kibble from his alt-mode folds up nicely into the robot mode, and doesn’t impede his movement.  Generally, it’s a nice, very solid sculpt, and the figure really has a nice heft to him.  Additionally, thanks to the design of the legs, it’s possible to adjust the height of the figure a little bit, thus replicating Cyclonus’ slightly variable size from the animation, which is certainly a cool touch.  Cyclonus is packed with his “Oxidating Laser” weapon, which is a pretty nifty looking sci-fi-esque gun.

Cyclonus’ alt-mode is a space jet fighter, just like it was in the movie.  It’s a pretty reasonable transformation process, that isn’t too difficult to get through.  It’s certainly not as fiddly as some of the Studio Series figures.  I did get a kick out of the Russian nesting doll-esque nature of unfolding the nose cone over and over again.  The end result is pretty decent, though I did have some trouble getting the mid-section to clip into place just right on mine.  I’m not sure if that’s an across the board thing, an issue with my figure thing, or an “Ethan’s not always great with Transformers” thing.  It’s certainly a minor thing, so there’s that.  Like the robot mode, the jet fighter mode is fairly animation accurate, and even has some fun little touches, such as fold out landing gear.  The Laser can be mounted to the top of the jet mode, for a more offensive set up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With the ’86 guys, I’m generally more of a heroes guy than a villains guy.  Because of that, I opted to pass on Scourge when he hit.  Cyclonus is a slightly different story for me.  He did have a tendency to get paired off against Ultra Magnus, and he’s also notable in the small handful of Transformers comics I’ve actually read.  Plus, there’s no denying that he’s got a pretty slick look.  All of that made it pretty hard for me to pass this guy up.  I’m glad I opted not to pass on him, because he’s quite a nice figure, and makes me feel not quite so bad about Kingdom as a whole.  Definitely my favorite piece of the figures from launch.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy for review.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2667: Soundwave & Ravage

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

SOUNDWAVE & RAVAGE

TRANSFORMERS: BUMBLEBEE DLX (THREEZERO)

So….remember about two weeks ago, when I was discussing the oxymoronic nature of non-transforming Transformers?  Man, aren’t they just a crazy concept that will never catch on?  Certainly I’m not going to be backing that horse any time soon, right?  …Yeah, about that… Despite only really being a moderate Transformers fan, and also recently finding myself grouped with the people that think maybe Transformers should transform, I may have well gone and bought a rather pricey non-transforming Transformer for myself.  Look, in my defense, it’s Soundwave.  Also, it’s from Bumblebee.  Exactly how was I supposed to say no?  And, while we’re all on the topic, this isn’t a completely transformation-less Transformers release, for reasons I shall get into in the review itself!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Soundwave & Ravage were released as part of ThreeZero’s Transformers DLX line, which has so far been dedicated to designs from Bumblebee.  This marks the fourth release in the line, following Bumblebee, Prime, and Blitzwing.  Soundwave’s definitely a little more of a reach than the others in terms of his role in the film, but he’s freaking Soundwave, so it’s not like it’s super hard to figure out why they’d choose to release him, and bundling in Ravage is just pretty straight forward stuff, really.  The packaging is pretty adamant about referring to both of the figures included here, but make no mistake, Soundwave’s the main deal, and Ravage is really just an accessory.  Soundwave stands about 11 1/4 inches tall and has, like, a lot of articulation.  Getting an accurate count’s kind of tricky, because so many of the joints are really just there to aid other joints in the posing process.  What I’m getting at here is that posing Soundwave is a pretty darn involved process, which requires you to really want to know how you’re posing him before jumping in.  He’s designed with lots of lifting and moving plates, in order to ensure the best posability, while also keeping him movie accurate in the sculpt department.  It takes some getting used to, and if you’re not careful you might end up with some breakage, so reading through the instructions and learning what lifts and how is a good idea.  I myself wound up accidentally popping the glue on one of his front waist panels when I moved his hip forward incorrectly, so I know first hand the need to be careful.  The figure’s sculpt is dedicated to recreating the movie-interpretation of Soundwave’s G1 design as closely as possible, and based on what I could see from his brief appearances in the film, they’ve done a very nice job of capturing that design.  His internal workings make use of some actual metal parts, which makes him both sturdy and hefty, and it’s all sort of wrapped in an outer shell made up of a lot of separate plastic plates, which are responsible for making him look all Soundwave-y.  The detailing on those plates is all very sharp and they look properly machined.  For the most part, they also stay in place very securely.  The body beneath those plates is likewise quite nicely detailed for the most part, though I was somewhat surprised to find that the internal detailing for the torso isn’t actually sculpted, and is instead a decal. I get the why, ultimately, but it does feel ever so slightly like a step down compared to the rest of the figure.  Soundwave has no alt-mode, of course, but that’s something he share’s with his movie counterpart since Soundwave, like a lot of the Cybertronians we see early in the film, wasn’t actually designed with one in mind.  That does make his lack of transformation a little less egregious than the three prior figures, I suppose.  Soundwave’s paintwork is quite impressively handled.  The base colors are nice and bright, and eye catching, and there’s quite a lot of detail that’s been put into making all of the plates and such look worn in and damaged.  There’s a lot of simulated wear and tear, and it looks quite convincing, and is quite certainly of a higher caliber than, say, Siege.  Soundwave includes a light-up feature for his visor.  You’ll need to provide two button cell batteries of your own, but it’s a very nice effect, and adds just a little extra pop to him when on display.  Soundwave is packed with a decent selection of extras.  There are quite a few extra hands, 9 of them to be exact, in fists, open gesture, open relaxed, and trigger finger pairs, and one two finger gesture hand for the left side.  He also gets a blaster rifle, a display stand, and most importantly…

…Ravage!  Soundwave wouldn’t be much good without one of his cassette buddies to keep him company, now would he?  Of course not!  Ravage got a whole bit of focus in the movie, so there was this whole fully rendered model there to use as well, so I guess that does sort of make the whole thing easier.  Ravage is about 4 inches long, and has 17 workable points of articulation.  The articulation’s not quite as involved on Ravage, largely because Ravage isn’t as posable as Soundwave.  He’s still got all the basic movement he’ll need of course, and on top of that, he’s got all the movement he needs to, what’s that, actually transform?  Wait, is there an actual Transformer here?  Why, yes there is!   For Ravage isn’t just permanently in panther mode, but is able to also be folded up into the movie’s approximation of a cassette mode.  Said cassette mode can be stored in Soundwave’s chest compartment, as seen in the movie.  The transformation’s a little bit nerve wracking, if I’m honest, but I’m certainly glad it’s there, and it gives both Ravage and Soundwave a little bit of extra fun factor when messing around with them.  To help facilitate this transformation, Ravage also gets a few accessories of his own, as the side mounted rockets and the cannon for his back are removable parts which can be added to the figure when he’s in panther mode.  Pretty dope.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It all started a little over a year ago, back before Transformers R.E.D. was even a thing on my mind, and therefore a thing that was well and truly getting me thinking about non-transforming Transformers.  We’d seen the first three DLX figures, and they were certainly cool, but not enough for me to really jump on the bandwagon.  Then Soundwave got shown off, and Jason from All Time Toys was looking at possibly placing an order, but really only if I was interested in picking one up.  I’m no stranger to high-end toys, but I’d not yet jumped down this particular rabbit hole with Transformers.  But…it was Soundwave, and it was also like a year away, so I had plenty of time to save up for him.  Good thing, too, since that year was 2020, and, well, we all know how that went.  Needless to say, he arrived, and I was quite happy to finally pick him up.  He’s definitely very different from anything else I own Transformers-wise, but I was definitely expecting that.  He’s certainly more collectible than toy, and isn’t really meant for fidgeting with the same way as other Transformers, but I still had a lot of fun messing with him once I took him out of the box, and he’s a tremendously impressive piece when sitting on the shelf.  I certainly wasn’t expecting to have *two* non-transforming Soundwaves in the space of a month, but worse things have certainly happened.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2656: Soundwave

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

SOUNDWAVE

TRANSFORMERS: R.E.D. (HASBRO)

Ah, yes, non-Transforming Transformers.  A wonderful little oxymoronic concept that’s been rattling around ever since the introduction of Action Masters in 1990.  Over the years, it’s been something that Hasbro (and some of their licensees) have gravitated back to every so often, as a way of offering figures that are more accurate to what you see on the screen, thanks to not needing to have any sort of compromise for the sake of an alt-mode.  They’re newest stab at this venture is Transformers: R.E.D., short for “Robot Enhanced Design.”  It’s designed to pair off with the likes of The Black Series, being a highly-articulated line of collector-aimed Transformers figures…that don’t transform.  I’m giving the line a try with who else but Soundwave?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave is one of the three figures in the debut assortment of R.E.D., which was exclusive to Walmart.  I know, everyone’s super-thrilled, right?  This version of Soundwave is heavily inspired by his original G1 cartoon design, taking into account all of the impossibilities of that design in regards to an actual transformation sequence.   The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation.  In terms of sizing, he falls somewhere between and deluxe and a voyager class from the main line, meaning he fits in alright with the standard, actually transforming Transformers, if that’s something you’re interested in.  Despite being designed as a companion line to their other 6-inch stuff, he’s, of course, not even remotely in scale with Black Series or Legends.  Honestly, actual scaling aside, even just as a “hey wouldn’t he be cool robot figure to put with them” sort of thing, he seems a bit on the small side.  The articulation is overall pretty good on this guy.  It’s a slight step up from the Siege mold in its robot form, with more range in areas such as the shoulders and wrists in particular, but just a greater range of motion across the board, really.  The only area where I had any trouble was the ankles, which are just hard to get to move, I think in part due to the size of the joints.  They’re rather large joints, and prone to getting stuck.  In terms of sculpt, Soundwave is admittedly a pretty spot-on recreation of the G1 animation model.  They really got the proportions down pretty well, and the head and torso in particular really nail this particular look.  The torso even features the eject feature for the tape deck in his chest, although in the case of my figure, it does have a tendency to get stuck.  The articulation is pretty well worked in, and it all looks pretty clean.  For the most part, anyway. I do have one notable issue with the sculpt, and it circles back around the issue I had with the articulation: the ankles and feet.  They’ve given him these rather large ball-shaped universal joints, and they’re just kind of obtrusive and not very well worked into the sculpt.  They don’t follow the model, and they don’t look great.  But, from the ankles up, everything’s great.  The paint work on this figure goes for a flat color scheme to match the cel animation.  It’s a more muted appearance than other figures as of late, but it works out alright.  And hey, it’s a Soundwave with a red visor.  That’s cool!  Two of those from Hasbro in a year.  Not bad.  Soundwave is packed with a small version of Laserbeak in tape form, two sets of hands (gripping and fist/button pressing), his shoulder cannon, and his gun.  It hits all the basics, but it feels a bit light.  Couldn’t we at least get Ravage or Laserbeak in their robot modes?  Or perhaps the perpetual red-headed stepchild of the cassettes, Buzzsaw?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My interactions with Transformers in the last two years have sort of shifted my opinions on things, because in 2018, this is the kind of line that I probably would have been a bit more excited by, being a fan of the Transformers as cool robots, but not much else.  But, Siege and Earthrise have showcased to me that Hasbro can make some really good robot action figures that still have transformations, making the prospect of this line a harder sell.  When Prime and Megatron were the only two we knew about, it was an easy pass, especially with that bit about the Walmart exclusivity.  Then they had to go and show this guy, and my stupid love of stupid Soundwave dragged stupid old me back in.  The Soundwave that eventually became mine wasn’t originally meant for me at all, however.  Max found two of them at retail, but was unable to get a response from me, so only bought this one for himself.  After opening and messing with the figure, however, he ended up just asking if I wanted this one, because he wasn’t really feeling it.  I certainly wasn’t going to pass on a G1 Soundwave I didn’t have, so I was more than happy to take it off his hands.  Ultimately, getting him within a week or so of the Earthrise Soundwave, he feels a little redundant and out of place, but I can appreciate him for what he is, even if what he is winds up being a bit…counterintuitive?

#2628: Soundwave

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

SOUNDWAVE

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON TRILOGY (HASBRO)

Oh man, was my last Soundwave review on the site really Bayverse?  Yikes, I can’t let that stick.  I mean, at least he wasn’t some stupid sports car or something, but still.  Okay, let’s got extra, primo classic with this one then, I guess.

This summer, Netflix dropped a new Transformers cartoon, based on Hasbro’s currently running War For Cybertron trilogy of toy lines.  Hasbro corresponded with a set of Walmart-exclusive re-decos of some of their figures, making them a bit more show accurate.  With the show’s second part, Earthrise, upon us, Hasbro’s doing something a little different, and actually using this exclusive line to do some slightly reworked sculpts.  In the case of today’s Soundwave, that means he actually gets an earth mode this time.  Gee, I wonder what it might be?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave is part of the second assortment of Walmart’s War For Cybertron Trilogy line.  He’s one of two Voyager class offerings this round, with the other being Optimus Prime.  In his robot mode, the figure stands 6 1/2 niches tall and he has 25 workable points of articulation.  As I touched on in the intro, some of the second assortment figures got some new tooling, and Soundwave is included there.  He’s got quite a few parts in common with his Siege counterpart, including the head, forearms, hands, feet, and parts of his pelvis.  I was a little bummed that the forearms were kept the same, since they were one of my only complaints about the original, but I guess they had to draw the line somewhere.  Additionally, much of the inner workings of this figure, notably the articulation, are shared between the two.  Siege Soundwave is a very nice figure in his own right, and very strong recreation of his G1 bot mode, so keeping a lot of the parts is fine by me.  The new pieces are largely just about changing up some surface level details.  Some of the more greebly bits are removed from the arms and legs, and he’s generally just made cleaner and sleeker, bringing him a little closer to his original design.  The biggest changes occur on the torso, which is a little wider hand has a slightly different construction at a few spots, as well as removing a number of the moving parts from the Siege mold.  The reasoning behind this change comes more into play in the next section.

Boom, here we are in the next section, where we discuss the figure’s alt-mode.  Since the ‘80s, Soundwave figures have had to deal with the question of what to do for an alt-mode for a guy who turns into out of date tech.  The Siege figure gave him a weird sort of dropship mode, which I didn’t hate, but I also didn’t love.  This release just decides to not even try and come up with a more up-to-date mode, so he once again turns into a cassette player.  The new torso has been designed to help facilitate this change more fully, and ultimately his transformation scheme isn’t too far removed from the vintage figure.  There are a few more moving parts, and the end product’s a touch more fiddly, but it’s overall a set-up that works.  In addition to the new alt-mode, Soundwave also gets a new, much cleaner and bolder paint scheme than the Siege release.  No silver paint this time, or at least no silver paint where his basic design doesn’t call for it.  He’s got all the silver paint he’s *supposed* to have.  Soundwave is packed with the shoulder and hand cannons that were included with the Siege release, as well as is gun that folds into a staff.  Additionally, he comes with Laserbeak and Ravage packed right in this time, instead of them being separate releases.  Both figures get new decos to make them look a bit more like actual tapes (with Ravage’s being the one that really sells it), and Laserbeak also gets a new more Earth-y bird head, which I really like.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like so many Transformers before him, this figure is Max’s fault.  Well, okay, it’s mostly Hasbro’s fault, since they, you know, made it.  But Max showed me the original leaked photos, and let me know it was a Walmart exclusive, and ultimately hooked me up with this one I’m reviewing here.  I love the Siege figure, but I didn’t love his alt-mode.  This figure fixes that, and also just makes for a slightly cleaner robot mode.  I like that a lot.  I don’t know that I’d say he’s definitively better than the Siege release, but I do really like the adjustments made here.  He’s definitely a good Soundwave.

#2606: Greasepit

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

GREASEPIT

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: EARTHRISE (HASBRO)

Siege‘s main big gimmick was cross line compatibility, a concept best exemplified in its Weaponizers sub-set of figures, a whole type of figure designed with augmenting other figures in mind.  For the follow up in Earthrise, the Weaponizers haven’t been kept, but their general modular nature has been, and has been funneled into a new sub-set of modular figures called “Modulators.”  I know, crazy naming scheme there.   I have as of yet avoided the Modulators here, but I’m jumping into the concept today with Greasepit.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Greasepit was released as part of the Generations Select component of the Earthrise line this year.  He hit right at the same time as Decepticon Exhaust, right around July (unless, of course, you got one earlier from overseas).  As with all of the Modulators so far, Greasepit takes the name of a G1 Micromaster, and makes a deluxe class figure out of the Micromaster Station that said Micromaster came included with.  In this case, it’s Decepticon Micromaster Greasepit and his gas station base.  In his robot mode, Greasepit stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 19 workable points of articulation.  The Greasepit base never had a robot mode, much like the rest of the modulators, and some of the Weaponizers as well.  This means that the robot mode here is all-new…ish.  Okay, it’s not all-new at all, because he’s actually mostly a repaint of the main line’s Ironworks release.  But, I never got that one, so it’s new to me, and it’s also new to Greasepit, so I wasn’t entirely wrong. It’s overall a pretty decent sculpt; the only thing I’m not big on is the lack of a proper waist joint, though it’s worth noting this was also an issue on Weaponizer Cog.  I do like that this guy doesn’t have as many visible gaps as Cog did, and I also just generally like how his robot mode worked out.  It’s rather boxy and utilitarian.

Greasepit has a handful of possible alt-modes, and like the Weaponizers, the way you arrive at them isn’t through the typical transformation process, but rather through some serious parts forming.  By this point, it’s expected, and it does certainly allow for some more out there alt-modes.  The primary one for this guy is his more squared off gas station mode.  This replicates the original G1 base configuration the most closely of the ones offered up by Hasbro.  It’s not a perfect match, since it’s got to contend with a sculpt that was original meant for Ironworks’ oil rig set-up, but it’s still pretty close, and it gets the idea across.  The other two listed modes are a sort of a tower thing, and a longer stretch of road sort of thing…I don’t really know what that second one’s supposed to be.  The tower looks a bit like the G1 toy’s alt-mode, so that’s a cool touch, but ultimately, neither of these two modes is gonna bet much use from me.  The color scheme on this guy is rather on the bright and colorful side, which I definitely dig.  He’s actually got some decals for a few of his more intricate details, which is something that’s been absent from the line for a bit.  They look fine, but you always have to wonder about long term viability with such things.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Modulators are a far enough reach from core Transformers that I didn’t really have much draw to them, but I did think the Ironworks mold looked kind of cool.  He ended up being the only Wave 1 Deluxe not to show up at All Time, so I didn’t end up snagging him, but in contrast Greasepit came in before most other places, allowing me another chance at the mold.  He’s a lot of fun, and I certainly dig that first alt-mode.  I may not know much about these bases, but this one’s cool.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.