Tag Archives: Ravage

#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.

#3268: Soundwave – Shattered Glass

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

SOUNDWAVE

TRANSFORMERS GENERATIONS: SHATTERED GLASS COLLECTION (HASBRO)

I’ve discussed “Shattered Glass,” the Transformers equivalent of the Mirror Universe concept, once before here on the site.  That time, it was in regards to my favorite Autobot, Ultra Magnus, as his evil alternate self.  But, I can’t just look at an evil Autobot and leave the poor heroic Decepticons out in the cold, can I?  Well, as luck would have it, they just so happened to also do the alternate version of my favorite Decepticon, Soundwave, who in this reality trades his usual cold and calculating persona for a laid back resistance fighter.  Totally radical!  …Right?  Because, he’s like, cool and stuff?  Yeah.  Okay.  I’ll stop trying to be cool now.  Let’s just look at the figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave is figure #10 in the Shattered Glass Collection.  He wraps up the second batch of figures, and appears to wrap up the sub-line as a whole, at least as far as we know.  He actually stuck pretty close to his expected release, arriving in mid-November.  In his robot mode, the figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 25 practical points of articulation.  Soundwave’s mold is predominantly shared with the Walmart-exclusive War For Cybertron Soundwave.  It’s the most straight forward update to the G1 Soundwave mold we’ve gotten at this scale, and it’s thus far only had the one other use, so it makes a lot of sense here.  My only real issue with the mold remains the forearms, which still feel just a touch greebly for the rest of the sculpt.  Other than that, it’s really strong.  His head sculpt has been modified to include SG Soundwave’s signature headband, which gives him that more laid back feel.  It’s a minor change-up, but I dig it.  As with all of the SG figures, the color scheme marks the biggest departure for this release.  He’s predominantly white, and the sections of blue that remain are a much lighter (and metallic) shade.  He’s just much brighter than usual, which makes for a great contrast compared to the standard look.  The application is generally pretty clean, with the only (small) issue on mine being that his Decepticon emblem is *ever so slightly* off-center.  It’s not the worst I’ve seen, but it’s a little off.  Also, not a real issue on my figure, but some Soundwaves are arriving with a lot of yellowing on the white plastic.  Thus far, mine’s a little discolored in his right arm, but it’s very minor for me.  Soundwave gets the same accessory selection as the last one, with the two styles of blaster (in proper matching colors for the figure), as well as Ravage and Laserbeak.  Ravage and Laserbeak are both using their Siege molds (in contrast to Laserbeak getting the Earth-mode head for the WFC release), and they both get updated colors, with Ravage matching up with Soundwave, and Laserbeak getting an inverted palette.  Since he’s re-using the updated WFC version of the mold, his alt-mode is once again the mini cassette player.  The transformation scheme is pretty straight forward, and the end result is pretty great…when viewed from the front.  The back’s a different story, but honestly, that’s not the end of the world.

Like the Ultra Magnus, Soundwave is packed with an issue of IDW’s Transformers: Shattered Glass II, specifically issue 5.  It wraps up the story.  I missed the four issues between the two I got, but I honestly didn’t feel any more lost here than on the prior issue.  It’s a little better than the first issue, but it’s still just sort of there.  It does again showcase Soundwave pretty well, so that’s cool.  It’s also the final Transformers comic to be published by IDW, ending their 17 year run with the license.  So, you know, there’s that, I guess.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure is, once again, Max’s fault.  It’s a Transformer, and it’s a Pulse exclusive, so he’s got no escaping the blame.  I already had Magnus, and there was no way I could pass on Soundwave.  Max, knowing this, immediately contacted me as soon as this guy was shown off to verify that I indeed wanted one, so that he could throw one into his order.  Here he is again, being all helpful and stuff.  The nerve.  He’s not quite as impressive as the Ultra Magnus, but he’s still very fun, as are the two updated cassettes.  And thus ends the venture into Shattered Glass, I guess.

#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.