Toy Review - TR Soundwave with Soundblaster

Series - Generations
Sub-line - Titans Return
New/Remould/Redeco - Remould of TR Blaster
Released Here? Yes
Price - $90
Size/class - Leader
Approximate Size - 23cm
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-modes - Tape Deck/Base
Main Features/Gimmicks - compatible with Titan Masters and Legends tapes
Main Colours - Blue, Grey
Main Accessories - Rifle, Shoulder Cannon, Soundblaster Titan Master


Robot Mode
http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/...psmx6rbjve.jpg
It’s lucky that both Blaster and Soundwave are boxy characters, so with a simple palette swap, a new head and a shoulder cannon this does looks like Soundwave rather than a recoloured Blaster (which he is after all). The proportions are ok though I would have liked to see more articulation. Nothing beats a Soundwave that can actually bend his arm upwards and press his eject button (aka MP SW). His gun is from Blaster and for those in the know it looks nothing like Soundwaves regular firearm which is a bit disappointing, but I suppose even Transformers are allowed to change their armament every few million years.


Tape Deck Mode
http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/...pszvabe2cb.jpg
The smartest thing they did here was to change the way the speakers look. It now looks like a tape deck from the early nineties rather than a proper Ghetto Blaster (all you kids born this century, you might have to do some research here to know what I am talking about). The mode looks better than I thought it would; it looks sleek and somber, just a shame there is the odd little gap here and there.

Base Mode
http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/...psvkke6iac.jpg
This mode suits Soundwave far more than Blaster (who I still maintain should have turned into a DJ booth with dance floor). The darker colour scheme works for the mode as well as the extra cannon. Overall better than I expected.


Transformation

No change from Blaster. If you haven’t converted Blaster know that this figure isn’t difficult for a leader class figure. There is no real challenge here, however transforming him for the first time you have to engage your brain to turn him in to what is a reasonably two dimensional alt-mode as the Tape Deck. Conversion to base mode is very straight forward.

Overall

Soundwave is one of two figures which can be said to be a crossover between Combiner Wars and Titans Return, given that CW Buzzsaw can be put into TR Soundwave in both Robot and Ghetto Blaster modes. Interestingly in the instructions it only mentions him being compatible with the upcoming Laserbeak and Ravage, most likely as these toys are to be released soon. The fact you can insert these smaller figures into him along with the Headmaster gimmick and he is a triple changer means there is a lot of playability with this figure. While certainly not the ultimate Soundwave toy, on the whole this one is pretty good and it’s nice to see Soundwave once again as a musical device rather than a van or truck.


For a more detailed review and more pics, PLEASE SEE MY SOUNDWAVE REVIEW ON MY BLOG HERE

Caved in and bought one today, despite thinking he might be a little too big on the shelf. And he is, but it depends where you put him. Next to my Toyworld Hegemon version of Megs, he is ridiculously huge. Or the old Deluxe Seeker jets - Starscream better not try anything now.
But alongside the CW Leader Megatron or UW Devastator it's not too bad, and I don't mind my 'Cons being bigger than my Autobots.

Will echo all the thoughts above - it works as a Soundwave much better than it has any right to, being a Blaster retool/repaint. The lack of a proper G1 gun is a bit of an oversight IMHO and would have added a lot, especially if they could have found somewhere for them to go in alt-mode.

Something that is very satisfying is the sound and feel of putting either the 'sled thing' or Buzzsaw into the tape compartment. All the clicks, pops and scraping noises are spot on to an old 80's tape deck. It's more enjoyable than it has a right to be.

So unlike most others, I've got this guy in hand before Blaster, so he's my first look at the mould!

Nice robot mode; very chunky and fun, pity there is no wrist rotation but looks good. As I have literally 0 exposure to G1 (except reading on the wiki haha) I don't mind some of the artistic licence taken to make this guy, he still looks really nice. Mine has kinda lose ankles, so they have a tendency to collapse into his lower legs, but other than that all good!

BoomBox mode is also nice! Lining the panels up was a big pain, but once done it looks really nice... though doesn't really do much :p Big fan of the working chest compartment though!

City Mode is okay... it does well to not look much like a robot that's kinda awkwardly sitting, but as much as I appreciate the idea of the TM it's not really my thing, so as with Fort Max this isn't why I bought the toy. Would be fun for kids/collectors for sure though!

Overall good Leader class toy; super keen to get Blaster now (come on PC!!)

This guy's tape player mode would not be out of place in a Grandmaster Flash or Duran Duran film clip. It truly captures the spirit of the 80's.

I opened this guy up last night and had a good play around. I'm keeping Blaster MIB, so this is my first time actually handling the mould. I like it a lot.

I wasn't initially going to get this guy mostly for superficial reasons. The flip-over helmet makes his forehead a bit too big for my liking, and I didn't think he'd scale well with the other TR toys (being leader class and all). Also, Soundwave is a pretty iconic character, so we can always count on Hasbro/Takara to give us another Soundwave toy in a few years. I was going to wait for the 'next' Soundwave, but I saw this guy cheap on eBay (there should be a couple units left), and it was my birthday, so I caved in. I have no regrets. :)

Strangely, the things that I thought would bug me about this toy didn't phase me at all. Robot mode is distinctly Soundwave-like despite being a retool of Blaster, and he looks even better when you pose him next to TR Rumble. It actually makes me want to go out and buy TR Laserbeak. TBH, I think Laserbeak is only really worth getting if you have Soundwave.

The boombox mode looks good even though it doesn't look exactly like his G1 alt-mode. I think like Megatron's gun mode; it's easy to forget that Soundwave used to be a tape player and end up thinking of him as an amoured car. The boombox isn't 100% perfect since it has some holes between the speakers and 'tape compartment', but it's easy to ignore.

Aesthetically, the base/city mode looks OK, but it's selling point to me is really the fun factor of having it as 'scenery' for the Titanmasters to 'interact' within. It's a really fun playset, but half-decent as a display piece.

A lot of the joints and hinges on my copy of the toy are pretty tight, and I was fearful of breaking it, especially when transforming the legs. Also, it took a bit of jostling to get everything to tab together in boombox mode. But overall, I think it's durable enough.

I also kind of wish there was a way to Transform Soundwave into boombox without removing the head, kind of like Sixshot.

I like TR Soundwave. He does everything a Soundwave toy should do - turns into a media player, and is compatible with smaller minions who can fit in his chest. Great substitute if the Masterpeice Soundwave is out of your budget. Soundwave is 'nice' toy, but he becomes a 'very fun' toy when you make him interact with other toys like TR Rumble (and maybe Laserbeak and Ravage), and some of the little titanmasters.