Toy Review - JP Masterpiece Soundwave

[GoktimusPrime]

Received mine today. I am greatly impressed! This toy truly is a Masterpiece... I haven't been this impressed with an MP since MP01 Convoy!

Voted for "Yes" - worth buying. The local version will certainly be more worth buying at $25 less than the RRP of the TakTOM version (though I got mine for $127 w/ earlybird discount), but the TakTOM version isn't not worth getting either. If you haven't already ordered a TakTOM version, then by all means wait for the local Hasbro version -- but I'm certainly not disappointed with the TakTOM version! It is just a magna spectacular toy! I can see why people who own this toy have been singing it praise, and those of you waiting for the Hasbro version are gonna be in for one helluva treat. I'm one very happy chappy right now.

Posted piccies here, and comparison pics with G1 here.

[kup]

Received mine today. I am greatly impressed! This toy truly is a Masterpiece... I haven't been this impressed with an MP since MP01 Convoy!

Voted for "Yes" - worth buying. The local version will certainly be more worth buying at $25 less than the RRP of the TakTOM version (though I got mine for $127 w/ earlybird discount), but the TakTOM version isn't not worth getting either. If you haven't already ordered a TakTOM version, then by all means wait for the local Hasbro version -- but I'm certainly not disappointed with the TakTOM version! It is just a magna spectacular toy! I can see why people who own this toy have been singing it praise, and those of you waiting for the Hasbro version are gonna be in for one helluva treat. I'm one very happy chappy right now.

Posted piccies here, and comparison pics with G1 here.

Glad to hear you got a good one! As you said, the mold and design is great and that includes Laserbeak despite my experience.

[GoktimusPrime]

I was ultra careful with Laserbeak, being mindful of your experience with him. And everything's been fine. The toy was super tight when I first transformed it, and I was so scared that I was going to break something... but after the first time the joints loosened up quite well and it doesn't have the problem of being too tight. Still... if I hadn't read about your experience I probably would've tried to rush it and use excessive force to get some parts to move, especially the weapons... so I can see how parts of Laserbeak might get broken unless you treat it like it's extremely fragile on the first transformation.

So yeah, I recommend taking care with Laserbeak on the 1st transform -- after that he's been fine. (touch wood)

[griffin]

Does anyone else think the legs are too long on the MP version?
For me, it makes the toy look too tall for Soundwave, who is usually squarer.

[kup]

I was ultra careful with Laserbeak, being mindful of your experience with him. And everything's been fine. The toy was super tight when I first transformed it, and I was so scared that I was going to break something... but after the first time the joints loosened up quite well and it doesn't have the problem of being too tight. Still... if I hadn't read about your experience I probably would've tried to rush it and use excessive force to get some parts to move, especially the weapons... so I can see how parts of Laserbeak might get broken unless you treat it like it's extremely fragile on the first transformation.

So yeah, I recommend taking care with Laserbeak on the 1st transform -- after that he's been fine. (touch wood)

Trust me, my Laserbeak would not have fared better after the first transformation (I was able to transform it back and forth once before it broke but it required huge amounts of effort each time).

My Laserbeak was truly screwed up in it's assembly and paint job. I only realized how bad it was when I had a play with Zed's and every joint moved fairly effortlessly while mine was very hard to move just a few millimeters.

[kup]

Does anyone else think the legs are too long on the MP version?
For me, it makes the toy look too tall for Soundwave, who is usually squarer.

To me it's fine. However if you prefer exclusively a 'G1 toy' style then the MP would be a bit lean for it as the G1 toy is more square.

[Hursticon]

Does anyone else think the legs are too long on the MP version?
For me, it makes the toy look too tall for Soundwave, who is usually squarer.

Nope not at all, in fact I think they make him far more accurate to what he looked like in the cartoon as I never saw him to be 'Squarish', he was always a taller bloke to me.

[GoktimusPrime]

Nope not at all, in fact I think they make him far more accurate to what he looked like in the cartoon as I never saw him to be 'Squarish', he was always a taller bloke to me.

I agree. Soundwave was more leaner in the Marvel/Sunbow model compared to the blocky toy.

What changes would you fellas like to see Hasbro make for their version? Cos I think it'd be good if Hasbro made their version distinctly different and offered fans something that the TakTOM version doesn't. e.g.
+ Toy/comic accurate yellow eye visor. This would make Hasbro's version more toy-accurate just like their MP Skywarp and Rodimus.
+ Sky-blue tinted chest-door window. This would make the chest-door window colour more cartoon-like. Yes, I know the paradox of giving the toy toy-accurate eyes but showlike chest, but the TakTOM version has a showlike red visor but toy-accurate dark tinted chest door! So why not flip it the other way around for the Hasbro ver.?
+ Chrome on Laserbeak's weapons.
+ Pink-tinted Energon cube(s)
+ G1 toy-like stickers for the guns (similar to how they included stickers for Rodimus)
+ Ditch the sensor and replace it with a forearm clip on accessory like the way Soundwave's arm looked when he was reviving Skyfire in "Fire in the Sky."

[Iriorne]

Does anyone else think the legs are too long on the MP version?
For me, it makes the toy look too tall for Soundwave, who is usually squarer.

I was doing measurements on toys and screen captures last night. I lost the actual numbers when my computer crashed but they weren't super exciting.

Basically I was calculating the ratio of leg length to overall figure height. The G1 toy's legs made up about 50% of its height, the G1 cartoon model's legs were about 60% of height while MP-13 sits about halfway in between the two and similar to other figures like MP-10.

MP-13 may look a bit skinny due to the change in proportions, it's a lot thinner than the original, and the way his hip joints have been designed makes the legs look longer. Other MPs generally have some sort of pelvic shield to hide the joints while Soundwave's are visible.

On the whole I'd say the MP proportions are pretty close to the cartoon look, which I much prefer over the blocky G1 toy appearance.

+ Chrome on Laserbeak's weapons.

Those are going to be fairly high wear parts, I don't see a chrome finish lasting very long. I'll take silver paint over chrome any day because at least I can do touch-up work if necessary. Chrome also tends to hide details due to all the reflections, and Laserbeak's sculpt is too gorgeous for that.

[GoktimusPrime]

Those are going to be fairly high wear parts, I don't see a chrome finish lasting very long. I'll take silver paint over chrome any day because at least I can do touch-up work if necessary. Chrome also tends to hide details due to all the reflections, and Laserbeak's sculpt is too gorgeous for that.

The way the weapons are designed, I reckon they could get away with chroming them. The weapons don't rub up against any other parts, but just fold/tuck away. I have a fully chromed G1 Bluestreak and that's never chipped. It depends on the nature of the toy and part being chromed, and also the quality of the chrome too. How would you make Hasbro's Laserbeak different from TakTOM's? (out of curiosity )

Another idea for Hasbro Soundwave is to give him a silver mid-section for the body. It'd break up the monotony of all the blue on the body.