Toy Review - Hasbro MP Soundwave

[GoktimusPrime]

*Rumble/Frenzy: Very nice, but here is the thing - according to the packaging Rumble is the red/black one like the toy. Frenzy is the purple that Rumble was in the cartoon Bloody weird! Personally I just cheat and have Rumble as the purple and Frenzy as the red/black to recreate the cartoon, otherwise it doesn't make a lot of sense.

I totally agree; while it makes sense for TakaraTOMY's Japanese market where the FIRRIB mix up never happened, it doesn't make sense for Hasbro's Anglophone market where indeed the purple robot was Rumble. Frenzy was NEVER purple in any original G1 medium. (cos blue =/= purple)

It really feels like Hasbro got lazy/inattentive with this important detail and missed a golden opportunity to finally have a cartoon-like Rumble and Frenzy toy set with the correct names.

Weird that Soundwaves eyes are yellow that is accurate in the G1 toy and nowhere else, and the tapes colours are G1 cartoon accurate but nowhere else. An odd choice.

Soundwave's eyes were yellow in ALL G1 media except the cartoon. They were yellow in the toy, US Marvel Comics, UK Marvel Comics, Ladybird story books, Big Looker story books etc etc etc. The cartoon was the sole G1 medium in the 1980s that gave Soundwave a red visor, so in actuality Soundwave had a red visor and it was FIRRIB in the G1 cartoon and nowhere else. Everywhere else saw Soundwave with a yellow visor and RIRFIB. That's why I prefer original toy accurate colours, because the toys came first, and the majority of G1 canonical sources stuck with the toy colours. The cartoon was exceptionally unusual in deviating away from the toy colours in certain regards. This is also why I personally refuse to use the term "show accuracy" or "cartoon accuracy" with most Transformers toys, especially G1, because the term implies that the cartoon was more correct than other media, whereas in reality it was the other way around. (JMHO)

So I really like how Hasbro's gone and given their MP Soundwave a truly G1 accurate yellow visor; the way Soundwave's visor is meant to be. I would've personally liked to see Frenzy repainted blue like the G1 toy (instead of being left purple) and keep Rumble as Rumble, thus making the entire set really G1 accurate. But if they are going to keep Frenzy purple as they clearly have, then I completely agree that it would've made a helluva lot more sense to call the purple robot Rumble and the red robot Frenzy.

*Megatron Gun: Very cool! Anyone know if it is to the same scale as the one that came with 20th Anniversary Prime? Ive still got him MISB so not sure.

It's the exact same gun! Hurry up and open your 20th Anniv. OP!

[Nevac]

It's the exact same gun! Hurry up and open your 20th Anniv. OP!

Well almost the same it has an extra joint on the stock which I think is so the MP10 Prime can hold it.

[UltraMarginal]

I am pretty happy with my Soundwave, he seems to have a slight backwards lean but I can live with that, his eyes are what's bugging me, they aren't smooth, they have a slight circle shape in their surface:
As you can see it makes them look a bit rough. is this a common problem or have I picked a dud?

I've shifted this to the Questions thread as it's probably more applicable there.

[Trent]

^I'll have a look at mine when I get home.

[ILikeSoundwave]

I am pretty happy with my Soundwave, he seems to have a slight backwards lean but I can live with that, his eyes are what's bugging me, they aren't smooth, they have a slight circle shape in their surface:
As you can see it makes them look a bit rough. is this a common problem or have I picked a dud?

I've shifted this to the Questions thread as it's probably more applicable there.

Mine has that too, I think they all do.

[griffin]

A photo of what you get with the Hasbro version...



And next to the JP version (red visor)... looking virtually identical.

[Nevac]

The only other difference I could find with the 2 Soundwave's are the door flaps for rumble/frenzy's guns are a different shade of grey compared to the Tak one. Rumble/Frenzy use white screws/pins instead of black and they tend to stick out more then the black ones but other then that they're identical still fantastic value for money.

[GoktimusPrime]

Thanks for posting the comparison pic, griffin. I've always seen photos of Hasbro Soundwave looking like it has a lighter blue that TakTOM's, but of course it could be different lighting conditions -- side by side comparison pics are always the best as obviously both toys are photographed under the same conditions.

TFwiki comprehensively lists the differences between the Hasbro and TakTOM versions of Soundwave and the Cassettes.

[griffin]

Not sure if they did anything to fix the fragile nature of the condor/vulture tail fins, but my Buzzsaw was not stiff... however, my Laserbeak had stiff tailfins but didn't snap off when forcing them (yet).

[UltraMarginal]

Both my Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw have one super stiff tailfin.