Toy Review - JP Masterpiece Soundwave

[Iriorne]

How would you make Hasbro's Laserbeak different from TakTOM's?

Replace all chromed parts with silver paint!

Well, on Soundwave anyway. I was thinking the chrome finish might suffer more from finger wear, rather than from rubbing against the body. The jets form high-points in bird mode and need a bit of manipulation to transform, flipping them around and moving them into position. As you say, maybe a good quality finish and care in handling would help. Perhaps I've just been unlucky but most of my experience with chrome has been with it showing signs of deterioration straight out of the box.

Most of the changes I'd like to see would require quite significant changes to the mould which I think is unlikely. Limiting to deco, I like your idea of the light blue tinted door. Adding to that, I'd like to see a light frosted texture on the door as well to catch the light and show off the colour a bit better. His chest interior's pretty dark otherwise, and if the finish was done right any tapes inside should still show up pretty well.

I also think Soundwave might look neat in a dark purple colour scheme, reminiscent of his appearance in the comics. Perhaps not that light though, something more along the lines of G1 Shockwave or Cyclonus. Dark purple, with the same sparkly effect as TT.

Maybe some add some rainbow sparklies to the energon cube plastic to get a 'compressed' energon effect?

No changes to Laserbeak, he's perfect.



Not sure if I like the yellow visor, but left it in anyway.

[liegeprime]

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? +

Stronger plastic, make sure no more problems like that foot problem people here have encountered as for the energon cubes, they would well learn from the Luki's Bros version of energon cube inserts. Their hologram pink foldable inserts are what TakTom should've done. the lame print pink foldout they advocate is LAME LAME LAME!

[GoktimusPrime]

That's a great digibash, Iriorne!

Stronger plastic, make sure no more problems like that foot problem people here have encountered as for the energon cubes, they would well learn from the Luki's Bros version of energon cube inserts. Their hologram pink foldable inserts are what TakTom should've done. the lame print pink foldout they advocate is LAME LAME LAME!

I haven't encountered any problems with the feet so far (knock.on.wood). But improving the plastic quality can only be a good thing. For those who haven't seen this toy yet, the feet are actually die-cast metal. So perhaps it needs stronger plastic on the ankle joints to cope with the weight (as the feet do twist around during transformation).

What are the officially endorsed fold outs? I'm tempted to just buy some pink glitter and fill up 1 or 2 cubes with it. I like to have at least 1 or 2 empty cubes though.

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P.S.: MP Laserbeak^Condor's tech specs motto says "Autobots" rather than "Cybertrons"!

For those who may not know, the original Japanese G1 tech specs in the 1980s/90s didn't have mottos --- so an interesting thing about getting more recent toys from Takara(TOMY) is that we can sometimes see the first official Japanese translation for that character's motto. Also, since 2007 TakaraTOMY's been using Hasbro TF names for their 'mainstream' TF lines that they market at kids, e.g. movieverse, Animated, Prime etc., but toylines with greater appeal to G1 fans have retained using Takara G1 names, e.g. reissues, Henkei, United, Masterpiece etc. MP-9 was called "Rodimus Convoy," MP-10 = Convoy, MP-12 = Lambor, MP-14 = Alert, MP-15 = Jaguar etc., the factions are called Cybertrons and Destrons -- MP Soundwave's box says "Destron Communications," not "Decepticon Communications"... but yet Condor's motto says "Autobots" instead of "Cybertrons"! It feels totally inconsistent and feels out of place in the context of Masterpiece which has, until now, always consistently used Takara names.

[Iriorne]

That's a great digibash, Iriorne!
[...]
I haven't encountered any problems with the feet so far (knock.on.wood).
[...]
What are the officially endorsed fold outs? I'm tempted to just buy some pink glitter and fill up 1 or 2 cubes with it. I like to have at least 1 or 2 empty cubes though.

Cheers. Sadly, photoshop filters are about the limit of my digital artistic ability. The main issue with the feet has been more that the diecast was biting into the plastic knob of the foot pivot, causing stiff or incomplete transformation. Not sure what the root cause of the problem is but I suspect maybe a poor finish on the inner side of the diecast? Could also be bad assembly practise causing the initial problem, which then degrades further with use.

The fold up energon cube insert that TT released (image on the first page of the thread) doesn't look too bad, in my opinion, provided care is taken in assembling and inserting it. To be honest, many of the photos and videos I've seen have made a bit of a hatchet job of it. Careful cutting and precise folding are all that's required. Here's a pretty good example: link. Looks about the same as the G1 version. Sure, they could have included a 'holographic' effect version in the box, but then everyone would complain because they were afraid to cut up the original sheet! Clear or tinted cube, shiny or print-at-home inserts... they were never going to be able to please everyone.

Interesting about the tech specs, not being able to read Japanese has its disadvantages. Probably too much to hope for some sort of crazy appreciation in value if it gets corrected in any future re-releases!

[GoktimusPrime]

Cheers. Sadly, photoshop filters are about the limit of my digital artistic ability.

More than what I can do! MSPaint is my limit!

The fold up energon cube insert that TT released (image on the first page of the thread) doesn't look too bad, in my opinion, provided care is taken in assembling and inserting it.

Whaaaaa--- mine didn't come with that sheet! Is this toy meant to come with that or are you meant to download and print it?!?

Interesting about the tech specs, not being able to read Japanese has its disadvantages. Probably too much to hope for some sort of crazy appreciation in value if it gets corrected in any future re-releases!

Heh. I totally rely on instructions when transforming MPs, BTs etc. for the first time, including the text. Pictures alone aren't enough for me. I reckon I'd be more likely to get stuck or even break stuff if I couldn't read these instructions. And indeed I do get stuck sometimes when trying to understand Hasbro's textless instructions!! Like the first time I tried to transform MP Rodimus -- I couldn't work out how to do the hands, so I ended up having to find a video on YouTube and followed that to work it out! I really wish Hasbro would use text. Masterpieces are really designed for adult collectors... we can read! Heck, original G1 instructions had text and they were designed for kids... (-_-)

[griffin]

Whaaaaa--- mine didn't come with that sheet! Is this toy meant to come with that or are you meant to download and print it?!?

It was in the middle of this News topic... I try to minimise news updates in the middle of existing topics, as people keep missing them.

[GoktimusPrime]

Thanks. I'm in the middle of filling out the online survey for this toy, and it mentions "Energon sheet download," so yeah.