Lemonjuice McGee aka Jason Stephens has just announced that he will be moving on from Hobotastic to his other projects. In honour of that, I thought it would be fun to repost a review first written in August 2010 here complete with the to-ing and fro-ing between him and me! And of course, since it's Transformers Animated week, here's Soundwave!
[aaand here's another review from Novelty. Will I threaten his life again? Read on to find out. - Lemonjuice McGee]
But I digress as usual. I blame it on Mr. Jim Beam. Anyways, back on Toy a Day, I’m opening animated/cartoon themed toys this month as part of Animated August, and this week, it’s Transformers Animated week. Oh yeah, bring on Mr. Jim Beam, erm… I mean Soundwave.
The picture of the package above (Soundwave’s packaging that is, and not LJ’s package. If you are looking for pictures of LJ’s package, well, that’s on his other private blog which is definitely not PG13) [ Hey, a guys gotta make money! - LJ ], shows how cartoony and kiddie-friendly the packaging for Soundwave appears, which is good. Like all the other Transformers Animated toys, there is a drawing of the toy on the front which differentiates the toy from the others of its kin on the shelf. That’s not a bad thing.
Soundwave is a weird-looking Volkswagen buggy, or at least that’s what he appears to be to me [He's actually a Toyota Scion xB - Jim Beam] [ Cute there Novelty, but actually he's nothing! Hasbro didn't pay jack shit to any car companies so this guy is just an amalgam of various cars. He is whatever you believe him to be! - LJ ]. Well, Mr. Jim Beam tends to make things look differently to me then they otherwise would. There’s all sorts of weird new age (well, computer-y) highlights on the vehicles which reminds me of Tron – perhaps that’s where they got their inspiration from. The decorations seems to be tampographed onto the vehicle, so it’s not too shoddy. The vehicle does feature “joint” lines, where it breaks apart to form the robot mode, but these are placed in logical areas such along the doors, so that they don’t seem too much of a distraction.
The vehicle mode is compact and is comparable with the other Transformers animated toys out there in the same class. Soundwave could have used transparent plastic windows in front of the black windowpanes, but that would probably have driven up the cost. Consequently he’s as cheap as the whores that Lemonjuice frequents, not that that is a bad thing (both being cheap looking and Lemonjuice visiting whores – hey, he’s got needs too!) [ Hey, they visit ME! I'm a "handsome companion" - LJ ]
The transformation to robot mode isn’t too complicated. The robot mode is blocky and ugly looking – even Lemonjuice looks prettier, well at least at night. The bad is that there’s quite a bit of kibble left over from his robot mode – the hoodie thing on his head, his shoulder pads all scream kibble to me. [ It's supposed to be his bass-thumpin' sound system. - LJ ] His head sculpt is also rather generic, and reminds me more of Zurg from Toy Story than a transformer animated character. What I do like about him are the bronze-gold highlights in robot mode, and the fact that he seems to have a tape recorder on his chest just like his vintage character. That is a cool shout out to G1 Soundwave.
Soundwave comes with an accessory, a guitar that could be placed on top of the vehicle like a surfboard, or held in robot mode. The guitar also transforms in three easy steps to Laserbeak. There’s quite a bit of paint and molded details on the Decepticon, but it’s a rather weak design. Nevertheless it works, and it works even better if you have an entire bottle of the highly esteemed Mr. Jim Beam. [ Seems like a nice update to the tape cassettes of the 80s. - LJ ]
Oh and have I mentioned that Soundwave is short and stumpy? I know that’s how Lemonjuice likes them as they hurt less when it’s inside him, but that also means that Soundwave looks ugly as uh… *looks in Lemonjuice’s direction*. [ What the hell man?! You almost make it through the whole review with little trouble and then BAM, you toss that in at the last second! Seems like you're just beggin' to have your eyelids removed with a razorblade so that it's easier on me when I'm pouring paint thinner into your eye-holes! Luckily, you'll be blinded long before the rape party begins (of which you'll be the guest of honor), starring some of my less-than-mentally sound friends that live out in Methville. You brought this upon yourself, sir. May your shame be mighty. Oh, and have fun with those Herpes. - LJ ] Soundwave barely reaches to Meg’s chest, despite the height extending hoodie kibble. In fact, he seems a bit out of place in robot mode when placed next to the other Transformers animated characters that I have, most of which have got rather steep lines and angled curves. I guess the best way to display this figure is in his “autobot” mode.
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