Deluxe-Class Decepticon Soundwave

Review by JoshB

Where there’s Ravage, you can be sure that Soundwave is not far behind. In this case, by “not far” we mean “in orbit around the planet”.

In Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”, Soundwave takes the form of a communications satellite, monitoring all transmissions on earth. When the signal is given, Soundwave launches Ravage down to earth to retrieve a shard of the Allspark.

In the movie, Soundwave gets hardly any screen time – just the one scene I think. He’s shown floating in space in satellite mode, so you never get the change to see his alternate mode.

While Soundwave looks kind of cool in the movie, the toy just looks like crap all around. There are few redeeming qualities.

Soundwave is marketed as a triple changer. He’s a Transformer, so he’s got to transform into something, so he has the default robot mode. But he also has a third form. Back in the G1 days, Triple Changers were probably the most innovative of transformers. They really did look like three distinct forms, with some remarkable engineering. Not so with this toy. The only difference between the first and second alt mode is the positioning of the wings. Spy Satellite becomes Cybertron Jet with hardly a change.

Lame.

Construction is fine – typical build quality and materials for a Transformer of this era, but I found the color choices to be rather boring. The toy seems unfinished, lacking detail. I do like the use of translucent parts, and I like the circular speakers all on the figure. I also have to give them credit for including a firing missile.

The missile is neat, not just because it fires, but because it’s actually in the shape of Ravage as it is launched from space - a neat little touch.

I knew this toy was going to suck when I bought it. My son picked it out at Target, and I make it a point to not influence his decisions with toys, so I bought it for him. He then wanted me to transform it for him. He had no idea what it was supposed to be. He played with it for a little bit, and then off to the toybox it went. It was only just recently while cleaning the playroom that I came across it, looking as if it were just opened, barely played with. I figured I’d review it, for posterity’s sake, and then get rid of it.

My son saw it out being ready to be shot, and he took interest in it again, so I let him take a couple pictures, and off he went with it. Who knows where it is now?