Post by Philip Ayres on Oct 13, 2010 10:33:44 GMT
Generations War For Cybertron Soundwave
Soundwave comes packages in robot mode but as is traditional we'll start with the vehicle....
.... which is a bit of an odd lump to be honest. A blue car with four grey wheels, one at each corner, each of which looks like a Beast Machines Maximal logo from the side - did someone confuse their Maximals and Vehicons at the design stage? There's lots of straight lines on the toy but they're all at odd angles. The front of the vehicle features a claw above which is Soundwave's familiar chest panel. The panel folds down, taking the claw with it to reveal a compartment in which are contained his weapons which are mounted sideways on with the handles pointing out to the outer sides. If you remove the weapons you'll find that they are tubes similar to the weapons formed from the original Soundwave's batteries. One pegs onto the side of the vehicle as is, while the other extends to reveal a silver spike similar to original Soundwave's missile launcher. The 5mm peg holes to mount these weapons in are found towards the rear of the vehicle on each side.
Transform: Pop the top of the vehicle off behind the chest hatch and fold back to form the feet. Push the ankles into place so the lock and spin the feet through 180 degrees at the ankle joint. Rotate the panels connecting the rear wheels to the legs forward 180 degrees. Stand with the underside of the vehicle facing you. Fold the front of the vehicle forward and lock into place on the waist. Unpeg the sides of the vehicle then fold back & up to form the arms. Fold the hands out of the ends then rotate so the thumbs face backwards. Fold the front wheels back onto the robot's back. Split the roof of the vehicle over the chest and fold to the sides. Swing the arms down, folding the roof panels behind the shoulders. Rotate each arm at the bicep so the thumb on the hand faces up. Open the chest, peg the simpler cannon onto his right shoulder and place the spiked cannon into one of his hands which have a 5mm peg hole in the middle. Close the chest & Fold the claw onto his waist.
Who ate all the pies? Soundwave's put on some weight with the front of the chest being more than 1 cm in front of the front of the face. The head being set back doesn't work which is a shame cos it's a fine Soundwave head, or at least was until they painted the eyes pink over the lightpipe. Side on the head's position gets worse as it's set behind the point where his waist meets his body which just looks wrong. Soundwave's now got lots of spikes especially on the shoulders. I thought these were inspired by Cybertron Soundwave but they aren't. A little research reveals Universe Onslaught looks very similar. The hands are annoying me as to have the elbow bending the right way the hand ends up mounted in such a position that when any pressure is put on it, it folds back towards the wrist. Articulation isn't bad: Ball jointed ankles, bending knees, thigh swivel, ball jointed hips, turning head, ball jointed shoulders, arms that foldout to the sides slightly bellow the shoulders - this looks odd, a bicep swivel, bending elbows and turning wrists but there's only one position where he can comfortably hold his weapons in his hand. And as for his Groinal claw formed from what was on the front of the vehicle...........
Overall: The vehicle mode doesn't do it for me. Soundwave's been a tank a few times and he'd have been better as a tank here. The robot is too fat and too spikey. Points for using the chest to store the weapons in though.
Soundwave comes packages in robot mode but as is traditional we'll start with the vehicle....
.... which is a bit of an odd lump to be honest. A blue car with four grey wheels, one at each corner, each of which looks like a Beast Machines Maximal logo from the side - did someone confuse their Maximals and Vehicons at the design stage? There's lots of straight lines on the toy but they're all at odd angles. The front of the vehicle features a claw above which is Soundwave's familiar chest panel. The panel folds down, taking the claw with it to reveal a compartment in which are contained his weapons which are mounted sideways on with the handles pointing out to the outer sides. If you remove the weapons you'll find that they are tubes similar to the weapons formed from the original Soundwave's batteries. One pegs onto the side of the vehicle as is, while the other extends to reveal a silver spike similar to original Soundwave's missile launcher. The 5mm peg holes to mount these weapons in are found towards the rear of the vehicle on each side.
Transform: Pop the top of the vehicle off behind the chest hatch and fold back to form the feet. Push the ankles into place so the lock and spin the feet through 180 degrees at the ankle joint. Rotate the panels connecting the rear wheels to the legs forward 180 degrees. Stand with the underside of the vehicle facing you. Fold the front of the vehicle forward and lock into place on the waist. Unpeg the sides of the vehicle then fold back & up to form the arms. Fold the hands out of the ends then rotate so the thumbs face backwards. Fold the front wheels back onto the robot's back. Split the roof of the vehicle over the chest and fold to the sides. Swing the arms down, folding the roof panels behind the shoulders. Rotate each arm at the bicep so the thumb on the hand faces up. Open the chest, peg the simpler cannon onto his right shoulder and place the spiked cannon into one of his hands which have a 5mm peg hole in the middle. Close the chest & Fold the claw onto his waist.
Who ate all the pies? Soundwave's put on some weight with the front of the chest being more than 1 cm in front of the front of the face. The head being set back doesn't work which is a shame cos it's a fine Soundwave head, or at least was until they painted the eyes pink over the lightpipe. Side on the head's position gets worse as it's set behind the point where his waist meets his body which just looks wrong. Soundwave's now got lots of spikes especially on the shoulders. I thought these were inspired by Cybertron Soundwave but they aren't. A little research reveals Universe Onslaught looks very similar. The hands are annoying me as to have the elbow bending the right way the hand ends up mounted in such a position that when any pressure is put on it, it folds back towards the wrist. Articulation isn't bad: Ball jointed ankles, bending knees, thigh swivel, ball jointed hips, turning head, ball jointed shoulders, arms that foldout to the sides slightly bellow the shoulders - this looks odd, a bicep swivel, bending elbows and turning wrists but there's only one position where he can comfortably hold his weapons in his hand. And as for his Groinal claw formed from what was on the front of the vehicle...........
Overall: The vehicle mode doesn't do it for me. Soundwave's been a tank a few times and he'd have been better as a tank here. The robot is too fat and too spikey. Points for using the chest to store the weapons in though.