I love the '80s: Masterpiece Soundwave

Hey Everyone

I apologize that I have been MIA for quite awhile due to medical school, boards are coming and have taken up a lot of my life lately. Classes have ended for me and I have more time to dedicate this blog to you all :) but I still have the boards coming up. Life hands you lemons, you make margaritas. Don't stop at lemonades.

Today, we would be featuring an icon from a decade that holds dear to us - the '80s. That was possibly a decade best remembered by cheesiness, such as hover-skateboards, neon colored clothes, yuppy culture...but it also saw a ton of creative output. Movies were more imaginative than today, such as the Terminator, Mad Max, Robocop, Blade Runner, and Back to the Future. It was also the Bronze Age of comics and darker and grittier storylines made an immense literary impact on still felt today, with classics such as the Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns.

And one thing most of us remember very well of the 80's: Transformers, and G1 stands out as the most awesome series, for me at least. The most cynical of us would remark that Transformers is nothing more than a sly corporate maneuver to get us buying hordes of transforming plastic toys. However, it cannot be disputed how Transformers has grown to become one of the biggest cultural phenomena in the modern world. It has spawned motion pictures, cartoon seasons, comic lines, video games, and an extremely loyal fanbase. You can't deny that transforming toys have a certain coolness to them, and one would be hard-pressed to find someone in today's world who hasn't hard of Transformers.

Soundwave: Decepticon icon in his G1 glory.

I have a soft spot for the Decepticons (even though they desire the subjugation of Humankind), and always wanted to get my hands on a Decepticon Takara Masterpiece. On a recent trip to Hong Kong, I was able to pick up MP-13 Soundwave (2nd wave) for a pretty good price. I was actually visiting the Hot Toys "Secret Base" exhibit (which will be featured in another post), and in the same building there's a ton of small toy shops that sell collectibles at competitive prices. If you're there, I strongly recommend knowing what you want to get, and visit a few shops to see their prices.

Soundwave is the stereotypical 80's Transformer who has appeared frequently as the Communications Officer of the Decepticons. You can't get anymore 80's than a robot that transforms into a microcassette recorder, and talks in a computerized monotone voice. JQ and I agree on one thing about Soundwave: he's one of the coolest Transformers out there.

Soundwave's flexibility allows him to even depress his own open/close switch.

Hasbro and Takara produce their own lines of Soundwave masterpieces, and the main difference lies in the color of the eyes. Hasbro's has yellow while Takara's has red. The other noticeable difference is the inside of Soundwave's foot: it's painted in Takara but unpainted in Hasbro's. Also, Takara's instructions are wholly in Japanese, and they probably have a stronger brandname (and higher markup) that translates to bragging rights. I've not been able to compare the 2 together, but I've heard the quality difference is minimal. The kicker lies in his minions: Takara's only has Laserbeak, but Hasbro's has the whole gang for a cheaper cost.

Laserbeak ready for deployment!

As expected, Takara delivers with Soundwave's paint job. The colors are spot on and the application is very neat. There were minor details that could have used a better paint application (the chrome on the fast forward button is not even), and yes we have to admit that most of our toys come from China. This may explain why the quality difference in Hasbro and Takara is negligible, and toy manufacturing quality (probably with some Japanese supervision) has greatly improved to give us quality Masterpieces.

Soundwave comes with a few accessories:

1) Laserbeak (or Condor in Japanese parlance)
2) Megatron as a Walter P-38 scoped with a extended butt
3) An energon cube
4) A viewscreen (for over the chest)
5) Concussion blaster (that doubles as an AA battery)
6) A sensor to replace one of his fists
7) A slipcase for Laserbeak in cassette mode

The instruction manual comes with a cut out for Soundwave's viewscreen, but fans have scanned high quality versions of it so that you won't have to cut your actual manual for the cut out.

Soundwave with his concussion blaster at the ready.

Sounwave's spy sensor, would be mistaken for a plasma blaster cannon if I was a kid.

Transforming Soundwave did take awhile due to our lack of Japanese, and posing him was surprisingly easy given his blocky G1 form. Soundwave also comes with additional "Easter Egg" functions that add personality to him. The fast forward/rewind buttons do spring when pushed on (but not the other buttons), and the earphone jack fits actual earphones.

In all, JQ and I had fun playing around with Soundwave, his innate coolness and good pose-ability makes him a worthwhile Transformer to collect. The 2nd wave is still widely available, and would fetch around 130-150USD. It's pretty obvious that the Masterpiece line is targeted to those who have lived in the 80's, and they did deliver to our expectations for quality and fun.

Here's some photos in the end JQ and I did for fun, and thanks for your continued readership! It means a lot to the both of us. Cheers!

PS: Here's a personality test on "Which Transformer are you?." Perhaps it's fitting for this post that I got Soundwave!

Soundwave and Ravage (note this Ravage is a separate toy and not to scale).

Decepticons may be evil, but Soundwave enjoys the steadfast loyalty of his minions.

JQ and I having fun with the almost functional earphone jack.

Ravage and Soundwave, making retro cool since G1.

War for Cybertron: Bumblebee

Welcome Back to Toyconstruct!

We have finally made it to the first week of 2013!

And to start off, I shall be giving a review of the War and Fall of Cybertron version of Bumblebee and also a short review of the Fall of Cybertron Game that I have completed.

"Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee". Famous words by the Great Muhammad Ali. It is also a phrase that can easily describe the small but ever so chirpy Bumblebee. In War and Fall of Cybertron as well as many of the TV Series, Bumblebee represents the "little guy". However, more often than not, he plays a vital role to the Autobots exploits and adventures. He is also known to be a wise-cracker that has to put in more than a few words of his opinion in things.

In spite of what I have mentioned, Bumblebee is the mascot of the Transformers and his small physique and youthfulness allows him to be able to associate well with a young human kid, Sam Witwicky who made friends with the Autobots in the Transformers Series. On many occasions, even in the trashy Michael Bay Transformer films, we see how Bumblebee overcomes adversity with his agility and speed. At times, his "smallness" also helps him perform missions that his bigger compatriots are unable to do.

 Melee Blades on Bumblebee's arms

Bumblebee is aware that he is small. Furthermore, he knows that he is younger than many of his Autobot compatriots. This makes him feel compelled to always try and prove his worth in the eyes of his Autobot superiors.

Bumblebee Draws his weapon

Truth be told, Initially, in the G1 TV Series, I never really liked Bumblebee because I didn't think he was cool and he wasn't really that powerful. he was just a little kid. You would have thought that because i was a kid back then, I could associate with Bumblebee. However, I didn't really like his name, the beatle car he transformed into, his design and abilities weren't that great. Like most kids, we were into the dude with the most power and coolest design.

Bumblebee's Metallic Legs that look like skates.

After awhile though, Bumblebee started to grow on me. The attachment to him deepens as the TV Show develops his relationship with the Humans and Sam Witwicky and you could almost believe like if Transformers did exist, Bumblebee could be your friend. Ahh.. what childish delusions I had when I was a kid.

Vehicle Mode

In any case, his Cybertronian vehicle mode looks sleek, curvy and cool. Cybertronian Design really makes all of the Transformers look way cooler. And speaking of the Cybertronian version, I shall now finally touch upon the Transformer: Fall of Cybertron Game.

Bumblebee Zooming across the Road in Vehicle Mode

Fall of Cybertron had a few additions and changes compared to its prequel, War of Cybertron. For starters, there are achievements to be unlock in Steam now. Improvements have also been made on the Escalation and Multiplayer Gameplay. With the addition of the Teletraan 1 in the game, Ammo shortages and getting of weapons should not be a problem in this game.

On top of that, expect to see more massive robots and awesome cool scenes which work well with the gameplay to give a good sequel to the previous game. In this game, we see how Optimus prepares to depart Cybertron on the Ark and the events that lead to that. For the first half of the Campaign, you will play for the Autobots working towards making the Ark Operational. You will witness the massive power and strength of Metroplex but the game is more rigid in which each mission already has a preassigned Character rather than allowing you to choose various Characters to play for that part of the mission.

The good part would be that the mission focus much more on the character and its abilities. This gives the character more weight in the story that is unfolding.

Optimus commands Metroplex to smash Megatron.

 After the first half of the story, you will play various Decepticons in their attempt to stop the progress of the Autobots. Personally, the best mission would be playing the all mighty Bruticus.

Combaticons Combine!

This badass monster leaves a trail of destruction whereever it goes. With a good storyline, great looking Transformers, it seems like a great sequel to the Transformer Cybertronian Series. However, the game is not absent of flaws.

The New Optimus Design does not really go down well with me.

For starters, there is a lot of buggy issues with the game. Sometimes the gameplay will roll into a cinematic cut scene with the absence of audio dialogue. Furthermore, because of some graphic or bug issue, there are times where the game after going through a certain cut scene or boss fight would just crash back to desktop. I had encounter this problem before I open my NVIDIA graphic card control panel to use my graphic card to directly run the game, giving it a smooth run throughout the game.

It's Hard not to love the Transformers. And if you are a fan of the G1 series, you will like this cool version of Transformers, inclusive of Bumble Bee.

It can be really really frustrating having to deal with those issues. If you manage to rectify it though, you are in for a treat involving Robots, Battles and Awesome fight scenes. There have been criticism that the Multiplayer doesn't enable friends to be able to play together against people online. Multiplayer has been also criticize for no port of communication. Aside from these stuff though, the positives of the gameplay, storyline and multi-play outweigh these issues.

Grimlock STRONG!

For me, the best part of playing the Autobots inthe campaign would be to get control of Mr. Leader of the Dinobots, Grimlock himself. A beast of a warrior, this guy could pack a real meaty punch in the game. When he changes into Dino-mode, epic strength and fury is dealt at great proportions to his enemy.

The Arc leaving Cybertron with Metroplex on the Background.

My final analysis is that if you are a fan of Transformers and Michael Bay has suck out your happy views of what Trasnformers might be (Yes, I truly do not like the Michael Bay Transformers), Fall of Cybertron, just like its predecessor will give back to you that joy and happiness of how G1 was like for you. The game is simple enough to pick up for an FPS. It gives you an experience of seeing and playing many of the iconic Robots that have been so familiar to many adults and kids around the World. So take up the game and live the story of Transformers: Robots in Disguise!

Lastly, this game has resulted in new Cybertronian Transformer to be release under the Hasbro Toy line. I have mentioned in my Optimus Post that I was contemplating to get the New Optimus but I have decided not to. Somehow or another, the new Deluxe version of Fall of Cybertron Transformers looks particularly small. As mentioned above, the new Optimus doesn't go down well with me. As such, I shall not be buying Optimus Prime. Aside from Optimus, Hasbro has announced that there will be a release of Jazz, Shockwave, Sideswipe, Kickback, Starscream, Grimlock and Bruticus for the Fall of Cybertron toy line.

I shall be pouncing on Grimlock as soon as possible. Furthermore, I might consider getting the SDCC 2012 Exclusive Bruticus in original gameplay colours, Shockwave and Starscream. I must reiterate though, that I am still contemplating. Thus, aside from Grimlock, the rest might not be a "for sure" circumstance in which I would buy them. Due to acquiring many collectibles, painting materials and model kits, I am quite broke now. :p So much consideration must be done into making a purchase on anything.

Ahh such is the troubles of being a hobbyist and a collector of many toys and action figures. Sometimes, I am quite convinced that calling me Super Nerd Geek would not be an understatement. (I wonder whether I should be happy about that :P)

Till the next post, 

Thanks for reading!

Optimus Prime

Hope you are liking the Robot galore that I have been featuring over these two months.

Today, I shall introduce to you the infamous Leader of the Autobots. He is none other than Optimus Prime. This version of Optimus is from the War of Cybertron Game.

Optimus Prime has been synonymous to Robot Leadership and is the iconic Robot leader of the Autobots which everyone should know! (I cannot recall any other Robot that is as iconic as Optimus in terms of leadership) 

Optimus in a "badass" pose

In Generation 1, Optimus Prime is able to transform into a Kenworth K100 cab over a truck. In the G1 animated series, he is able to fire short range optic blast (Like Cyclops from X-men), project holographic maps and is also able to retract his right hand unit to reveal a glowing axe.

Bad Ass Optimus Aiming His Gun at the Camera

In the G1 Animated series, Optimus Prime was first known as Orion Pax (from the episode War Dawn), a dock worker that had little to no defenses. During this Golden Age of Cybertron, a new breed of transformers known as the Decepticons were lead by their Leader Megatron. Orion had admiration for these all powerful transformers and was swayed by Megatron to show him their dock warehouses. An altercation ensued which lead to Megatron severely wounding Orion Pax and his girlfriend Ariel. Aided by the Aerial Bots, Orion Pax was upgraded and fixed up by Alpha Trion to become who we infamously know as Optimus Prime.

Optimus in Cybertronian Vehicle Mode

In Transformer's War for Cybertron, Optimus isn't the leaders of the Autobots just yet. However, he is a warrior trying to rally the Autobots against the Decepticons amidst the reported death of Zeta Prime.

Optimus' Vehicle Mode on a road with the Planets in the Background.

Speaking of Transformer's War for Cybertron, I have already completed the game and it has been a great fun to play the campaign. The critique of it being repetitive in graphical environment and its limited ammos issue isn't really much of a big deal to me in my opinion.

Cybertronian Designed Optimus is super awesome!

Furthermore, I feel the storyline and plot of the game does bring back much of the G1 series that I really like a lot so I do not really have much critique in the game. The weapons are pretty awesome and while vehicle mode isn't particularly needed in most of the game, it has some relevance in some missions. In any case, just transforming to vehicle mode and back is pretty darn cool.

Whoever designed the Icon for the Autobots and Decepticons is a Genius.

Autobots, Transform and ROLL OUT!

Back to this Action Figure, as stated above is the "War for Cybertron" version of Optimus Prime. As many of you may know, the Fall of Cybertron sequel to this game has been released recently and there have been some major redesigned on the new Optimus Prime.

Newly Designed Optimus Prime from Fall of Cybertron (Still contemplating whether to get it as the design does not go down well with me compared to the feature Optimus)

In-game Look

There are consensus that this action figure by Hasbro look way cooler than the new one. What is your verdict? To me, the older one looks sleeker yet hulky and strong. The new one (especially the toy), looks a lil more blocky. Furthermore, the toy is smaller in size compare to this original version.

Thus, I have my skepticism on the new design. Let me know your opinions on it.

Till then, Stay tune for more Awesome posts! And when I get around to it, i will give you a review on the Fall of Cybertron game!

Toodle loo!

Soundwave

I do trust you are liking the frequency of our posts now.

Josh started off with a few awesome Transformers' posts earlier this year and I will continue on giving a brief intro on my interest in the Robots of Disguise.

I was born in the era when the Transformers G1 first came about and it was an iconic toy-line and cartoon for the better part of my childhood. From the iconic "transforming" sound of these Transformers, to the phrase "Autobots, Transform and Roll out", I really was into the Hasbro entertainment franchise.

OH YEAHHH

Even the theme song for Transformers was just totally awesome cool. (Then again, many 80's cartoon theme song were really awesome) During that time, I did take an interest in another branch of Transformers known as the Transformer Victory Japanese series in which their leader or "Optimus Prime" compare was this cool bot known as Star Saber. it is worth mentioning that the Star Saber Toy was epic!!

Transformers Victory was a Transformers series that involved more combination and several robots combining to make bigger Transformers. The combination methods were total ownage.

Maybe it is just me but I cannot recall anything from an earlier era that made robots and automatons look this cool. As mentioned before, I was totally into Transformers right up till G1 ended and in the mids of Generation  but I gained more interest in Gundam. Admittedly, I am a very visual person when it comes to my collectibles. While I had none of the Old Transformers that I collected, after G1, I found that the design of the Transformers weren't as appealing as before.

I only took interest in Transformers again when the Transformers Animated Series came out. During this period, Michael Bay's Crazy explosion real live action Transformers also played a part in reviving my interest and appeal to the "More than Meets the Eye"bRobots. (Ironically, while my interest got revived, I didn't really like the Michal Bay's movies.)

Cybertronian Soundwave

With the era of gaming at hand now, I happen to stumble upon the "War of Cybertron" Transformer game trailer. Mixing a futuristic sleek design with the old G1 theme, these Transformers from the game really captivated me to collect their Action figures.

 
EPIC Re-imagine Transformers from the "War of Cybertron" Trailer

Soundwave's Side Stare.

Thankfully, Hasbro did release the Cybertronian version of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Soundwave and Megatron. For me, it was so cool to actually see how Transformers had developed so far. And so, I decided to get me a few of the Cybertronian figures. And my first Cybertronian Transformer was Soundwave.

Soundwave full body profile

In G1, Soundwave was one of the most recognizable Decepticons with his monotone computerized voice. He was able to transform into a Radio cassette player and able to store various cassettes that were Transformers themselves. These Transformer characters include Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, Rumble, Frenzy, Slugfest, and Overkill.

Soundwave had the ability to detect and block communication and transmissions from the entire energy spectrum which places him as the Communication Officer of the Decepticons. His Autobot counterpart of lesser popularity was Blaster. In G1, they had a strong rivalry between each other. (I for one, particularly enjoyed battles between these two, especially when they pit each others cassette tape Transformers against each other.)

The Cybertronian Soundwave looks very similar to G1 version. In the game, Soundwave acts as Megatron's second in command and transform into this Cybertronian vehicle as shown below.

Firing Pose!

I for one do like how they have made Soundwave look sleeker yet not remove any of the characteristics and major design that represents this awesome Decepticon.

Soundwave on a kneel pose.

Truth be told, Soundwave was one of the few villains that I had an appeal for. Back in my childhood days, I was a "Good Guy" kid. Like most kids, I would be rooting for the good guy and buying all the good guys before I took any interest in any of the villains (aside ffromt he leader). And while that still remains evident in many of my collections today, Soundwave like Darth Vader, are one of the few villains I wouldn't mind collecting apart from the Head Honcho of the Villain group of any cartoon, story or game series. (This does not include My Modern Military Collection)

Soundwave in vehicle mode

Sideviewof Soundwave in Vehicle Mode

The War of Cybertron game was released 2 years ago in 2010. As you may know by now, I have a backlog of games to play but I did hear that the game received numerous positive reviews with minor criticism on the lack of ammo and periodic grinding sequences. However, the gameplay, storyline and overall outlook of the environment and robots were a great hit to gamers.

 

The Iconic Decepticon Logo

 A month ago, High Moon Studios' Fall of Cybertron, the sequel to War of Cybertron has been released and the reviews have been very positive. This would also mean a whole new line of Cybertronian Figures that Hasbro can show.

But before I even get into that, You have to take a look at the two trailers they have for the new Transformer game if you have not seen it already.

 
Fall of Cybertron Trailer 1

Tell me you did not like Grimlock transforming into his Dino-mode? Really a great trailer. I know it would be expecting too much but if Hasbro can come up with super High Quality Transformers that look exactly like in the game with the same colour and shading, that would be totally wicked.

While, I do feel the War of Cybertron Optimus looks better, this new Optimus design does hold its own.

 
Fall of Cybertron Trailer 2

 
The Second Trailer just takes the cake with the epic battle that is going on. We see Bruticus taking on the three famous Dinobots and Jazz. We see a faceoff between Optimus and Megatron only to reveal something more awesome...Metroplex!!!

I can't wait to finish War of Cybertron and get on with this game, I am also anticipating the release of Hasbro's Cybertronian Grimlock and see if it is cool enough for me to procure. If you haven't already know, during the San Diego Comic-con, Hasbro had released a limited edition in-game colour Bruticus. Following that, Hasbro will release a range of Cybertronian Figures from Fall of Cybertron that includes Optimus Prime, Jazz, Sideswipe, Shockwave, Starscream, Soundwave, Grimlock and Kickback, an Insecticon.

I won't be getting all of them, but you bet your socks I would be featuring a few of the Transformers in Toyconstruct, so stay tune!

Aside from that, any Transformer fans out there? How do you find the new re-imagined Transformers in these games. Give us your opinion!


Cheers!