 |
| Submit to Megatron! And stop listening to the media! |
The 2nd of my Anime-export.com TF. Let's get started!
The Japanese boxing. Oddly, Soundwave is shown with his yellow visor on the back of the case. Thankfully, he is the red-visor version that is the figure itself.
Soundwave Superior!
Finally, a Soundwave classic that is very close to his G1 anime counterpart. I'm digging the paint job and coloring. I was never a big fan of the jaundice eyed version - yeah I know it's based on the toy but still. Soundwave plays great and he comes with 3 weapons in a sense, if you count his microphone speaker shoulder canon. His blaster tip is retractable and it can merge with the grey gun that comes with him to form a elongated rifle. The grey gun can also be unfolded which I forgot to take a shot, but just giving those heads up for those who are still attempting to get him or on the fence. He has his eject button on his left shoulder which ejects the minions stored in his chest. More on that later. He has pegs all over his body so peg weapons away! Last but not least, he has buttons on his crotch and butt. The latter is used for his alt mode while his front just re-creates the visual aesthetics of his G1 look. Found it weird that they couldn't just use one side of his body to do this. Regardless, the buttons can't be pushed so don't say you weren't warned.
Ravage Eject! Laser Beak take flight!
Oh Goodie! Two of Soundwave's minions are included in this deal. I wasn't too familiar with the spy patrol Siege versions but they are retool and repaints of that version. From what I gathered the biggest differences between the Siege and NF versions were Laserbeak's head and Ravage's mouth and paint job. I also love Ravage's "Japan" label design. Only one cassette can fit Soundwave's chest compartment at a time. Also if you don't transform them properly, they can get stuck in the chest compartment. So be careful. They look ok. Like somebody on FB said, Ravage looks sheepish. For LB, there are indents for you to stick LB's feet on Soundwave's forearms. They don't stick too well however, but with the precise placement and patience, its a laughing matter.
Blunder. My bad! Poor Ravage.
So at first I thought I had a defective Ravage. I couldn't get his head to pop out. I looked at the instruction manual but it only showed transformation from robot mode to cassette so I had issues working backwards. Frustrated, I started using a mini-screwdriver to get the head out and I realized the belly that holds the head actually popped open. However, the damage was done. I ended up scraping Ravage's poor right eye. It doesn't look that apparent from afar but as you get close, its a different story. Thus this is why Soundwave is consoling him. Man. This reeks.
Vs Classics Ravage
So I only found classics Ravage and the TFC-004 Gear of War Auto-Scout drone at the time of this shoot. Yes, they don't fit Soundwave's tape compartment. Anyhow, here are the two together. Classics Ravage still looks good albeit looking very simple in scheme and paint. You be the judge. I like them both though I wanna retire NF Ravage. My bad once again.
Alt modes and fan modes
Fan mode of his
More than meets the eye episode. Also I did try to see if I could do his spaceship Siege mold but I think they tweaked it a bit so I couldn't recreate it.
Ravage report. Very easy to transform into. And yes, he is boombox again. Neat. You can pretty much stick weapons wherever he has his holes. You can even place LB in any of them due to the fact LB has a docking peg below his belly. I like how it's so classic that you can see the L and R on each of his sides in this mode. It represents left and right speaker for those who are wondering.
Conclusion:
NF Soundwave is definitely worth the money. Especially we finally got a red visor SW that you don't have to pay high premium for. He plays great and fits very well with the latest Siege/ER line. Get him now if you haven't. Many people are still trying to get him as I write this. I wish those who still need him luck in getting him. Otherwise, Soundwave Superior!
