Name: Soundwave
Series: Movie Tie-ins
Allegiance: Decepticon
Alternate Mode: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
CAR MODE
Height: 2cm Length: 7.5cm Width: 3cm
A platinum coloured Mercedes sports car with metallic blue-grey painted windows & black plastic tyres. Soundwave has silver painted headlights and red painted taillights - impressively the taillights are actually painted across seams (they're both two small paint apps), which is excellent at this level. There's also some black painted on his grille, rounding out an understated colour scheme & an excellent paint job.
While there's not a whole lot to this mode, it is a detailed Mercedes with a distinct grille badge, vents on the doors & hood and grille lattice. None of this stands out a whole lot, but these details make him a realistic vehicle. The only play value is his spinning tyres, which is all I'd expect of a Legions toy.
A great vehicle mode with excellent detailing & paint applications; love has gone into making this vehicle mode. He's far more detailed than he looks at a glance. With a nice metallic finish and the Mercedes badge, this vehicle mode is a standout amongst Legions.
TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE
Pull the sides out to form his arms, fold down the grille as his chest, revealing his head. Split the rear to form his legs, pivot the feet out & rotate his legs 180°.
ROBOT MODE
Height: 8cm Width: 5cm
A platinum robot with black hips & shoulder struts, Soundwave has green on his forearms, red eyes & some of that metallic blue on his knees. Again the colours are simple but the key details make him as detailed as we need; the red eyes & the grille on his chest are enough to define Soundwave nicely. The face is white detailed and really makes him feel like a movie toy.
The legs have an unusual transformation; the pivot reminds me of G1 Dead End & Breakdown, although the actual pivoting is more like the Gobot Stinger. It's a trick seldom seen at any rate, giving him a notable transformation & bended knees. The arms are fairly thin & long and the right hand is sculpted so he can hold a weapon.
Poseability is decent - his shoulders & hips are ball jointed while there are rotators just below his hips. The knees are fixed in a slightly bent pose while the feet are sculpted so that his legs are slightly spread, as is common lately.
As good robot mode with excellent detail where he needs it & an attractive look. The poseability works well, although he actually has relatively few joints. As with the vehicle mode, he displays well.
VARIATIONS
None that I'm aware of. There is a blue repaint in the Prime line packaging, although it's nothing like the Soundwave from that series.
OVERALL
An impressive Legions toy with excellent detailing & paint applications, Soundwave is clearly a Mercedes-Benz and displays well in both modes. His play value is quite limited - his robot mode is probably less posable than most Legions nowadays but none are especially poseable so I don't really hold that against him. A satisfying toy - 8/10
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