Laserbeak

Allegiance: Minicon according to the package, None according to the show
Size: Mini-Con
Difficulty of Transformation: Very Easy
Color Scheme: Black, and some light red and light milky gray
Rating: 8.2

    Laserbeak's alternate mode, instead of being a tape like his G1 self, is now instead a bomb (though, hopefully, if Laserbeak lands hard on something, he doesn't explode...). Certainly a fitting alternate mode, given that Soundwave is now a stealth bomber, and quite a creative change at that. I was afraid he'd just be a blank rectangle in his alternate mode without any real use when I first heard that Cybertron Soundwave was going to come with this guy, but I'm certainly glad I was wrong. Granted, you can't really DO much with Laserbeak in this mode, but it's still certainly creative.
    Personally, I'm absolutely amazed they managed to give Laserbeak THIS awesome of a bird mode considering what his alt mode is. It's fantastic, especially for being such a small scale. His proportions are great, and he's got plenty of mold detailing, like feather-like mechanical details on his, well... feathers. He doesn't have a lot of paint detailing-- just the turbine-like circles on his wings and his optics are colored-- but he's so small made of up so many tiny parts, it'd be kind of hard to paint much of him, anyways. One of the best things about his bird mode is his range of articulation-- he's got a TON for such a small toy. His feathers can fold inwards, his wings and flap up and down, his shoulders can move forward and back, his legs can move at the hips and feet, and his tailfeather piece and head can move as well. Now THAT'S a lotta parts packed into this little guy... One thing to note, however-- though the package refers to Laserbeak as a Minicon, he's really not, he just happens to be the same size-- Laserbeak is bereft of any Minicon ports.
    Laserbeak is simply a feat of engineering in a tiny little feathered package. His bird mode is simply awesome, and his bomb mode is a very creative adaptation and update to his old cassette tape mode. His only real weakness is that his alt mode isn't really very playable.

Soundwave

Allegiance: Decepticon according to the package and toy, None according to the show
Size: Voyager (Mega)
Homeworld: Planet X
Cyber Key Code: vmj8
Difficulty of Transformation: Hard
Color Scheme: Dark blue, light milky gray, and some metallic gold, silver, transparent deep purple, chrome gold, gunmetal silver, and dull red
Rating: 8.6

    Soundwave's alternate mode is a futuristic stealth bomber. Like Sideways, this mode has been "evil-ified" quite a bit, from sleek, angular detailing everywhere, to the same arcane-ish symbol that's on Sideways, to even what looks like miniature teeth around the cockpit window! He also has quite a lot of nice silver, gold, and red paint detaling on him, which all fits in with the dominant colors of blue and gray quite well while also helping to make this version of Soundwave a bit more varied in colors than his G1 cassette deck version. The transparent purple also looks quite nice next to the silver and gold. Soundwave also has some neat features in this mode that most Transformers don't have in their vehicle modes. For one, he has not one, not two, but THREE droppable "bombs" hidden in his rear section. The first two, which are affixed under his wings, can be popped out to be dropped on unexpecting Autobots, while the third bomb-- Laserbeak-- is dropped by plugging the Cyber Key into the slot at the rear point of this mode. When inserted, the bay door to the rear of this mode flips open, and Laserbeak falls out. This same Key gimmick is also used in robot mode to open Soundwave's chest (the bay door in vehicle mode), to allow Laserbeak to come out G1-cassette-deck style. My only problem with this mode-- and it's a rather major one-- is that the core "body" of this mode is composed of a bunch of robot extras, and there's enough hollow areas in the body of this mode to make it rather obvious how the robot legs and such are being used. I wish the robot legs and arms had been molded to fit more solidly together for the vehicle mode, and that it wasn't so darned hard to get the robot legs and arms IN their proper position when converted Soundwave from robot mode back to vehicle mode...
    Soundwave's robot mode is very loyal to his G1 self-- in fact, it looks pretty much like a stylized, sleeker version of his old self with wings and a few other extras attached. I especially like the head sculpt, as with the more angular face plate it makes Soundwave look more alien and menacing. There are a few problems I do have with this mode-- mainly the rather skinny legs and arms, and the vehicle extras attached this lower arms that get in the way a bit in this mode-- but otherwise, this mode is extremely playable and just a blast to fiddle with. For one, he has a good amount of articulation-- he can move at the head, shoulders (at three points), elbows (at two points), hips (at two points), knees (at two points), and ankles. So, beyond his lack of waist articulation, the only thing preventing you from getting him into nearly any pose imaginable is that, due his small legs/feet and wing-backpack, he's not the most stable of Transformers, though that's not to say he's that hard to stand up if you keep him balanced enough. Also, in a rather cool move, Laserbeak has a peg on the bottom of his body that allows him to perch on any of three locations on Soundwave-- either on the tips of either of his wings, or on a hole on the side of his right arm. Soundwave's other two bombs form a double- and triple-barreled guns, that can either be held in one of his hands, in the three ports where Laserbeak can fit in, or in a port on Soundwave's shoulder, in the same place that G1 Soundwave also had a mounted gun! A very cool nod, that.
    Cybertron Soundwave is one of the most playable, downright fun figures of his size from the line, what with his bombs and Laserbeak Minicon and all. It's a shame he suffers from some major robot extra problems in vehicle mode and some minor proportions and vehicle kibble problems in robot mode, or he'd definitely earn a "must-buy" rating of 9.0+, and probably rank among the best toys on the line. Still, he's a very nice updated version of the G1 character, and a recommended purchase.

Review by Beastbot

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