Soundwave's vehicle mode is a Mercedes SLS AMG car, and like most licensed alt modes, it certainly looks the part-- the proportions are spot-on. Unfortunately, all the "oohs" and "aahs" that come with a car with a silver finish are missing from this toy-- it's almost entirely light milky gray plastic, both in this and in robot mode. This by itself is definitely my biggest complaint with this mode-- it just makes the toy look so incredibly bland, regardless of any of its features. His transparent plastic is a straightforward clear color, so that's not really going to add much color to this mode, and neither are the black tires (though at least the latter provide a bit of contrast). I do really wish that the transparent plastic was tinted, as you can see Soundwave's robot parts quite plainly inside his windows, and there's even a few hollow areas inside where you can see right down through holes in Soundwave's innards to the floor/ground beneath him. Other than that, though, this mode has no real robot mode extras (though if you want to get really nitpicky, from a straight side-on view his dark blue arms stick out ever-so-slightly below his bottom rim). There's a few paint apps on this mode, mostly black on the front grill, light red for the taillights, and silver for the wheel rims. Some of the small black vents molded into the car detailing are painted, some aren't-- the vents on the top really could've used some of that paint, to help distract from all the gray, and the rather telltale lines in between panels in car mode make it a bit too obvious there's more to this car than meets the eye. (I realize that almost all vehicular TFs have this to some extent, but the odd ridge patterns on the top make it a slight eyesore in this mode.) Soundwave's Mechtech weapon is a fairly large blaster, but when you press back on the sliders on the side, it converts into a satellite dish. It's a pretty neat conversion that's certainly fitting for Soundwave-- but unfortunately, like most Mechtech weapons, it can't stay in that mode, and springs back to its standard gun mode as soon as you let go of the sliders. Soundwave has two Mechtech ports, one on each side of his roof in this mode.
    It never ceases to amaze me just how many ways Hasbro can turn a sportscar into a robot, and despite being another sportscar in the movie aesthetic, Soundwave has a fairly unique transformation that results in a largely unique robot mode. However, it can be a bit difficult, at least the first few times-- not because there's a ton of steps, but because it can be a bit difficult to line everything up until you're "used to him"-- this is made more difficult by the tendency for the arms to pop off from their clip points inside the chest, which can be a minor pain to re-attach. The color scheme is broken up a bit more here by black and dark blue, which go together decently enough with the gray, even though I wish a few more parts had been cast in colored plastic. The gold paint apps shine as well, and the amount of mold detailing on a few of Soundwave's robot parts is quite impressive, like on his robot face and chest. (However, overall his amount of mold detailing is a little below-average for a movieverse TF's robot mode.) This mode's construction definitely has its good and its bad points. The legs are the most straightforward part of the transformation, and also my favorite part about this mode. I like how the sides of the car "wrap around" the feet and give Soundwave some stable footing, and proportionally they're fairly accurate. The faux car chest is also implemented well, though combined with the thin waist it makes Soundwave look noticeably skinnier in this iteration than his movie model does. His head is extremely well-detailed (both in terms of mold and paint), with the silver coating making the light red eyes blare all the more, and make Soundwave look REALLY darned evil. Unfortunately, Soundwave's arms are rather wonky, and the weakest part of the toy. They have some odd shoulder and elbow movement, and his shoulders don't lock into place anywhere-- I had to check the first couple of times I transformed him to make sure it was right, as the way the front wheels, headlight pieces, and a few other shoulder panels fit just seems a bit random. The side of some of the pieces restricts his shoulder movement a bit unnecessarily, as well. Little light blue "speaker blaster" panels on his lower arms can pop out slightly, but they only do so very slightly, and fall back into their default place very easily, so usually I don't bother with that little final transformation step. Almost the entirety of the top of Soundwave's car mode is behind his back-- it compresses some, but it definitely distracts a little, and gets in the way of articulation some. Speaking of articulation, Soundwave can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points, though again-- they're restricted and a bit weird in how they articulate), as well as at the elbows (at two points), wrists, hips, and knees (at three points). Having waist articulation might've been nice, but with all that vehicle kibble behind him it honestly wouldn't have accomplished much. As such, despite the description he has slightly below-average articulation for your average deluxe toy because of the weird shoulders and immovable ankles and waist. He's still fairly poseable, though.
    The deluxe version of DotM Soundwave has some nice ideas-- such as the way his legs fold up-- and his vehicle mode is spot-on to the Mercedes SLS AMG proportions. The "speaker" panels on the arms and supremely evil-looking head were also a nice touch. However, the over-reliance on light gray instead of silver paint, odd shoulders/arms, and some rather bothersome vehicle kibble on his back in robot mode make him a fairly mediocre toy for the DotM line, made moreso by the fact that you have to spend a fair amount of money to get him (seeing as how he was released only in Japan and Asian markets, and cancelled in the U.S.). If you want a "standard-sized" DotM Soundwave, this is your only option, but if you only want one version of the character and money is no object, I'd recommend the Human Alliance version of the design a little more than this one.

Review by Beastbot

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