(For a full review on the larger Cybertron Soundwave toy that this is based on, check out the review here.)

    LoC Soundwave's vehicle mode is definitely the toy's weakpoint-- simply put, it's a jumble of parts that don't fit together well enough to form a very convincing alt mode. The proportions of the mode itself are decent enough, and fairly consistent when compared with the larger version, with the sole exception of the wings, which could stand to be a bit bigger. The color scheme also works just as well as it does on the larger version, with the blue and gray being adequately Soundwave-ish enough while the purple and gold add a bit more variety to the color scheme. The big problem with the mode is that the lower robot body/legs/vehicle nosecone assembly doesn't peg into anything or have any set place. There's no real alcove for it to fit into, and from even a casual glance it's obvious the whole assembly just sits on top of the wings without really fitting into them at all. It looks pretty amateurish and haphazard to the point where you think you transformed him wrong, but alas, you haven't. The arms to the sides of said assembly are also just blatantly sticking out, with nothing done to really hide them at all. Because there's no real set place for many of the parts, and because you have to really fiddle quite a bit to get the legs and cockpit together in the right position, LoC Soundwave's transformation to vehicle mode is rather aggravating-- just like on the larger version.
    Surprisingly, LoC Soundwave's robot mode proportions are actually better than on the larger version's-- the legs and arms aren't nearly as skinny proportionally, the legs are a bit longer and the feet larger, and because of the simplified transformation, Soundwave doesn't have that kibble hanging off his arms on this version. (The top of the vehicle cockpit is on a ball joint attached to his wing, instead of hooked to the back of his left arm.) The mold detailing is quite good, and very detailed for such a small toy, adequately capturing most of the detailing the larger toy had. Soundwave's major downside in this mode is his limited articulation-- he can move his arms at the shoulders, but although his knees and hips are on ball joints, they have decidedly limited movement. His hip ball joints are positioned so that they can't move forward at all and can only move out to the side slightly, and if you try to rectify this by turning the upper legs so that his legs CAN move forward, then they pop off their ball joints FAR too easily. The knee ball joints work good enough, but without forward hip movement they really can't be used for much posing. Soundwave also doesn't come with Laserbeak like the larger version, but you can't reasonably expect Hasbro to include the bomb-bird at this scale, anyways.
    LoC Soundwave actually looks better than his larger counterpart in robot mode, but other than that he's by far an inferior toy when compared to his larger version. His vehicle mode doesn't fit together well at all, and his has very, very limited articulation in robot mode, severely limiting his playability. Given that the larger Soundwave also comes with Laserbeak and some other cool features, you're better off saving up for the $20 toy instead.

Review by Beastbot

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