Soundwave's satellite alternate mode (this toy's no triple changer) is honestly pretty bad. Granted, Soundwave's design calls for a rather unconvincing satellite mode, but this is just poor. The main body is decent enough, forming the core satellite cylinder, and the back wings are pretty good-- but this mode tends to fall apart on just about anything other than that. Soundwave's satellite "head" is molded unusually badly in comparison to how well-done the rest of his molding is, and it's all painted one odd aquamarine color that is completely out-of-place on the toy. It looks more like something you'd expect on a Happy Meal toy than an actual retail release, truth be told. Out of the three front "fins", two of them are a bit too obviously his robot mode legs, though the third doesn't look bad. However, by far the biggest eyesore in this mode is that Soundwave's entire robot mode head & chest assemblage just hang upside-down behind the main body of the satellite, just... THERE. No real attempt to hide them at all, and it just looks awful. Not even remotely like another panel "wing" of the satellite mode. Just... ugh.
    Soundwave's robot mode is definitely where the design priority went, as it looks much, MUCH better than the satellite mode. In fact, it's a darned good mode for a Legends class figure. The proportions are great (even if the chest is a tad too square), and he's got great mold detailing everywhere with some great paint apps on his main body. The added bits of dark blue and dull gold really add to the otherwise fairly dull black-and-gray color scheme without looking out-of-place like Soundwave's aquamarine satellite mode head. He's also got great articulation for a figure of this size-- he can move at the neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and a little at the ankles, too, so every major point is covered except for the waist (which is almost never moveable on a figure this small). In fact, I think this mode is actually BETTER than the deluxe's in a few ways-- namely the way it deals with extras. The satellite "wings" just hang off Soundwave's shoulders like bird wings, and anything else folds up neatly against his back of becomes an appendage. Honestly, considering the scale, I don't really have any major complaints about this mode.
    RotF Legends class Soundwave has a great robot mode, but his satellite mode is so incredibly poor odd-looking I'd easily recommend the deluxe mold over this one-- even if on a few areas like kibble in robot mode, this one actually slightly beats the larger version.

Review by Beastbot

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