Soundwave's first vehicle mode is a futuristic spacecraft mode. There are some definite spacecraft elements to it-- I like the "tri-fin" look, and I LOVE the weird "vehicle head" design that reminds me of the Vehicons' vehicle modes-- but there's too much of it that is just obviously robot mode kibble. His arms are the biggest offenders, permanently in a "whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" pose, without being able to actually hide themselves well at all in either of Soundwave's vehicle modes-- only the wings can partially cover them. That's a pretty big oversight, but few parts in this mode "click" or lock into place, making this mode feel too random and not quite "complete". The color scheme is also thoroughly boring, being mostly a dull light gray with some black. The silver and dark blue help to spice it up a little, but there's far too much of that gray for any other color to make any sizeable difference. I do LOVE the transparent aquamarine "jewels" spread throughout Soundwave's form, though-- they certainly give him some individuality, at the very least, and he's got tons of little mold details everywhere. By pressing a small trigger below his vehicle mode head, Soundwave can fire out a spring-loaded missile from the rear of this mode, which is actually molded to look like a folded-up Ravage. A pretty cool detail there, though the missile can't unfold into a jaguar or anything, it's one solid piece. The missile also has a tendency to accidentally fire when you're transforming him to robot mode.
    Soundwave's "satellite mode" is an odd, slight modification of his spaceship mode, and seems totally arbitrary. His wing parts tend to clash with other pieces even going via the instructions, and other than the side fins turning sideways and rotating downwards, there's not much of a difference. It seems totally pointless and really doesn't introduce anything "new" into the fold.
    Soundwave's robot mode is definitely his best mode, and the one that the designers worked his vehicle modes around, rather than visa versa. He's a bit squat in his proportions, but this is likely intended. He has a rahter side chest and shoulders, making him look rather strong, despite the many "skinny bits" protruding off of him, which make him look particularly avian in this mode, especially the parts on his shoulders and "wings" on his upper back. He also has bird-like feet and feather-like protrusions coming out of his elbows. I'd be REALLY surprised if this avian look wasn't intentional, given his alternate modes. I REALLY like his robot head sculpt, which looks like an extremely detailed, highly-futuristic and streamlined version of his G1 head. Several more colors are made more apparent in this mode besides the transparnet blue and that boring light milky gray, including some "classic" G1 Soundwave G1 dark blue, as well as some nice gold, light red, and silver accents on his chest. Of particular note is that the deails on his abdomen look a bit like a vehicle mode grill-- likely a precursor to the pickup truck Earth mode that was originally planned for Soundwave but was later canned. Soundwave can move at the neck (at two points), shoulders (at two points), elbows (at three points), hips, knees (at two points), and ankles (at two points), so you can get quite a few poses out of him. He also has individual toe and heel articulation on each foot, which is rather impressive at this scale. There's only really one complaint I have about this mode (beyond what I've already said regarding the colors in vehicle mode), and that's that the wings on the back get in the way of arm movement a bit too much and are too obviously kibble without really contributing a whole lot to the "look" of the mode-- at least the two "side" panels, as the center panel on his back looks a bit like a samurai skirt, so I can overlook that easier.
    Soundwave's alternate modes are pretty weak, and other than the transparent blue "jewels", rather boring as well with all that milky gray plastic. His robot mode is quite good, and adds a bit more variation of color, but it's not enough to make up for his bad alt modes, sadly. He gets points for originality, but this is one original idea that just isn't pulled off quite as well as it could've been.

Review by Beastbot

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