One might wonder why I'd pick up another version of TF Prime Soundwave when I already have the original TF Prime Deluxe and Hasbro's Beast Hunters version... but remember I also went and bought the Collectors' Club's Old Snake & Advanced Steath BATs set... and read on.
Vehicle Mode:
While Hasbro took a weird, multi-coloured and marbled approach to their Soundwave remold, Takara Tomy went a far more sober route... but there's nothing new there. What is interesting is that they didn't go with plain dark blue and pale grey plastics - they added a metallic flake component to both for a subtly shimmering finish. It's almost as if this is what Hasbro were aiming for with their marbled plastic, but they weren't able to express what they wanted clearly enough... though it's doubtful that's anywhere near the case.
Nevertheless, the heavily modified drone craft looks far more believable here, despite its outlandish embellishments... and, to be honest, putting the two aircraft together, this thing makes Beast Hunters Soundwave look like a robotic parakeet. The details look so much better cast mostly in a darker, more consistent colour of plastic, and it now looks like a decent Cybertronian vehicle rather than a pound shop knockoff. On a similar note, the nose section and the the rubbery angled fins at the back of the Hasbro version are molded in rubber, but a proper plastic was used for those parts on this version. It's still flexible, but nowhere near as soft as what's used on the BH version.
What's really strange here is that Takara Tomy kept the paint applications of the Hasbro version, even down to some of the colours used, but have clearly used either more paint or simply a denser mix because, where BH Soundwave's metallic yellow looks faded and inconsistent, TF Go! Soundwave's looks bold and solid, even though it's been applied to substantially darker plastic. The main downside to the darker base plastic behind the metallic yellow paint is that, where it's applied to the central 'frill' toward the back of the nose, there's a more defined gap where the paint doesn't quite reach the edges of the plastic, and the two parts don't meet because their respective tabs are a bit too long. Even the central rear fin is painted black on both, albeit glossy here and matte on the Beast Hunters version. One difference I can see - or, I should say, that I think I see - is in the size of the Decepticon insignias applied to his wings - they seem marginally larger (and clearer) on this one.
This version of Soundwave is even packaged with the same weapon, cast in the same dark, shimmery blue as the aircraft, and with the missile cast in black. As far as I can tell, there's not even a difference in the length of cord teathering the missile to the launcher.
Robot Mode:
Whatever sense of menace Beast Hunters Soundwave was intended to exude was lost in his clownishly bright and garish colourscheme. I liked it a lot, because it looked like a homage to Machine Wars Soundwave (or, more accurately, the 2003 Universe repaint) though, to this day, there's no indication that was ever the intention. Takara Tomy's version takes Soundwave very much back to his roots with a very G1-inspired, largely blue and silver/grey look applied to a very non-G1 body type, and brings that sense of menace right to the forefront. Looking at this figure, you really question what was going through the minds of the folks working on Beast Hunters at Hasbro... or, perhaps, what was going up their noses.
The paint job, while more sparing than Hasbro's, keeps almost entirely to the existing palette. There are small applications of silver and gold on the upper part of the shins, strips of red above his hips, while the belly area is painted glossy black both above and below the waist joint... and that's pretty much it for Soundwave himself.
Ravage adds more black and silver to the chest, and blends in far more successfully than the black, silver and brown version on the Hasbro figure. Perhaps not as well as Laserbeak, but mainly because he doesn't sit quite so flush against the chest. The resculpted head has only one paint application - red over the visor - with the bulk of the head molded in the dark metallic blue and the crests in the metallic grey plastic used for his feet, kneepads and forearms.
Ravage:
The Takara Tomy version of Soundwave's new minion is basically what he should have been on the Hasbro release. Plain black all over - painted and glossy on the body, and unpainted, matte plastic for the limbs - with the same pattern of silver paint on his back and neck, just a brighter, cleaner silver than on the BH version.
Still not a great representation of the character, though.
Obviously there are no functional differences between TransFormers Go! Hunter Soundwave and Beast Hunters Soundwave, but there are differences in the plastic tolerance. On the Hasbro figure, the nosecone really doesn't like to tab together - particularly the underside - and the rubber feels like it's actively resisting. On this one, the four pieces of the nose still need some pressure to get them together, but the plastic pieces slip together far more easily. I'm just as dubious about the peg that holds the main wing/forearm section to the shoulder because it's quite a heavy piece on both, but the joint isn't as tight on this version. On the one hand, that means I'm not as worried about the clip on the shoulder part breaking but, on the other hand, it makes the left wing a little floppy... Or perhaps it's already bent slightly out of shape.
The TransFormers Go! version of the figure is easily superior, and looks much more like an upgrade to the original TF Prime Soundwave thanks to its more sober colourscheme, which pretty much keeps to first figure's distribution of colour, but darkens the primary colour (desaturated metallic cyan to dark metallic blue) and lightens the secondary (black to pale metallic grey). The changes made to the mold still look a little wierd, but this version looks like an armoured bird of prey, which is perfectly appropriate for a modified military drone. Plus, where I liked the BH version for what I perceived to be a homage to one figure, it's clear that this colourscheme is a homage to the original G1 Soundwave, and I'm all for that kind of thing.
When I wrote about the original TF Prime Soundwave toy, I noted that the figure was so good, I'd probably have ended up troop-building with Soundwaves, had it made any sense to do that... What I've actually done isn't too far off that, considering I own both Hasbro and Takara Tomy versions of this remold, and the Club exclusive Advanced Stealth B.A.T.s. The TF Prime Soundwave mold is in one of my Top Tens of the 2010s for good reason - it's fun, effective, and - in my opinion - one of the best TransFormers aircraft ever created. The TransFormers Go! version takes the Beast Hunters embellishments and makes them look good. In fact, with colourschemes like this, it's almost a shame the CGI in the TV show was never embellished to match the toys.
No comments:
Post a Comment