[Toy Review] Transformers: Platinum Edition Soundwave (Year of the Goat) pays many homages

Soundwave! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave) (Hasbro Singapore)
Soundwave! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave) (Hasbro Singapore)

Soundwave (Year of the Goat)
Soundwave, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage, Frenzy, Rumble
Platinum Edition
Transformers: Masterpiece (originally)
MSRP: $219.90

Packaging. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave) (Hasbro Singapore)
Packaging. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave) (Hasbro Singapore)

Should you buy him? If you’re into Masterpieces (and don’t want the hassle of hunting down the individual cassettes), yes! 

Soundwave in alt mode. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave) (Hasbro Singapore)
Soundwave in alt mode. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave) (Hasbro Singapore)

So to usher in the Year of the Goat, we’ve got Platinum Edition Soundwave, which itself is a redeco of Masterpiece Soundwave (which got sold out last year pretty quickly, remember?) and Optimus Prime (G2 Laser Prime!) to welcome us.

Soundwave and his casettes. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave) (Hasbro Singapore)
Soundwave and his casettes. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave) (Hasbro Singapore)

No goat puns, I promise. Anyway, it’s not just Soundwave in here – there’s all his cassette buddies too. You even get Megatron’s gun (which originally came with Masterpiece Starscream IIRC).

Back of the box. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Back of the box. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

So here’s where my pictures begin. They commissioned two pieces of artwork for the packaging! Here’s the one at the back, Nice.

Front of the box. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Front of the box. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

And then you’ve got the front box art. It’s a tri-language packaging, the one for our markets. It used to be slanted towards the China markets (remember we had Chinese text on them?) but it looks like other countries want them too! Or maybe the Chinese diaspora has been clamouring for an international release.

Bio. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Bio. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Whoops, four languages. My bad. If you angle it correctly, you really can shoot the tape out like in the pictures (but no guarantees on where it lands).

Cargo manifest. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Cargo manifest. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

It’s not a cargo manifest but I like to call it that. When did they start putting the contents on the box in bullet point format? You get Frenzy & Rumble’s guns too (hidden in their Quake Hammers).

Closer look at the cargo manifest. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Closer look at the cargo manifest. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Here, a closer look. Rumble is red and Frenzy is blue.

Closer look at the bio. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Closer look at the bio. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

I’m not even sure if Soundwave is born in the Year of the Goat. But I suppose since the Chinese Zodiac (or any Zodiac, for that matter) is dependent on star signs, it stands to reason this would apply to the rest of the universe, including Cybertron.

Does that mean Omega Supreme was born in the Year of the Snake?

Year of the Goat Decepticon symbol. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Year of the Goat Decepticon symbol. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

The new Goat Decepticon symbol. I think they only did this combined/integrated symbol for the Autobots last year. Maybe they’ll retroactively apply it to the Year of the Snake and Year of the Dragon toys (if we see a rerelease of them… which would be 12 years later).

Soundwave in box. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Soundwave in box. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

So this is what Soundwave looks like inside the box. All brown and clear.

Soundwave in tray. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Soundwave in tray. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

The instructions are tucked into the box, so don’t worry that you’ve dropped it out somehow. It’s packed a little differently than the usual way for instructions.

Soundwave out of the box. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Soundwave out of the box. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

There you go. No twisty ties (HOORAY) so you just need to gently pull everything out of the plastic tray.

Everything that Soundwave comes with. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Everything that Soundwave comes with. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Soundwave and all his bits and pieces. Of note the fact that he comes with his sensor, Energon cubes, and the display panel bit that he generates Energon cubes from.

Soundwave in alt mode. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Soundwave in alt mode. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

First things first – alternate mode! I can’t remember my cassette tape player and I don’t think I would be an accurate judge of its size since I was pretty small when I owned one.

That knob really turns. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
That knob really turns. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

I played with this knob for an inordinately long time while speaking into the fan. You know how you sound like Soundwave when you stand in front of the fan and speak into it? Yeah so I was pretending to be Soundwave and speaking louder and softer according to whether I turned the knob up or down.

Power on, power off. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Power on, power off. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

You also get an on-off button but I didn’t play with this as much. You can’t really “switch off” Soundwave.

Back of the cassette player. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Back of the cassette player. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Here’s the back of Soundwave. Yes, you should display him from the front.

YOTG Soundwave & Linkin Park Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
YOTG Soundwave & Linkin Park Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

If you’re wondering why his colour scheme looks familiar, it’s because it’s similar to the previous Linkin Park G1 Soundwave released a year or two ago. It’s also cast in a solid gold colour, with transparent bits. So it’s homaging Linkin Park Soundwave too!

Comparison of YOTG Soundwave & Linkin Park Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Comparison of YOTG Soundwave & Linkin Park Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

He’s twice as tall in bot mode but not twice as large in alt mode though.

Don't put the cassettes in the wrong way! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Don’t put the cassettes in the wrong way! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Notice anything wrong? Yeah, I didn’t realise it until I tried to take it out. I also got my real cassette tapes stuck in my cassette tape player when I was young. Some things never change. It’s really an authentically designed Walkman.

Sigh. Not the first time I got a cassette tape stuck in a cassette tape player. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Sigh. Not the first time I got a cassette tape stuck in a cassette tape player. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

I spent a long time getting it out. Moral of the story? Don’t insert the cassette tape in the wrong way. It slides in and out smoothly when you insert it correctly.

Soundwave and his cassettes. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Soundwave and his cassettes. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

So here’s my new Walkman and some tunes! Although the kind of music I listened to never came on cassette tapes… because I listen to video game soundtracks.

Who's who? (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Who’s who? (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

If you can tell who’s who – you own the toy too. OK I’m not that sure which is Laserbeak or Buzzsaw offhand, I usually have to check it. The others are pretty self-explanatory though – RIRFIB and Ravage is grey (and different from the rest).

Soundwave in bot mode. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Soundwave in bot mode. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Soundwave in all his robotic glory. I like the translucent parts (though I don’t have the lighting set up to really maximise the effect), though I’m iffy that the screws are visible as a result.

Fingers. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Fingers. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Articulation. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Articulation. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

How much can he hold and how well can he hold it? You be the judge. He can hold all the weapons he comes with fairly well though. It’s not that necessary to have all fingers articulated – just the trigger finger and thumb are really essential. And honestly, the only thing you’ll do with a fully articulated hand is to give someone the middle finger. I haven’t seen any other creative use of fully articulated hands before.

Also it makes the toy less expensive la.

Face and symbol. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Face and symbol. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Here’s his face and chest. That’s what you really want to look at, right? Would be nice if his face was painted, but then you’d need to paint certain details on, and that would defeat the entire purpose of a translucent deco – so nah. Red eyes are cool.

Wielding Megatron. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Wielding Megatron. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Did Soundwave ever wield Megatron? I don’t actually remember that. But another Megatron is always welcome.

Megatron! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Megatron! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

It’s a Browning homage! The recent gold Masterpiece Megatron is also kind of a Browning homage too.

Wielding his concussion blaster. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Wielding his concussion blaster. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

With his Concussion Blaster. His Action Master toy calls it a Concussion Cannon though, which I much prefer.

Dual wielding guns. +1 additional attack. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Dual wielding guns. +1 additional attack. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Two guns. If you play Dungeons & Dragons, dual wielding gives you an additional attack at a cost of -2 to your attack bonus (though that’s changed for 5th Edition now).

Blasty blasty. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Blasty blasty. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

You know how Hong Kong movie stars tend to hold their guns sideways? Yeah. Something like that.

Gun up! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Gun up! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

This is what I call the chick pose. Chicks with guns always pose like this. Not that Soundwave is a chick though. Maybe we’ll see a Masterpiece Arcee one day!

With MP-13 Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
With MP-13 Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
With MP-13B Soundblaster. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
With MP-13B Soundblaster. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
With G1 Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
With G1 Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
With Linkin Park Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
With Linkin Park Soundwave. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

And here’s a load of comparison shots to show you how he stacks up compared to his predecessors. It’s a unique colour scheme that works from most angles.

Soundwaves. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Soundwaves. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Yeah OK I have many Soundwaves. I bought Soundblaster for Ratbat. Didn’t we all?

Cassettes unite! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Cassettes unite! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

So what about the cassettes? Here they are. Five of them.

Ravage. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Ravage. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

So we have Ravage. I was watching Beast Wars the other day, and was reminded of how Covert Agent Ravage came, beat up everyone, then got blown up in his own cutting edge space cruiser.

Ravage across the ages. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Ravage across the ages. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Maybe this will be Ghost Ravage. Notice how his G1 version is bigger than the current Masterpiece one?

Rumble (because Rumble is red). (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Rumble (because Rumble is red). (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Here’s Rumble! Always sounded like a Brooklyner, IMHO, though I’ve only been there once.

Rumble across the ages. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Rumble across the ages. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

If only they had those cannons last time.

Frenzy (because Frenzy is blue). (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Frenzy (because Frenzy is blue). (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Frenzy gets to wield his guns and wear his Quake Hammers on his back. Remember that his guns are located in his Quake Hammers!

Frenzy across the ages. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Frenzy across the ages. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Frenzy with his other Masterpiece and G1 pals.

Laserbeak. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Laserbeak. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Laserbeak. Because Laserbeak comes first.

Buzzsaw. Actually you can't tell from this angle. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Buzzsaw. Actually you can’t tell from this angle. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Buzzsaw comes second. Squawk squawk.

Laserbeak and Buzzsaw across the ages. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Laserbeak and Buzzsaw across the ages. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

A veritable birdpark, I tell you.

What you get in this bundle. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
What you get in this bundle. (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

So anyway, just as a reminder – this is a great set if you’re lazy, because all the cassettes come with it. It’s priced at about the same range as last year’s Masterpiece Soundwave (Hasbro’s version).

Given that you’re going to have to shell out a lot more for either the whole set of Takara toys, or even for last year’s Masterpiece Soundwave (since it’s really only going to be on the secondary market now), this is probably the most convenient set to get everything.

Also, it’s not going to be reissued for at least 12 years (unless some planetary alignment goes wrong and we get the Year of the Goat again a bit too soon) unlike the other Soundwaves.

Soundwave attacks! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)
Soundwave attacks! (Transformers: Platinum Edition Year of the Goat Soundwave)

Soundwave and his cassettes (called Deployers now, right) are ready for action!

2 Comments

  1. I would commit all kinds of heinous misdeeds to acquire a Soundwave, specifically the US version that didn’t seem to show up in my state and couldn’t stay on TRU’s website long enough to purchase. I just can’t abide that goldish/orangey plastic combined with needlessly clear plastic. There’s so much amazing sculpting on it that it seems cruel not to let the paint show off the details. Again, amazing pictures, stunning attention to detail and that comparison cemented my desire to still aim for the standard painted masterpiece. I really appreciate the work you do, keep it up!

    • Strangely, within days of receiving YOG Soundwave, I visited the local TRU and found Masterpiece Soundwave on the shelf waiting for me. So, now I have both. Wondering what to do . . .

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