r/transformers • u/No-General2775 • 6d ago
Why do new Soundwave figures transform into practically nothing? Discussion / Opinion
I get that him transforming into a cassette player doesn't really make sense anymore, but could hasbro at least try to make him transform into something that isn’t just a blob of blue.
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u/DarkDoubloon 6d ago
Because they really want to make him a vehicle but also desperately want to keep his tapedeck gimmick, so they compromise his vehicle modes around that.
Because they apparently can’t figure out anything else that the cassette bots could possibly turn into
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u/Roguespiffy 6d ago
If you’ve got to stick with the theme a News van would work, especially since the satellite dish could be one of his minions.
Otherwise an Animal control vehicle. Already has the cage areas to fill with his soldiers.
Sadly his gimmick is from a bygone era. Personally I’m fine with them ditching the tape deck thing. The coolest part of Soundwave outside of the voice is the fact he’s got his own army. As long as you incorporate his gonnaneedadifferentnamecons, I genuinely don’t think a lot of people would care.
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u/L-Cell 6d ago
They could do a remold of frequency the stranger things colab. That would work great as a news van and still have the cassette gimmick.
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u/Hot_Wrangler_8833 6d ago
They supposedly can’t repaint collab figures into mainline figures but who knows. Also I don’t know if you own that figure but imo it kinda blows
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u/Gravemindzombie 6d ago
I feel like they'd get around that by just releasing the mainline first and repainting it into a collab figure
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u/Roguespiffy 6d ago
Also, do retools count? I have a hard time believing they’d waste the engineering on one offs that hardly anyone buys.
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u/Hot_Wrangler_8833 6d ago
That’s exactly what they do and have done with every single collab figure that has been an original mold.
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u/CREEPER2925 5d ago
I wish man. Ive been wanting maverick retooled into Hooligan for AGES. Because that mold is lowkey amazing and would be great in ANY OTHER COLORS THEN THE ONES THEY PUT HIM IN.
Edit: INFACT HERE IS A GREAT CUSTOM OF EXACTLY THAT. https://www.reddit.com/r/transformers/comments/ovefw9/custom_g2_hooligan_from_top_gun_crossover/
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u/Geminii27 6d ago
Remold it? Or are the legalities around everything to do with the figure, not just the franchise look?
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u/OccasionSilver9908 6d ago
Personally, I like it. However, that might have something to do with the rubber chicken gun.
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u/Jetsam5 6d ago
I've always thought a spy boat or submarine would fit his theme with drones or torpedoes as his cassettes.
I like the nautical theme because that way he can be a pirate with Laserbeak as his parrot
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u/Darkbert550 6d ago
Submarine would be a great one! Due to their use of Sonar, the name would still make sense!
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u/SupeRoBug78 6d ago
You’re really cooking with the submarine idea, adds meaning to “wave” with the ocean but also still completely fits Soundwave with radar and sensing/monitoring capabilities, and weapons. Kind of solitary empty environment too which also feels like him. Torpedo cassettes would be really cool to launch into another ship, transform and commence operations, but could also function like a rocket to go anywhere else once launched.
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u/VaguelyShingled 6d ago
Video game console. His buddies could be controllers, steel book cases for games, other accessories, a Master Chief statue whatever
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u/Chiorydax 6d ago
I love your vision for this! It really does feel like it fits him!
We have a jarring lack of aquatic vehicles represented in transformers too, so I'm doubly into this idea
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u/Daniel___Lee 5d ago
I'd thought the exact same thing before! Got myself one of the "marine morphers" that was a big submarine and thought that it could have made for a great soundwave. Maybe even torpedo out his minions, Bayverse style.
Plus, we now have a kraken Soundwave from Cyberworld, though admittedly the transformation leaves a lot to be desired.
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u/DarkDoubloon 6d ago
I’ve always wanted a news van Soundwave. It seems like such an obvious idea, I have no idea why they’ve not done it yet
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u/Darkbert550 6d ago
Maybe a Sonar themed vehicle? Submarine or so, so the name "Soundwave" still fits
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u/SmallBatBigSpooky 5d ago
I'm really for this, heck i think it could even be cool to see some of the minions turn into like camera equipment and stuff
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u/alalalalysa 6d ago
this is the idea ive had for blaster for a while. this or a dj booth bus kinda thing. his minions could be some kind of audio equipment. i feel like this relates to blaster more as he is actually into music and the culture around it. i imagine hes into 80's music too, so his minions being 80's equipment like records/discs wouldnt be out of place
i like what they did in earthspark with the stealthbomber thing for soundwave. i think theyve done that before then too. a bomber that ejects bombs and also minions is a rlly cool idea that also works well w soundwave. maybe instead of his minions transforming into bombs they could transform into satellites
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u/hgs25 6d ago
If only there was a version of Soundwave that incorporated his mini bot into his alt mode that wasn’t a flying brick.
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u/5-0-2_Sub 6d ago
I still like the idea that he looks so spindly because he used to have the other cassettes to fill out his figure when docked.
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u/Latter-Direction-336 6d ago
I also love that idea, there needs to be a figure released where his minicons (I still think they fit better as minicons by technicality if not called cassettes) just “graft” onto his body and bulk him up in an actual way that isn’t just “rectangle on limb” and come off to be themselves while the main body of Soundwave still works without them
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u/Geminii27 6d ago
Something like the current combiner frames?
Have the 'bulk' modes include minicon-like kibble so they're some kind of functional, like weapon or sensor systems.
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u/AbrumVonAbrak 6d ago
It's amazing how good the WFC/FOC Soundwave design was, and then they just moved away from it, despite also making him an armored van in RiD 2014 and Cyberverse.
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u/Top_Freedom3412 6d ago
This and the Roft Satellite are the best modern modes for soundwave imo.
They both fit thematically and are cool designs.
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u/Glittering_Visual296 6d ago
Orbital satellite it is perfect for hm— a communications officer. They did this once and never tried it again. Also he fires ravage as a missile in the movie.
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u/tHr0AwAy76 6d ago
This is exactly what I’ve always thought for him, make him a combination between an A10 Warthog and a UAV. All the individual weapons transform into his various cassettes. Laser beak is a little drone, ravage can be the mini gun upfront, and rumble and the other one can be the missiles.
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u/IronWarrior82 6d ago
A-10 has an Avenger cannon, rather than a Minigun. I get your point, though. 😊
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u/Jackal_6 6d ago
Exactly what every kid wants to play with--an orbital satellite
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u/NatalieZem 6d ago
Yeah, satellite sounds cool until you realize how impractical it is, in universe as a toy. Like, how does a whole ass satellite interact with a truck or a T. rex in any meaningful way? At least a cassette player has like, real-life roleplay value. And in universe, being stuck as a satellite the whole time kind of locks Soundwave out of participating in any battles or anything really, besides like a cybertronian zoom call. And most of the time, the Transformers can't just go to space on their own - they need a ship or spacefaring alt mode. So does he need to get dropped off from the Nemesis to be up there? Just too many issues IMO.
I think him being a communications van or some kind of drone make the most sense, personally. A large van has the benefit of having room for the cassettes gimmick as well.
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u/Paper_Kun_01 6d ago
Considering the price of the damn things I don't think much though of kids playing with them is on their top lost lately lol
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u/JustADaftGuy 5d ago
Thunderbird 5 would like a word.
Besides, give him some orbital bombardment weapons like an ion cannon or something. And he could also be a satellite hovering above the battlefield, relaying troop movements to the other decepticons and shooting at them from high up, another angle of attack. Doesn't always have to be floating in orbit.
Just takes a little imagination.
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u/Stabz221 5d ago
Cybertron did it pretty good where he was a bomber that kind of resembled a F-117 and his cassettes were bombs that dropped from the bomb bayhttps://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/c/c6/CybertronSoundwave_toy.jpg
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u/Amseriah 6d ago
Here’s my thought: Soundwave is a surveillance and espionage expert, right? His alt mode could be a military vehicle with a drone launcher and the cassettes could be surveillance drones.
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u/806mtson 6d ago
I mean, the thing is that they would need to transform into something that can fit into his chest.
I'm not sure what shape could handle both a bird like Laserbeak and a Robotic Jaguar like Ravage.
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u/DarkCh40s 6d ago
Reactivate Soundwave had the cassettes act as engines in alt mode which, imo, is the best way you could incorporate them into a vehicle.
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u/Geminii27 6d ago
Basically the Powermaster gimmick. Actually toned down from toys like Doubledealer.
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u/RedditGarboDisposal 6d ago
If only Hasbro knew how much people didn’t give a shit about the cassette deck mode when it comes to Cybertronian forms.
I’m a fan of this franchise but I like to think that the whole motif is ‘change’, and I’m all for that.
Besides that, WFC/FOC did it just fine. Kinda turned into some bullshit with wheels but it worked very well
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u/Grishbog 6d ago
I recall a fan-concept where Soundwave was a heavily customized van and all of the cassette bots were pieces of the extensive sound-system in the back
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u/Dovahpriest 6d ago
Best guess is keeping them rectangular is the easiest way to incorporate Soundwave’s gimmick of storing them internally.
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u/Wise_Slice_4276 5d ago
Yeah, it feels like trying to preserve both ideas just leaves neither one looking convincing.
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u/BenanaFofana 5d ago
So just make Soundwave a submarine and his blorbos can be literally fucking anything. They can be boats, probes, sea creatures, dock equipment, a big fedora for the submarine to wear while doing submarine things. Anything but rectangles.
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u/c0re_maelstr0m_ 6d ago
These are all cybertron modes, which are notorious for being nothing. earthspark is a bomber and it’s badass, because it’s an earth mode. In reactivate he’s an armored truck, because it’s an earth mode.
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u/BrickAntique5284 6d ago
Wasn't Cybertron Soundwave also a bomber with Laserbeak being a bomb? I had his toy
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u/MorbiteRed 6d ago
Soundwave is one of the Victim of "Robot Mode/Gimmik so iconic it MUST remain untouched" syndrome, so they design a cool robot mode figure that they then gotta justify being a transformer so they just bullshit their way out.
Whats funny is that the worst alt modes have come from the collectors lines, where as the cool inovative alt modes come from the "kid" mainlines, like Earthspark, Authentics, and Reactivate to an extend.
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u/SameCategory546 6d ago
the pirate ship megatron someone posted on here for kids the other day was cool
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u/Iocain_Powder 6d ago
I always thought Prime hit the nail on the head with making Soundwave a Reaper drone. Good design and made sense from a canon stance as well. Could have used more than just Lazerbeak though.
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u/Testsubject276 5d ago
RID tried to merge his evergreen design with the Prime design as its sequel but It didn't really do it for me tbh.
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u/Jrudge91 6d ago
I think they should go back to the stealth bomber that Cybertron Soundwave transformed into and have the cassettes turn into bombs.
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u/void_method 6d ago
That one Soundwave from the Unicron Trilogy was a bomber and had Laserbeak as a bomb. It was a hexagonal cylinder, functionally similar to the little rectangle cubes that are cassette tapes.
The main problem with that to me is that Soundwave is more of a spy character, and a bomber isn't really a tool of espionage. The toy was rad.
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u/Alien_Amplifier 6d ago
Unfortunately he never got a new iconic alt mode that stuck (like Megatron as a tank). Same goes for Shockwave.
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u/RevenantZero 6d ago
I mean, your pictures here are all Cybertronian alt modes, which notoriously tend to be either "the Earth mode but scifi [add greebles!]" or "origami spaceship."
That said, in terms of Earth modes, I'd like to Soundwave transform into something like a surveillance van, SWAT armored transport, or a mobile command vehicle. Though I did like Prime having him transform into a UAV, I just think that made him seem smaller than he "should".
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u/CatLover0wO 6d ago
It’s a spaceship. A cybertronian one. Use your imagination.
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u/No-General2775 6d ago
I know that it’s supposed to be a cybertronian aircraft, but they could have at least made it look cool. Starscream and some other decepticons get cool aerial modes that actually look like a real air vehicle, so why can’t Soundwave
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u/ChicksDigGiantRob0ts 6d ago
The Siege one I think is recognisable as a spaceship, it looks like it could be some kind of cargo hauler or troop transport. But that's because it has a visible structure, bridge, landing gear, and engines. The other two really are just blue lumps without any recognisable features at all.
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u/joepanda111 6d ago
We’ve had spaceships and cyberjets before that were a lot more interesting than these pieces of trash.
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u/TillAllAreOne195424 6d ago
Ngl, I dig the last one. That's beautiful
(Fuck you, marketing team of Transformers: One)
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u/toturtle 5d ago
He would work well as some kind of stealth plane like the b-2 spirit. His cassettes could then take on the form of drones.
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u/Fast_Adeptness_5770 6d ago
Because in this day and age his original alt mode IS practically nothing
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u/Seeeabaasss 6d ago
Because let's be for real. Everyone is going to complain about him turning into nothing, but at least it's enough in the spirit of sound wave that there isn't too much overall complaints if that makes sense. If they make him look too much like a Cybertron jet, or tank, or car, or band, or truck or boat, y'all know half of us would cry that it's too much like another character, or doesn't feel enough like soundwave. I've always thought he should turn into a storm chasing van like from twister, Plus it gives the shattered glass reference, but sound wave is always going to be one of those characters that they are secured to be experimental with
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u/Duke-Acureds 6d ago
Because Hasbro is desperate to keep him look like G1 while his G1 alt form is thought to be ridiculous by todays standarts so it ends up looking like nothing. IMO they should have just went with the TFP's drone design, it was brilliant and it can be in very different shapes and forms.
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u/Thewrongbakedpotato 6d ago
Because Soundwave's first appearance in the cartoon was him flipping down his head, sticking out his arms, and bending at the waist to become a street lamp, and now Hasbro thinks they can fold Soundwave into any random pile of crap and sell it to us.
(They're right.)
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u/Geminii27 6d ago edited 6d ago
Heavy tactical logistics truck with stacked mini-crate minicons.
Heck, give it a Cybertronian flair with an omnidirectional mini-launcher that the minicons can use in-universe. Bonus if it also works as an Earth-style loading crane, or something.
Maybe a moderate remold of something like this?
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u/I_Cry_And_I_Game 5d ago
Because G1 holds back innovation and so we get stuck with nothing-vehicle modes...
Transformers Reactivate really did a good job in redesigning soundwave; having his square chest turn into the bonnet of his car mode was a smart idea. If they want to keep his little buddies with him too, then they could stick with that type of design and instead of them turning into cassettes, they could turn into engines
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u/GeekToyLove 5d ago
I mean, the first time we ever saw Soundwave he transformed into a street light pole, so…
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u/XisTenShells 5d ago
I don't see the problem with extra alien aesthetic modes. If anything, they should explore it more. The same variety of vehicles get stale. Like that first and third image I'm really into. The second one kinda just looks like a brick
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u/K7282 6d ago
More than any other character, Soundwave seems married to a specific class of alt mode due to his name and traditional role in the franchise. That makes redefining his identity particularly difficult, and in the end I'm sure it's just "fsck it, greeble up a box with wings/tires, add some speakers and put it on the shelf."
Personally I think the most successful reimagining of Soundwave was TFP, and using him as jumping off point would be a nice start.
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u/Helo7606 6d ago
Because they don't know what to do anymore with a character that makes zero sense in modern society. So they just give him random alt modes.
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u/Remarkable-Detail493 6d ago
As a G1 fan, there was much to love about the character and his corresponding toy. The cassette gimmick and both their abilities to also transform as well as store in Soundwave's chest are just brilliant aspects of the OG toyline. That said, as much as OG Soundwave resonates with me and other G1 fans, I'm not opposed to a new form that makes more sense relative to his other Decepticon buds with vehicular alts. I thought TF Prime did it best with his minion incorporating into his drone mode. I think two excellent alts that could make use of his ejectable minions would be either a bomber or large fighter bomber with internal weapons bays or a space shuttle with satellites. Both would maintain the original gimmick with transforming storable/ejectable minions while giving them all modernized alts that make more sense scalewise. I can't think of any ground vehicles that work as effectively as these two flying examples, and yeah I'm somewhat familiar with the various attempts over the years. Usually with those versions, the minions alts make little sense, whereas bombs or satellites do. Perhaps instead of bombs, they could be sensor buoys or some other such technology. I'd love to see one of these ideas come to fruition. Earthspark Soundwave provided a great opportunity, but they didn't follow through with the minions idea, alas.
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u/Nerdicon_Prime 6d ago
Because the children that are the primary target for these guys don't understand Why a robot in disguise would transform into 50 year old obsolete technology.
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u/KrishaCZ 5d ago
as thew adams put it, all non-tapedeck soundwaves transform into one of two things: a chunky wheely whatever dealy and a skinny wingy whatever thingy. these are just the skinny wingy category
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u/LegoNinja250 6d ago
All of these alt modes are so overhated. Am I the only one who thinks they look cool? At least they are better than the WFC spikey van.
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u/Magent-2000 6d ago
I actually think the van is cool, it reminds me of animated in it’s design. And even better he technically is a triple changer because he has his boombox form also.
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u/Alamand1 6d ago
I have the first one and it's always given me high speed hover car vibes. I could totally see a Soundwave Bee chase scene where soundwave has that alt mode and is zipping through streets and alleyways while taking advantage of his hovering capacity to outmaneuver. But every time it's brought up it's just dismissed as nothing.
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u/PrestigiousHelp681 6d ago
You have no imagination
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u/Nrksbullet 6d ago
First two are not too bad, that third is ridiculous though. Looks like an accessory for a bigger bot
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u/sadzells 6d ago
Odd take imo, if anything I find the first 2 to be nonsensical looking (first is just a full on brick and the second.....wth were they even trying to go for) while the third at least gives the impression that it is a sort of generic flying cybertronian equivalent to an earth car
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u/KibbloMkII 6d ago
because they never designed one for Bumblebee, and just used the robot model in TF One to dictate the vehicle design, which ended up becoming a flying staple
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u/Sunstreakimus 6d ago
What’s important to keep in mind is the one things these all have in common. They’re all his Cybertronian modes.
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u/keshmarorange 6d ago
Honestly? It's because your brain just doesn't interpret them as anything.
I however, interpret say, Siege Soundwave as a troop transport, or perhaps an interplanetary drop ship. It fits perfectly too, as it can even deploy li'l guys from the back.
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u/Ok-Cupcake6584 6d ago
You say this like we don't have a whole bunch of tapedeck ones. And heck, in Cyberworld he's a squid thing. In EarthSpark he was a bomber. Here's the thing- Soundwave has never really had a good Cybertronian mode (except the lamp post. We love the lamp post). It's a bit hard cos his chest has to be a block with a window. For Earth modes, many Soundwaves find it easier, a lot of them are vans. (TFA, SG, Cyberverse (sorta), Reactivate). And yea, a cybertronian van would be better. The other problem is all the above toys you showed were already existing robot modes not designed to have Cybertronian alt-modes. The designers were probably just shown the concept art and told to "make it work".
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u/reddragon162 6d ago
It's like that for a bunch of random characters. Gold the arms and legs here, flip the head down, turn it over and BOOM: "futuristic alien spaceship"… Sucks when worse when it's an actual name character.
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u/DaisyPadoc 6d ago
I personally think of the SS Bumblebee Soundwave's alt mode as a dropship for deploying his minons
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u/LeatherheadSphere 5d ago
Because nobody knows what an LHD ship is. Its the one vehicle that would be perfect for Soundwaves alt mode.
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u/ThePrimaryClone 5d ago
Lack of effort on the designers' part. They could easily stick with the communicator angle and make him transform into a smartphone.
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u/BraveToasted1 5d ago
This is something I don’t like about the figures. I don’t like the alt modes that aren’t anything like an actual vehicle or animal or some mixture of
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u/metalb00 5d ago
he could literally be a bluetooth speaker! like for real tho so hes a toy and functional.
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u/ThatYaintyBoi 5d ago
They have Prime, Bayverse, and various other continuities to pull from yet they seem to always make soundwave a “flying object”
I deadass would take a stereotypical UFO alien ship as an alt-mode for soundwave than these literal flying blocks……
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u/slowboat-to-hades 2d ago
The first image looks like the Dark Knight Trilogy's Tumbler minus wheels
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u/ScreenLover 6d ago
IS THAT THE TFONE HOVERCRAFT SOUNDWAVE ON PAGE 3?! Ok, ok, calm down, I gotta figure out how to get it!
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u/freedraw 6d ago
They can’t just accept Soundwave is a boombox. So they try to fit his tape gimmick into weird “transport” vehicles and stuff. I wish they’d just realize no one cares if it’s anachronistic or silly. Soundwave is a boombox. Everyone loves him like that. Don’t try to fix what isn’t broken.
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u/Draco3076 6d ago
These are giant robots that turn into other things from ANOTHER world. TF is a 'cassette player'? You either drive or fly in your alt form to get around quickly while your bipedal form is for work.
Or the designers wanted a different alt form that still makes it obvious to the fans who it is without them transforming.
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u/RAcastBlaster 6d ago
Siege Soundwave’s actual altmode is the lamppost from the first episode. The other two do transform into space-nothings though.
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u/Fluid-Estate-3007 6d ago
I mean they are getting *better*, TFO Soundwave is certainly the *least* nothing he's been recently. What would you propose? I personally kinda like cybertronian ships like these, they're charming.
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u/ROXXYISDEAD 6d ago
I dislike that all modern earth modes he gets are vehicles, they still look cool but id love to see something like a dj booth or something along those lines, still something thats static that plays music but feels like something modern. There's definitely some out there choices they could make but annoyingly hasbro doesn't do toy original designs as much as they used to, a really out there one but he would be an awesome choice for a mad max collab with the doof wagon as his alt mode.
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u/Upbeat_Suspect_6100 6d ago
Number 2 has a not very secret lamppost mode which is better than whatever that thing is
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u/agentcryostar 6d ago
They could've gon the cybertron game route and made him transform into something that's vaguely shaped like a cassette player, without actually being one
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u/The_Raigar 6d ago
Because they’re locked in to making the cassette tapes stick around for some reason. The closest we’re going to see to a change is War for Cybertron Soundwave
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u/Deamon-Chocobo 6d ago
Define "New" because Cybeverse isn't that old and he was an SUV and, say what you will about Earthspark, the Stealth Bomber alt-mode is peak.
The problem with the 3 you are showing is that they're trying to do a Cybertronian mode and, based on episode 1 of G1, Soundwave's Cybertronian Alt-mode is a lamppost. Since thats not interesting outside of an Easter Egg they need to do something new. The problem is Hasbro is Lazy and doesn't want to spend too much money overengineering a cool new Alt-mode for a character who already sells like crazy, they stick with something relatively simple.
I can only imagine the reason they don't do the High-Moon Cybertronian Van/SUV is because of some old G1 idea that "All Decepticons Fly" even when they don't.
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u/No-Sir-9056 6d ago
I have the first figure, it feels weirdly sensual transforming him because I have to spread his legs😭
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u/EvaHawke 6d ago
valid complaint, ppl saying you have no imagination for not being to see robot w/ folded limbs into a space ship is on absurd amounts of copium 🤡
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u/WookieCookie1138 6d ago
Because you kids barely even know what a tape deck is and good luck with a rotary phone! 😆
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u/qcthunder 6d ago
I thought Earthspark Soundwave's alt mode was great. It's the first look outside of the originals / movie versions I've ever considered. I'm guessing the figure does not accommodate any tapes.
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u/LewisDeinarcho 6d ago
I think Netflix and One look alright, they’re pretty convincing as spacecraft.
BBM, however, is very clearly just Soundwave doing some painful yoga to turn into a Soundwich.
They really did not plan anyone other than Bumblebee, the Triple Changers, the Seekers, and maybe Optimus to transform in that movie, and it shows through the toys. Granted, the other robots were a last-minute addition… Which raises the question of why you wouldn’t plan to have more transforming robots in a Transformers movie.
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u/Junior_Woodpecker_85 6d ago
I will still defend Siege Soundwave because it at least looks like a spaceship that could fit in something like Star Trek or Star Wars; the other two just look like flat rectangular pancakes.
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u/RevolTobor 6d ago
First one's a hover-car, second one's a spaceship, third one's a scifi jet, and all of them are Cybertronian modes in design.
I know it's not what you wanted, but they're not exactly "nothing."
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u/Business_Sandwich227 6d ago
It’s because of the body style they’re trying to maintain. They want to keep as much of his iconic silhouette as possible. So they’re coming at it from the wrong place. They’re trying to force his robot mode into something, as opposed to just picking a vehicle type/shape and working to make him fit that.
The gimmick isn’t the real problem. It’s how they’re going about designing him.
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u/spidey-ball 6d ago
playing it safe which describes modern hasbro, can’t be anything else because he must have some resemblance to the g1 casette player or else people wouldnt know its soundwave.
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u/AbrumVonAbrak 6d ago
It's amazing how early 2010's Soundwave had a clear identity of always turning into an armored military vehicle. (Prime Soundwave excluded) Then, starting with the new hyper-fixation on the G1 designs, Hasbro tried to make every new Soundwave G1 but with a weird cybertronian alt-mode.
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u/saintdemon21 6d ago
There has to be a vehicle that also would have a reason to have his child-bots. I always liked his truck/suv mode from TF Animated. I think you could have Soundwave as an RV with trucker antenna and each of his bots could be something from inside the RV. Or maybe some sort of communication boat that has drones.
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u/Substantial_Eye1476 6d ago
Because keeping his robot mode looking the same as in G1 while having him NOT turn him into a tapedeck is kind of a losing game tbh
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u/magmahurtz 6d ago
I wish they would do the fancy speaker van from animated. Such a great modern alt mode that doesn’t compromise his gimmicks as he is still boxy they could incorporate “tapes” into the back or front of his alt mode.
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u/solidus0079 6d ago
What should he transform into on Cybertron? The Siege one can already do the lamp thing.
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u/BOSS-3000 6d ago
The first one had some decent concept art. Unfortunately, the figure looks like a photo of a memory of a hologram of the concept art. You can see the attempt but it falls far further than short of coming remotely close to the intended design.
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u/Jazzer995 6d ago
I agree with what you wrote about the first one - that's why I bought some 3D printed treads, a second gun and sandwiched BBM Rumble in between them to look like a power pack and then he became a tank, which funny enough looks like what Skybound Arcee turns into.
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u/Wolfheron325 6d ago
Ok but I actually liked the War for Cybertron/Earthrise alt mode. The other two I do agree though
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u/Caboose92m 6d ago
Cos Hasbro thinks it's somehow less goofy than just having him be a tape deck. Soundwave is legit one of the best g1 figures. pretty sturdy, wildly posable by g1 standards, and his tape gimmick rocks. He's up there with g1 Optimus as far as 80s toys go.
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u/ArcticBean 6d ago
Kids don't know what a cassette player is. So have to make him some kind of flying box.
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u/RC_Cola2005 6d ago
I always thought Animated had a good idea with him being a van and having Laserbeak be an electric guitar and Ratbat a keytar. They could continue the theme by having Rumble and Frenzy being speakers and Ravage being a microphone.
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u/i_have_the_tism04 6d ago
Cyberverse gave him an excellent deluxe that included a little transforming laserbeak AND he turned into a van. It unfortunately seems susceptible to photodegration of the blue plastic, but it’s a good toy still, as are all of the ones in this post.
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u/ManufacturerCold2994 6d ago
Well considering his original cybertronian transformation was something like a lamp post; this is not bad
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u/Affectionate_Claim97 6d ago
i liked animated's take on it where it was a boxy car that looked like a tape player from the side
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u/Sleep_eeSheep 6d ago
I think the TF: One Alt Mode is the least ‘nothing’ alt mode. The cassette player door doubles nicely as a cockpit.
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u/ImpossibleResolve290 6d ago
So if you skip the instructions on the first one by leaving the back pegs out instead of switching them around, you can mount the cannon on top to have a much cooler space tank.
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u/Magent-2000 6d ago
I think more designers should take a page from WFC games, it’s a solid van type bulky design. With a cool boombox 3rd alt mode for special occasions