Transformers Studio Series 83 Voyager Soundwave

Robot mode has terrible articulation. A staple of a Soundwave is if the figure can reach up and press the eject tape button on the chest. To accomplish this, the actually GOOD Soundwaves have double jointed elbows that allow the hand to reach the button. This figure also has double jointed elbows, but the design is so rediculous and fat that even if the figure had three entire elbow bends it STILL couldn't reach the button. This is the same for the knees, as despite bot being double jointed neither can reach more that a 90 degree bend, which completely removes the point of there being double joints in the first place. The Ravage gimmick sucks too, you can't actually fit the core class Ravage in there, trying to causes the back to untab which makes the back flop open just for ravage to flop out the other side. And this is only because the back contains the fake robot chest for the vehicle mode. Considering they had absolute complete creative freedom over the design of the alt mode, there is absolutely no reason this part even needed to exist, and hell you can even remove it easily enough and all it does is improve both modes because now the still equally nothing of an alt mode looks now worse, theres now no fauxforming, and ravage can actually fit in the chest. This figure is so BAD you make it better by BREAKING it on PURPOSE.

The alt mode is garbage. It is nothing, with a fake robot chest slapped on top. The shyoulders are given this increadibly stupid design where the outward movement is in the actual chest and not the shoulder, and the shoulder armor itself doesn't actually move with the arm when you rotate it forwards and backwards, instead it has flaps to facilitate this movement, and it all just looks terrible. Not to mention, if you have the shoulder canon in the screen accurate position you COMPLETELY lose the outward shoulder movement on one arm. And the shoulders are designed like this to facilitate the robot turning into a robot folded into a nothing shape. I am BAFFLED at how the deluxe BBM Cybertronian figures managed to have at least decent alt modes that didn't look like folded up robots while also working with designs that had absolutely no vehicle parts on them, but this VOYAGER has a worse alt mode than the Siege Soundwave which was equally lacking alt mode parts in robot mode.

But hey, it's accurate to an incredibly flawed screen design that was only playing off nostalgia, so thats still nothing and this figure sucks.

Great robot mode. Vehicle mode leaves a bit to be desired but it is kind of and obscure reference which I do appreciate. Overall it's a pretty nice figure.

Transformers Studio Series 83 Voyager Soundwave

Man did they ever turn the G1 version of Soundwave into an amazing real-life representation. This figure truly does justice to the on-screen model. The sculpt is well-designed and the robot mode is pretty much perfect. The alt mode is a bit out there, but hey, it's a Cybertronian spacecraft, it's going to be weird. Highly recommend picking this guy up. Overall, all of the designs from the Bumblebee movie look pretty great.

Great service by TSM as always. And Soundwave? Killer bot mode, can interact with Core Class Ravage (sold separately), interesting alt mode (although not for everyone).