Mysterious treasure or overhyped rarity?

It’s crazy to think that until recently DOTM Deluxe Soundwave was so expensive. Loose he was RM200 ($50) at minimum and MISB he was at least RM400 ($100). Now the water’s muddy and people are still trying to sell him expensive but I got him ridiculously cheap.

I was originally gonna get Studio Series DOTM Soundwave but since the opportunity presented itself, here he is! Transformers Dark Of The Moon Deluxe Soundwave!

Vehicle mode

Soundwave is a very nicely done Mercedes SLS… apart from the fact that he’s almost completely grey. His wheel rims are silver though and that’s always a good thing!

The car mode’s pretty much perfect apart from looking too bland in this grey. I could nitpick that the windows should have been tinted another colour but… that’s a nitpick. There’s no obnoxious kibble or standout flaws here.

For playability, Soundwave rolls on all four of his wheels just fine. Also, he has two MechTech ports on his roof to plug weapons in.

Transformation

I went into this thinking Soundwave was a shellformer but… turns out transforming him is way more involved than you’d think.

Yes, a lot of the vehicle mode shell is completely uninvolved but a surprising amount of car bits are used in robot mode. The leg transformation in particular surprised me.

Robot mode

Soundwave is looking pretty great… at first glance. Then you notice the excessive amount of kibble he has on his back. Like seriously, they couldn’t have put at least one extra joint in there?

Another problem with Soundwave is the lack of paint. I mentioned it in the vehicle mode section but couldn’t they have afford to add a little more colour to him? At least his head is looking pretty with all that shiny silver paint.

Soundwave has decent posability… but it’s hampered by his backpack kibble. His head rotates 360°. His shoulders are ball-jointed. He has bicep swivels and double-jointed elbows. He has a ball-joint as his second elbow joint. His arms can move in and out at the wrist. He has ball-jointed hips, thigh swivels as well as bending knees. His feet can fold up.

Gimmicks

He’s a DOTM Deluxe so he’s gotta have a MechTech gun! Honestly, Soundwave has the best and most interesting of all the DOTM MechTech weapons in my opinion.

Both of the weapon modes are great and they’re distinct from each other since the gun transforms quite a bit between modes. The weapon turns into a hefty looking alien blaster into a satellite dish. A really big and unsubtle satellite dish.

Oh right, Soundwave has light piping in his eyes. It’s clear plastic that’s painted over in red and works beautifully.

Toy or collectible?

Strictly collectible.

Soundwave is a very hard to get figure and normally costs a bomb. I’m not sure if he’s gonna get cheaper because of the release of the Studio Series DOTM Soundwave but he’s still expensive right now. It’s kind of a shame since Soundwave is a pretty fun, if flawed, Deluxe Transformer.

If you’re going to get him to play with, please get him loose like me. New, MISB Soundwaves are so rare these days that it seems like such a waste to buy one new to open and play with.

Closing

It’s a very, very mixed bag here and that makes it hard to really give Soundwave a solid recommendation here. He’s a decent Transformer that happens to be very rare. You should only cough up the money to buy him if you’re a hardcore Soundwave or Movieverse fan.