Tribute to Soundwave - Soundwave Toys

Soundwave Toys

Through the years, Soundwave has been represented in toy form a number of times, with a greater or lesser degree of accuracy. For the most part only the earlier toys are significant, because later incarnations consisted simply of the name thoughtlessly slapped onto an utterly unsuitable form, which cannot in any possible way be considered a toy-incarnation of Soundwave. Such items include the eye-searing dayglo-yellow G2 Go-bot abomination, the entirely ludicrous notion of a Laser Cycle which was almost produced (but thankfully scrapped at the last moment), and the pathetic Machine Wars repaint which by its colors alone cannot count as an acceptable representation of Soundwave. Such toys won't even be considered here, as they're not worthy of inclusion. What we're left with is the original toy, the Japanese Soundblaster toy, the Action Master, a couple of Japanese "Junior" figures, the Takara re-release, and the odd knock-off curiosity or precursor. The one that started it all ... the original Soundwave toy. His copyright dates read 1973 and 1983, the earlier one referring to an older toy line from which the molds to the Transformers were taken. According to the image out of the instruction book, the toy had a small Decepticon symbol on his chest when he was first released, but this was quickly changed to a heat-sensitive rub symbol when other toy companies began to cash in on the success of the Transformers by turning out cheap rip-off clones. The rub symbol was meant to confirm the authenticity of a genuine Transformer. Needless to say, the image that appears on Soundwave's rub symbol is the Decepticon emblem ... however, an amusing (or offensive?) blunder was made on some of the Canadian packaging, where Soundwave's allegiance was mistakenly listed as "Autobot". In the American Hasbro catalogs, this original toy was numbered 24, while in the Japanese catalogs he was listed as number 17. In either case, he was part of the group of initially-released figures that kicked off the mass-market cultural phenomenon of the Transformers. Below is a pic of the original box as released in the U.S.: A special treat - here is a toy commercial featuring Soundwave, dating from the whereabouts of 1985. Unfortunately we have to put up with Blaster and Prime too, but I suppose Soundwave & Co. need someone to defeat: And another cool find: Check out Soundwave's original U.S. Patent File (off-site). There are 5 pages total, and it's quite an interesting document, showing sketches of the toy from every angle.
	Of special note: Here is the sticker map of Soundwave's decals, as provided by ReproLabels. If you have lost or worn away your Soundwave toys's stickers over the years, you will find an absolutely perfect replacement set at ReproLabels. These are professional-quality and accurate to the smallest detail, pre-cut and ready to be applied. Specifically Soundwave's sticker order page is here.
Soundwave, as packaged in most countries, came with Buzzsaw (except for the Japanese version, see below) - perhaps another indication of the character's nature in that he's always relating to someone, rather than being presented alone. This European version, which featured all packaging text in four languages, came with an interesting Buzzsaw variant - the design on the underside of the cassette and wings was painted rather than formed by stickers. And here's that Japanese version. As you can see, he came with Frenzy rather than Buzzsaw - as well as with headphones and a microphone, perhaps to further play upon the concept of "Robots in Disguise." A Soundwave and Grimlock boxed set from Japan, a picture I cribbed from Ebay, showing a rather ratty box that's missing some pieces. If you look close, you can see that this Soundwave comes with Rumble. Can't tell the date on this one, though it surely came out when the other "vs" sets did in the mid-to-late 80's. I have a hard time thinking of this pair as "Soundwave vs Grimlock," however; check out the TFDD Mush log War of the Dinobots to see why. Soundblaster, from Japan. Essentially the same as the original Soundwave, except now in black. While blue, and not black, really is Soundwave's color, one must admit that the toy does look impressive in that shade. Also changed is the chest compartment, enlarged so he could hold the later, slightly larger cassettes (from Ratbat onward) who were just the tiniest bit too big to fit into the original Soundwave. More than that, he can now hold two tapes! Although the copyright date on the toy remains unchanged (1983), the paperwork is marked 1987. This coincides with the run of the Japanese Headmaster series in which the character appeared. According to the story, Soundwave and Blaster at one point practically kill one another. While the Autobots were moping around over Blaster's "death," Soundwave's tapes actively set about rebuilding him. Thus repaired and re-colored, he was also slightly re-named. Like the original, the toy came with Buzzsaw, who shows some very minor sticker variations from the original. By this time the Japanese had started labeling the toys "C" (for "Cybertron"=Autobots) and "D" (for "Destron"=Decepticons), and so Soundblaster's number was D-101. The pictured trading card came with the toy.
	The Action Master, ©1989 - arguably the best of the Soundwave toys. If one compares them, really none of the toys look a great deal like the cartoon, but this one comes closest, despite missing the shoulder cannon and still having the wrong head. His lack of transformation ability is therefore a small price to pay. Additionally the Action Masters were wonderfully poseable, and of just the right scale that they could be used with the vehicles and equipment from most of the other 3 3/4" figures that were available at the time. (Please note that Action-Master-bashing will not be tolerated in the Serpent's Lair!) The image shown, from the back of the card, has some slight differences from the actual toy. The red button on the waist is silver on the toy, and the silver knees on the picture are blue on the toy. The toy has a Decepticon symbol on his chest, while the image shows none.
Action Master Soundwave too came with a companion, Wingthing - who is just dragon-like enough to perhaps represent Chasm.
Soundwave was re-released by Takara in 2003, in a version nearly identical to the original toy. There are some minor mold changes: the silver buttons on his waist are made of one solid piece now, rather than three individual parts, and I'm told the chest compartment is neither the original Soundwave's (holds only one tape) nor Soundblaster's (holds two tapes), but an intermediate between the two. There's a Decepticon symbol sticker on his chest instead of a rub sign, and he comes with Laserbeak this time, rather than Buzzsaw. It's great to have the original toy out there again, though Soundwave really drew the short straw when it came to packaging. Unlike Megatron and Starscream, he doesn't come with any extra goodies, and is packed in the most hideous box I've ever seen - slathered inside and out with typically nausea-inducing Dreamwave art. It's true that the original Soundwave box art wasn't the most flattering portrait of the character, but Dreamwave has managed to take box art to an infinitely new low. I selected the picture at right because the box is mercifully hidden for the most part, and you can see only the important stuff.
And now for something super-cool: Clear Soundwave! Made at the time of the Soundwave re-issue from the same mold, the clear toys were probably test-shots, commonly referred to in the fandom as "lunchtime specials." The assumption is that some fan or collector working at Takara commandeered the factory machinery while no one was looking, to churn out a few extra-special figures. Whether or not this is the case, they were certainly not meant for public consumption. They were not true prototypes, nor were they made as contest prizes the way some other recolors were, so their ultimate purpose remains a mystery. In addition to Soundwave, several other clear toys became available to collectors around 2003, including Starscream and a scattering of Autobots. They were packaged in the same boxes as the normally-colored re-issue toys. While they are not entirely one-of-a-kind items, there almost certainly exist less than 10 of each. I'm fortunate to count this one among my prized possessions: Soundwave Junior and Soundblaster Junior from Japan, ©1986. The Junior figures were smaller, less complex versions of many of the popular characters. The early ones were particularly well-made, of metal and sturdy plastic, and surprisingly detailed for their size. Amazingly enough, they transform almost exactly the same as the original toys. On the Soundwave and Soundblaster figures, the chest compartment opens, and they even have a removable hatch on their backs to store their weapons (or batteries, in that form), just like the full-sized toy. And look closely - even the Juniors come with a tape! It's just a rectangle of plastic with a sticker, not a fully-transformable toy, but according to the colors it's undoubtedly meant to symbolize Frenzy or Laserbeak. While the Soundblaster character didn't exist until 1987, the Soundblaster Junior figure is likewise copyrighted 1986. "Cassette Man," one of several fly-by-night precursors to the actual Soundwave toy. This one was made in Taiwan by Vidal Distributing Corp. Despite much searching, I have been unable to find a copyright date on the toy, the package, or anything that came with it, but I'm assuming it to be early 80's, perhaps even overlapping with the release of the real Transformer toys. The blue color is a little different from Soundwave's, and there are some minor mold changes (the "Cassette Man" lettering on the tape compartment), but otherwise he comes with everything that Soundwave had. Rather than Buzzsaw, this one comes with a virtually perfect copy of Ravage, though it's clear from the package that some of these toys also came with a Rumble-equivalent, or Buzzsaw/Laserbeak copy. There is also a headphone and microphone included, with a blurb on the back of the box: "This product is not a real head phone stereo. Therefore it can not be used to play or record any music." And now for the really bizarre stuff: Two very cheaply-made all-plastic Soundwave knock-offs in some interesting colors. I can find no copyright dates on either one of them. Pictures are not to scale - both toys are in fact the same size, the size of the genuine Soundwave (though the real toy is heavier due to metal parts), but I wanted to show the packaging of the red one. Toy is labeled "TransMaster," with box art and transformation instructions ripped straight from the original version. There's no shoulder cannon or handgun, and no hole in the shoulder to hold a shoulder cannon, but he does come with a sword and a Soundwave missile re-styled so it can be held by the toy. Presumably the yellow one also came with these accessories at one time. You'll notice the yellow toy has stickers which the red one does not. As far as I can tell, there's no sticker sheet in the bubble with the red toy. A previous owner may have applied a spare set of Soundwave stickers to the yellow toy, or the red one is simply missing them as an oversight. The tape compartment opens to reveal a non-transforming cassette, honorably marked with the Decepticon symbol. Soundwave Junior wasn't spared his copycats either; here you can see a high-quality Junior clone from Taiwan, very true to the original (including metal parts) except for the colors. He's even named "Sound Wave," and claims "I am Destron's intelligence staff." On the back of the box, one can read about his "Capacity" : "The impulse sound of its computer can be heard. It knows the counterpart's intention. And it is with a gun." Among other amusingly-translated text. As with the recolored toy clones, I can find no copyright date on this item. The PVC, World's Smallest, MyClone, and similar figures could arguably go in this section - but since I include these on my Artifacts List, you will find them among the Soundwave Artifacts.

With thanks to Ray Miller for pointing me to the Soundwave toy patent file.