Soundwave's alternate mode on Cybertron is a boxy van-thing with huge evil teeth in the front. Despite not having many overt "musical" elements to its design, this alt mode fits Soundwave surprisingly well-- the general lack of aerodynamic features works well, and the "cassette door" on the front that sorta doubles as a window is nice, too. The mold detailing also helps, with the wheels looking a bit like speakers. Of course, there's plenty unique about this Soundwave-- even though it's a new look for him, I LOVE the "teeth" on the front of the mode, as they really help to give his alt mode a bit more of a stand-out look and originality beyond "Random Cybertron Van Thingy". The proportions are generally pretty good (though the wheels are a little small). There's no OVERT robot mode extras, but the backside just kinda... ends, with no real rear bumper, just some detailing that's mostly used for the robot mode legs. The mold detailing on him is very futuristic and smooth-looking, almost at odds with his silohuette, but in a good way in terms of contrast. The color scheme is classic Soundwave-- the dark blue and gray aren't the most exciting in the world, but they go together well enough. The silver and gold serve as decent secondary colors, along with the light purple added to some parts to help give him the same general "glowing lights" look that the other War for Cybertron toys have. However, that said, Soundwave is in DESPERATE need of more paint apps in this mode-- particularly on the huge undetailed block of dark blue that makes up the core of this mode. It's just ugly and begs for some window detailing, or perhaps some light purple highlights-- ANYTHING. The mode looks almost prototypish the way it is, with so many major details unpainted.
    In robot mode, due to the increased color breakup Soundwave thankfully doesn't have the paint apps problem he has in vehicle mode (though a very spots could still use some more detailing, like his legs and/or waist). My chief problem with this mode is that Soundwave's proportions are too skinny compared to his War for Cybertron model. Granted, some of those in-game models are unrealistic beefy in that they couldn't possibly work as a real toy, but the other War for Cybertron figures (particularly Megatron) managed to get remarkably close-- not so with Soundwave. His arms and chest in particular are too skinny here. His shoulder pads, though a nice aesthetic touch to his robot mode, are also noticeably smaller on the toy, too. He also has some really obvious, obnoxious vehicle mode extras in this mode-- namely, the front wheels and two of the "teeth" of his front bumper just hang behind his main body, just.. out there. They don't lock into any position either, and can interfere with arm movement, too. Ick. On a lesser note, Soundwave's fists also don't "come out" of his forearms quite enough to really be distinctive as seperate pieces, in my opinion. There's still plenty of cool things about this mode, however-- Soundwave's headsculpt is spot-on, for one, and the "teeth" on his stomach is a pretty cool feature. His chest "cassette chamber" can also fold out and let you slide out his shoulder cannon and gun, too, which is a pretty nice addition. Soundwave's articulation is also quite good-- he can move at the neck, shoulders (at two points), elbows (at two points), wrists, hips (at two points), knees, and ankles (at two points). Given that he has fairly large, stable feet and isn't back-heavy or anything, that means you can get some pretty cool poses out of him.
    Cybertronian Soundwave is one of the weaker War for Cybertron molds, in that both of his modes have rather major problems. In vehicle mode, it's the lack of paint; in robot mode, it's the proportions and extra bits hanging off his back. Neither are toy-breaking, and he does have some nifty features, but those downsides are a bit hard to overlook. And-- though this'll always show how late I've reviewed this toy-- there's a Voyager class version of the mold too that looks better overall and can deploy minions to boot. Given that, there's really no reason to get this version of War for Cybertron Soundwave unless you're a completist for the character.

Review by Beastbot

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