Soundwave returns from Prime, this time with a COMPLETELY different look-- well, 95% different. We'll talk more about that later. For now, let's focus on Soundwave's alt mode, which is a now a military truck-SUV kinda thing. He's also rather large-looking for Warrior-class toy in this mode, since due to his transformation so much of his interior is hollow here. The front looks big, beefy, and armored, being very wide with large wheel covers. On the front bumper are some details a LOT like G1 Soundwave's tape deck details, but more stylized and angular. The wheels on Soundwave have some neat treaded details on them, and are fairly unique, being transparent red with a black center. Some people have said they look too "toy-ish", but I think they look pretty cool, almost like TRON wheels. Unfortunately Soundwave's cockpit & windows are WAY too small proportionally, even taking into account stylization. It just looks laughably small, surrounded by so much bulk on every side. The back half has some decent side details, with large wheel covers again above his rear wheels, but unfortunately there's two BIG extras here-- his robot lower arms. I'm mean, they're just THERE. The fists don't even flip in to hide or anything. They stick out and are so blatant they almost ruin the mode, quite frankly. The back middle portion is formed from Soundwave's robot legs, which is good enough except for the fact there's a noticeable gap in between them for some of the top. There isn't really a back end, it mostly just being Soundwave's folded-down feet, which have some vent-like details molded into them but nothing that looks like any kind of exhaust port. It has a turret (which resembles G1 Soundwave's shoulder cannon in a totally-not-coincidence) and you can plug the turret into four different points; either just to the right or left of the cockpit, or a bit more to the back and right/left of the cockpit, on one of the holes sticking out of his arms. The turret can rotate in place, or look "up" or "down" a little as well. For mold detailing, Soundwave has some ridges on the top, as well as some small headlights on the size and the aforementioned treaded details on his wheels, but other than that and some stylized bits on the parts that become his robot lower arms and legs he's surprisingly bereft of mold detailing, even for a RID2015 toy. I think he needed some more detailing here, given what kind of vehicle he is. Given this toy's more G1-centric vibe, Soundwave is now mostly a dark, dull blue. There's a fair amount of dark dull milky gray here, which is dark enough where it doesn't look bland, but also isn't light enough to really contrast against the dark blue much. The transparent red used on the wheels and cockpit windows is a nice shade, though again, it could stand to be a few shades lighter for better contrast. There's a little black on his wheel hubs and the front bumper, and just a titch of a really nice shade of metallic purple on his headlights-- I really wish such a nice color was used elsewhere on him. There's also some rather plain red on the middle of his lower arms, and some dull yellow surrounding his black bumper details. The yellow, despite being dull, pops quite a bit against both the black and the dark blue, so I quite like it. Finally, there's a metallic shade of dark blue used for his turret and some details on the pieces that become his lower legs in this mode-- it's a really nice shade, but is one of those "different but not different ENOUGH" shades when compared to his dark blue plastic. Like, why do just some parts look metallic when so much of him doesn't? They stick out a bit because of this.
    For his transformation, in general terms Soundwave's back section folds down, separates, and turns around to form his legs; the sides fold forward and fragment apart to become his arms and shoulders; and his head flips up and then his cockpit accordions in behind his front bumper to form his chest. Then you add his turret to either side of his head, and you're done. It's slightly more complicated than most RID2015 warriors, but still not what I would call complex. Anyways, the end result is definitely a very buff, stylized Soundwave, though some remnants of his Prime version still exist. The most obvious is his head, which is basically unchanged from Prime-- and it looks WEIRD on this toy, having such a slim, faceless head on such a bulky body. They really should have updated that a bit. He also has a few pointy bits that hearken back to his Prime version, like the points on his shoulders and kneecaps. Otherwise it's mostly a stylized G1 Soundwave design with a vehicle alt mode. He's got the familiar "cassette deck" stylized details on his chest, though sadly it cannot open nor does he have Laserbeak. His front wheels make for nice, bulky shoulders, with some covers on the side and front so they don't look like JUST wheels. Of course, his arms you've already seen thanks to his vehicle mode, though now they actually fit with the mode. The finger-claws are a nice "in-between" when comparing Prime Soundwave's hands to G1 Soundwave's hands. There are small panels that hang off the upper shoulders and lower arms that I would consider kibble, but they generally stay out of the way and are minor downsides. His legs are pretty straightforward, with a fairly tight waist and bulky lower legs, with the rear wheels giving him some nice stability by giving him some more bulk down there. Because so much of this is visible in vehicle mode, there isn't much new detailing here, minus the Soundwave head which again, is a dead ringer for Prime Soundwave's head in every aspect aside from color (and yes, he does have wonderful light piping because of his face design). He has some basic detailing on his upper legs, with some very tiny detailing on his waist that mimics the "tape player buttons" on his G1 version. Other than that, you've seen everything here. The addition of more dark gray on the appendages does help break up the colors a bit more than in vehicle mode, however. (I don't like that the vents are painted gray on the sides of his head, though-- it looks off for some reason.) He's quite articulated, and can move at the neck, shoulders (at three points), elbows, rotation at the abs (which given his bulging upper chest basically looks like waist rotation), and movement at the hips (at two points) and knees. His ankles can also move back-and-forth, but only slightly.
    RID2015 warrior Soundwave has the best robot mode of his various toys of this design, being quite articulated and proportionate with few downsides. However, his vehicle mode is honestly kinda bad once you get past the front section, with a tiny cockpit and a back end just made up of fairly obvious robot bits. The lack of any sort of Laserbeak or chest-opening is also a downside. If the robot mode and articulation are mostly what you care about, this is the version for you, but in terms of a good "balance" between modes and playability, I'd recommend the Activator version more.
 

Review by Beastbot

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