Robot Paradise (Fanstoys) Acoustic Wave (Soundwave) 

The energon cube is actually cartoon correct, they completely transparent clear when they get created, and pink only when filled

Love Acoustic Wave! I’ll keep Takara but the FT one smokes Takara for me. We all win!

Pink is a full energon cube. Clear is a empty one.

Just putting the word out: for any 2023 runs of Acoustic Wave, his hip connection point may be assembled backwards. I couldn’t get the buttons part of the alt mode to sit flat no matter what. After watching and re-watching multiple review videos (including this one) I realized the piece with two screws that hold his legs together was actually backwards on my 2023 copy. So I took it part, flipped it 180°, and now the buttons panel sits flush in alt mode. It’s a bit of a pain to fix, but I am so much more relieved that it was fixable and now he looks perfect. So I’m just spreading the word. So much for that QC check…

The Vs is going to be very interesting.

I think it's a beautiful representation of Soundwave and I love the way "Frenzy" looks, also like that it's just a bit taller than the MP "Frenzy".

For me, I’ve always wanted my MPs to look how they looked in my imagination as a kid, not how they looked on screen. The Decepticons were bad dudes - dangerous, aggressive, and intimidating, and in my mind, they were always an amalgam of toy and toon, with a little extra spice. The Takara/Hasbro version just does a better job of capturing what’s been in my head since childhood, despite not being a 1:1 translation of either side of the source material. It’s from their Golden Age, and will be tough to dethrone. Kudos to FansToys for cleaning up the back of Alt Mode so effectively, though. A lot of nice touches, but ultimately don’t do quite enough for me to supersede Takara’s effort.

FansToys wasn't sure about it either

From what I can tell the backpack is slightly mis-transformed, which would impact some articulation (waist/leg). Looking at other reviews the bottom part hooks under to give a bit more clearance. I'm only going off other reviews though, not owning.

As much as anyone wants toon or toy or a creative take on these characters companies are going with what sells. Toon sells, it’s what the majority of fans want and will pay for. The business’s of 3rd party, all of them, aren’t following Takara, they’re following the money.

I was all set to pay for AW today, but really Im trying to convince myself I want it... If im brutally honest I prefer the old Takara.

Once again old Takara MPs showing how great they were.

THE REVIEW FROM THE REVIEWER OF THE TOY I BEEN WAITING ON THE MOST

I've purchased this toy and he is on his way. I think the one thing that bothers me the most about how he looks is that they made him super-toon accurate but use metallic gold on the chest. I would have preferred yellow paint.

The gold on the chest should be yellow.

You just saved me $360. Thank you 🙏🏼. And I loved the Happy Gilmore moment.

I still haven’t opened my Takara. So Fans Toys is going in the shelf. Lol

Yeah… It doesn’t look like enough for me to swap my Takara. I want my MPs G1, but not cartoon accurate G1. Gonna pass on this. It look long enough to track down all the Takara MP cassettes too! Oh….and the reason the energon cube wasn’t pink is it was just a casing when it came out of Soundwave’s chest. It didn’t turn pink until it was filled with energy.

I hate the lack of commitment. They went that far down the toon road and gold chromed the chest and silver chromed the buttons. C’mon guys pick a lane and commit!

I dunno, Soundwave is a big character and has a relatively simple transformation, they should have knocked this out of the park but it kinda seems phoned in in parts. Think they should have gone all metallic and ditched the chrome.

Can't wait to get this in-hand - as a Soundwave fan I'm just happy to have both this and MP-13

I didn't see you keeping the Takara coming, but I can't argue with it either. I got lucky enough to find my MP Soundwave at a Toysrus back in the day and it has stood the test of time in my opinion.

Nah, this is without a doubt a step-up from MP-13. It’s not even close.

Nice video.

Great job as always, honest and to the point

Good morning everyone

That shin piece was all like: YEET!!!! Good stuff man.

Usually I'm a cartoon look collector, but man...I don't know on this one. It is weird how they combined styles, seems like they didn't know what to commit to. MP Soundwave looks better, I might keep this one in G1 toy mode just for something different.

Wonder if they going to make the toy color and the black version. I’m keeping my tak with my G1 and this will go with my movie shelf.

My MP soundwave will stay.

So because it’s FT, of course most of us preordered this when announced and I was excited even though it would be a swap out piece. But it wasn’t until you had it side by side with the Takara when I was like “uh oh”… now I’m not so sure it will be swapping at all.

The cubes are clear because they're empty. Gotta get up to that defarious stuff to fill them.

It looks just like that red series Soundwave, it doesn’t feel like an actual transformer

Damn we both got the same QC number

Nice doll

You know, I only just realised that those two weapons stowed in the back replicate 2 AA batteries in a walkman🤦🏻‍♂️

My TT is getting relegated to alt mode, and this is becoming my Soundwave bot mode. TT has always looked like a toy to me, whereas this looks like the character.

Defo dont need to replace my Robot Hero KO

FT is on fire with all those new releases, I'm mostly hyped for their V2 Percy as I've never had an MP perceptor, my only fig of him is Planet X, also that Skullcruncher! oooh!

" "E" for effort" 🤣🤣🤣

Bobby sounds toward this product and Fans Toys the same way a parent sounds when their children does something bad and they are talking to them about it. " I still love you but I'm just very very disappointed in you." Translation.: How can a company I LOVE get out done by a company (Hasbro/Takara) that disappoints me (his words from his 3 dummies video.) with a product that is OVER a decade old?... I will admit that Bobby has always said that MP-02 was a great product and one of the best things Hasbro/Takara has ever made. And it still holds up. I would not be so kind as I think that not only is the MP-02 better but I think the mainline Easthrise Soundwave looks better and instead of dropping big bucks on the Fans Toys wait until someone KO's and I oversized the Earthrise version.

Summary: FansToys is following TakaraTomy’s lead (cartoon aesthetic, increased articulation) but doesn’t quite get it right. About what I’d expect. 😁👍

I like it way better than the Takara one. So much so I actually may end up getting rid of my MP Soundwave.

Look at how clean those clumsy bear paws are! ❤

This seems like a Takara atempt at a Soundwave 2.0

I've been waiting for this one.

Cool review as always. I enjoy both figures for different reasons. I prefer the solidity of the RP, but the old-school approach of the Takara. With my Acoustic Wave, I'm doing a hybrid between the Cartoon and Toy versions and it's the Soundwave I've always wanted. However, I do agree that paint would have been better than the blue plastic.

It looks great and it's a great soundwave. But everytime I look at MP13 it gives me the same vibe, that it's a great soundwave. Don't know if that makes any sense? But man I just really don't think I'd be adding anything to my collection by ditching MP13 for this, more of a side step maybe? It's great for people who were struggling to track down an original Hasbro or Takara MP13 though.

Thanks for the review! The Frenzy can also store his guns in the back of his lower legs in his tape mode, which I quite appreciate. I agree the tape arms are dopey, but they are accurate to the cartoon, and the paint more than makes up for it. A waist swivel on that Frenzy would have been nice though. Oh and the turrent can extend higher than you might have realised 👍 I agree this piece overall is a more literal take, but I think the proportions, materials, and build are still well done so I'm sold on it. Tbh, this piece just makes me want an mp52 trio, but maybe after they're reissued. I find takara often tidies up qc on their reissues.

Fans Toys managed to make Soundwave transformation overly complex. 😐 Idk how they managed it. It's still a good figure tho.

10 bucks that Bobby will do a comparison video to MP13, I am happy with my official Hasbro MP.

MP Soundwave is arguably the best of the OG MPs. He and MP Soundblaster are not going into into storage, no question about it, but I will always find room for a crasamatic fella like Soundwave, especially when he looks this good! Looking forward to getting mine!

For upwards of 300$ I’d expect FT to move the ball further downfield.

Wonder if they weren't proud of the final and that's why they removed the FT name and put it under this other name?

Nice

Disclaimer: I got this boy on the way. I impulse bought him and the tapes when my Takara laserbeak suffered his (seemingly inevitable) breakage. But, now I've seen Acoustic in action... I think I might be keeping both of them. The toy-aesthetic style option and more 'cartoony' proportions have simply made me realize I can justify Acoustic as Marvel Soundwave. Heck, even the backpack and sparkly-blue colour is on-model for certain depictions (weird as that is). Did I NEED a Marvel Soundwave? No. Will I do anything else Marvel? Maybe Shockwave, but a 'ARE ALL DEAD' diorama was always on the cards.

Well I saved myself the buyer remorse. I actually have the KO MP 13 and love him. Plus I have the MMC Rumble and Ravage so these tapes are just lackluster. I'm kinda worried about my pending huffer from FT now...

Think I'll still with my more menacing THF KO of MP13 thanks lol.

Think we will get a premium release with painted blue in 6 months lol

Been spendin' most their lives...

Bobby you’re breaking my heart. I could hear the disappointment in you voice at the start & I thought sh*t I’ve wasted $$ I was one of them on the fence cause I was was happy with mp 13

I'm kind of hoping some of these missteps by FT brings their mystique back down to earth a bit. The crazy amounts of money that have been floating around for these pieces has pretty much turned me off to them all together, especially when there are very serviceable options from other vendors at a far lower price point. My collection is mostly complete at this point, but I have opted to go with x-trans for a bunch of the remaining pieces (Perceptor, Cyclonus, Scourge, etc) rather than scouring the internet and toy shows for anyone willing to sell an FT for a reasonable price.

I think FT went full toon knowing Takara had already done what FT usually does - why do it again when you can fill the role unfilled? I'd consider this an exception to the rule of Fanstoys. I love the full toon with a few flourishes look here myself.

I was looking forward to this review the most, not because of the figure, but more on Bobby. It's been eatablished that he isn't a big fan of the 'hyper toon' aesthetic but at the same time, he also has a preference for FansToys products I'm glad to see that he keeps it consistent, and not just magically becomes a fan of the 'Hyper toon' just because it's a FansToys product.

Energon cubes were white when soundwave produced them and empty. They were pink when they filled them with energon.

MP13 is the best. "Operation competition is over"

Frenzy? Lol Disappointed in the lack of paint. The finger joints make it looks very realistic, I mean that's how my fingers are. Do the old tapes fit in him?

bobby bobby bobby when will you ever give fanstoys a chance????? ;P

We need a FansToys/Robot Paradise G1 Optimus Prime in the works.

I definitely prefer the real world look vs the hyper toon. Which is why I never bought an MP44 or MP 36. I’m currently using MO 10 and Make Toys Megs. However I was never able to get the Original Soundwave, so I got this guy. To make him a bit more interesting looking I’ll probably use a mix of parts.

RIBFIR GANG

Considering they went for a toon look, I’m surprised they didn’t include a 3rd lamppost mode

I'm noticing with the paint with Takara , And Fanstoys flat looking paint is where there going. Examples Tak Hound, Mp52 , Ft Thomas , ft beachcomber and now acoustic wave. I do miss the glossy look of a Sovereign, or Mp 44, and Ft Cyclonus . those figures pop so much, and a big reason is the paint job on them.

I figured you would have a tough time liking this one as it’s look is way more simple than the takara. This one is to the toon all the way and loses what ft had going for it vs what takara does now.

Wish I could get that Ratbat stand, any chance your friend could upload it to Shapeways?

Sorry, but I think people are wearing some serious nostalgia goggles if they think MP-13 is better. It was amazing for what it was and for the time it was released, but third party figures and figures in general have come a long way since then and MP-13 hasn't aged that well aesthetically Imo. AW's animation accurate proportions and better articulation just blow MP-13 out of the water as far as I'm concerned

8:55 bless you Bobby. Takara is still holding up for me but FT does look great, I would put slime like we use to get from the quarter machines at the supermarket in that Energon cube.

Typical Bobby, Fanstoys fanboy, to the forums to complain!!! J/K. Yeah I am very torn about this purchase. Takara's MP is very good. I'll be switching out, mainly cause I already bought it. But i am definitely conflicted.

Have you heard if FT will be releasing a black version of this product?

Takara just doesn't do it for me so I never picked it up, can't wait to get acoustic in hand 🤩

I dont think it's enough of an improvement over its takara predecessor. I'm sure takara at somepoint will come out with their own toon acurate sound wave I'll just wait for that one. Meanwhile glad I cancelled my Acoustic Wave PO. Thanks for the review 👍

As cartoon accurate it blows the Takara Soundwave away, and cartoon accurate is what I look for and want. I never liked the way the OG toys didn't look very accurate to the cartoon most times when I was little, and I still don't now. So I'm all for the Cartoon accurate figures and hope they keep them coming.

TY BSF. Any links on where to buy this piece?

Mine is on the way!

This is a very well made and nice looking figure. I still think Takara should've stuck to the blended aesthetic and not gone for near-total cartoon accuracy. For everyone wanting that total toon look, though.. I don't think you could ask for much better than this. And yeah, it IS pretty crazy that Takara and Fanstoys have switched places with regard to design aesthetics. Thank you Bobby for the excellent review.

Would like to point out that the cube doesn't actually need to be pink. Soundwave only made the energon container cubes, which were colorless. They only turned pink once they were filled with energon, because the energon itself was pink.

I love the fact that Bobby is a Family man while doing these reviews.

they went with white instead of silver. fantastic 😐 they shoulda used the metallic blue from Sovereign M

Thanks for showing off that Ratbat upgrade peice. I'll be making some for my copy of acoustic wave when I get it in hand.

Hmmm. I vastly prefer the Takara in looks but I will still be getting this as I’m a Soundwave collector. If I had to get rid of my transformers collection I would still keep my Soundwave figures. However this isn’t the Ultimate representation I wanted. The Takara still feels like that. I guess I will just wait too see how it grows on me

I wonder if I was wrong passing on him. Haven’t watched the review yet but looking forward to your thoughts

I'm back on an old video to anybody tht may see this. The blue is indeed painted. I thought not but found out otherwise when I scratched the absolute shit out of mine tonight. It's white plastic underneath. & PS the OG Hastak is still better. Tell me the Hastak don't look like an athlete. Come on.. he's the Brad Pitt of robots.

Alt mode looks strange. Too thick and the tape door is too small. One thing I expect from any MP is to nail the alt mode.

Nice. Review. Yeah seeing how hollow frenzy is for that they are charging for the other tapes just tells me the MMC are still better. Figure looks good. Can’t wait to get him in hand, we shall see. Love the subjective and objective review, gives a lot to think about.

You need both, one for bot mode, one for tape deck/Walkman mode.

I personally agree with you and I like the Takara better and thank you for being honest with your opinion. One day Fans Toys will stop paying you off for all the hype you give them.... jokes aside. I think we need a "It's Onry" T shirt with a picture of detective hound somewhere.

Wow! Side by side… no contest for me… Takara all day

Can he do the lamp post mode?

I was thinking of getting the box of cassette tape figures, but that Frenzy! All those hollow limbs just bug me! I’m going to have to wait and see before I make a decision one way or the other.

So is fans toys now robot paradise or is that just a new line for fans toys?