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I think I mentioned Octus on this thread before, but yeah, it would be great to have one.

And speaking of Masterpiece figures: I'd love to see a MP Doubledealer and a MP Punch/Counterpunch.

Noshrok Grimskull wrote:I think I mentioned Octus on this thread before, but yeah, it would be great to have one.

And speaking of Masterpiece figures: I'd love to see a MP Doubledealer and a MP Punch/Counterpunch.

Hell yeah! I want a MP Doubledealer. Unfortunately, this is REALLY a obscure character that will NEVER have the honnow of such a treatment. I would be satisfied with just a Voyager update. Heck, just a triple changer without the locking gimmick nor the engines would do.

By the way...
All I need is that U shaped peice to complete mine. Anyone have a spare at a price that is not stupidly scalpily expensive?

AdamFett wrote:Updated Deluxe Soundwave. Like a figure paying direct homage to G1, but completely modernized.

The problem with a modern Soundwave is that pretty much all audio processing functions can now be done on a chip, meaning that the outer shell of an audio device can be made to look like anything - there's no form-follows-function any more. Sure, there's still identifiable audio equipment such as headphones and speaker stacks, but they're not signal sources.

Not to mention that the Cassetticons have an even worse problem. Audio today is mostly medialess. People swap music files on generic data media instead of having physical items which are specifically associated with music storage. The CD was the last mass generic format of any note, and it doesn't really lend itself to toyetic transformations.

Soundwave has the problem that he has several established aspects. His altmode is associated with audio, it's nonmobile, compact, and something humans might pick up, carry around, and generally overlook. It carries the altmodes of the Cassetticons internally, in a format which again is expected by humans.

There just isn't anything on the market at the moment which is sufficiently widespread enough to be able to hit all these targets. Sure, you could make a Soundwave who was a comms van, or a hypersonic tank, or a satellite or spy plane, but there's no way Hasbro would release any of those in Masterpiece format, because they're not G1 enough. In fact, only a 1980s walkman-format microcassette recorder would work for any toy aimed at the high-end collectors, and even then they'd lose the more recent market. There are still trucks and guns and planes and sports cars around even now, but Soundwave's classic altmode is irreversibly associated with the 80s.

Honestly, the closest match today would be a smartphone - but there just isn't a single iconic smartphone 'look', and the external details change from year to year so often that you couldn't even make him something like this year's iPhone, because he'd look old in six to twelve months, let alone another 25 years. Likewise, signal processing equipment of any kind is all about the microchips and internal circuitry - their external appearance is solely the demesne of the marketing department and is not linked to their inherent abilities.

It's the same reason you don't get mainstream Transformers which turn into computers (Device Label editions not being mainstream, and Real Gear being a short-lived movie tie-in line). The external appearances of real-world equipment simply change too rapidly. Plus, of course, most electronics gear these days is solid-state, meaning little in the way of action features.

Finally, Transformers' altmodes tend towards the category of "cool things that kids don't generally get to use". There's no point in making a Transformer which turns into this year's games console if a kid already has that console - they may as well just play with the real thing. Making a Soundwave which turns into something kids use every day (smartphone, computer, tablet, games console) fails to engage the imagination - kids who get such a toy wouldn't need to imagine themselves playing with the real thing if they already have it.

You made valid points about Soudwave classic form being forever stuck in the 1980's. I personally have no problems with that.

However, you partially right at the last part of your leignhty post. Little kids LOVE to play pretend. Sure, they dont need a fake something they already have, but they will play pretend with a fake something that is easely accessible in their house. Tools and kitchenware being the best examples. Jeez, I saw a 200$ "fake place to cook food" for sale at TrU so a little girl (sorry feminists, dont deny the female nature) would pretend to cook. Instead of paying such a toy, I would have my kid help me out in the place to cook food instead for a better learning experience... still, this would turn playtime into worktime and the kid cannot make it's "crayon and turkey cake". So yeah, they love to have fake things to pretend anything. That's why the real G1 Soundwave was so great. At the time, nobody left 1000$ walkmans and cassette players in the hands of little kids. So they played pretend. Plus, it was even better because it change into a bitchin' robot!

Now, little kids can even play with I-Phones because they are cheap devices with a very boring basic shape.

So, here's my suggestion for a modernised Soundwave:.......................................................blank.........................................okay I have no idea but the cassetrons are basically spies so they can have a "Real Gear" line redux just for them. Would Hasbro make that? We never know...

To continue with a modernised Soundwave, a Classics Soundwave has been planned, as a mini-van. If you're thinking too far-fetched, not quite, as Soundwave is associated with music, and many rock bands use such mini-vans, especially the highly customizable Scions. Look at Animated Soundwave for instance. What I would add though is flip-out spy gear on the roof.

As for his minions, I haven't got the faintest idea. Movie Booster X-10 made a great Laserbeak. though

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:As for his minions, I haven't got the faintest idea. Movie Booster X-10 made a great Laserbeak. though

In TF Prime, Lazerbeak is just part of Soundwave's body. That's a very interesting concept.

So why not have a TF-Prime style Soundwave (transform into a spydrone) that is leader size, with 6 parts of his body that hide minions? The Chest hide Laserbeak, left arm hide Rumble, right arm hide Frenzy, right leg hide Ravage, left leg hide Rat-Bat, and the crotch hide a Tentacle Monster!

-Kanrabat- wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:As for his minions, I haven't got the faintest idea. Movie Booster X-10 made a great Laserbeak. though

In TF Prime, Lazerbeak is just part of Soundwave's body. That's a very interesting concept.

So why not have a TF-Prime style Soundwave (transform into a spydrone) that is leader size, with 6 parts of his body that hide minions? The Chest hide Laserbeak, left arm hide Rumble, right arm hide Frenzy, right leg hide Ravage, left leg hide Rat-Bat, and the crotch hide a Tentacle Monster!

That would be amazing!

-Kanrabat- wrote:and the crotch hide a Tentacle Monster!

That just screams "instant hit"

Arctorro wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:and the crotch hide a Tentacle Monster!

That just screams "instant hit"

Put me down for two!

Breakdown 2099 wrote:

Arctorro wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:and the crotch hide a Tentacle Monster!

That just screams "instant hit"

Put me down for two!

They could play "Tentacle Monster" together.

Did I just say that?