The Energon Pub

[SentinelA]

I was showing someone my collection of Soundwaves and telling them that I don't have Encore Soundwave or 25th Anniversary Soundwave. So I was wondering. Is there any difference between Encore Soundwave and TFCC Soundwave? Also is there any difference between 25th Anniversary Soundwave and the aforementioned Soundwaves?

[shonenfan4]

I think the reissue (US version) used the Soundblaster mold, thus it can hold 2 tapes, while the 25th Anniversary used the old Soundwave mold but came with 4 tapes.

[fenrir72]

Correction shonen

TFC Soundwave,TFC Soundblaster,Universe Soundwave,Encore Soundwave and TFCC Soundwave all come from the Soundblaster mold. I initially thought the same about the TFCC based on the pictures of the box but that is technically a fib from Hasbro photoshop samples.

Here are the differences:

TFC and Universe: The latter has a double capacity chest chamber but with no functional firing parts.

Encore and TFCC: the latter has the labels applied and no firing parts plus the chrome on the "buttons" are dirty.

And of course the latter has 3 more tapes.

[Seibertron]

Correction shonen

TFC Soundwave,TFC Soundblaster,Universe Soundwave,Encore Soundwave and TFCC Soundwave all come from the Soundblaster mold. I initially thought the same about the TFCC based on the pictures of the box but that is technically a fib from Hasbro photoshop samples.

Here are the differences:

TFC and Universe: The latter has a double capacity chest chamber but with no functional firing parts.

Encore and TFCC: the latter has the labels applied and no firing parts plus the chrome on the "buttons" are dirty.

And of course the latter has 3 more tapes.

Correction fenrir72:

TFC Soundwave uses the Japanese version of the G1 Soundwave mold. Can only hold 1 cassette.

TFC Soundblaster uses the Soundblaster mold. Can hold 2 cassettes.

Encore Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold.

TFCC (I'm assuming this is an abbreviation for the first Classics packaged reissue Soundwave from 2007) uses the Soundblaster mold. 2 cassettes.

SDCC Universe packaged Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold, but comes with 4 cassettes.

[Dead Metal]

Correction shonen

TFC Soundwave,TFC Soundblaster,Universe Soundwave,Encore Soundwave and TFCC Soundwave all come from the Soundblaster mold. I initially thought the same about the TFCC based on the pictures of the box but that is technically a fib from Hasbro photoshop samples.

Here are the differences:

TFC and Universe: The latter has a double capacity chest chamber but with no functional firing parts.

Encore and TFCC: the latter has the labels applied and no firing parts plus the chrome on the "buttons" are dirty.

And of course the latter has 3 more tapes.

Correction fenrir72:

TFC Soundwave uses the Japanese version of the G1 Soundwave mold. Can only hold 1 cassette.

TFC Soundblaster uses the Soundblaster mold. Can hold 2 cassettes.

Encore Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold.

TFCC (I'm assuming this is an abbreviation for the first Classics packaged reissue Soundwave from 2007) uses the Soundblaster mold. 2 cassettes.

SDCC Universe packaged Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold, but comes with 4 cassettes.

Have to correct that, all those Soundwaves use the same mold, just the SDCC and Encore have a special single tape chest to let it look closer to the original mold but still feature the two tape mold buttons.

[Counterpunch]

Correction shonen

TFC Soundwave,TFC Soundblaster,Universe Soundwave,Encore Soundwave and TFCC Soundwave all come from the Soundblaster mold. I initially thought the same about the TFCC based on the pictures of the box but that is technically a fib from Hasbro photoshop samples.

Here are the differences:

TFC and Universe: The latter has a double capacity chest chamber but with no functional firing parts.

Encore and TFCC: the latter has the labels applied and no firing parts plus the chrome on the "buttons" are dirty.

And of course the latter has 3 more tapes.

Correction fenrir72:

TFC Soundwave uses the Japanese version of the G1 Soundwave mold. Can only hold 1 cassette.

TFC Soundblaster uses the Soundblaster mold. Can hold 2 cassettes.

Encore Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold.

TFCC (I'm assuming this is an abbreviation for the first Classics packaged reissue Soundwave from 2007) uses the Soundblaster mold. 2 cassettes.

SDCC Universe packaged Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold, but comes with 4 cassettes.

Have to correct that, all those Soundwaves use the same mold, just the SDCC and Encore have a special single tape chest to let it look closer to the original mold but still feature the two tape mold buttons.

I don't think that's correct.

Seibertron is providing the best information on this.

It's common myth that the TFC bookstyle reissue used Soundblaster's mold, but he didn't. Soundwave had a few running changes to his Japanese release.

[fenrir72]

TFC is from the Soundblaster mold. Check the face molding.
It had a single chest cavity capacity, plus the "buttons" are different from the 1984 version with functional weapons.

TFC Soundblaster well, black with double chest capacity same as the TFC with functional weapons.

Universe Soundwave is technically TFC Soundblaster in Soundwave colors + non firing weapons.

Encore is also Soundblaster/Universe mold but with single chest cavity capacity + firing weapons

SDCC Soundwave is again Soundblaster mold like Encore, single cavity capacity + 4 cassettes and non firing weapons + labels already applied. The pics Hasbro put forward is not accurate. The box pics of the head is not the head used on the actual toy. I stand by my statement.

This is the face of my G1 Soundwave;



This one is the Cassetteman preTF:

http://www.microforever.com/MC10cassetteman.htm

Comparison with the 1980's Soundwave and Soundblaster

http://www.geocities.com/futuristgroup/sbwave3.JPG

Compare with Seibertrons own pics:

http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/ ... e/21/1/43/

another head closeup of TFC

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9819697@N03/3542898147

There is a subtle alteration in the mouth guard.

[Seibertron]

Correction shonen

TFC Soundwave,TFC Soundblaster,Universe Soundwave,Encore Soundwave and TFCC Soundwave all come from the Soundblaster mold. I initially thought the same about the TFCC based on the pictures of the box but that is technically a fib from Hasbro photoshop samples.

Here are the differences:

TFC and Universe: The latter has a double capacity chest chamber but with no functional firing parts.

Encore and TFCC: the latter has the labels applied and no firing parts plus the chrome on the "buttons" are dirty.

And of course the latter has 3 more tapes.

Correction fenrir72:

TFC Soundwave uses the Japanese version of the G1 Soundwave mold. Can only hold 1 cassette.

TFC Soundblaster uses the Soundblaster mold. Can hold 2 cassettes.

Encore Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold.

TFCC (I'm assuming this is an abbreviation for the first Classics packaged reissue Soundwave from 2007) uses the Soundblaster mold. 2 cassettes.

SDCC Universe packaged Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold, but comes with 4 cassettes.

Have to correct that, all those Soundwaves use the same mold, just the SDCC and Encore have a special single tape chest to let it look closer to the original mold but still feature the two tape mold buttons.

Huh?

[Seibertron]

TFC Soundwave



TFC Soundblaster



TF Classics Soundwave



SDCC Universe Soundwave

[Seibertron]

I imagine that SentinelA was most likely inquiring about the 1 cassette or 2 cassette difference. There is such a vast array of variants with the Soundwave / Soundblast mold(s) that I highly doubt SentinelA was asking for a break down of every single version's variations. There are also so many variations (even with the original G1 Soundwave from the 80s) that I doubt the average collector even cares.

http://www.geocities.com/futuristgroup/vdecep.html

Soundwave: The variations!

Yes! he's different. Several variations, actually. There are two main variants; early-release has a solid fist, while the later one has a slotted fist(wrist). There's also a tape door variation, where the chrome trim is silver-gold on one, and pure gold on the other.

There are several different manufacturer-stampings on the back of the unit; this is a good way to trace the transitional mold-changes on the unit(for more information, see the stampings section). It also helps us trace a certain problem; Specifically, a few Soundwaves have turned up where the stamping is on the outside of the battery cover, versus inside the unit itself. It screws things up considerably, because it means you can partswap and make a soundwave without any copyright stamping at all

Takara-only stamping Takara (with dates) Hasbro/Takara stamping NO stamping (it was on the battery cover:-) battery covers, both types

Getting back to the two main versions....There are slight mold variations between the two basic units, so they are not interchangeable. They have different tolerances on the depth of the chest, and the width of the leg gap where it would clip to the chest(one is thicker). This also affects the tolerances inside the unit, so the front of the chest (which one would swap with the cassette door intact since it's such a pain to remove) isn't interchangeable. It leaves a noticeable gap. So much for swapping out parts Eh, it's a good thing.

Maz continues: "I found that the MC Cassetteman (and it's KO) had triangular play/rec buttons that were separate from the middle chrome buttons and the US TF Soundwave was the same. All of them had the intrernal tape hinge mechanism too. The Japanese TF Soundwave, and Soundblaster and the reissue Soundwave appear to have trapezium shaped play/rec buttons which ARE attached to the middle chrome buttons under his tape door. These all have the external tape door mechanism. The VSY Soundwaves I've seen recently appear to be more like the US Soundwave."

The weapons fare no better. On the short gun, we have deep versus shallow indents, and differently-sized missle holes, while on the extended gun, we have clean versus crisp lines in the inner barrels, and smooth versus indented handles. The colors vary slightly as well, blue versus dark blue(this dark blue is not to be confused with the dark blue cassetteman knockoff weapons)(yes, there is a knockoff of the diaclone CassetteMan. He's a darker-blue, almost purple, and is stamped 'shimano'on his back, instead of Takara. Click here to see a comparison of the two).

Front view Side view Bottom view

It is interesting to note the evolution of the Soundwave mold; from the Pre-tf 'cassetteman' version, to the black dual-deck japanese Soundblaster, which was modified later on for the japanese reissues (see japanese reissues section for more information). It helps to understand why certain changes exist in the US line.

Soundwave mold comparison (side view) Soundwave now

Reissue US Soundwave: Dear lord. They used the japanese SoundBlaster mold, but in Soundwave colors. These guys are killing me. So now in the US, Soundwave has a dual-tape door, along with all the other japanese reissue molding differences found in the previous section. Llyod also writes: "While it appears as if Ravage is just a repack of the one included with the Soundblaster reissue(no changes I can tell between them and they both have the Fort Max sticker) Laserbeak is.... the mold is nearing shot. Both this Laserbeak and my Cobalt Sentry Garboil have necks which point at a slight angle(and I inspected all the shelved SWs, this looks common). The feet won't fold flat in tape mode at all and it looks like the feet are thicker, as if they used a different plastic which inflated more, or as if the mold is actually thinning out. Keep in mind we're at our 5th usage of this mold. First for the G1 runs(which ate a couple years out of the mold to be certain), 2nd for the SW reissue, 3rd for SB, 4th for CS, and 5th for the TRU run. Plus we'll have a 6th run with the Kiss Play pre-position set coming out shortly. I dread what QC we'll see on Sundor..."

In the end, with the number of variations present, including stamping-changes, one might surmise that Soundwave had multiple mold-lines, some with concurrent running-changes. We'll do our best to put them in some type of order for you

SOooo...to wrap-up:
(pre-tf Cassetteman): takara-only(inside), solid fists
Type 1: Takara-only (inside), solid fists
Type 1a: Takara-only (on battery cover), solid fists
Type 2: Takara-only with dates(inside), hollow fists
Type 3: Hasbro-Tak with dates(inside), hollow fists
(jap Soundblaster): tak stamp(inside), hollow fists
(jap reissue Soundwave): Has/tak-china stamp(inside), hollow fists
Type 4:(reissue US Soundwave)Has/tak-china stamp(inside), hollow fists, but jap SoundBlaster dual-door!

It's interesting that type 1a doesn't seem to fit the overall pattern. Why would a Soundwave be released with the modified manufacturer-placement? This reminds me of the backwards-release of the grapple/Inferno grills Ah well.

My working theory? Perhaps they put it outside for the initial soundwave-release(running concurrent mold lines)...then saw what a bad idea it was, and put it back inside Or maybe that mold broke right away, and they didn't bother upating it. Who knows? I just document these things

One final interesting note: it appears that there is a Soundwave mold-change exclusive to France, where the first two fingers are molded as one (similar to Blitzwing, above). So far, France is the only place we've seen this. Is there an American equivalant? Let us know! Or better yet, sell one to us...we're a finger short here 3-fingers vs 4

[fenrir72]

Simply put, you can see the difference in the face mold. That's all. Post TFC by Takara used the same head that is slighly different from the original Cassetteman and 1984 Soundwave. As reference again take a look at the head of my G1 Soundwave. That is the head used in the pics of TF Universe and the SDCC box photos which is quite different from the head of the actual toy. Anyway knowing is half the battle.........

[fenrir72]

Btw I need to correct myself, I mixed up TFFC with SDCC. I meant SDCC.

[shonenfan4]

That was confusing... Basically, if you want to complete your Soundwave collection, just get everything.

[GuyIncognito]

Can someone please correct the incorrect correction of the correction of the first incorrect correction?

[Dead Metal]

Correction shonen

TFC Soundwave,TFC Soundblaster,Universe Soundwave,Encore Soundwave and TFCC Soundwave all come from the Soundblaster mold. I initially thought the same about the TFCC based on the pictures of the box but that is technically a fib from Hasbro photoshop samples.

Here are the differences:

TFC and Universe: The latter has a double capacity chest chamber but with no functional firing parts.

Encore and TFCC: the latter has the labels applied and no firing parts plus the chrome on the "buttons" are dirty.

And of course the latter has 3 more tapes.

Correction fenrir72:

TFC Soundwave uses the Japanese version of the G1 Soundwave mold. Can only hold 1 cassette.

TFC Soundblaster uses the Soundblaster mold. Can hold 2 cassettes.

Encore Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold.

TFCC (I'm assuming this is an abbreviation for the first Classics packaged reissue Soundwave from 2007) uses the Soundblaster mold. 2 cassettes.

SDCC Universe packaged Soundwave uses the 1 cassette Soundwave mold, but comes with 4 cassettes.

Have to correct that, all those Soundwaves use the same mold, just the SDCC and Encore have a special single tape chest to let it look closer to the original mold but still feature the two tape mold buttons.

I don't think that's correct.

Seibertron is providing the best information on this.

It's common myth that the TFC bookstyle reissue used Soundblaster's mold, but he didn't. Soundwave had a few running changes to his Japanese release.

I know, Soundblaster was just a repaint of the already existing double tapedeck remold of Soundwave, I just said that all reissues used this remold while two used a different chest door to make him a single tape Soundwave. But they all use the same mold which can be seen by the tape deck buttons.

[Seibertron]

As I stated above, I think you guys made this thread WAY too complex. I'm sure the original user was just more-or-less inquiring which version used the Soundblaster mold (i.e. the one that can hold TWO cassettes) or the Soundwave mold (i.e. the one that can hold ONE cassette). I'm pretty sure he didn't ask his initial question so that we could all argue about which head from which mold with which weapons and what fists came from which version of the mold.

[fenrir72]

Anyways, I say ditto to what Deadmetal says. ( He said it in short form of what I posted , since TFC(Takara book case TFC all Soundwaves are from the Soundblaster mold.........except my mixing up TFCC and SDCC)

[SentinelA]

I need to clarify. I was interested in any minor but visible differences. I'm pretty aware of the cassette tray differences. I still don't see the face differences and not too concerned. I am also interested if there's any differences in the buttons. Not very interested in the functionality of the weapons (although I'd swear my Hasbro Reissue weapons do function).

Thanks for all your imput!

[fenrir72]

Same buttons begining from the TFC Takara to the present. The SDCC buttons though are kind of grimy and not glossy. Btw SentinelA, which Hasbro re-issue do you own? The Universe version didn't have functional weapons, so you must own the SDCC right?

[Seibertron]

Just to bring this up again, further information about what I was trying to say above that the Soundwave reissues WERE NOT reverse engineered from the Soundblaster mold.

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Misconceptions_a ... ansformers

The misconception above that some of you stated was that the reissue Soundwave toys released by Takara are reverse-engineered from Soundblaster because the original molds are lost. This is incorrect, and the Tfwiki guys summed up what I was trying to say better than I said it above.

Both the Transformers Collection and Encore Soundwave releases have different tape buttons and hinges than the ones found on the vintage Hasbro release. While the vintage Hasbro Soundwave had inset controls and an internal tape deck hinge, the Takara reissues have a large button block that serves as a pivot point for an external tape deck hinge. The supposed reason for this is the mold for the original versions of the buttons and door are lost or worn out, so a new single tape door was made to work with the Soundblaster mold.

In fact, the buttons and hinge used on the reissue Soundwaves were originally a retooled running change variant of Takara's original 1985 release of Soundwave. The further Soundblaster retool was based on the later Japanese version of Soundwave, as were the reissues. Presumably, the original mold in its original condition is lost - but this happened long before Takara retooled Soundwave into Soundblaster.

[Counterpunch]

Just to bring this up again, further information about what I was trying to say above that the Soundwave reissues WERE NOT reverse engineered from the Soundblaster mold.

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Misconceptions_a ... ansformers

The misconception above that some of you stated was that the reissue Soundwave toys released by Takara are reverse-engineered from Soundblaster because the original molds are lost. This is incorrect, and the Tfwiki guys summed up what I was trying to say better than I said it above.

Point of note: I did cover that in my first post in the thread.

I'm not JUST about stunning good looks, I know some crap too.

[fenrir72]

That article doesn't back the statement with a source on Soundwave's alleged shift in mold. No reference source at all. I did search from source reference (1) onward. But zilch, only about Sludge then (2) reference was about Car Robots. At least they could have produced a pic of a takara Soundwave which sported the transition prior to the shift to Soundblaster.

For the sake of argument that Takara shifted the mold of the buttons from 1984-1987/88 due to a lost mold or maybe like a busted mold?
Is it a possibility that Takara Japan lost the original mold back in 1985 to 1987 (I am extrapolating since it is most possible that Soundwave was still being sold during the height of it's popularity and "Headmasters" which later showcased Soundblaster (the guy with the new chest cavity and buttons around 1987?. But Hasbro China (around 1989 to 1994) still retained the mold of the original 1984 button version. The chinese factories were still churning out Soundwave (1984 ver) and others in 1989 to 1994. These were legitimate products btw, not KO's.

as referenced by this link.

http://www.geocities.com/futuristgroup/vchina.html

http://www.geocities.com/soxerboxx2/1hksound1.jpg

The two companies which for years for the sake of argument always used the same factories to produce their TF products so as to negate the age old argument the Japanese version is superior to the Hasbro product)may not be as chummy to each other as initially thought 'cause the China branch didn't share the 1984 Soundwave mold with their Japanese brethren. So this is probably the most logical explanation of the "differences" or shift of Takara prior to Soundblaster's appearance?

Btw, my Soundwave(1984 mold) is the China version purchased in 1991 at a Taiwanes subway store looooong time ago.