The Energon Pub

fenrir72 wrote: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 wrote:

fenrir72 wrote: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 wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

fenrir72 wrote: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.

Dead Metal wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

fenrir72 wrote: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.

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

Counterpunch wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

fenrir72 wrote: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.

TFWIKI wrote: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.

Seibertron wrote: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.