New Gallery: BTS-04 Sonicron Plus Seibertron.com Video Review

I've been back n forth on this figure a lot.

I preordered instantly when he first came out, then I canceled, then flip-flopped again.

As it stands I don't have a preorder in for him, and I have to say I'm still torn.

From the gallery, I think I like him about as much as I expected I would, but, as I expected, I still like ML Soundwave more.

I like that he is a little bigger, I actually wish he was closer to voyager sized, but added bulk is OK for me, I prefer Decepticons to be larger than Autobots. I like the new twist on the bot mode with the asymmetric parts, and the chunky legs are not as bad as I had thought. I like the alt mode and the speakers. I like the head, I thought I wouldn't, but I do. Of course I LOVE that he can house the cassette-bots. But he has a few minuses too.

I don't like the dinky weapons. They look anemic, especially given the chunkiness of the body. And what's up with the red on the missile launcher? I hate the tab that sticks out the back. It is also a problem in alt mode, causing him to sit up on the tabs. If it could rotate so it was flush with the body, it may actually work a lot better and help alleviate the wasp-waist that he has. That part alone is probably the deal breaker for me.

If I didn't already have ML Soundwave, I'd probably get this guy, and be pretty happy. He's not a bad choice for a Classics Soundwave, and the price isn't terrible for a 3rd party, fully transformable, deluxe sized bot. However, there is a better choice in ML Soundwave, and a cheaper choice in WFC Soundwave.

Pretty good for your first video review Seibertron. 1 tip though. NEVER quote "he who shall not be named". Stay as far away from that guy as you can and you'll do fine.

Personally, when it comes to 3rd parties, for me, it depends on the 3rd party company. Guys like FansProject, Perfect Effect, Headrobots, and Junkion Blacksmith I can get behind because, for the most part, they're meant to go with official Hasbro products or otherwise fill a niche that official will not be filled. Other guys like iGear, who's basically just a high priced knock-off company and steal all their designs from official products, I am firmly against. This thing kind of falls in the middle. It's a stolen design, but it probably would have never been produced as a toy. But we can never be sure of that. Now Hasbro can never produce it because BTS has already produced it.

It's like Classics Springer. A few years back, a Hasbro design book was given to a few VIP fans that had a close relationship to Hasbro. In that book was a possible design for a Classics-style Springer. Now whether that design was leaked to FansProject and that's where they drew inspiration from or if their Defender toy was already designed and it was just a coincidence is unknown. But now Hasbro cannot produce their own Springer because it would be too similar to Defender. That's probably why they rushed out their own Wreck-Gar/Junkion figure. To cock-block FansProjects own planned version that they showed off at TFcon 09.

Also, Spy Submarine mode?

Some features weren't shown in the video review that Optimus shows in "his" review. Check out Optimus Prime's humorous review of BTS-04 Sonicron.

Andrius wrote:That's just crazy talk. The target market for companies like Fansproject is minuscule, relative to Hasbro. Hasbro could release their own versions of any 3rd party product and more than make their money's worth. What's more, Hasbro could probably release an exact replica of Fansproject's "Defender" mold, withstand any litigation Fansproject would throw their way, and countersue FP into oblivion.

These 3rd party companies are great for us fans, but they are not going to have any noticeable effect on Hasbro's sales.

Agreed. Which is fine by me. Keep it small, keep 'em coming. I love 3rd party stuff. I do feel its unlikely Hasbro will pump out a Springer anyways. The 2 pack repaint with Rat Bat will likely be the last Springer you see for a good while.

A little off topic, but since ML Soundwave has been brought up. I still have not found out whether it will carry G1 cassetes or not. I've wanted a G1 style Soundwave since I got back into collecting Tranformers (Armada era). I don't have a big collection and justifying the expenses on a high priced toy is very difficult to me. But if I get a G1 style Soundwave I want to be able to use tapes which could decide whether I go ML or with "Sonicron".

TCWJoe wrote:A little off topic, but since ML Soundwave has been brought up. I still have not found out whether it will carry G1 cassetes or not. I've wanted a G1 style Soundwave since I got back into collecting Tranformers (Armada era). I don't have a big collection and justifying the expenses on a high priced toy is very difficult to me. But if I get a G1 style Soundwave I want to be able to use tapes which could decide whether I go ML or with "Sonicron".

Music Label will NOT tote tapes my friend. The chest does open, but it is where the mini SD card goes. YES MINI. Not sold anywhere in the states. I had to order mine from China. And the tards at Best Buy: "oh man you mean micro SD, like for a phone!" NO YOU BLASTED IDIOT MINI! M I N I
MINI!!!!

FLOPPY FLOPPY

Hello my fellow saybertronians from saybertron.com!

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for saving me $60 ryan I think I'll look for a device label Sw though, looks kinda cool:)