All Hail Lord Starscream; Ruler of the Decepticons and Emperor of Cybertron.

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Soundwave is one of the most iconic names in Transformers history. Despite this, this name has only been used four times before. This has all changed with the Galaxy Force/Cybertron release of one of the most highly anticipated figures in recent history. This review will cover the Galaxy Force release

Soundwave's vehicle mode is an angular jet of indeterminate classification. Most fans have designated this mode as a heavily modified version of the F-117 Nighthawk, but I think of him as a modified Have Blue, the jet that was the prototype for the Nighthawk.

Soundwave is mostly dark blue in color, with gray in the back, silver tail fins, and gold highlights, mostly on the tail edges and wings. There's a little silver and red trim along his fuselage, and his canopy is black with silver around the cockpit window and clear purple plastic in the window and "Planet X" symbol on the roof.

In this mode, Soundwave is chaulk full of detail. There's paneling all over his fuselage, as well as exposed wiring and circuitry. There are a pair of guns molded on the tips of each wing, giving him an extra set of weapons other than his hexigontal pods that fit under indentations under his wings. Look in the cockpit window and you'll even see a small chair, one detail that could have easily been left out but thankfully wasn't. There are wheels under his nose and each wing, allowing him to roll nicely over uncarpeted floors.

Some have called this mode one of the ugliest in the GF/Cybetron line, but I kinda like it. One complaint I do have is that Soundwave's head is exposed in his under carriage. Since anyone displaying him in vehicle mode is unlikely to see it, it's a minor quibble.

Soundwave stands about seven inches from head to toe in robot mode - eight and a half if you count his wings. There's not much color change from his jet form, though there's a little more gold and clear purple, concentrated mainly around his head and chest. It should be noted that some pictures have shown him with his head higher than it should be, instead depressed into the slots on top of his chest.

Transformed with either a "long neck" or "short neck", Soundwave is an impressive figure none the less. It's clear that the designers took inspiration from the original G1 figure when they made him. He even has the same small head crest of the original, and his chest is as square as his predecessor. The head does depart a bit from the original, having a solid, V-shaped visor molded from clear purple plastic, a gold mouth plate, and a pair of small devilish horns. One neat feature is that if you hold Soundwave's head up to a light source, his visor glows thanks to transparent purple plastic molded into the back of his head. Another neat feature is that the cockpit canopy on Soundwave's right arm can be used as a defensive shield.

Soundwave's armed with a pair of different guns. His first weapon is a dual barreled handheld rifle with the main part molded in clear purple plastic with black body and gray barrels. It's not extremely detailed, but look close and you can see the rifle has a scope on it. His second weapon is a Gatling gun, with black ends, gray main body, and clear purple plastic. This can also be a handheld weapon, but it can also be fitted in a small hole to the left of his head, a clear homage to the shoulder launcher the original Soundwave had. The Gatling can also be rotated by hand, adding additional play value. When not in use, both guns can be folded up into hexigontal pods that can be stored in the wing ports.

Soundwave comes with the same clear orange, silver edged cyberkey that his partner in crime Sideways (aka Noize Maze) uses. There's a transparent Decepticon symbol on the key, which matches Sideways, but is ultimately odd due to Soundwave's unaffiliated status. The port for the key is on his back, which would be between the tail fins of his vehicle mode. Insert the key into the port and his chest opens up to reveal a third, black pod (more on this later). The feature works in both modes, though you might need to adjust the angle of the tail fins to clear the path for the key. Also note, the port and key connection on my figure is a bit stiff, making it difficult to insert or withdraw the key without some effort. This may vary depending on the figure, even the release, but it's something to watch out for.

G1 Soundwave was best known for the army of "cassetticons" he could retrieve or eject from his chest. His figure even came with one of his partners, Buzzsaw. GF Soundwave comes with his own partner, Killer Condor, who will undoubtedly be renamed Lazerbeak (or Laserbeak) when Hasbro releases the figure. For the purposes of this review, I'm sticking with the Takara designation.

Turbine Pod:
Killer Condor is a turbine pod of inderterminate origin. He's mostly black in color, with bits of gray and silver on him. There's not much detail on him, aside from the red-colored fan blades on either end of his pod mode.

Condor:
Transforming Killer Condor to bird mode is a simple matter of unfolding his wings, tail, and head. There's no color change here, only the exposure of his red eyes. Like his pod mode, there's not much detail, mostly concentrated around the head, wings, and tail. The fans blades on the underside of his wings were left unpainted, something I wish the designers hadn't neglected. There are a pair of tabs on either side of Killer Condor's head that could be seen as weapons of some sort.

Look carefully between Killer Conder's legs and you'll see a large peg. This allows him to be "perched" on either of Soundwave's wings or his left arm via a series of holes molded into these areas. Killer Condor will need to be adjusted slightly, but this is one feature that could have easily been overlooked and thankfully wasn't.

Soundwave and Killer Condor are excellent homages to their predecessors, though their flaws prevent them from achieving a perfect score. Even so, this is a must have figure for any one who is either a Soundwave fan or a fan of the Galaxy Force/Cybertron series.

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