Stealth Force Soundwave

Yet another Soundwave in a jazzed up van mode that doesn't transform. Is it worth it? Depends on price in this humble writer's opinion.


Just like the RPM Soundwave that I stumbled upon not so long ago, this one is classed as part of the “Speed Stars” line. I am beginning to think that the Speed Stars is what Hasbro would class as non-robot mode toys within the Transformers line. This particular Soundwave is part of the “Stealth Force” and has no robot mode.

I have a feeling that this is classed as a basic sized toy, if compared to a transforming figure, it would be about the same size as a scout. As I said, the toy doesn't have a robot mode, but it does have a gimmick of a hidden arsenal within the vehicle mode. Very reminiscent of the old M.A.S.K toys that kicked about in the 80's, except they came with a human figure to drive the vehicle.

The pack is an open pack, so that it can be played with on the shelf. Good for kids, bad for the toy. As a result, I suggest that any who go to buy these Stealth Force toys to have a jolly good look at any prospective additions, as I had to choose between two Soundwaves on the shelf and one of them had some weapons which didn't deploy as well as they should have. There is a new addition though to this fella. Instead of being secured via ye olde twist tie, he has a couple of pegs in the bottom of the box which need to be unscrewed to release him from his shackles. Intriguing....

On another sad note, the box has a bio, but instead of it confirming my theory of this being WFC Soundwave, it clearly outs this as being Soundwave from the second TF movie. Claiming that “Soundwave has abandoned his position in orbit...” Dang, that must mean that they are just using the look of WFC as movie SW's earth mode, as the picture is definitely WFC and looks nothing like his appearance in the second movie, or the satellite toy for that matter.

Onto the toy itself. Vehicle mode is very much like the Animated version of SW. it has most of the same details and mouldings as the RPM version as well, Cassette spindles in the doors, on/off button in the roof and some play/fwd buttons on the front grill. Paint decals are sparse, with white, little bits of gold and a black Decepticon insignia on the bonnet and rear of car. Oddly enough, there is another on the bottom of the car as well. The blue of the plastic is pretty spot on though and so no complaints there.

Transformation, in this case, the bearing of the Stealth weapons, is activated by sliding back the rear of the roof. This opens up all the weapons in one quick switch and fattens him out as well as extends his length a little bit. There are quite a few weapons to be seen, from a couple of blasters within the doors, which rather cleverly resemble the patterns on the outside of the doors, as well as rockets in the roof, multiple somethings in the front and more stuff that extends from the grill. Have a look at the pictures, as the box doesn't name any weapons, aside from stating that sound is still SW's favourite weapon and aside from missiles, none of the weapons seem to resemble anything. They have limited paint apps, as well. Just a touch of white with the same gold paint that is on the outside, but it works quite well, just to help the weapons stand out from the rest of the bland grey under the blue.

Little demo video of how its works and what it does.

It rolls nicely and has enough moulding detail so as to give you something nice to look at on any surface. The biggest question is though, is it worth it? Personally I am not that keen on Transformers that don't have robot modes and only got this due to its Animated and WFC links. According to the box, others are available, a very classics/G1 looking Hound, Movie Bumblebee, new look Silverstreak which are all this size, although Bumblebee looks very small compared to the others. I won't be getting any others as far as I can currently see, especially at the average retail price over here in Australia of about $20. They just aren't worth that much. I wouldn't even pay $15 for these, I feel they should be about the $10 mark, as they are kind of cool, but not cool enough to warrant large amounts of money on. Reduce the packaging and price and they might be better, but as they are right now, I would not recommend these to anyone, even if you like these types of toys.

It's kind of cool, but definitely not $20 worth of cool.
 

 
 
Attack Mode pics


Lots of detail on the interior of the body.



I think these are all sonic cannons or something, from the look of them.



I like the way the blaster looks like the speaker on the doors.