GX-03 Soundblaster

I got my package as expected yesterday from www.jrstoyworld.com, with the main main himself, Soundblaster.

Now, I looked, there's no feedback here for Soundwave or Soundblaster, the lack of the former surprised me. I had initially gone with Soundwave, but funding changed my mind and I cancelled the pre-order. That decision paid off, IMHO, because I got Soundblaster, which I think has a superior color scheme, and comes with "Buzzsaw" rather than Laserbeak.

As usual, I don't have pics. Bottom line for the lazy, pricey, with a fair amount of design flaws, but cool.

Starting with the box, it's an interesting all black and white, no color on it at all. It's the standard GF boxing detail wise, however, it clearly has the GX-03 designation on it, this isn't just a Soundwave GX-02 box in black and white, but even a different designation.

Out of the box. I'm shocked here, there's no bio card. (Or if there is, I didn't get one, and since I like bio cards I'm disapointed.)

He comes in jet mode, with the engines/bombs seperate, and his Force Chip displayed prominantly. He's got the same chip as Noisemaze/Sideways and Soundwave. Buzzsaw comes in robot mode, the weapons in alt mode. Looks sharp and appealing.

Jet mode. I'd really like to be able to say I like it. But I don't. As a stealth fighter (F117-A tec jet), the design is nice, but there's a lot of gaps, mostly in the rear, and his robot hips are very evident. He doesn't really fit well together, there's gaps between the cockpit and leg pieces, and the leg and the fuselage pieces. However, since he snaps together, you can't really do anything about it, otherwise he becomes unsnapped and looks even worse. If you look (and I did just now), there's no pictures of him from the side, straight 90 degrees, and I wouldn't expect any, because it looks terrible, worse with the wings down. With some finagling, you can get the bomb/engine guns into the wing sockets, either with the weapons out or not, your choice. Lots of robot parts of obvious, hips and head in particular. Buzzsaw goes into the chest compartment/bomb area, and can't fit onto either wing. (A pity) If he can, I haven't been able to manage it. Now, that sounds pretty bad, I'll admit, but he does have a lot of upside to him as well.

He's very sharply detailed, like VP and Noisemaze. He has that same red and gold shield emblem that Noisemaze has, only a slightly more elaborate/complex one. With the black/gray, and gold, as well as a red cockpit and shield, he's clearly a compatriot of Noisemaze.

Vehicle Force Chip action is that the chest compartment opens, and allows for Buzzsaw to drop out, as the compartment faces down. Rather lame, IMHO.

Transformation. Is actually pretty simple. Remove the bombs/engines, raise the cockpit, swivel the hips/legs and lock into place, raise arms out, and swivel into position, swing top part around, lock into place, peg shoulders in, adjust head. That's pretty much it. So, relatively fast and simple. Good.

Robot mode. Now, here's where Soundblaster really shines. He has an awesome robot mode, IMHO. He's a dead ringer for Soundwave/Soundblaster physically (And looks even more like the original box art!) He's well articulated with a ton of joints, though he does lack waist and wrist, but has a lot of shoulder articulation and a ball jointed neck to make up for that.

The bombs/engines transform and attach to him, one can go in his right shoulder, one in his hand, and the Force Chip opens up his chest tape style and let's Buzzsaw come out.

Buzzsaw, by the way, is another great update right down to the guns on the shoulders, plenty of articulation, black and gold color scheme, and best of all, a post on his underside. That post allows him to peg into several of Soundblasters sockets, one on each wing, one on the right forearm, to have him perched and ready. He's also a snap to transform, easy and cool

On the downside, he's got a lot of kibble on his arms, enough to make some poses difficult. The cockpit piece isn't a problem for me, but the lack of a locked setting is. If like Noisemaze's arm cannon it could undeploy into a stable setting, or pegged into place, or anything, it would've been a pretty big improvement. On the other arm, the vehicle mode cockpit can get in the way.

Overall, he's pretty cool, but there's a lot of engineering faults that really make me wonder, it wouldn't have taken much to make him so much cooler and one of the best TF toys, not just in GF either.

Quality wise, On mine, the head ball joint is very loose, and getting him properly aligned, pegged, and snapped back into jet mode can be a pain.

Is he worth the $60 I paid for him? Probably not. Am I glad I have him, absolutely.

Cool review, thanks. Would you consider Buzzsaw to be a Minicon? That post on him, is that a Minicon port? Buzzsaw/Laserbeak would be the first beast Minicons if my facts are straight.

Sorry to hear about the jet mode. Robot mode pics, however, make me drool...

It says that Lazerbeak is a minicon, according to the Cybertron Soundwave packaging.

Nope, just a 5mm peg. Not a minicon port.

Phazer

Thanks, guys. Eagerly awaiting this mold.

I got Cyb Soundwave and he kicks ass.. Well worth the $20.. Looks good and Laserbeak rocks. I agree with all the points you made. He is not perfect, but he has a lot of great things..

Originally Posted by thenatureboywoo Don't challenge my stupidity

Originally Posted by Sideways77 I know it's just nature and all, but raking up all the dead Vietnamese from my yard in the fall annoys me.

Great review!

Just got my GX-03 today and love it. I already had GX-02 and was a big fan of the mold, but this release surpasses the original. Pravus Prime gave a thorough run-down of Soundblaster above but for those interested, here's the differences I've noticed between GX-02 and GX-03 (besides colour, obviously):

- GX-03 Neck joint is tighter.
- GX-03 mid calf transformation joints are tighter - These are the joints that frequently caused Soundwave's legs to 'tilt' and make GX-02 look knock-kneed. While they can still come out of proper robot alignment while manipulating GX-03, it's a lot easier to get the figure to stand without these transformation joints bending.
- All three barrels on GX-03's tri-barrel cannon sit correctly (one barrel on GX-02 slants a little).
- Swivel on GX-03's upper left arm is looser.

And of course that the system is the other way around, even if it were the right size. Buzzsaw has the peg and Soundblaster has the socket, which means that even if the sizing were right, it would be a minicon and Buzzsaw and Soundblaster and another TF would be compatable, not Buzzsaw and another TF.

No, there may be paperwork calling him a minicon, but a minicon Buzzsaw is not.

Do you mean your left when looking at him head on or Soundblaster's left? Because my Soundblaster's right arm swivel is looser. That's the one with the jet nose on it.

I always use the directions in reference to the toy, so Soundblaster's left. Now that you mention it, though, the swivel on the right is a little loose as well...