I just got a RH, the hips were a little loose ( fixed with Future ), all of the tapes including Ravage had tight joints ( Ravage has the split nose as it doesn't quite peg in ), however there is the issue with the gun not pegging into the hand ( the hole is too large or the peg is too small and no amount of Future will fix that, so you have to use the fingers to hold it in ). The gold trim isn't as bright as an official and the overall blue on mine was a bit darker. I will take pics tonight and post for reference.

 

Great! Looking forward to the pics. I think the head on THF is going to be a deal breaker for me. I'd love to get a KO for $40 instead of $80 (I have no need for the tapes), but if the head isn't right, what's the point?  

 

Robot Hero has its share of (albeit fixable issues). THF and his cassettes have simplified detailing. Its a case of pick your poison.

 

THF

 

I wish IT or Yes Model/BB7 did KOs for MP-13/MP-13B.

 

I'm now wondering if just the straight KO of MP-13 is the way to go for something that is just a display piece.

The RH is just a lot more expensive at the moment because it comes with the tapes.

 

Maybe. IRC, the straigt up takara ko has the least best quality of the 3 KOs.

 

I watched a few reviews of it and the complaints about the ratchets being too noisy or the joints flopping when you shake the figure are just not likely to mean much to me.

I'd do THF but the head is by far the worst of the three.

 

Are there comparison pics of the heads anywhere? I can't tell the difference...

 

There aren't great pics, but it does show up prominently in some reviews. Here are some old posts.

KO MP-13/MP-13B Masterpiece Soundwave/Soundblaster

KO MP-13/MP-13B Masterpiece Soundwave/Soundblaster

THF uses the YOTG head. It is distinctively different in a few ways. The eyes look very cheaply painted on to me.

 

I personally went KO, though I had mixed results there. The first one I got, Soundwave was loose and just didn't feel right but Laserbeak was great. Then I went a re-bought another KO Soundwave. This time, Soundwave was great and I snapped a tailfin on Laserbeak because there was either a molding issue or an assembly off. Either way, he was much better then the first one so I didn't lose any sleep on Laserbeak.

As to why I went this route is because initial reviews raved and ranted RH was great but posts by collectors stated that it didn't live up to the hype, while the THF did the complete opposite. It was reviewed without any good reviews but collectors that bought RH or read about those reviews went THF and were for the most part happy with it.

Personally speaking, THF is just a mix bag of surprises and I've owned at least two of their products. Their Megs is good but not great when compared to IT. Their Ultra Magnus is about 50/50 whether you get a good one their, as I ended up buying two just to get what I could live with but reviews on him were pretty consistent. Buy THF if you don't own an official or its not a character you care about. Don't buy it to replace your official.

So with all that said, I would avoid RH and THF and go straight up KO, IMO. Just picked a reliable seller and don't focus too much on price because I feel like that played a major roll into the Soundwave I got. The first seller ended up being kicked off, while the other is still on ebay and as high ratings, which is "one*day_bid."

Keep in mind that if you buy from that seller, deal with your issues as soon as you can because on another figure, they knew how to play the game of waiting after 60-days to stop communicating with me so I couldn't leave any feedback. That only occurred because I did a pre-order for a FT figure so the clock was already running against me. Otherwise, a KO shouldn't be an issue there.

 

Here is the RH soundwave. Seems he is more of a lefty with his gun than a righty as it tabs in a little better in the left hand, but not much.

 

@Bots and Bits did some very in-depth review/comparison videos on the KO options.
KO Soundwave MP13 roundup - YouTube

 

I've watched all of his videos. He's a great reviewer, but my eyes don't agree with his eyes, which has left me wondering if something is lost on the video. I think the KO looks substantially better than the THF. In his comparison of RH, THF, and Takara (he had since gotten rid of the KO), he hardly dwells on the heads at all, but he does finally mention how much worse the THF head looks.

If RH were about $50-60, I'd just do him. But because he now comes with all those tapes, he's much more. I just don't need the tapes.

 

For those that wanted but missed the official version, Takara is reissuing MP-13 Soundwave this year. This will mark the 3rd or 4th time it has been reisued.

Preorders up at Ages 3 and Up and Toy Dojo.

MP-13 Soundwave to be reissued this year

 

Out of curiosity, does the RH Pony head work on the THF body?

 

It wouldnt look good, becuase they have diferent colour, THF has sparky paint (i dont know if thats the correct word xD)

 

Oh, good point. Thanks!

 

I’ve got THF Soundwave (and THF Megs) and got no real complaints about either. I do think some of it is just the look of the draw with these 4th party/KO companies a lot of the time.

 

I got my second K-01 Pony from Baba today (I broke the first one -- totally my fault, although his play/forward/backward button piece was extremely tightly pegged in). He has a small paint blemish on the side of his head.

I was about to paint over it, when I realized that his head is blue plastic, right? So could I remove this paint with alcohol on a cotton ball or q-tip?