Yeah, I figured afterwards that I probably just didn't see it in the instructions. Having largely gotten back into collecting through PotP and Siege, my one ongoing complaint across all figures is that the non-glossy instructions printed with dark red and purple "highlights" for each step are muddy and difficult to see. Glossier paper (like I recall being present in certain more premium things like Punch/Counterpunch) makes it easier to read. It's also such a minor thing that I feel like they would've been better off removing it and not risked some structural weakness in the tabbing slot for the arm. Oh well. Soundwave is still awesome.
My only issue with the figure (including the alt-mode, which I really like) is that the engine nacelles are for all intents and purposes partsformers they pop off so easily (on mine, at least).
Mine come off easily too. Which is almost fine because I feel like they're so fiddly that I'd be worried about breaking them any time I need to swing them in or out if they were more tightly secured. And I've fidgeted with them a lot trying to find a nice balance between not being giant, obvious kibble and not standing in the way of his shoulder cannon being correctly situated. The other part I had come off was a right-out-of-the-box issue with the (for lack of a better term) "ass plate." It's the piece that serves the cockpit of the alt mode. It just popped right off as I was attempting to free Soundwave from the plastic display shell in the box. In turn this exposed the twisting joints for his thighs and meant that the legs would come out easily too with just the slightest bit of pressure and also cut down on the amount of friction/resistance they had (right before I noticed the plate was loose on his butt I thought I had defectively loose legs as I couldn't get Soundwave to stand under his own power. It was as I was trying to reposition the legs for standing and shaking them slightly to test the looseness that the plate came free.) Thankfully this appears to have been little more than not being snapped together tightly at the factory or some jostling in transit, because once I got the legs back in and the plate back on (with a small, not wholly satisfying click/pop) everything was fine and he hasn't threatened to come apart again. It's almost like the same kind of issue that people have had with Chromia's "panties" or crotch plate, just on the rear of the pelvis instead of the front.
My only gripe has slways been the silver paint everywhere. And the chest window just looks like somebody took a key to it. It looks bad. Especially since neither laserbeak or ravage look all scraped up. They look shiny and new.
There's not enough love out there for Overkill and Slugfest. One day I hope that some Soundwave will legitimately have all of his cassettes available again and not just the big 4/5 of Laserbeak, Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, and Ratbat (and sometimes Buzzsaw if he's the pack-in cassette).
Something I noticed on accident. The shoulder rockets 5mm peg actually extends by 1 detent(pull straight down). This frees up more range for the 5mm peg since it's actually mounted on a pin, which then enables the rockets to tilt upwards. In doing so, there's enough space in robot mode for the backpack to compress fully. Without the back of the shoulder rockets pushing it out of place.
YES!!!! rego0012, how did you manage to do that? I don't see any screws on the head and didn't want to just heat and pull for fear of breaking it. I love that look!!!
I found an alternative WFC Laserbeak to use with Soundblaster, it saves me both money and trouble trying to find the seige micormaster Laserbeak now. It fits very well in the chest. It can also rest on Soundblaster's arm. Because it has 5mm port under. It's the chest beast from TFC Hades team's Aiakos. (Too bad the rest 5 beast are too big for Soundblaster's chest). TFC Toys Hades H-05 Aiakos
