In the same vein as this thread:

MP Starscream 3.0 Wishlist/Discussion

This thread is for discussing the many things they could do differently on a Soundwave v2.0, and of course his cassettes.

@jackisking and @Dean ML have been expecting a v2 Soundwave for a good while. There's no doubt he's an A-list character and one of the recognisable 'faces' of the franchise. And this popularity will very likely lead to a v2 (and the straight-up regular MP-13 reissue probably confirms that).

Let's stick to discussing the nitty-gritty of what they could do differently, rather than how there's no need for a new Soundwave (there'll be plenty of opportunity to present that opinion in the news thread once this is announced in 0-3 years).


With the announcement of a straight Takara reissue of MP-13 this December (MP-13 Soundwave to be reissued this year), it seems pretty likely the idea of MP-13+ is off the table.

The folks at Takara no doubt painted up a prototype in + colours, or maybe did a digibash like @chchchch (original pic courtesy of @Sixo):



..and decided it just wasn't quite right.

MP-13 is a brilliant figure. Reasonable price (especially the Hasbro package), great presence, the usual high-quality Hasui blend of sources.
That said, dressed up in cartoon colours it misses the mark. On the scale of successful + decos this probably falls below MP-14+, far from the likes of 20+ and 18+.

I would say the main offender is the leg design.



Apart from the size of the knees and the shortness of the thighs of MP-13 (not a dig at MP-13 at all), the feet themselves end up looking wrong painted up to be toon accurate (12+ and 14+ managed that better, thanks to the natural breaks in their sculpt).


To be clear let's repeat it: MP-13 is fantastic. That said, it doesn't fit in as well with the toon-focused style of MPs we're getting now.



One of the potential one-off accessories he could include is the high voltage cannon he uses to revive Skyfire's memory circuits (1 million volts!) in Fire from the Sky.





I can't say that I'm a fan of the cell-shaded look of this statue, but the length of the thighs works better for me (they could have even more of a taper towards the knee). I also like the bevelled edges on the shoulders, and particularly the more pronounced slope towards the hands, past the red stripe (which is there on MP-13, but more subtle).





I feel like Hound including Ravage's key but not his cage is a wink-and-nod to an updated Ravage (with cage) down the line.



Can they make a bigger Ravage? And bigger Frumble? Right now Rumble looks better scaled to that one scene in the movie



Dunno if they'd make him big enough to go toe-to-toe with Hound, though!

 

Yes! Off the top of my head, I want (and am mostly repeating your epic list):

• Curved + tapered all over with stronger bevels
• New head sculpt based 100% on cartoon (MP-13 is pretty close though)
• Transformation that allows fully cartoon accurate coloring (particularly on the legs/feet)
• Distinct lack of greebles
• Shorter non-gorilla arms
• Smaller chest/tape door

The last point in particular seems problematic though, as I assume Takara will want to maintain the tape ejection mechanism even in robot mode, but then the tapes would have to be even smaller, which I certainly don't want. I suppose the whole chest could open up (not just the door) but that doesn't sound particularly elegant either.

As for the tapes themselves I love the extra thickness idea, even up to double would be fine with me. In particular I would like Ravage to be revamped with more curves and cat-like proportions.

 

I will reiterate, for the purposes of this thread, that I don't believe the diameter of the tapes will change from the older tapes. I base this assumption on the fact that Takara has already designed and released Nightstalker which we all agree is a Steeljaw pretool. Sam has suggested that that was so long ago that it may well have been before Takara decided to make a Soundwave 2.0, and therefore can't be taken as proof of anything. I suppose anything is possible, but for now I'm sticking with my belief that Soundwave 2.0 was either decided upon prior to Nightstalker being designed, or that Takara will be unwilling to flush the backwards-compatibility of the older tapes with the newer tape-deployers.

 

Im going to add the white won't be white, maybe a pearlescent gray shade lighter than Megatron. Walkmans weren't white for the most part either in 84 more silver grey. Also his blue won't be as dark as the MP13. Throw in light up eyes and maybe led in his chest, so we can get something similar to Dinobot's eyes with the energon cube. Pressed into his chest slot, triggers the led which filters through the box, lighting it up.

 

Pure speculation on my part here, but I think there's also a possibility that development on a less-hyper-toon Blaster began years ago and that the Steeljaw mold reached a level of completion very early on. TT then decided to change direction and that iteration of Blaster was abandoned, and 15/16E was created specifically to get some ROI on the Steeljaw 1.0 design which would otherwise go unused.

 

Hm I don’t have much to say except I agree with all of this, lol!

 

Totally agree on the white; often his grey was identical to Megatron's but I think they went a little on the dark side with MP-36, so Soundwave 2.0 will be a bit lighter. My best attempt at digibashing this turned out pretty white though  

 

I would love a cartoon color soundwave. Wouldnt miss the mark for me. Anything cartoon colors I am all for I don't care what anyone says.

 

I mentioned this over in the MP-13 reissue thread, but I’d love to see takara redesign the back so that his "batteries" actually go into a battery compartment like the original G1 toy. Makes more sense than clipping them onto his back.

 

I’d like that too.

 

That would be great, especially if the shoulder cannon can still stay attached like MP-13’s, but fold in towards the centre of his back.

 

Hey @Sam you're a teacher in real life, right? I mean, you have such a knack for starting constructive discussions and getting others involved in equally constructive ways (though, as I put it in another thread, there will always be storm clouds in search of a picnic). Which is to say, if you are in fact a teacher irl, then your students are some lucky kids!

More on topic, I actually watched "Fire in the Sky" last night (started over since the MP-47 went up for preorder) and that round Soundwave arm definitely seems like an obvious option. I wonder if that whole joint would be replaceable or if it would be something akin to the MPM-3's arm canon that would fold over the existing arm? I definitely wouldn't say no to more energon cubes and I think a cassette scout along with one of the crystals that spelled its doom would make for fun accessories. As a fan of absurdist comedy though, I wouldn't say no to the three alien humanoid characters from "Carnage in C-Minor"...

 

LOL, I was just about to come on here and suggest the same thing   It would be hilarious to me if the absolute worst episode of the entire series (IMHO) received a disproportionate number of accessories. Speaking of which, would they be the first alien minifigs (not counting Kremzeek and Firebolt I guess)?

 

I think so? So far it's been all the Spikes, Marissa Fairborne, Daniel, Dr Arkeville, Raoul, and hologram pilots for most of the seekers. Personally, I think the enitre MP line will be for nothing if we don't end up with Skuxxoid and Sleazardo, but I'll take a grab bag of multi colored Kremzeek 2.0s to come with an MP Blaster too because, well, see my aforementioned comment about being an absurdist. haha!

 

I really doubt we'll see Soundwave, as their is nothing wrong with the figure that could be improved or updated.
If we need a update Sideswipe deserves it.

 

Glad you made a thread for this, @Sam ! I'll repost some of my speculations, hope that's ok...

No idea if we'll ever actually get a new MP Soundwave mold, but just like MP-10 vs MP-44, there's definitely room for a lot of improvement in his articulation and anime styling. While MP-13's double jointed elbows are great, a ball joint neck with a hinge to let him look down at his Cassetrons, an ab crunch, deep knee bends, forward toe articulation, and forward shoulder articulation would be greatly appreciated here.

I love MP-13's head sculpt, but I would sure love a Soundwave with the same smooth, sleek anime styling and proportions as the newer figures. MP-13's stiff, clunky looking legs, giant hands, and greebles look a bit out of place next to Megatron and Shockwave now. I want those smooth surfaces, seductive thigh curves, legs that can lock out, feet that look more integrated into the flared boots, hands that match Megatron and Optimus, and tapered biceps.

He could even have a face swap with a smoother s1 mouth plate and the more angular design from s2. It'd be great if they included all the (redesigned) tapes justifying a price in the MP-44 range, especially since I'm sure he'd have electronic sounds (more true to his name, right?!). Oh, also flight stand and blast effects for him and his tapes, too! Maybe more than one energon cube this time? Loved the chest plate readouts from MP-13, would love if they had them on swappable chest windows this time around.

Let's take a look at what Soundwave 2.0 would bring us. Flared boots, tapered thighs, knees that can lock out...







Gotta be able to kneel! He did it pretty often. Also, feet are integrated into boots.









Rounded hands like MP-36 & 44 and a deep neck hinge to look down...



Articulated thumbs to serve up his energon hotcakes!



Butterfly shoulder joints!



S1 style head...



More angular s2/Movie/s3/Headmasters head...



Blast effects!



Flightstand!





If a Soundwave & Tapes 2.0 ever happens, I think we're at least two years off. I think Starscream 3.0 would probably come first along with at least another Carbot or two.

 

Ooh I could sure go for some "lightning hands" effects parts too!

 

I'd love for every release to come with some kind of effects part now!

Btw, one thing that was surprising to me as I looked through cartoon screen caps is that I didn't see any that showed Soundwave with red missile tips poking out of his shoulder cannon, so I'm sure they'd be empty on a 2.0.

I'm also in the camp of thinking they'd take the re-do opportunity to make the cassettrons larger. It's actually Hound's larger Spike figure that has me convinced! I'm not sure if they'd achieve this by making the tapes thicker or wider/taller, but if they went the wider/taller route I don't think it'd be by much or else Soundwave's chest would be disproportionately large.

No idea how much extra articulation Frumble would have (maybe Artfire's Targetmaster is a good indicator?), but I think they'd only have holes on their backs and their chests would be solid.







Then again, maybe the tapes WOULD stay the same size! It was all over the place in the show! Sometimes they were shown slightly larger than humans...







Sometimes they were large enough to grapple with Hound and Bumblebee...



So who knows!

I definitely think Frumble and Buzzbeak would all be flight stand compatible, though.

 

Been waiting for this repost, what took you so long  

And Ravage too! For that iconic jumping pose

 

I worry I'm being obnoxious with my Soundwave 2.0 case! I feel pretty strongly about it, in case one couldn't tell!  

Damn - how can I forget Ravage?! Probably the Cassetron most in need of a re-do! Btw, I actually love MP Ravage. He's a blast to pose for me! Really articulated for such a small figure - neck, tail, shoulders, hips, bicep swivel, knees, elbows, ankles, and wrists!. It'd be cool if a re-do had an articulated jaw.