I'm definitely late to the party on this one, but I honestly don't think Kingdom Tracks is an awful figure. I got him about a month or two ago, and have really enjoyed it!

Could it have been engineered better? Absolutely, but is it the unstable and fragile QC disaster that many claim it to be? From my experience at least, no.

 

Blasphemy! Soundwave's tape deck mode is perfection itself. Heathen.

 

Well, from comments, it does sound that the later batches have either had a bit of an adjustment, or possibly just the wear of the mold plates has "corrected" the tabbing. So it's not "not as bad as others claim", because it is bad, it's more that you got a better one.

That said, no insult meant with the following..but this sort of post irks me.

I really don't get the "need to prove" something comments... lots of people have had issues, (it's not in people heads like this sort of comment makes it sound like) and lately many report that their copy (purchased later) appears to be better. So instead, just be glad you got a good one instead of play the "denial" card.

If I see LOTS of posts about a figure having a flaw, if I decide to get it and take the chance anyways and get lucky, I will never post about "mine is fine, you must be doing something wrong" type of comment, I'll be freaky ecstatic to be lucky and get a good one. Hell, I'll post pictures and discuss with someone that has issues and see if we can figure out the differences to help.. I did that very thing with Warpath (I had a bad one, he didn't) and it was a great exchange with the other member and we did see the small changes/differences between our copies.

 

It is a brick that spits out slabs, it was bad in 1984 and it's even worse now. It's time to join the 21st century!

 

**ck yo 21th century! (Soundwave was my fav as a kid and I repurchased it when Ebay first became a thing so LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG ago). There has not been a better SW, and until there is, he is perfection! And '84 was a good year for entertainment.  

 

Even without the somewhat clunky Powerlinx armor, Energon Bulkhead is one awesome figure and it's such a shame that thanks to the Energon/Superlink anime, barely anyone ever remembers this figure existed nowadays.

 

I’d really like to get this guy, as well as Mirage, Downshift, and Sharkticon. All look like solid and fun figures. Oh, and Megatron, just like everyone else ever.  

 

As far as I'm concerned, if it doesn't transform into a vehicle or beast, it's not a good Transformer.

 

Nah, Soundwave and Blaster are two of the best designs of G1. Still hold up today. I don’t mind Soundwave being other things, I just hate when they go so far into it being clearly G1 inspired (Animated, Cybertron, WFC Games) without it being straight G1. If you’re going to have Soundwave be something different make it like the Bayverse or Prime where they are distinct, amazing designs that bear little to know resemblance with the original design.

 

Barring a few clunkers (Ironhide in particular comes to mind), the Energon toys are great. They just got saddled with a terrible anime.

 

Heck, I would even go as far as to say that Energon Ironhide was actually a pretty good toy, with solid build quality, as well as having one of the most well-executed Powerlinx gimmick implementation of the toyline (That, unfortunately, got quite a lot of unfair bad rap, due the toy been associated with a pretty ridiculous character and the god-awful Energon/Superlink anime)

 

He’s probably my favorite Kingdom carbot

 

Energon Ironhide is a great powerlink partner in toy form

 

Other than needing a way to hide his head better, he's actually not that terrible. Nicely solid and powerful feeling.

 

Man, looking back on Energon Ironhide... TF fans back then can be kinda out-of-touch to just look at one case of the slightly visible head (Without examining the greater picture) and went all like "That's a terrible toy with no redeeming qualities! BURN IT WITH FIRE!!!"

Nowadays, we live in a world where figures such as PRID Airachnid, and almost all of the Cyberverse "Scouts" were a thing that exists. For better or worse, this kind of puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

 

WRONG!



 
I do understand your point though. Walkmans are outdated, and I tend to enjoy the reinterpretations Soundwave has received over the years that capture his essence in fun, new ways. Animated and TFP are probably my standouts.

 

QC and design issues don’t evaporate because someone gets lucky on their copy, or when they are tolerant of them. That simply indicates inadequate sampling and bias. The figure has problems that are well-established. Whether a person likes the toy despite that fact are a separate thing altogether. It’s okay to enjoy this figure and at the same time acknowledge its problems.

My big issue with Tracks is the faux-forming chest and the toddler-like proportions. I recently picked up Runamuck for a custom project, and he has the same issue. They’re not alone— many of the WFC figures look like chunky preschoolers to me. Longer legs would go a long way to improving the visual impression of the robot mode.

Sometimes designers get in their own way by over-complicating transformations. Tracks’s legs are a good example, and it suffers because of it.

 

Yeah even with discounts it's really pushing the limits. Maybe they think it's a good deal when compared to MP52.

 

This was me until a week ago… until I found hairline cracks on both fenders, caused by the pin heads. I noticed on the second transformation.