I suspect that the Cybertronian lifeforms who call themselves Transformers are leveraging Robosen Robotics to progressively infiltrate Earth. How so? Well, Robosen first brought Optimus Prime to Earth, then Megatron followed behind. Not too long after, Bumblebee came along, and now the superior Decepticon, Soundwave, has arrived, too. That’s right, my fellow Transformers fans, an auto-converting Soundwave has landed—and it brought along a couple of cool gimmicks.
Megatron’s most trusted commander and intelligence officer has arrived in its G1 form. And yes, we are talking about a cassette tape deck—those portable ones like a Walkman. Unfortunately, though, it isn’t life-size, and no, it does not play back actual cassette tapes.
In addition to the cool transformation sequence—which you can activate with the app or voice command—and full range of motion, including walking, the Robosen G1 Soundwave Auto-converting Robot Toy also functions as a Bluetooth speaker when in cassette deck mode. You can stream your favorite music as Soundwave sits on your shelf. Moreover, the retro tape-deck buttons are functional. You can use them to skip, pause, and play with those buttons. That’s not it. It features an integrated recording function, allowing you to record your own audio with the press of a button. Damn. That’s kind of like the real thing from the ’80s, except you are not recording on tape.
Robosen describes the Robosen G1 Soundwave Auto-converting Robot Toy as “an exact replica of the iconic cassette player turned Decepticon gladiator.” I guess they are kinda right, except for the size. This advanced robot toy for kidults and kids is kinda larger than life. It is definitely not small like it sometimes was in the series. In cassette-deck mode, it measures 9.8 inches (24.9 cm) wide, 5.9 inches (15.0 cm) tall, and 4.9 inches (12.4 cm) deep. In humanoid mode, G1 Soundwave measures 14.3 inches (36.3 cm) tall, 10.3 inches (26.2 cm) wide, and 5.8 inches (14.7 cm) deep.
To further tickle nostalgia in fans, it features the voice of Frank Welker (who also voiced G1 Megatron, Skywarp, Mirage, Trailbreaker, and more), the original G1 voice of Soundwave. Frank recorded over 200 lines for this big guy, with each phrase further accentuated by Scott Brownlee’s engineering mastery—creating the exact 1984 sound and ensuring lines like “Destroy Autobots” and “Soundwave superior, Autobots inferior” ring true to any fan.
Also new to Robosen’s robot toy lineup is the addition of articulating hip joints, which allow the iconic and dynamic conversion, poses, and actions of Soundwave. Soundwave is completed by red-lit eyes, an animated glowing sonic cannon, and a neutron assault rifle. Sadly, the cassette compartment does not accept cassette tapes, and it does not come with Laserbeak or Ravage.
It can be controlled via the usual ways, including voice and app, and it features five programming modes (block-based, voice-activated, PC, manual, and easy), plus Mini Theater with his boss, Megatron.
On the engineering front, the new Robosen G1 Soundwave Auto-converting Robot Toy boasts 84 high-performance chipsets, 28 precision servo motors, and 6-axis motion sensors to realize the amazing transformation and movements. But these also make it a premium toy that will make a dent in your bank account.
Robosen’s Flagship Soundwave is available for pre-order at a special price of US$999 for a 30-day window before moving to its standard price of US$1,399. It will be available on Hasbro Pulse soon, too. Hit the jump for a few more looks.
Images: Robosen Robotics.
