The Transformers Masterpiece line is quickly becoming the Transformers line for collectors and fans of sophisticated robotic toys. Masterpiece Soundwave, released in 2013, proved to be among the most popular and most feverishly sought-after figures in the line yet, so some sort of mold reuse was inevitable in order to capitalize on the figure’s popularity.
Repaints and rereleases have always been a part of the Transformers, so the Masterpiece line should be no exception, really. Fortunately for us, Soundblaster is not just a token repaint and is as legitimate a character as any other release in the line thus far, and to sweeten the deal, he comes packed with Ratbat — one of the key Decepticon cassettes fans have been hoping to see in the Masterpiece line.
ibentmyman-thing and I wasted no time in getting our sets, so keep reading to find out what this set has to offer.
ibentmyman-thing
My initial thoughts when the Soundblaster/Ratbat set was announced were probably very similar to a lot of Masterpiece collectors, especially Masterpiece collectors whose set of cassettes would be incomplete without Ratbat: did I really need a black Soundwave?
Apparently I did.
Soundblaster is a name I have been very familiar with for quite a while, but I didn’t know if I really needed to have the same toy I already had in a different color, just because the Japanese market wanted to capitalize on a ready-made mold. But that’s because I was ignorant.
Post-Transformers: The Movie, the half-hour Transformers cartoon lasted a little bit longer in America before coming to an end with a three-part finale that introduced a ton of toys and concepts, including the Headmasters, Targetmasters, Sixshot, Punch and Counterpunch, and every other 1987 toy they could squeeze in — and then America was done. But Japan wasn’t done at all. Where the American Transformers cartoon introduced and finished off the Headmaster story in a three-parter, the Japanese kids got an entire extended season’s worth of Headmaster action, giving way more life and depth than our finale allowed.
After the events of the animated move saw Megatron “replaced” with Galvatron, Megatron loyalist Soundwave was pushed aside in favor of new toys Cyclonus and Scourge as his right-hand men. His role in the post-movie cartoon was reduced to background player at best, nonexistent at worst. These were dark times for everyone’s favorite evil tape deck.
But his story wasn’t over. Soundwave was brought back to the forefront of the action in the Headmasters cartoon — he only had to die to get there.
In Japan, Soundwave’s figure was rereleased in black with a larger chest compartment that now allowed him to hold two cassettes at a time instead of one, a feature I always wanted for my Soundwave, so I was super-jealous when I later learned about this. To promote this upgrade, Soundwave received a similar upgrade in the cartoon. With more emphasis placed on the tape-deck rivalry between Blaster and Soundwave, they’re hatred culminated in a final battle between the two, where Soundwave was blown up in a final duel between the two b-box bots. But since upgrades are the norm in the Transformers Universe, it wasn’t long until Soundwave was brought back to life as Soundblaster. Stronger, colder, and blacker, Soundblaster proved to be a major player in the Headmasters cartoon, returning to the front of the stage. While he lacked the trademark synthesized voice of the American cartoon, Soundblaster did receive an eery echo quality to his voice that separated him from the other Decepticons.
But all that boils down to a simple fact: everything is awesome in black. Awesome character + black upgrade = twice the badassness as before.
Other than the color shift to black, the only major difference between Masterpiece Soundwave and Masterpiece Soundblaster is a clip-on chest compartment to replicate the larger compartment of the ’80s toy. Soundblaster, of course, can handle more than two, though. While he can’t fit his entire cassette collection in there, he can fit enough. This additional compartment size adds a nice extra bulk to Soundblaster. It’s not a drastic change, but If Transformers had pecs, it looks like he’s been doing an extra helping of push-ups.
Soundblaster comes with the same equipment as his predecessor, including his trademark shoulder-mounted rocket launcher and his regular rifle. Oddly enough, He comes with Megatron in gun mode in a translucent reddish color instead of the familiar silver and black.
I have to admit I’m stumped as to whether this is a reference to something or just something they did to be different. I mean, it’s cool looking, but an odd choice.
With a little curiosity, research and cartoon-watching, Soundblaster has jumped from being a Ratbat pack-in to a cool addition to the collection, and a fun evolution of one of my favorite Transformer characters. If you’re going to upgrade a character — and I can’t let this review end without saying it, so I will: always bet on black.
canonball
Soundblaster’s alt mode is just like Soundwave’s, only 100 percent more black. Like Soundwave’s, it looks good from most angles — all except for the back. Straight-on, it’s a remarkable update of the original G1 alt mode, and there are embellishments on the sides that enhance the realism, but from the back it’s a bit of a mess, and it compromises the realism completely.
It is nice how everything, even his weapons, integrate into his alt mode, but it just doesn’t look as complete and seamless as it should. Everything else about the figure is spot-on, so this is the mold’s only discernible shortcoming, and fortunately it’s also the least prominent because who’s going to be examining the back of the cassette deck once it’s displayed on the shelf? It’s a shortcoming, to be certain, but it’s an easily managed one.
For a lot of fans, Ratbat is the main attraction in this set. He was the key cassette who was suspiciously absent from 2013’s Soundwave set (including the Takara cassette 2-packs), so there was a good deal of speculation as to when he would show up in the Masterpiece line, or if he would even appear at all. The most persistent prediction was his inclusion in the inevitable Soundblaster repaint set. Takara has a penchant for releasing all-black versions of their figures, even if the black repaint is of questionable legitimacy in terms of characterization, so there was no way a Soundblaster release was not going to happen. Making it even more of a lock was the fact that Soundblaster was a big part of the later G1 years, so his Masterpiece release was always more a question of “when” than it was “if.” When the set was officially announced, there was a major sigh of relief — from some people.
A surprising number of fans are unfamiliar with Soundblaster and view him as little more than a “needless repaint,” which is unfortunate. And then, by extension, many derided the prospect of having to buy Soundblaster in order to get Ratbat, which is even more of a head-scratcher to me since Ratbat didn’t have much of a presence in the US G1 cartoon, but was a major force in the Marvel comic, but that’s another article for another time.
Ratbat’s look was consistent from comic to cartoon, and the Masterpiece figure does a tremendous job of translating the character to plastic form. It’s so dead-on and incredibly satisfying. I never had the original G1 Ratbat since he originally came in a 2-pack with Frenzy, and my mom wasn’t too into the redundancy, so I did without him in the G1 days. I’ve had different versions of him over the years, but this is the first G1-esque Ratbat I’ve had on my shelf, and I’m finding the experience quite gratifying — my Masterpiece Decepticons finally have a leader (Ratbat was the Decepticon leader for a time in the comics).
The sculpt is fantastic and the paint apps, at least on mine, are nice and clean. The faithfulness to the show/comic model is outstanding. At first I was disappointed in the fact that a portion of the cassette detail sticker was visible in his ‘bot mode, but upon closer examination, the details those stickers provide actually make it more accurate and faithful to the source, which is awesome. Now, his show/comic model may have been adjusted to incorporate those details, but that’s really neither here nor there. I love it when a perceived shortcoming ends up being a strength — the joke is totally on me here.
Like Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw, Ratbat can be posed on Soundblaster’s arm and shoulder via small notches in his feet. Soundblaster is an even colder character than Soundwave, so Ratbat looks even more threatening and imposing when perched on Soundblaster’s shoulder, gazing down upon his Decepticon subjects.
He feels solid and sturdy, not flimsy at all, which was a concern of mine. There isn’t much articulation to speak of, though, which may contribute to his sturdiness. Only his wings can move, and even they can’t move all that much. His head and feet are all locked in one position, so he has far fewer moving parts than the other cassettes, but what little articulation he has does manage to hit most of the right notes. I won’t lie, though — a little range of motion in at least his head would have been nice.
His cassette mode is consistent with both his fellow Masterpiece cassettes and the original G1 cassettes — meaning, it only really looks good from one side. Like Buzzsaw and Lazerbeak, Ratbat’s transformation is ingenious and inventive. His rear thrusters integrate into his cassette mode fluidly so there are no loose parts to worry about while he’s in cassette mode. To say this feature is nice would be an understatement. Transformers figures often impress with their inventiveness, but these Masterpiece cassettes have been in a class all by themselves.
Soundblaster and Ratbat is a set very worthy of any Transformers Masterpiece collection. Both were substantial characters in the comics and cartoon, and they both just look so darn cool. Soundblaster gives me hope of seeing Masterpiece Headmasters in the future, and maybe even a Twincast, but even if that never happens, this is definitely a set worth picking up.