ROBOT PARADISE RP-02 ACOUSTIC BLASTER > REVIEW

Preamble

Soundwave is one of those toys that will forever hold a special place in my nostalgia, having being one of the first ‘proper’ Transformers toys I got as a kid. And let’s not forget that he was also a great, if mysterious, character in both the cartoon and comics. That said, it would not be until the late 90’s, possibly early 00’s that I became aware of Soundblaster! The resurrected version of Soundwave, risen from the ashes of battle and defeat at the hands of Blaster!

I have since gone on to learn more of the characters history and have, over the years, had many G1 versions of the Soundblaster toy, even at one point having the Takara MP version. But now it’s the time for Fans Toys, sorry, Robot Paradise!

Box & Accessories

The box is very nice, and aside from the obvious rebranding, it’s pretty much the standard Fans Toys quality. Unlike the previous packaging for Acoustic Wave, this time round we have actual figure images, rather than artwork. Figure and accessories are housed in a polystyrene inner box with the slip of plastic sheet over the figure like a shroud. Fans Toys have again used branded tape for the box, and I still don’t know why there is a separation in the releasing...

Accessories are plentiful, and for a change they are useful! Granted, most of them are to convert ‘toon’ Acoustic Blaster to ‘toy’ Acoustic Blaster. A move which I’m sure has gone down well with most collectors, it saves double dipping and buying another figure down the road. The rest of the accessories include Acoustic Blaters weapons, an empty Energon Cube and Night Bat. A nice glossy instruction booklet and two collector cards round everything out.

Micro-Cassette Player Mode

It’s a micro-cassette player, what much more can I say? Okay, being slightly less glib the alt mode is good. It’s more compact and better proportioned than the previous MP-13B from Takara, with less on show to the rear also. It manages to cover up most of the internals well, unless looking at it from below. The tape eject function works well, the tape staying in place in the cassette door when opened. The second cassette movement mechanism on mine works well, free and easy. However I still remember reports of others finding the same mechanism on Acoustic Wave stiff or non-functioning. The function buttons are also made from die-cast, that’s a nice touch. The only thing I would change, or maybe have included as a swap out, would be the chromed cassette door accents. This would suit the ‘toy’ version mode better. In ‘toon’ mode, a flat yellow would look more suitable. Dial and slide buttons on the side are for show and do not posses any movement.

Robot Mode

Acoustic Blaster, given it’s just a straight-up repaint of Acoustic Wave, remains an amazing looking figure. And I still maintain, possibly one of the best representations of a cartoon accurate figure to date. There’s plenty of die-cast in this figure, which gives it some good heft and balance. Articulation is good, some good poses are achievable but it can struggle slightly when kneeling, crouching or attempting some of the more adventurous action poses. But that said, Soundwave / Soundblaster wasn't really the action guy so he looks more than comfortable in an A-stance. Acoustic Blasters best ‘gimmick’ if you will, is the ability to “transform” him into his G1 toy counterpart, making use of the included attachments. In this mode he looks every bit as good as before, with just that added nostalgia to sweeten the deal. Whilst not a complete look, it does just enough to make it feel separate, almost another figure entirely. Articulation remains the same, nothing changes there.

In robot mode Acoustic Blaster is not alone, he comes with one of his minions, Night Bat! And as we all know is none other than Ratbat. This little ‘Decepti-cassette’ is great, lots of die-cast, well built and coloured just right. My only gripe would be that I’d have liked to have seen some forward movement on the wings, in the same style as for their Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. Night Bat does not come with any accessories, other than a cassette box, but that really doesn’t count I think.RP-01C

I’ve taken the decision to not review the RP-01C set separately, so I’ll briefly cover them here and now. Corax (Buzzsaw), Marvin (Autoscout), Thagomizer (Slugfest) and Rexadon (Overkill) come as a separate offering. All have tons of die-cast like the other cassettes with transformations that are simple and straightforward. Articulation isn’t great but effective enough to have them pose alongside Acoustic Wave / Acoustic Blaster. The packaging is more or less the same as RP-01B, just slightly bigger to include 4 cassettes rather than 3.

Closing Thoughts

Acoustic Blaster is another quality release from ‘Robot Paradise’, and really it should be as it’s just a re-paint. This mold from Fans Toys is one that I think will be a while before it is topped, if ever. At this time I cannot say that it will be a keeper, as technically the character falls beyond my ‘84 / ’85 remit. And with it being just a black version of Soundwave, it feels a little extravagant having them both. I couldn’t say that keeping him just for Ratbat would be an option either, as he’s not a character that I’m overly fond of. I mean I remember him from the Marvel UK comics but other than that, well...

But do I have any criticisms? Well, not really, no. There’s little I find on this that I’d state as an actual negative. Maybe save one, and that is Night Bat, which I mentioned earlier and his need for more wing movement. Oh, and I suppose I’ll repeat myself and say that I still think that Buzzsaw should have been included with the previous RP-01B set!

One more I think... On the box, Acoustic Blasters lower leg panels are black but on the actual figure, they are silver. I think I prefer them black. Is this an error or an intentional choice?

And that’s about it. The rest you can gather from the photo’s or by heading over to Omegalock and buying one for yourself.

Right, I’m out of here. I’ve been Edd, he's been Acoustic Blaster and you’ve been awesome for spending a little time reading my ramblings.

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