Takara Soundwave Part I

This is going to be a very bad habit of mine. I am starting to get Mr. VISA to help me more and more. I should not be doing this. I should be looking for more things to do to make more money. But when I saw it, I just lost it, you know. With just one swipe, my journey to financial damnation gets closer. But my heart said, "Ah, who the hell cares. This is important."

It all started when the usual mailing lists from XL-Shop, Shioktoys and HLJ arrived at my inbox. One of them mentioned a Transformer that can play MP3. And it had to be the Decepticon, Soundwave. In the 80's, Soundwave is actually a silver blue walkman or mini-compo or something. And inside its chest, lies four/six cassette tapes which transforms to Buzzsaw, Rabrat, Lazerbeak, Ravage, Rumble and Frenzy. And the Autobot equivalent was the red and yellow mini-compo, Blaster, which my favourite and he also has cassettes Steeljaw, Ramhorn, Rewind and Eject. Although he was created c to Soundwave, but he just did not last long in the TV Series. But my dream at that time was to get him and then actually stuff a radio inside. Well, that was the plan because a that time, MP3 does not even exist yet. But because my pocket money was not enough, I eventually forgot about that idea. Anyway, twenty years later, Takara introduced the latest (or upgraded) Soundwave which is now an MP3 player (thank goodness he was not updated to be a Laserdisc player). And I just happened to visit a customer at Amcorp Mall where Ultimate Toys and Toys were. Since Ultimate Toys has a habit of opening in the evening (except for the 1-Utama outlet) I decided to drop by Toys. And they were in the middle of unpacking some limited edition Optimus Prime toys. However, when I saw Soundwave, I just went, you know, nuts.

There are two versions of Soundwave on sale. One is the White version which looked so deliciously cute but in the end, I chose the Blue Spark version as he looked more like the original Soundwave. After walking out of the store, I realised on thing, "My God! What have I done!!! I don't need another MP3 player! I already have my iPaq and the new wireless car MP3 player!". So, how am I going to hide this little sin of mine?

Just the box alone makes the toy so exclusive. But I stopped at buying the Transformers headphones which turns to Rumble and Frenzy. People would think I am wearing earrings instead. Well, OK, the real reason is that Rumble and Frenzy are both micro-cassettes stored inside Soundwave’s chest. They are a part of him.


But if you do not transform him, then it would look nice, Something like a early version or an iPod, I suppose. In the background, you can see an White Optimus Prime truck with its trailer which serves as iPod cradle and speakers. And and it is coming soon. But since I do not have an iPod, it is useless to me.


And so, this is what it looked like when you open the front cover.


There you go. Soundwave with extra 2 pairs of hands, some
kind of missile launcher, a plastic sci-fi toothpick and a pair
of white headphones.
(Actually, I was hoping for those sound cancelling types)


At the back of the box, this is the White version of Soundwave. So, he looked kinda weird.
And not only that, in the original toy, his calf was the other way round. Now, this is the
opposite but it still looked better. I mean, you'd look weird with a huge bump on your
shins.


But if you do not transform him, then it would look nice, Something like a early version or an iPod, I suppose. In the background, you can see an White Optimus Prime truck with its trailer which serves as iPod cradle and speakers. And and it is coming soon. But since I do not have an iPod, it is useless to me.

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