MP-13 Soundwave & Laserbeak quick review

Hey all, Khai here again for a consolidated review of the new Takara Transformers Masterpiece MP-13 Soundwave figure. First up, Soundwave has always been a huge fan favourite, so this guy is selling out quick at pretty much all retailers. You can order this from places such as Robot Kingdom, Big Bad Toy Store, TFSource or even ebay sellers. But you really have to be quick because it's selling out quick!

I preordered this back in Aug 2012 from Robot Kingdom purely so that I could get the Amazon Japan exclusive. At the time, the exclusive was being touted as an energon cube, where the regular version had no cube. But as it turned out, the regular release came with the energon cube, and the Amazon JP exclusive was simply an extra two cubes! Not really worth the extra price, considering a lot of regular releases were being shipped with a nice collectible coin featuring Soundwave's mug! I would've preferred that over 2 extra cubes.

But anyway, onto the figure!! Now with MP-13, where do you start? The main attraction being Soundwave, or the stealer of the show Laserbeak? :) I have to say, Laserbeak is an absolute engineering marvel!

Laserbeak's transformation is elegant, simple, and yet so effective. The original G1 toy is exactly the same size in cassette mode, and yet required separate removable pieces for the cannons in flight mode. But this new masterpiece truly is that, with fully integrated weapons in the transformation. He really is the star of this MP-13 package.

That's not to say Soundwave himself is bad! He is of course an amazing figure! In doing this review, I realised I had not taken a picture of him in his classic boombox alt mode. You can see that in my video review that I'll post a link to below. It is every bit the G1 classic you remember!

In bot mode, Soundwave looks incredible. The headsculpt itself is worthy of the masterpiece tag alone in my book! And of course this is the first G1 Soundwave that can finally move his arm and hand to press his eject button! The articulation is fantastic.

Transformation wise, MP13 sits along side MP-8 Grimlock, MP-10 Optimus, and MP-12 Sideswipe as those Masterpiece figures with simple, elegant, and not overlay complicated transformations that are enjoyable to do! Others in the line such as MP-9 Rodimus and MP-11 Starscream have transformations that are either overly complicated, frustrating, or just so damn hard to do that you're always afraid something is going to break! Not with Soundwave.

In summary, if you're on the fence about getting MP-13 Soundwave, just hop onto the bandwagon purely for Laserbeak alone! He looks amazing on display either alone or with his other Masterpiece brethren! So go out and get him while you can! He will surely be one piece that will maintain demand for years to come!

Here are links to my youtube vid reviews of the MP-13 package. Hope you can check them out too!