On Friday, October 13, 2023 at 3:49:04 AM UTC-6, Joseph Bardsley wrote:
> I'm also super excited for this set, even though my vintage Soundwave continues to hold up just fine. My understanding is that this will be a mass-market release, but I am happy to be corrected.
I'm pretty sure it's a Walmart exclusive, actually. They seem to have had exclusivity rights to all the recent G1 reissues.
> I wonder - as this is a reissue, will there be any objective difference from the original in terms of build, quality, or construction? Debating investing in this, too - for no other reason, maybe, than the benefit of plastic that isn't four decades old ...
Well, the tape deck door hinge won't be the same as the American G1 release. Takara redesigned it in the 1980's to make it less fragile—I've always thought it was for the 1987 Soundblaster version, but reportedly they were also selling a redesigned Soundwave prior to that. Regardless, that's been the way every G1 Soundwave since then has been built. It's just been a matter of whether you get the double-deep Soundblaster tape door that can hold two cassettes. The upcoming cartoon colors version looks like it holds one tape.
Modern plastics are also much more resilient than the brittle stuff they were using when Soundwave first came out. So, you could theoretically drop the toy on your bathroom tile floor and he won't shatter (something that could not be said of the 1984 version). But, Soundwave is a G1 toy that they haven't had to constantly retool and fix, so aside from the modified tape deck hinge, there shouldn't be any significant differences in design or build.
To me, the most exciting change is to get a version of Soundwave in that glorious cartoon color scheme, which is something I've wanted for pretty much forever. The red eyes, the stripes on the wrists and guns... these things are important!
> I love the sense of community that continues to characterize good old ATT. (Zob, I may ask if you might be willing to buy and send one to me for cost + shipping, if that is OK - if not, no worries at all).
Well, the cartoon Blaster and Soundwave toys went live this morning for pre-order. Blaster ships around January 15, 2024, and Soundwave is supposed to ship in February. I was able to place a second Soundwave pre-order for you. If you are not able to order him yourself, then I got you taken care of!
Zob (got up too early and needs caffeine)