Soundwave (EarthSpark/1 Step Flip Changers)

I've been a fan of 1 Step Changers/Turbochangers since they were introduced, so it's no surprise that I jumped on the new EarthSpark versions. There's a difference with this new type. Despite the extremely simple transformations, the prior ones required manual change. These new toys do not. You simply push the robot over or flip it in the air and it will self convert into alt mode. It's a super neat gimmick and fun to play with. Unfortunately, they don't have any articulation (so far). The older Turbochangers had very limited articulation, but it was still there. That's probably my only complaint about these going in.

I like Soundwave a lot and tend to get as many of his toys as I can. Given that and his super cool design in EarthSpark... this was a must have. Soundwave's design is a mixture of his Cybertron toy and Armada Thunderwing with some super robot flair. With the right colors, he'd blend right on in on  a shelf with late Takara G1 or Brave toys. I like this little bot and want to get more toys of his design. I mentioned Armada Thunderwing above, which is funny as I'd really like a Tacticon version. This design just looks like it'd work well in a tiny toy. As is, Soundwave is a pleasant Flip Changer. I do wish there was arm articulation, but it's not a deal breaker in a low price gimmick toy. These make good desk bots to occasionally play with and clear out some mental fudge. Man, he looks like a 16 bit game character.