About ten years ago, I joined the online Transformers fan community and sold off some of my G1 toys. One guy in Florida offered me a trade; his BotCon Onyx Primal for my G1 Blaster and Soundwave. It seemed like a good idea at the time seeing as how Onyx cost $30 and the G1 guys retailed at about $15 each. So, I mailed off my part of the bargain, but never received my Onyx Primal, my toys back, or an explanation. And so, I was without Blaster and Soundwave for 10 years, until yesterday.

Hasbro, using the Soundblaster mold, reissued Soundwave in Classics-style packaging this year. I found him at a local Toys R Us yesterday morning and couldn't have been happier... in a materialistic way that is. Soundwave comes with Laserbeak and (Battle) Ravage and, thanks to the Soundblaster mold, can hold both of them in their tape configurations in his chest. Also included are two cases to hold the cassettes, which were never available in the previous US release. It's great to have Soundwave back, even if it is modified version.

Unfortunately, there are some down sides to this reissue. Soundwave feels brittle, more so than I remember him feeling back in the day. Because he can hold two cassettes now, his tape door extends beyond his chest. I'll have to get used to that. Laserbeak's left leg is cracked around the point where it connects to the body, which doesn't allow him to lay completely flat in cassette mode. Ravage's front left leg popped out of it's socket at the knee. I was able to reconnect it with some pliers, but I get the feeling it'll happen again.

So, the moral of the story is, don't trust anyone online.

Well, not really. But, be aware that there are jerks that will rip you off and replacements for what you lose may not live up to the memories of the original. That's not to say I don't like Soundwave & Co. I'm just not as enamored with them as I thought I'd be. At least he's better than the Titanium version. Now, there's a piece of crap.