LEGO Transformers Soundwave: What’s changed and what’s missing

The upcoming 10358 Soundwave has gone through a number of changes from toy to LEGO Icons set, with some elements of the Decepticon missing altogether.

The LEGO Icons theme recently revealed 10358 Soundwave, a 1,505-piece Transformers model launching for Insiders members on August 1. The set includes the first-ever brick-built Decepticons to date, with the 33cm tall character joined by a pair of tiny cassette tapes that can change into Ravage and Laserbeak.

While 10358 Soundwave certainly represents the most accurate version of a Transformer in LEGO form that we’ve seen to date, it’s worth noting the set has also evolved along the way. Eagle-eyed fans of the long-running Hasbro franchise will no doubt spot a number of changes have been made to the Decepticon during its journey from toy and cartoon character to LEGO Icons model, plus there are some notable omissions to point out too.

1 – Missing stickers

Despite 10358 Soundwave featuring a selection of unique printed pieces, the model still relies on a handful of stickers to recreate the appearance of the Transformer. The good news is that one of the designers behind the LEGO Icons set revealed in a recent livestream that the included sticker sheet does allow fans to go with a choice of looks based on either the toy or cartoon versions of Soundwave.

However, while that option will be appreciated by many fans, a few stickers from the original Hasbro toy are still missing from 10358 Soundwave. Those include the ‘Rec’ and ‘Stop’ buttons on the front of the transformed model, red and silver foil knee stickers, and two trapezoid-shaped stickers on the inside of Soundwave’s legs, representing the cassette player’s external speakers.

2 – Batteries and belt clip

Speaking of the original Hasbro toy, 10358 Soundwave also takes the cassette player’s pair of blue 'AA batteries' and repurposes them as the character’s shoulder-mounted rocket pod and handheld laser blaster accessories.

Frustratingly though, the batteries can’t be placed inside the battery pack on the back of the LEGO Icons figure (that’s reserved for the character’s head) and have to instead be attached to either side, when Soundwave is in his transformed cassette player mode.

Also missing is the toy’s battery pack belt clip, a fun way for fans to carry the 1984 Hasbro character around, but a feature that was most likely removed from 10358 Soundwave to avoid any accidental damage to the more fragile brick-built model.

3 – No gold pieces

A number of gold-painted elements were featured on the original Hasbro toy, but have either been changed to yellow for the LEGO Icons set or removed altogether. That list includes the gold rims around the edge of Soundwave’s opening chest tape deck and a gold arrow on the lower half of that window, as well as a few gold foil stickers that are now a flat yellow colour to mimic the look of the cartoon show version of the fan-favourite character.

4 – Where’s Buzzsaw?

The biggest change and omission with 10358 Soundwave comes in the form of his trusted companion, Laserbeak. The original 1983 Japanese Microman: Microchange toy was accompanied by Rumble (and never Ravage), who was later replaced with Buzzsaw (or Robo Red Condor) when the character debuted in Hasbro’s first 1984 wave of Transformers.

In fact, Laserbeak didn’t arrive until a two-pack with Frenzy (Rumble’s cassette twin) dropped in the same year and then only finally appeared alongside Soundwave when the latter Decepticon was reissued in Japan in 2003 as part of The Transformers Collection.

The main difference between the two cassette tapes is that Buzzsaw was gold and black, while Laserbeak was red and black, with 10358 Soundwave accurately representing the colours of the latter diminutive Decepticon. It’s possible that Buzzsaw may have been swapped with the less-aggressive sounding character in the LEGO Icons set, but that hasn’t been officially confirmed.

LEGO Insiders will get a first chance to pick up 10358 Soundwave on August 1, while everyone else can grab their copy from August 4. The LEGO Icons set will be available online and in LEGO Stores priced at £159.99 / $189.99 / €179.99. To find out more about the model, be sure to check out our review here.

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