I have been collecting certain Transformer toys for the last 25 years and I’ve always regretted not obtaining the G1 Soundwave toy from the 80’s. Luckily Takara decided that Soundwave needed a Masterpiece mold and MP-13 was born. After months of waiting my new and improved modern Soundwave was finally delivered at my doorstep. Is it really a Masterpiece or has Takara ruined my childhood memories forever? Let’s find out!
Soundwave’s Articulation
First of all, Soundwave’s head is on a ball-joint and can turn 360 degrees, the head also moves up and down so this is great for posing. His shoulders can also turn a full 360 degrees with nothing getting in the way of the motion. Soundwave’s elbow has a double joint so you can finally pose him pressing his own eject button! (As a huge geek I can appreciate subtle little features like this enormously.) The hands on the MP13 are okay, even though I prefer fully articulated fingers. My Soundwave’s left hand index finger un-hinges sometimes, so I have to be very careful not to break it and that’s truly a pain. Soundwave’s torso rotates too, a whopping full 360 degrees.
Last but not least, the legs! What horror has Takara bestowed upon us? Soundwave’s legs bend forward and are able to turn 90 degrees at the hip. The thighs turn 360 degrees and connects to the knee with a heavy ratchet joint. Not being able to ben the legs backwards is terrible if you ask me. Luckily you can still get some cool poses out of Soundwave but don’t expect any Figma or Revoltech poseability! The feet can move up and down a bit and an ankle-joint let’s you slightly bend the feet in and out to stabilize the pose you’ve chosen to set Soundwave in. Overall the MP-13 has great poseability even if there are some minor flaws.
Transformation
Soundwave’s transformation is very simple and really reminds me of his 80’s counterpart. The way parts 
slide in and out make Soundwave a very clean Transformer. You will not find any unneccessary kibble on this Bot, it’s really perfect. His alt mode looks really good and will fit nicely among your army of Decepticons.
Paint Applications
The color scheme on Soundwave is gorgeous. His dark blue tone looks great and when you inspect it closer you will see shiney metallic blue flakes in his paintjob. Very nice Takara! His chest has a nice gold trim and there are numerous spots on the toy that use silver and gold to bring out the smaller details. Soundwave’s eject button and record/ play/ stop/ forward/ reverse buttons are all fully chromed and it looks very nice indeed!
Accessories and Gimmicks
Soundwave comes with a plethora of accessories. You get a Megatron gun, a rocket launcher, a rifle, some sort of scanning device that can be stored on Soundwave’s back or attached to his wrist, an energon cube and last but not least cassette Laserbeak, Soundwave’s unfriendly little robot condor.
It is very cool that Soundwave’s rocket launcher can be flipped back and hidden in his backpack, this is also possible with his rifle and this weapon pegs into the other side of the backpack. Great storage solution and it looks really good too. Soundwave can hold up to three cassettes in his chest, so you could have Rumble, Laserbeak and Ravage in there at all times. Another very cool feature is cross-line compatibility. I accidentally found out Henkei/ Classics Ravage will fit in your MP-13 Soundwave, as well as all the G1 cassettes.
Verdict
If you like Transformers toys and collect Masterpiece Transformers, go get MP13 Soundwave as soon as possible. It won’t be long for this toy to become a real expensive collector’s item and you will have to pay insane ebay or retail prices. It happened to MP-08 Grimlock and Takara MP-07 Thundercracker too. The toy is great even though the legs need a bit more poseability, the transformation is fun and not extremely hard or annoying at all, the paintjob is excellent and Soundwave comes with numerous cool accessories. The fact Henkei/ Classics Ravage and the G1 cassettes are compatible with this toy make it even better! Soundwave is a bit pricey ($189.95 at the majority of retailers), but clearly worth your cash. Go order one now before you regret it for the rest of your life!