Review – Transformers Sound Blaster Bust

“During a pitch battle with his arch-nemesis Blaster, the critically injured Soundwave was rescued by his loyal cassette team and given a newly enhanced body created with stolen technology from the planet Nebulos. Now known as Sound Blaster, his data processing capabilities have doubled and he can now fire charged particles with a power of 38,000 volts from his shoulder mounted electric launcher.”
— from the back of the box

I’ve mentioned this statue before (most recently here), but now it’s time to do more than just talk about it. So what have we got here? Basically, this is a 6-inch tall (to about the top of his head) statue of Sound Blaster, the recreated form of Soundwave after he was destroyed in battle. What’s that? You don’t remember Soundwave being destroyed? Well, that’s because it happened in a Japanese Transformers cartoon. But thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can watch the fight right now.

So now that you know what Sound Blaster is, let’s take a close look at this attractive, well-made statue.

Packaging

The box is just okay, not exactly one of the most attractive designs I’ve ever seen, but I can’t argue the fact that it’s extremely functional. The styrofoam packing material perfectly locks the three parts of the Sound Blaster Bust in place — the arms are separate pieces — and perfectly protected Sound Blaster on the flight home.

I would have much rather seen a painting or drawing of Sound Blaster on the cover, but I can understand that when you’re selling a $60 statue you need to show the statue. Still, everything about the packaging is more functional than it is artistic, which is unfortunate since attractive packaging is always fun. As it is, I may keep this box, but only so that whenever I need to move the statue I have a safe container for it.

The Sculpting is Superior

Sculpted by Mark Wong of Art Asylum, I have absolutely no complaints about Sound Blaster’s sculpt. Every detail is tight, with the entire piece looking like something straight out of a Transformers comic or animation. And as great as Sound Blaster looks, it’s the Ratbat perched on his shoulder that really makes the piece. And I’m not just saying that because I loved the old Ratbat toy (review here) and design. No, adding Ratbat to Sound Blaster’s shoulder gives the bust a sense of depth and action that he’d be missing without the companion.

But Sound Blaster isn’t alone. In a nod to the old Sound Blaster toy (see this toy gallery at Seibertron), Sound Blaster’s pushing his eject button and preparing to unleash Rumble who you can see just inside his open chest compartment. The last photo in the review gives you a great shot of Rumble; just remember FIBRIR (explained here) and you’ll understand why this is Rumble and not Frenzy.

Paint as Fabulous as the Sculpt

A lot of what makes Sound Blaster look so great is the quality of the paint applications. The silver arms have a brushed effect that makes them look a little worn, while the tight line work — from the black lines on the silver components to the Decepticon symbol on his chest — are all dead on. Not an ounce of sloppy paint on this guy.

A Durable Bust

I’m not sure what this statue is made of, but it feels heavy in my hands and I’m pretty sure this will withstand normal wear and tear without the need for me to be too gentle with the piece. Dropping is would be bad, yes, but I’m not worried at all about picking it up and moving it around. The removable arms fit in snuggly, but can be easily removed if you need to repack Sound Blaster. Overall, this feels like a high-quality bust.

Closing Thoughts

I paid $20 for Sound Blaster at the New York Toy Fair, because my copy was one of the pieces used for display at the show. That came with a price, however, because the number on the bottom of the box — this is a numbered series of 1,000 pieces — doesn’t match the number on the base. I don’t actually care, since the numbering doesn’t mean much to me.

When he was released Sound Blaster was priced at $60, and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be as happy with this statue as I am if I had paid that much for it. $20 was an amazing deal, yes, but I think I would have been happy at a price as high as $35 or $40; that’s lower than the $50 price tag on this statue at Amazon.com*, so maybe I’m just being unreasonable in my estimation of the statue’s value.

Sound Blaster is a beautiful statue, but I don’t think he’s quite good enough to make me buy more busts in this series (unless I find another great deal). A full-figure Transformers statue could probably attract my attention and wallet depending on the character (the Hard Hero Insecticons, for example, would be a must buy if I could find them at their original retail price), but busts just aren’t quite exciting enough for me to collect many of them. (As always, there are exceptions; the series of Star Wars Clone Commando busts — that includes this Republic Commando Sev** — would be awesome.)

This is an excellent work of art . . . but unless you’re a hardcore Transformers fan who also happens to love statues then you can let this one slide.

*Affiliate link: Orders using this link earn battlegrip.com cash, which is applied to buying toys.

**Affiliate link: Orders using this link earn battlegrip.com cash, which is applied to buying toys.

Philip Reed knows that a statue isn’t a toy, but since it’s a Transformers statue that makes it fair game for battlegrip.com. Besides, Philip can write about anything that interests him because this is his site. So there.