Yolopark AMK Pro Bumblebee Movie Soundwave review

You probably already know what I am about to say with my love for the Yolopark series, and you may also know about how much I don't like this version of Soundwave in terms of movie designs. That said, nothing can compare to the bizarre story I am about to tell: I won this by surprise 2 days after the 4th of July, and then had the usual updates for about a week. At that point, I was notified that the item was arriving late, so I thought "it'll come eventually", and decided to let it wait. 2 weeks later, I had enough with waiting for nothing and tried to find any way of calling out my post office for any inaction. They told me I needed to make an account to demand a search request, and one was initiated on August 2. I felt that if nothing was to ever pop up on the day set one month after the last update, the review will be scrapped. That was the case until August 13, where it arrived at the post office before making its way on the same day. Very unbelievable. So now we have to resurrect this review and see if this turned out to be greater than I expect it to!

Here we have Soundwave fully assembled, matching his brief appearance perfectly from the Bumblebee movie. Granted, his CG model, chunky and tubby as it may be, was never rigged to transform, which is something Hasbro needed to fix when it came to their Studio Series line. That said, in spite of my opinions on the design, I will set those aside and see how faithfully they translated it. The proportions are correct as one should expect, and the paintwork is intricate in regards to the intentional scratches as well as having the blues and whites appear rich and less plasticky. That said, there are these brownish bits of wash that might resemble rust or some other kind of intended wear, but not only does it come off too easily, but it also looks bad. It's almost like he tried to smear himself with shit but didn't wipe some of it off. Just because I felt the design was dookie doesn't mean he should look like he has some on him! Other than that, he does just what I expect Yolopark would do in terms of matching his fat ass.

Head sculpt matches how he appeared in the movie, though if I am allowed to talk about my personal feelings regarding it, I always felt the shape looked more like an amateur cosplayer helmet thanks to how bug the top part looks combined with the dopey visor shape. At least he has no sad eye look (provided you have it lit up since I lack batteries atm). Also wipe that shit off your face. Articulation is standard for the Yolopark range, with the double ball jointed neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, ball jointed wrists, and bicep swivels all being standard, though we have elbow range closer to a 90 degree single jointed elbow as well as some of the most limited range for the torso. He can rotate at the waist somewhat, and you can nudge a bit of the side panels above the waist so he can tilt and ab crunch somewhat, but it's as effective as a fat person doing sit ups. The hips have the standard double range thanks to the drop down set up, and the same goes for the thigh swivels as well as moving in and out. That said, the latter has the side panels of the upper thighs on hinges that can shift downwards so as to allow the range to move better. It's a little over designed, but it does the job fine. Not as effectively as the shifting panels when you bend the knees, which helps keep the shape of the leg fairly curved without things being broken up. Helps add a bit of life and realism to the engineering. Ankles swivel, hinge, and pivot, with toe ticulation about as average as his rifle. At the very least, it has a tab so you can use it with the articulated hands or stored away for the pre-posed hands.

On a side note, Soundwave comes with alternate hands sculpted in different poses. One pair relaxed, another for holding the weapon, and a third for pointing. These hands inexplicably have removable ball joints that are mean to be switched with each other, which I already hate since those will be easily lost, on top of no other Yolopark AMK Pro figure doing this to my knowledge. The rust on these look way better than on the rest of the toy.

An acrylic version of Ravage is included as a preorder bonus if I recall correctly, and it can not only be stored inside a silicone case, but it can also be kept inside his opening chest. When it has the same effect of putting a reprolabel on a block, it at least is detailed nicely and fits in the cavity.

He comes with a proper Ravage as one would expect given the Threezero version naturally included one, and Hasbro's Studio Series Core Class version was released in the same wave as Voyager Soundwave back in 2022. The paintwork is both intricately exquisite as with his master, yet we still have the problem of the brown here and there. Assembling him is pretty straightforward, and he's another instance of an AMK Pro coming with a bonus figure to accompany the larger character (with this seen earlier from Tarn's Nickel and G1 Bumblebee's Spike, and it makes me wish Scourge came with Freezer or Novakane). The anatomy is there for a feline robot, though I always found the head to be far too dog-like in comparison. The missiles on the side and the pod on top, which were unpainted and easy to lose on the Studio Series version, are better colored to match the rest of the toy. I also like that the claws are fairly sharp enough while still adhering to some form of safety. As expected, the pod can be removed on the top, but his forehead is removable. I don't it was intended to have some light up feature, especially since the lower jaw is also a separate piece.

Articulation consists of a limited ball joint at the neck, a hinge within the back of the head, ball joints for all four legs to move around, hinges for the forelegs and hind legs, and the paws are also hinged. The tail can only point downwards, which sucks since I was hoping it would also point upwards to simulate the part where he lands on all fours after Prime punches him.

This comparison should be easier to set aside. The Core Class is obviously much smaller and less detailed, but on the bright side, it can turn into some cuboid thing! How neat. That said, it makes me wish we got a regular Deluxe Ravage that turned into something way cooler, a bit like his ROTF form almost 2 decades ago.

And here we have a Soundwave comparison, and the Studio Series version appears to be ever so slightly wider. No doubt that's so it can integrate the ability to transformation and to store Ravage proper. In all honesty, both do their jobs perfectly fine, though SS is cheaper and can transform into nothing! You're free to choose either one, but that being said, this is the weakest AMK Pro I reviewed so far, mostly due to the limited articulation in some areas, the situation with the swappable PVC hands, and the rust that looks more like feces. Some will claim I'm biased or am a Bayverse truther or whatever, but hey, they can always cling onto their Beewun Primes if their feelings are ever hurt. Other.rhan Blitzwing, Shatter, and Dropkick, there are no further plans for more BBM designs.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐