Back in the 1980s, when Transformers first appeared on TV and in toy shops, you had to use your imagination to make the action figures come alive – but the Robosen Flagship Soundwave G1 does it right in front of your eyes.
Tell Soundwave to “convert” and he’ll transform from a gun-wielding robot to a harmless ghettoblaster (or vice versa) in under 10 seconds, with 26 servos inside and more than 50 different voice-controlled movement functions to put your old Buzz Lightyear to shame.
What sets it apart from Robosen’s other self-converting Transformers is that it actually works as a speaker as well. Pair your phone over Bluetooth and you can play music through it, with the buttons on the front controlling playback.
Switch to ‘Cassette’ mode and you can also use the built-in microphone to record short clips of your own impressions – “Soundwave superior, Autobots inferior” – but if you’d prefer to hear the real thing the original voice actor Frank Welker has recorded over 200 lines of dialogue for it.
There’s also an app that’ll let you control Soundwave’s functions, which includes a ‘Free Programming’ mode for creating custom poses just by moving his limbs.
Measuring just over 14in tall when standing on his feet, the Robosen Flagship Soundwave G1 is powered by a 1650mAh battery, which should give you about an hour of Autobot action. A full charge via USB-C will take about twice as long.
Unfortunately, with a price tag as big as Optimus Prime’s dressing gown ($999/£899 if you order before 4 January, $1399/£1299 afterwards) you might have to just use your imagination when it comes to owning one.
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