Mech Planet HS-05 Soundboard
Call me a heathen, but I’ve always thought Soundwave looked better in black.
Released in 2017 in the traditional blue of Soundwave, Mech Planet’s Soundtrack figure soon saw re-release as Soundboard, filling that ‘bigger than Legends-scale Soundblaster’ hole in your life.
And yes, there is a lot of sound going on in that last paragraph.
Robot Mode
From the square limbs to the red chest to the iconic face, there’s no doubt about what version of which character Soundboard represents – Mech Planet nail the Soundblaster aesthetic. The black and grey plastic make the paint apps minimal; that said, red and gold is everywhere you’d want to find it.
The articulation is mostly good, but a lack of ankle tilts hurt posability from the waist down. Looking at the build a waist swivel could also have been possible – but then this is a still a small scale toy, and what we do get is good.
Alt Mode
If you’ve ever held a G1 Soundblaster or Soundwave you know exactly how this works. Spin and flip the head back, swing the shoulders back and peg the arms in, twist and flip the legs and voila – it’s a Walkman.
Soundboard looks clean up front with a strong G1 vibe. The proportions are a bit off, but overall it works. Spin it around and the backside is a mess, but the clever gun storage (another nod to the G1 toy) keeps things tidier.
Accessories
Soundboard comes with a shoulder cannon, a rifle, and two tape cassettes. Both the shoulder cannon and the rifle look decent doing what they’re supposed to do, which is all you can really ask for.
Yet the main event is Soundboard’s fellow not-Decepticons Bat Soldier and Lightning Bird – AKA Ratbat and Buzzsaw.
As brightly-coloured cassettes Bat Soldier and Lightning Bird can take turns to sit in Soundboard’s chest. Yet it’s in ‘robot’ mode that they shine, with Lightning Bird possibly the most adorable robot war machine you’ll see today.
For the tiny size these are two impressive toys, and that’s a conclusion you can extend to the entire package. Mech Planet Soundboard isn’t a perfect action figure by any means. But for the size, the fun and the sheer bang for your buck, it’s an absolute steal.
