If you’re a fan of the Transformers, then you’re a fan of robots. And if you’re a fan of robots, then you’ve got to be a fan of Robosen.
Robosen, working alongside Hasbro, holder of the Transformers toy license in the United States, have launched the latest in their series of self-transforming Autobot and Decepticon robot figures, joining Optimus Prime, Megatron, Grimlock, and Bumblebee. Not only was this a no-brainer when it came to selecting the next Transformer to bring to Cybertronic life, it gave the creators an opportunity to add a new element to their lineup of robots in disguise – Soundwave is also a bluetooth speaker.
Soundwave is actually my all-time favorite Transformers character, even though I never got to own one as a kid (I had some of the cassettes, though, because Ravage and Lazerbeak were much cheaper to collect). His status as my favorite has only become even more evident simply because he points back to the time when he was first created. While other characters are based on cars or jets or other vehicles, which are still made and used today. But Soundwave transforms into a cassette deck, something that was the prevalent way that people listened to music back in the 1980s. Considering my love of 80s pop culture, he’s ironically a never-changing symbol of that era. Sure, there have been later editions of this character’s toy released by Hasbro that changed his look and purpose over the decades as cassette decks and boom boxes became less relevant, but both Hasbro and Robosen know there’s still nothing like the original.
Sure, they could have easily chosen one of the latter designs for what they had in mind, but it had to be G1 style or nothing. Sure, he may still look like a cassette playing boom box, AS HE SHOULD FOR ALL TIME, but to make him an actual working cassette player would have limited his functionality to the handful of us who still own cassettes. The next best, most sensible choice would be to still allow him to play music, but only via bluetooth from any music playing device. It’s all digital now. We’ve caught up to the All-Spark molded lives of the Transformers. And for a robotic toy that talks and dances at your command, it only makes sense that he blasts your favorite music as well.
Check out everything that the new Robosen Soundwave Transformer has to offer in the video below and at Robosen’s official website.
The Robosen Soundwave robot is now available to pre-order through January 4th, 2026. It should start shipping around April 2026 according to the Robosen and Hasbro Pulse websites. There is currently a discount available during the pre-order period, making it available for approximately $999, so get it at that price while you can.
If you haven’t seen one of the best releases in this series, Grimlock the Dinobot, here’s a clip I captured at San Diego Comic-Con a number of years ago…
