MediaWiki - User contributions [en]

Knockoff

2011-05-22T21:24:37Z

70.89.179.194: /* Recent knockoffs */

[[Image:Bootleg.jpg|right|273px|thumb|Super Combination Robot B/O 17-in-1. One just sold for $350 on Ebay. Feel free to throw up in your mouth a little.]]
A '''knockoff''' is a product similar or identical to a product of one company, but made by another without the authorization of the original maker. In the ''Transformers'' fandom, the term is commonly abbreviated '''KO'''. The term '''bootleg''' is also sometimes used as a synonym.

==What's a knockoff?==
Not all transforming robots from makers other than [[Hasbro]], [[TakaraTomy]], [[Bandai]], or other major toy makers are knockoffs, but those toys which wholly or partly duplicate pre-existing designs are well-qualified for the term. The term is also applied by fans, however, to some robots whose design was entirely original with the manufacturer, if said manufacturer is commonly associated with knockoffs, or if this maker's products are often sold in company with knockoffs.

Whether an original design, modified, or slavishly copied, knockoffs are often cheaper than the products of major toymakers. However, the quality of knockoffs is often poorer than that of the originals, including bad plastic quality, bad sticker application, and bad paint applications. Odd colors, excess chrome, resizings, and modifications are common. The world of knockoffs is a strange land of gigantic chromed swords, Gundam/[[Brave (franchise)|Brave]] card art, and wacky packaging translations.

==Legal analysis of knockoffs==
Despite myths to the contrary, most ''Transformers'' knockoffs are illegal. In HASBRO BRADLEY, INC. v. SPARKLE TOYS, INC., 780 F.2d 189 (2nd Cir. 1985), the Second Circuit granted an injunction on Sparkle Toys' Jumpstarter knockoffs, where Hasbro showed a likelihood of success for infringement of their copyright in the Jumpstarters toys.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/780_F2d_189.htm http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/780_F2d_189.htm]</ref> For those not law literate, this basically means that (A) Hasbro held a valid copyright in the Jumpstarters, and (B) Hasbro had a strong enough case that this would have gone to a jury, which would ultimately decide whether there was infringement.

Although Hasbro and Takara's design patents on ''Transformers'' toys expire after 14 years from issuance, their copyright in ''Transformers'' toys lasts for 95 years from publication, i.e., sale to the public. Thus, while the design patents on some ''Transformers'' toys have expired, the copyright protection on all ''Transformers'' toys is still in effect. For useful articles, such as a reconfigurable toy, copyright protects only those expressive elements that are separable from the function. While a transformation is probably not protectable because it is functional, the overall look of the robot or alternate mode is protectable. Thus, while a heavily remolded knockoff that only retains the transformation of the original toy may avoid infringement, a toy that is only resized or is only painted in different colors would infringe Hasbro and Takara's copyright regardless of the slight modification.

==Availability of knockoffs==
Knockoffs were a real problem in the mid-1980's. As the majority of the line came from [[Diaclone]] and [[Micro Change]] toys that had been released in Japan a year or two earlier, Hong Kong bootleggers had plenty of time to copy the molds. Because of this, there were bootlegs on the shelf at the same time as their legitimate Hasbro counterparts. Some bootlegs even preceded their Transformers counterparts like [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]. To combat this, the [[rubsign]] was developed, made with a patented technology that was difficult (at that time) to forge. There was also an accompanying TV ad campaign is which Optimus Prime and Megatron stress brand loyalty by stating, "We are the only ones that have the right to wear [ [[Autobot]] & [[Decepticon]] symbols ]."

Through most of the 1990s, knockoffs were relatively difficult to find in the West. Many fans had luck finding them at flea markets, hole-in-the-wall non-chain toy stores, or discount stores like [[wikipedia: Big! Lots|Big Lots]]. Some knockoff transforming robot toys did show up in chain toy stores, such as the Convert-A-Bots [[Sky Garry (ROC)|Sky Garry]] and Tek Toys ''Voltron'' I—both widely available at Toys R Us—but they were few and far between.

In the 2000s, knockoffs became more accessible. The Kidi Toys gestalt knockoffs were widely available at Family Dollar and [[Kay Bee]] Toy Liquidator stores, and saturated [[eBay]]. Happy Well knockoffs took up shelf space next to Transformers Armada toys at [[Wal-Mart]]. And of course, the realistic counterfeit G1 toys were also widely available on eBay from any number of different sellers. More recently, high end counterfeits have been harder to find on Ebay and can only be found on sites like ioffer or kotoys.com.

==Hasbro's intervention (or lack thereof)==
To date, Hasbro apparently has taken few actions against knockoff manufacturers. Only a couple of cases exist from the 1980s in which Hasbro shut down a ''Transformers'' knockoff operation, and no such cases exist from the 1990s onward. Hasbro's ''Transformers'' design director [[Aaron Archer]] was once quoted as making a comment at [[BotCon]] implying that Hasbro was unconcerned with knockoffs.{{fact}} Strangely, Hasbro recently contacted small online toy store AgesThreeAndUp and told them to take down their knockoff listings. At [[BotCon 2008]], [[Greg Lombardo]] read an official Hasbro policy discouraging fans from purchasing knockoffs — even in the main dealer room just a few yards away — and vaguely threatening future legal action against their producers. In May 2008, eBay began taking down auctions for knockoff Transformers (the high end counterfeits in particular), but it's unclear whether this was Hasbro's doing or not.<ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/other-news-20/knockoff-transformers-auctions-being-pulled-from-ebay-165004/</ref>

==Knockoff companies==
Certain knockoff companies have become notable over the years for one reason or another:

* Four Star - Known during the 1980s for taking any number of ''[[Diaclone]]''-descendant [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] molds and making massive [[Retool|retools]] of them, usually changing 75% of the mold or more. They are especially known for "Mr. Hardhat", a [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] bootleg that is made up of six entirely changed [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] that combine in an entirely different way. The fully combined form uses [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]]'s head. Despite only being known to exist during the '80s, previously unknown Four Star bootlegs seem to appear every few years, bringing into question exactly how many figures they retooled and how these figures were distributed to stay hidden for so long.

* Tek Toys - A North American company that appeared in the early to mid-1990s and did business almost exclusively through Toys "R" Us. They pioneered the combination card/windowless box design used by many, many bootlegs to this day. Tek Toys also used a distinctively plain graphics style on their packaging, eschewing the usual random ''Gundam'' and ''Generation 1'' graphics for new airbrushed art or, surprising for a knockoff company, CGI models, almost always against a plain white background. Tek Toys also worked in extremes, either having recolored copies of existing figures or all new original figures that may or may not have been procured from smaller Asian companies (often times Leader Shine). In a bold move, Tek Toys had their office address printed on later boxes. Their new box graphics are still recycled by other knockoff companies to this day.

[[Image:JBootleg.jpg|right|180px|thumb|On your knees, Jumpstarters! Kneel before your living GOD!]]
* Leader Shine (AKA Champion Crown) - Known during the 1990s for bootlegging the living hell out of the [[Jumpstarter]] molds, producing clones, minor retools, major retools, and almost unrecognizable retools. They also produce "original" toys whose transformation schemes are derived from either ''Transformers'', the ''Brave'' series, or ''Power Rangers''. They still release new and varied Jumpstarters to this day. Leader Shine is also responsible for the very ''[[Godzilla]]''-themed knockoff of [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] that reappears every few years. They also have an amusing habit of putting "Pat. P." (Patent Pending) on almost all of their packages in spite of whether their product is a direct copy or completely changed. It is not known how many, if any, patents Leader Shine actually holds.

* Happy Well - One of the most prominent knockoff companies from the mid-2000's, Happy Well was bold enough to strike a contract with Wal*Mart, CVS Pharmacies, and Walgreen's, making them possibly the first company to have a knockoff "name brand", namely the "Galaxy Defender" series. Happy Well uses relatively high-quality materials, and most of their products are boxed. Some even come with sticker sheets and [[die-cast]] parts. They have since created their own properties and shy away from bootlegs, their "Roadbots" line was the only direct competitor to the ''[[Alternators]]'' line of licensed scale transforming cars.

* Zhong Jin, aka Playcenter<ref>Zhong Jin/Playcenter was first identified as the manufacturer of the knockoffs in September 2007, when fans noticed pictures of most of the current counterfeit G1 knockoffs on their [http://china.alibaba.com/company/detail/playcenter.html Alibaba supplier website], including then-upcoming counterfeits like Warpath. Apparently aware of this, Zhong Jin took down images of all their counterfeit Transformers from the website in October or November.</ref> - The first and primary manufacturer of the high-quality counterfeit ''Generation 1'' knockoffs. Zhong Jin has been making their counterfeit Transformers since 2005, starting with Beachcomber, but in 2007 began greatly increasing their range of counterfeit ''Generation 1'' knockoffs, which now includes at least 47 different G1 Transformers, filling in many of the gaps left by the official reissues. They have also done many plastic/paint variants of their knockoffs, including many clear plastic versions.

* Kidi Toys<ref>[http://www.toysghost.cn Kidi Toys' web site]</ref> - Perhaps best known as the manufacturer of the many low-quality ''Generation 1'' gestalt gift sets. Following Zhong Jin's lead, they briefly produced a couple realistic counterfeit ''Generation 1'' knockoffs ([[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], and [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. Among their other notable knockoffs are [[Alternator]] figures with new or copied paint schemes of reasonable quality. They are the knockoff company responsible for the infamous fake Metroplex Encore Reissues, which deceived major online Transformers stores.<src>http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/199973-what-heck-encore-12-metroplex-i-got-tfsource-fake.html</src>

* Citi Toys - Based in Thailand, the same company that was producing toys for McDonald's Happy Meals was also producing knockoffs of transforming robots in the late 1990's, albeit mostly ''Brave'' and ''Power Rangers''. After news leaked out that they used child labor, new knockoffs with their "CT" logo stopped appearing, which suggests that the child labor scandal caused them to shut down.

* Agglo is a Hong Kong based company that has produced numerous Transformers knockoffs over the years. Their products have ranged from knockoffs of ''Generation 1'' figures, to ''Beast Wars'' and Japanese Beast Wars characters and even ''Robot Masters'' and ''Generation 2'' Cyberjets. They are notable for giving their lines rather long names, one of their Beast Wars KO lines being "Space Warriors Transformable Beast Tech Fighter". They are one of the primary suppliers to the American ''Big Lots!'' stores and generally use their toy molds until they are virtually destroyed, as evidenced by their bootlegs of a number of Leader Shine products which have been retooled to have fewer and fewer parts as time goes by.

* iGear produces down-sized and remolded knockoffs of Masterpiece Transformers toys.

==Countries that produce or once produced knockoffs==
Most knockoffs originate outside of North America and Europe. Although most knockoff-producing countries have joined the Berne Convention and have thus obligated themselves to protect the copyrights of other countries, lax enforcement has allowed manufacturers in many foreign countries, such as China, to continue to produce knockoffs. However, manufacturers in other countries like South Korea, which was once a huge source of knockoff ''Transformers'', have in the last decade made efforts to legitimize themselves by buying the rights to produce official Korean versions of the toys they had long been copying.

[[Image:SENDTHEBOOKS.jpg|right|180px|thumb|SEND THE BOOKS!]]
* [[China]] — The main source of the world's Transformers knockoffs and notorious for their use of gigantic blister cards. Although they are typically low quality, such as the combiner gift sets produced by Kidi Toys, it is also the home of Playcenter, the high quality counterfeit ''Generation 1'' toy manufacturer. China has signed the Berne Convention obligating them to protect foreign copyrights, and has enacted legislation to do so, but their enforcement remains at a pitifully weak level. China is currently the main source of the world's Transformers knockoffs.

* [[South Korea]] — Was once a hotbed of Transformers knockoff activity. It was not uncommon in South Korea for there to even be animated series, like ''[[Inferno (G1)|Phoenix King]]'', that incorporated multiple knocked-off properties, such as [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] fighting a Gundam or any other number of famous characters. Hilariously, "Gundam" was so embedded in the South Korean public psyche as a synonym for "giant robot" via these different bootleg outlets that the ''Gundam'' property owner Sunrise's attempts to trademark the word were entirely rejected by the courts<ref>[http://www.comipress.com/article/2006/10/28/938 http://www.comipress.com/article/2006/10/28/938] Gundam and Giant Robots in South Korea</ref>. Some Korean knockoff manufacturers took great liberties with Transformers molds, such as significantly increasing their size[http://www.pleasesavemerobots.com/scrambledcity/skorbia/skorbydestrong.html], and/or retooling their alt modes to resemble completely different vehicles.[http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=17850203&uid=5138952] South Korea is known for such knockoffs as oversized Combaticons, Overlord with Starsaber's face, multiple Power Master Optimus cab knockoffs, and the white Oversized ''Generation 2'' Optimus Prime (the legitimacy of which has been debated). Since the mid-/late-1990s, South Korea has begun enforcing foreign copyrights and is no longer a major source of knockoff Transformers toys.

* Taiwan — Known for knockoffs with a lot of English text on them and higher quality than Chinese knockoffs. Many Taiwanese knockoffs found their way into Italy in the 1980s and 1990s and can often be spotted on Italian eBay. Gig, the official ''Transformers'' licensee in Italy, even imported a Taiwanese knockoff [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]. Like South Korea, Taiwan is no longer a major source of knockoffs.

==Transitional companies==
[[Image:AlphaBaseRobot.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Oh, hi. I cost more than a [[Mint in sealed box|MISB]] ''G1'' Overlord. Want to touch me?]]
[[Image:TrendmastersMasterbotix.jpg|right|180px|thumb|AND I'LL FORM THE HE—oh, wait.]]
Although remarkably rare, some knockoff companies eventually venture into legitimate toy design territory. One such example is Trendmasters, which started out (arguably) as a knockoff manufacturer before eventually legally securing the [[wikipedia:Voltron|''Voltron'']] license. Happy Well has also shifted its focus from knockoffs to original Transforming robots in their Roadbots, X-Bot and V-Create lines.

Another such company was Korean knockoff manufacturer Academy. Academy is known for releasing the Overlord knockoff with Star Saber's head as well as the huge, up-sized ''Gundam'' Cloth MK-II. In the world of plastic scale models, they were also known for producing low-quality knockoffs of Japanese manufacturer Tamiya's kits with copied box art. Academy has since gone legit, legally acquiring such licenses as ''Gundam'', ''Naruto'', ''Tom and Jerry'', and ''Zoids''.<ref>[http://www.academy.co.kr/character/index.html http://www.academy.co.kr/character/index.html]</ref>

==High quality ''Generation 1'' counterfeits==
Starting around 2005, high quality ''Generation 1'' knockoffs began to appear on eBay. Originating from a company called Zhong Jin in China, both the packaging and toy of the knockoffs look nearly identical to the original. Unlike normal knockoffs, these sell for remarkably high prices. Since 2005, many counterfeit ''Generation 1'' products have surfaced from Zhong Jin, including Optimus Prime, Minibots, Cassettes, Autobot cars, Devastator, Dinobots, and Gnaw. Zhong Jin also has produced many color and plastic variants of their knockoffs, such as translucent versions, which were never previously released (and some of which that were, like Jafcon Black Optimus Prime). A second knockoff company, Kidi Toys, briefly produced high end G1 knockoffs as well.

The counterfeit ''Generation 1'' toys remain extremely controversial because they are virtually indistinguishable from the originals. This situation raises concerns about unscrupulous dealers selling bootlegs as genuine articles and scrupulous ones unknowingly doing the same. It's also a further infringement on Hasbro's intellectual property rights, since these fakes infringe not only the copyrights on the toys, but also the trademarks on the packaging.

Counterfeit ''Generation 1'' parts, stickers, and boxes have appeared from Zhong Jin as well, including many that have not had a corresponding whole knockoff released, including [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] boxes and [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] sticker sheets.

The counterfeit ''Generation 1'' toys are often confused with the legitimate [[Generation 1 (Chinese toyline)|Hasbro-made re-releases for the Chinese market produced from 1989 through 1995]]. (See below.)

==Myths about knockoffs==
Over the years, there have been a lot of widespread myths about knockoffs. Perhaps the most preposterous myth is that knockoffs are legal. See the Legal Analysis section above for why this theory is incorrect. Although few proponents of this theory exist, those that do claim vigorously that the presence of knockoffs on Family Dollar or Wal-Mart's shelves means that those products must be legitimate. The flaw in the reasoning here is that it assumes big chain stores would never do anything ignorantly or illegally, which is certainly [http://www.google.com/search?q=walmart+lawsuit not the case].

One long-held myth among fans (due to a general lack of information), is that the ''Generation 1'' ''Transformers'' with Chinese stickers in the corner are high-quality counterfeits. After all, they look just like the original ''Generation 1'' releases, but with some very small differences and oftentimes slightly inferior plastic quality. Recently, though, it's come out that these were, in fact, [[Generation 1 (Chinese toyline)|re-releases for the Chinese market produced from 1989 through 1995]], not unlike their Chinese ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'' counterparts from around the same period. Ironically, high-quality counterfeit ''Generation 1'' toys from China would eventually come out, but it wouldn't be until 2005, a decade later.

==Recent knockoffs==
Since the release of the [[Transformers (2007)|2007 ''Transformers'' movie]], a flood of bootlegged figures has entered the market, with some movie line figure knockoffs appearing within a month of the official product's debut. The figures range from high-quality clones to ''very'' low-quality copies and strange variations, such as random Generation 1 figures being redone in movie paint decos (usually [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s flame scheme or [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee's]] yellow with black stripes).

[[Image:TFA Prime KO.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Hey I'm not the KO, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|He]] is!]]

One notable release was a knockoff of ''[[Transformers Animated (toyline)|Transformers Animated]]'' Voyager Earth-mode [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], which came out several weeks ''before'' the release of the original! The reason this occurred is that Hasbro shelved their already-manufactured ''Animated'' toys for several months in order to extend selling their popular movie line. Thus, finished ''Animated'' toys were able to leak out of factories and into hands of bootleggers long before they were to finally be released.

With the release of the 2009 [[Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|''Revenge of the Fallen'' movie line]] various knockoff toys have also emerged. These include oversized versions of the new Scout class molds, redecos of new Deluxe molds and molds from other lines redecoed to more closely resemble new characters (for instance the ''Animated'' Deluxe [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] mold repainted to look like [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]], complete with door detailing).

The most recent twist in the knockoff toys saga are companies creating high quality knockoffs of recent toys aimed at collectors. These include the "KOLD" knockoffs, sold through kotoys.com, which attempt to imitate [[Lucky Draw]] and other rare Transformers. Also, there have been high quality knockoffs of Henkei Starscream and the seekers (including Sunstorm and the Generic Air Warriors, who have yet to get an official Classics-verse release), as well as Henkei/Classics Mirage in several of his rarer color schemes.

==External links==
*[http://highendtfs.com/?q=node/17 HighEndTFs' ID Guide for high quality counterfeit Generation 1 Transformers]

*[http://www.actionfigurechecklist.com/Images/Album/index.php?v=list&i=0&p=Transformers_KnockOff_KO Action Figure Checklist's Transformer Knock-Off Photo Album]

*[http://www.reocities.com/TelevisionCity/3230/tfother.html All Things Transformers - Other Transforming Toys]

*[http://www.mykooltoyz.com/bootleg-tf.html BOOTLEG TRANSFORMERS]

*[http://cybertronphils.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=toyreview&action=print&thread=4183 Bootleg Center]

*[http://www22.pos.to/~butto/ttot.html Butto's Other Transforming Toys (Japanese)]

*[http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~m-akao/GALLERY/fakehp.html Fake Toy Gallery (Japanese)]

*[http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=6&uid=5138952 Hatch's Bootleg Transformers]

*[http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20091026164943/http://www.geocities.com/kidk0rrupt/ Kid K0rrupt's Bootleg Gallery]

*[http://www.builtstlouis.net/tf/mmkos/index.html Rob's Pile of Transformers: Micromaster Knockoffs]

*[http://www.tfarchive.com/toys/bootlegs/ TFArchive.com's Bootleg Gallery]

*[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/191817-knock-off-transformers-thread.html TFW2005 Ongoing Knock-Off Transformers Thread]

*[http://www.toyarchive.com/Transformers/Knockoffs/Genertaion1KnockOffs.html Toyarchive.com's Gallery of Generation 1 Knockoffs]

*[http://zobovor.20megsfree.com/knockoffs_archive.html Zobovor's Knockoff Toys Archive (text)]

*[http://www.reocities.com/scrambledcity/skorbia/index.html SKORBIA-Crazysteve's South Korean Bootleg Information Archive]

==Footnotes==
<references />

[[Category:Toys]]

Knockoff

2011-05-22T21:24:21Z

70.89.179.194: /* Recent knockoffs */

[[Image:Bootleg.jpg|right|273px|thumb|Super Combination Robot B/O 17-in-1. One just sold for $350 on Ebay. Feel free to throw up in your mouth a little.]]
A '''knockoff''' is a product similar or identical to a product of one company, but made by another without the authorization of the original maker. In the ''Transformers'' fandom, the term is commonly abbreviated '''KO'''. The term '''bootleg''' is also sometimes used as a synonym.

==What's a knockoff?==
Not all transforming robots from makers other than [[Hasbro]], [[TakaraTomy]], [[Bandai]], or other major toy makers are knockoffs, but those toys which wholly or partly duplicate pre-existing designs are well-qualified for the term. The term is also applied by fans, however, to some robots whose design was entirely original with the manufacturer, if said manufacturer is commonly associated with knockoffs, or if this maker's products are often sold in company with knockoffs.

Whether an original design, modified, or slavishly copied, knockoffs are often cheaper than the products of major toymakers. However, the quality of knockoffs is often poorer than that of the originals, including bad plastic quality, bad sticker application, and bad paint applications. Odd colors, excess chrome, resizings, and modifications are common. The world of knockoffs is a strange land of gigantic chromed swords, Gundam/[[Brave (franchise)|Brave]] card art, and wacky packaging translations.

==Legal analysis of knockoffs==
Despite myths to the contrary, most ''Transformers'' knockoffs are illegal. In HASBRO BRADLEY, INC. v. SPARKLE TOYS, INC., 780 F.2d 189 (2nd Cir. 1985), the Second Circuit granted an injunction on Sparkle Toys' Jumpstarter knockoffs, where Hasbro showed a likelihood of success for infringement of their copyright in the Jumpstarters toys.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/780_F2d_189.htm http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/780_F2d_189.htm]</ref> For those not law literate, this basically means that (A) Hasbro held a valid copyright in the Jumpstarters, and (B) Hasbro had a strong enough case that this would have gone to a jury, which would ultimately decide whether there was infringement.

Although Hasbro and Takara's design patents on ''Transformers'' toys expire after 14 years from issuance, their copyright in ''Transformers'' toys lasts for 95 years from publication, i.e., sale to the public. Thus, while the design patents on some ''Transformers'' toys have expired, the copyright protection on all ''Transformers'' toys is still in effect. For useful articles, such as a reconfigurable toy, copyright protects only those expressive elements that are separable from the function. While a transformation is probably not protectable because it is functional, the overall look of the robot or alternate mode is protectable. Thus, while a heavily remolded knockoff that only retains the transformation of the original toy may avoid infringement, a toy that is only resized or is only painted in different colors would infringe Hasbro and Takara's copyright regardless of the slight modification.

==Availability of knockoffs==
Knockoffs were a real problem in the mid-1980's. As the majority of the line came from [[Diaclone]] and [[Micro Change]] toys that had been released in Japan a year or two earlier, Hong Kong bootleggers had plenty of time to copy the molds. Because of this, there were bootlegs on the shelf at the same time as their legitimate Hasbro counterparts. Some bootlegs even preceded their Transformers counterparts like [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]]. To combat this, the [[rubsign]] was developed, made with a patented technology that was difficult (at that time) to forge. There was also an accompanying TV ad campaign is which Optimus Prime and Megatron stress brand loyalty by stating, "We are the only ones that have the right to wear [ [[Autobot]] & [[Decepticon]] symbols ]."

Through most of the 1990s, knockoffs were relatively difficult to find in the West. Many fans had luck finding them at flea markets, hole-in-the-wall non-chain toy stores, or discount stores like [[wikipedia: Big! Lots|Big Lots]]. Some knockoff transforming robot toys did show up in chain toy stores, such as the Convert-A-Bots [[Sky Garry (ROC)|Sky Garry]] and Tek Toys ''Voltron'' I—both widely available at Toys R Us—but they were few and far between.

In the 2000s, knockoffs became more accessible. The Kidi Toys gestalt knockoffs were widely available at Family Dollar and [[Kay Bee]] Toy Liquidator stores, and saturated [[eBay]]. Happy Well knockoffs took up shelf space next to Transformers Armada toys at [[Wal-Mart]]. And of course, the realistic counterfeit G1 toys were also widely available on eBay from any number of different sellers. More recently, high end counterfeits have been harder to find on Ebay and can only be found on sites like ioffer or kotoys.com.

==Hasbro's intervention (or lack thereof)==
To date, Hasbro apparently has taken few actions against knockoff manufacturers. Only a couple of cases exist from the 1980s in which Hasbro shut down a ''Transformers'' knockoff operation, and no such cases exist from the 1990s onward. Hasbro's ''Transformers'' design director [[Aaron Archer]] was once quoted as making a comment at [[BotCon]] implying that Hasbro was unconcerned with knockoffs.{{fact}} Strangely, Hasbro recently contacted small online toy store AgesThreeAndUp and told them to take down their knockoff listings. At [[BotCon 2008]], [[Greg Lombardo]] read an official Hasbro policy discouraging fans from purchasing knockoffs — even in the main dealer room just a few yards away — and vaguely threatening future legal action against their producers. In May 2008, eBay began taking down auctions for knockoff Transformers (the high end counterfeits in particular), but it's unclear whether this was Hasbro's doing or not.<ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/other-news-20/knockoff-transformers-auctions-being-pulled-from-ebay-165004/</ref>

==Knockoff companies==
Certain knockoff companies have become notable over the years for one reason or another:

* Four Star - Known during the 1980s for taking any number of ''[[Diaclone]]''-descendant [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] molds and making massive [[Retool|retools]] of them, usually changing 75% of the mold or more. They are especially known for "Mr. Hardhat", a [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]] bootleg that is made up of six entirely changed [[Constructicon (G1)|Constructicons]] that combine in an entirely different way. The fully combined form uses [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]]'s head. Despite only being known to exist during the '80s, previously unknown Four Star bootlegs seem to appear every few years, bringing into question exactly how many figures they retooled and how these figures were distributed to stay hidden for so long.

* Tek Toys - A North American company that appeared in the early to mid-1990s and did business almost exclusively through Toys "R" Us. They pioneered the combination card/windowless box design used by many, many bootlegs to this day. Tek Toys also used a distinctively plain graphics style on their packaging, eschewing the usual random ''Gundam'' and ''Generation 1'' graphics for new airbrushed art or, surprising for a knockoff company, CGI models, almost always against a plain white background. Tek Toys also worked in extremes, either having recolored copies of existing figures or all new original figures that may or may not have been procured from smaller Asian companies (often times Leader Shine). In a bold move, Tek Toys had their office address printed on later boxes. Their new box graphics are still recycled by other knockoff companies to this day.

[[Image:JBootleg.jpg|right|180px|thumb|On your knees, Jumpstarters! Kneel before your living GOD!]]
* Leader Shine (AKA Champion Crown) - Known during the 1990s for bootlegging the living hell out of the [[Jumpstarter]] molds, producing clones, minor retools, major retools, and almost unrecognizable retools. They also produce "original" toys whose transformation schemes are derived from either ''Transformers'', the ''Brave'' series, or ''Power Rangers''. They still release new and varied Jumpstarters to this day. Leader Shine is also responsible for the very ''[[Godzilla]]''-themed knockoff of [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] that reappears every few years. They also have an amusing habit of putting "Pat. P." (Patent Pending) on almost all of their packages in spite of whether their product is a direct copy or completely changed. It is not known how many, if any, patents Leader Shine actually holds.

* Happy Well - One of the most prominent knockoff companies from the mid-2000's, Happy Well was bold enough to strike a contract with Wal*Mart, CVS Pharmacies, and Walgreen's, making them possibly the first company to have a knockoff "name brand", namely the "Galaxy Defender" series. Happy Well uses relatively high-quality materials, and most of their products are boxed. Some even come with sticker sheets and [[die-cast]] parts. They have since created their own properties and shy away from bootlegs, their "Roadbots" line was the only direct competitor to the ''[[Alternators]]'' line of licensed scale transforming cars.

* Zhong Jin, aka Playcenter<ref>Zhong Jin/Playcenter was first identified as the manufacturer of the knockoffs in September 2007, when fans noticed pictures of most of the current counterfeit G1 knockoffs on their [http://china.alibaba.com/company/detail/playcenter.html Alibaba supplier website], including then-upcoming counterfeits like Warpath. Apparently aware of this, Zhong Jin took down images of all their counterfeit Transformers from the website in October or November.</ref> - The first and primary manufacturer of the high-quality counterfeit ''Generation 1'' knockoffs. Zhong Jin has been making their counterfeit Transformers since 2005, starting with Beachcomber, but in 2007 began greatly increasing their range of counterfeit ''Generation 1'' knockoffs, which now includes at least 47 different G1 Transformers, filling in many of the gaps left by the official reissues. They have also done many plastic/paint variants of their knockoffs, including many clear plastic versions.

* Kidi Toys<ref>[http://www.toysghost.cn Kidi Toys' web site]</ref> - Perhaps best known as the manufacturer of the many low-quality ''Generation 1'' gestalt gift sets. Following Zhong Jin's lead, they briefly produced a couple realistic counterfeit ''Generation 1'' knockoffs ([[Metroplex (G1)|Metroplex]], [[Metrotitan (Zone)|Metrotitan]], and [[Devastator (G1)|Devastator]]. Among their other notable knockoffs are [[Alternator]] figures with new or copied paint schemes of reasonable quality. They are the knockoff company responsible for the infamous fake Metroplex Encore Reissues, which deceived major online Transformers stores.<src>http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/199973-what-heck-encore-12-metroplex-i-got-tfsource-fake.html</src>

* Citi Toys - Based in Thailand, the same company that was producing toys for McDonald's Happy Meals was also producing knockoffs of transforming robots in the late 1990's, albeit mostly ''Brave'' and ''Power Rangers''. After news leaked out that they used child labor, new knockoffs with their "CT" logo stopped appearing, which suggests that the child labor scandal caused them to shut down.

* Agglo is a Hong Kong based company that has produced numerous Transformers knockoffs over the years. Their products have ranged from knockoffs of ''Generation 1'' figures, to ''Beast Wars'' and Japanese Beast Wars characters and even ''Robot Masters'' and ''Generation 2'' Cyberjets. They are notable for giving their lines rather long names, one of their Beast Wars KO lines being "Space Warriors Transformable Beast Tech Fighter". They are one of the primary suppliers to the American ''Big Lots!'' stores and generally use their toy molds until they are virtually destroyed, as evidenced by their bootlegs of a number of Leader Shine products which have been retooled to have fewer and fewer parts as time goes by.

* iGear produces down-sized and remolded knockoffs of Masterpiece Transformers toys.

==Countries that produce or once produced knockoffs==
Most knockoffs originate outside of North America and Europe. Although most knockoff-producing countries have joined the Berne Convention and have thus obligated themselves to protect the copyrights of other countries, lax enforcement has allowed manufacturers in many foreign countries, such as China, to continue to produce knockoffs. However, manufacturers in other countries like South Korea, which was once a huge source of knockoff ''Transformers'', have in the last decade made efforts to legitimize themselves by buying the rights to produce official Korean versions of the toys they had long been copying.

[[Image:SENDTHEBOOKS.jpg|right|180px|thumb|SEND THE BOOKS!]]
* [[China]] — The main source of the world's Transformers knockoffs and notorious for their use of gigantic blister cards. Although they are typically low quality, such as the combiner gift sets produced by Kidi Toys, it is also the home of Playcenter, the high quality counterfeit ''Generation 1'' toy manufacturer. China has signed the Berne Convention obligating them to protect foreign copyrights, and has enacted legislation to do so, but their enforcement remains at a pitifully weak level. China is currently the main source of the world's Transformers knockoffs.

* [[South Korea]] — Was once a hotbed of Transformers knockoff activity. It was not uncommon in South Korea for there to even be animated series, like ''[[Inferno (G1)|Phoenix King]]'', that incorporated multiple knocked-off properties, such as [[Reflector (G1)|Reflector]] fighting a Gundam or any other number of famous characters. Hilariously, "Gundam" was so embedded in the South Korean public psyche as a synonym for "giant robot" via these different bootleg outlets that the ''Gundam'' property owner Sunrise's attempts to trademark the word were entirely rejected by the courts<ref>[http://www.comipress.com/article/2006/10/28/938 http://www.comipress.com/article/2006/10/28/938] Gundam and Giant Robots in South Korea</ref>. Some Korean knockoff manufacturers took great liberties with Transformers molds, such as significantly increasing their size[http://www.pleasesavemerobots.com/scrambledcity/skorbia/skorbydestrong.html], and/or retooling their alt modes to resemble completely different vehicles.[http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=17850203&uid=5138952] South Korea is known for such knockoffs as oversized Combaticons, Overlord with Starsaber's face, multiple Power Master Optimus cab knockoffs, and the white Oversized ''Generation 2'' Optimus Prime (the legitimacy of which has been debated). Since the mid-/late-1990s, South Korea has begun enforcing foreign copyrights and is no longer a major source of knockoff Transformers toys.

* Taiwan — Known for knockoffs with a lot of English text on them and higher quality than Chinese knockoffs. Many Taiwanese knockoffs found their way into Italy in the 1980s and 1990s and can often be spotted on Italian eBay. Gig, the official ''Transformers'' licensee in Italy, even imported a Taiwanese knockoff [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]]. Like South Korea, Taiwan is no longer a major source of knockoffs.

==Transitional companies==
[[Image:AlphaBaseRobot.jpg|left|180px|thumb|Oh, hi. I cost more than a [[Mint in sealed box|MISB]] ''G1'' Overlord. Want to touch me?]]
[[Image:TrendmastersMasterbotix.jpg|right|180px|thumb|AND I'LL FORM THE HE—oh, wait.]]
Although remarkably rare, some knockoff companies eventually venture into legitimate toy design territory. One such example is Trendmasters, which started out (arguably) as a knockoff manufacturer before eventually legally securing the [[wikipedia:Voltron|''Voltron'']] license. Happy Well has also shifted its focus from knockoffs to original Transforming robots in their Roadbots, X-Bot and V-Create lines.

Another such company was Korean knockoff manufacturer Academy. Academy is known for releasing the Overlord knockoff with Star Saber's head as well as the huge, up-sized ''Gundam'' Cloth MK-II. In the world of plastic scale models, they were also known for producing low-quality knockoffs of Japanese manufacturer Tamiya's kits with copied box art. Academy has since gone legit, legally acquiring such licenses as ''Gundam'', ''Naruto'', ''Tom and Jerry'', and ''Zoids''.<ref>[http://www.academy.co.kr/character/index.html http://www.academy.co.kr/character/index.html]</ref>

==High quality ''Generation 1'' counterfeits==
Starting around 2005, high quality ''Generation 1'' knockoffs began to appear on eBay. Originating from a company called Zhong Jin in China, both the packaging and toy of the knockoffs look nearly identical to the original. Unlike normal knockoffs, these sell for remarkably high prices. Since 2005, many counterfeit ''Generation 1'' products have surfaced from Zhong Jin, including Optimus Prime, Minibots, Cassettes, Autobot cars, Devastator, Dinobots, and Gnaw. Zhong Jin also has produced many color and plastic variants of their knockoffs, such as translucent versions, which were never previously released (and some of which that were, like Jafcon Black Optimus Prime). A second knockoff company, Kidi Toys, briefly produced high end G1 knockoffs as well.

The counterfeit ''Generation 1'' toys remain extremely controversial because they are virtually indistinguishable from the originals. This situation raises concerns about unscrupulous dealers selling bootlegs as genuine articles and scrupulous ones unknowingly doing the same. It's also a further infringement on Hasbro's intellectual property rights, since these fakes infringe not only the copyrights on the toys, but also the trademarks on the packaging.

Counterfeit ''Generation 1'' parts, stickers, and boxes have appeared from Zhong Jin as well, including many that have not had a corresponding whole knockoff released, including [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] boxes and [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] sticker sheets.

The counterfeit ''Generation 1'' toys are often confused with the legitimate [[Generation 1 (Chinese toyline)|Hasbro-made re-releases for the Chinese market produced from 1989 through 1995]]. (See below.)

==Myths about knockoffs==
Over the years, there have been a lot of widespread myths about knockoffs. Perhaps the most preposterous myth is that knockoffs are legal. See the Legal Analysis section above for why this theory is incorrect. Although few proponents of this theory exist, those that do claim vigorously that the presence of knockoffs on Family Dollar or Wal-Mart's shelves means that those products must be legitimate. The flaw in the reasoning here is that it assumes big chain stores would never do anything ignorantly or illegally, which is certainly [http://www.google.com/search?q=walmart+lawsuit not the case].

One long-held myth among fans (due to a general lack of information), is that the ''Generation 1'' ''Transformers'' with Chinese stickers in the corner are high-quality counterfeits. After all, they look just like the original ''Generation 1'' releases, but with some very small differences and oftentimes slightly inferior plastic quality. Recently, though, it's come out that these were, in fact, [[Generation 1 (Chinese toyline)|re-releases for the Chinese market produced from 1989 through 1995]], not unlike their Chinese ''[[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]]'' counterparts from around the same period. Ironically, high-quality counterfeit ''Generation 1'' toys from China would eventually come out, but it wouldn't be until 2005, a decade later.

==Recent knockoffs==
Since the release of the [[Transformers (2007)|2007 ''Transformers'' movie]], a flood of bootlegged figures has entered the market, with some movie line figure knockoffs appearing within a month of the official product's debut. The figures range from high-quality clones to ''very'' low-quality copies and strange variations, such as random Generation 1 figures being redone in movie paint decos (usually [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]]'s flame scheme or [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee's]] yellow with black stripes).

[[Image:TFA Prime KO.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Hey I'm not the KO, [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|He]] is!]]

One notable release was a knockoff of ''[[Transformers Animated (toyline)|Transformers Animated]]'' Voyager Earth-mode [[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]], which came out several weeks ''before'' the release of the original! The reason this occurred is that Hasbro shelved their already-manufactured ''Animated'' toys for several months in order to extend selling their popular movie line. Thus, finished ''Animated'' toys were able to leak out of factories and into hands of bootleggers long before they were to finally be released.

With the release of the 2009 [[Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|''Revenge of the Fallen'' movie line]] various knockoff toys have also emerged. These include oversized versions of the new Scout class molds, redecos of new Deluxe molds and molds from other lines redecoed to more closely resemble new characters (for instance the ''Animated'' Deluxe [[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] mold repainted to look like [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]], complete with door detailing).

The most recent twist in the knockoff toys saga are companies creating high quality knockoffs of recent toys aimed at collectors. These include the "KOLD" knockoffs, sold through kotoys.com, which attempt to imitate [[Lucky Draw]] and other rare Transformers. Also, there have been high quality knockoffs of Henkei Starscream and the seekers (including Sunstorm and the Generic Air Warriors, who has yet to get an official Classics-verse release), as well as Henkei/Classics Mirage in several of his rarer color schemes.

==External links==
*[http://highendtfs.com/?q=node/17 HighEndTFs' ID Guide for high quality counterfeit Generation 1 Transformers]

*[http://www.actionfigurechecklist.com/Images/Album/index.php?v=list&i=0&p=Transformers_KnockOff_KO Action Figure Checklist's Transformer Knock-Off Photo Album]

*[http://www.reocities.com/TelevisionCity/3230/tfother.html All Things Transformers - Other Transforming Toys]

*[http://www.mykooltoyz.com/bootleg-tf.html BOOTLEG TRANSFORMERS]

*[http://cybertronphils.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=toyreview&action=print&thread=4183 Bootleg Center]

*[http://www22.pos.to/~butto/ttot.html Butto's Other Transforming Toys (Japanese)]

*[http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~m-akao/GALLERY/fakehp.html Fake Toy Gallery (Japanese)]

*[http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=6&uid=5138952 Hatch's Bootleg Transformers]

*[http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20091026164943/http://www.geocities.com/kidk0rrupt/ Kid K0rrupt's Bootleg Gallery]

*[http://www.builtstlouis.net/tf/mmkos/index.html Rob's Pile of Transformers: Micromaster Knockoffs]

*[http://www.tfarchive.com/toys/bootlegs/ TFArchive.com's Bootleg Gallery]

*[http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/191817-knock-off-transformers-thread.html TFW2005 Ongoing Knock-Off Transformers Thread]

*[http://www.toyarchive.com/Transformers/Knockoffs/Genertaion1KnockOffs.html Toyarchive.com's Gallery of Generation 1 Knockoffs]

*[http://zobovor.20megsfree.com/knockoffs_archive.html Zobovor's Knockoff Toys Archive (text)]

*[http://www.reocities.com/scrambledcity/skorbia/index.html SKORBIA-Crazysteve's South Korean Bootleg Information Archive]

==Footnotes==
<references />

[[Category:Toys]]

Autotrooper (Animated)

2011-04-22T01:31:17Z

70.89.179.194: /* Notes */

{{factions|autobot|{{factions/icons
|custom=TFA Autotrooper Badge.png|cLink=Autotrooper|cPretty=Cybertronian security forces}}}}
{{disambig2|the police force from ''Animated''|the EDC robots from ''Kiss Players''|Autorooper}}

:''The Autotroopers are an [[Autobot]] police force from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:TFA_Autotrooper_model.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Yes, they are cool. Just keep them far away from Sari, please.]]

The '''Autotroopers''' are the police force responsible for safeguarding [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]'s streets.

:''Japanese name:'' '''Autorooper'''

==Fiction==
===''Animated'' cartoon===
[[Image:TFAni ThisIsWhyIHateMachines Autotroopers Decepticon.jpg|left|thumb|180px|Cybertron doesn't look kindly on bad cosplayers.]]
A lone Autotrooper was one of the many Autobots there to celebrate the return of [[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel "Magnus"]], who swore to take revenge on [[Shockwave (Animated)|Shockwave]] for what he did to [[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]]. {{storylink|Decepticon Air}}

More Autotroopers were shown apprehending Decepticon fugitives in a <s>propaganda film</s> [[public service announcement]] from Sentinel Prime. {{storylink|This Is Why I Hate Machines}}
{{--}}

==Notes==

* The Autotroopers have a unique [[insignia]], making the Autobot symbol more badge-like.

* The Autotroopers wear the [[256-OZU-004]] body type.

* They appear to be (in design) based on the Autoroopers from Kiss Players.
[[Category:Animated Autobots]]
[[Category:Cartoon-only Transformers]]
[[Category:Transformer culture]]

Soundwave (ROTF)

2011-02-26T21:50:26Z

70.89.179.194: /* Decepticon campaign */

{{faction|decepticonfilm}}
{{disambig3|Soundwave}}
:''Soundwave is a [[Decepticon]] from the [[Revenge of the Fallen (franchise)|Revenge of the Fallen]] portion of the [[Live-action film series|live-action film]] [[continuity family]].''

[[Image:Rotf soundwave satellite mode.jpg|thumb|right|375px|Just wait till he tentacle rapes that other satellite!]]

'''Soundwave''', the Decepticon communications officer and one of [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]'s staunchest supporters, doesn't just master the frequencies that carry information across our planet, he revels in them. Stationed high in the upper atmosphere and capable of processing millions of data streams at once, he is fully capable of taking over communications on a planetary scale. Whether he uses this to direct civilization or destroy it remains to be seen.

Soundwave has two extremely powerful weapons: his spread of [[Sonic Cannon]]s... and Megatron. If any Decepticon crosses him, he does not hesitate to send a full record of said Decepticon's failures to Megatron, almost certainly ensuring an untimely demise. His lofty position has made [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] suspicious, so Soundwave has his minion [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]] keep an eye on the [[Air Commander]] if he gets out of hand. Soundwave is also nearly defenseless in space, as his devastating Sonic Cannons only work within the atmosphere.<ref>[http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/discover/Battle-Bios.cfm Hasbro Soundwave Battle Bio]</ref>

{{quote|Nothing moves on the orb below without '''my''' being aware of it. I see and hear everything, be it out the open or behind closed doors. My reach is invisible, intangible. My grip...cast-iron.|Soundwave is watching you...|[[Nefarious issue 1|Nefarious #1]]}}

== Fiction ==
=== Titan Magazines ''Transformers'' movie comics ===
[[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] was in talks with Soundwave to get him to join in the attack on Earth and be in [[Michael Bay]]'s next documentary. Soundwave is known for talking in several frequencies at once, apparently just to be annoying. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 15|#15's Star Screams}} Starscream doesn't trust Soundwave but notes his intelligence, and so views him as a worthy successor in the event of his death. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 21|#21's Star Screams}}

=== IDW ''Transformers'' movie comics ===
[[Image:Defiance4Soundwave.jpg|thumb|left|100px|No full body shot in the movie or comics.]]
Soundwave was assigned by [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]] to take command of the newly built ''[[Nemesis (ROTF)|Nemesis]]'' with the sarcophagus containing [[The Fallen]]. Soundwave's task was to find a planet with a star [[Solar harvester|harvester]] that could be used to free their mysterious benefactor. Soundwave left [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] just before the outbreak of war. {{storylink|Defiance issue 4}}

[[Image:SoundwaveAllianceIssue2.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Alas, poor Dreadwing. I knew him, Ravage.]]

Presumed dead for years, Soundwave arrived on [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] one month after Megatron's death. He quickly took stock of the situation, scanning both [[Dreadwing (Movie)|Dreadwing's]] remains, and an imprint of [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy's]] body. He contacted [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] after his battle with [[Wreckage (Movie)|Wreckage]], learning of the loss of Megatron and the AllSpark, while informing Starscream that he had sent troops from his ship to Earth, with more waiting in stasis. As Starscream headed for the ship, Soundwave informed him he still had orders to follow. {{storylink|Alliance issue 2}} As more and more Decepticons made planetfall on Earth's surface, Soundwave assumed the form of a satellite and silently observed their operations from orbit. {{Storylink|Alliance issue 4}}

{{-}}

===Titan Magazines ''Revenge of the Fallen'' comics===
Soundwave appears unknown to the Autobots.{{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.4|New Tricks}} He commanded a small Decepticon cell, based out of [[Mars (planet)|Mars]]' moon [[Phobos]]. While nominally under the command of [[The Fallen]], The Fallen is merely in ''contact'' with the Decepticons and currently incapacitated. This left Soundwave free to do his ''own'' thing... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.8|Back-to-Back}}

[[Image:Titan4_Soundwaveinterrogate.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only... Oops, wrong movie.]]

One of his goals was to find the location of the [[Tomb of the Primes]]. The aging [[Seeker (ROTF)|Seeker]] [[Ransack (ROTF)|Ransack]] knew it but would only tell it to The Fallen. ''Strangely'' unwilling to put The Fallen and Ransack in touch and ''oddly'' prefering to personally know the location of [[Matrix of Leadership|the key to a monstrous superweapon]] himself {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.8|Back-to-Back}}, Soundwave turned to the dormant Seekers instead. He directed [[Grindor (ROTF)|Grindor]] to [[Las Vegas]] to carve up one such Seeker for its "memory tree". He refused to explain the reason ''why'' to Grindor. When [[NEST]] showed up, Soundwave appeared contemptuous of them and their [[Human|whole species]], noting Transformers owned this world ''long'' before mankind. To Grindor, he simply said to get the memory tree to him and not get captured. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.3|Learning Curve}}

Later, [[Transformers Comic issue 2.2|on The Fallen's orders]], he directed [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]] to find [[Skids (ROTF)|Skids]] and [[Mudflap (ROTF)|Mudflap]], find out what they knew about The Fallen's plans and who they'd told it to, and then terminate them. When Ravage had cornered Mudflap, Soundwave talked through him and attempted to interrogate the Autobot; this failed, with Mudflap not even being bothered about who Soundwave was. While the hit was a bust, Soundwave ensured the base was bugged. As a result, he discovered [[Sideswipe (ROTF)|Sideswipe]] distrusted the twins.

[[Image:Titan6_SoundwaveIAm.jpg|right|thumb|250px|"[[Sanctuary|There you go]], fellas!"]]

This was something Soundwave found interesting {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.4|New Tricks}} and he hatched a plan to ensure the twins were believed to be traitors: which would ensure nobody would follow up on their intell! Somehow, he got [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponok]] to [[Diego Garcia]] at the same time the twins were there. He then had [[Sideways (ROTF)|Sideways]] get captured, so that when he was taken to [[Diego Garcia]] Scorponok would free him. With the Decepticon attacking at the same time the twins were distracting Optimus and on top of previous acts, they seemed guilty and were taken into custody. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.5|Reversal of Fortune}} Soundwave sent [[Starscream (Movie)|Starscream]] to blow up the soldiers escorting the twins to orbitary exile, and [[Wheelie (ROTF)|Wheelie]] parachuted in to convince them to defect. When [[Bumblebee (Movie)|Bumblebee]] tracked down the twins - who had kidnapped [[Sam Witwicky]] in a failed attempt to convince him to speak to Optimus on their behalf - Soundwave finally landed on Earth and blasted the scout. Soundwave told the twins The Fallen would offer them sanctuary, something they seemed happy to accept... {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.6|Outlaw Blues}}

[[Image:Titan7_Soundwave_GO!.jpg|left|thumb|200px|]]

Poor Soundwave soon had to put ''up'' with the twins, as they insisted on chatting through his briefings and dissing the other 'cons. He ''just'' about, through ominous glares, got them to pay attention to their mission: to capture Ransack and bring him in to be "re-educated". This, however, was all a big con on the twins: he just wanted them as expendable bait to draw out Ransack, so Grindor and Sideways could knock him out. Soundwave also spoke for the entire Decepticons when he said that if the twins survived any encounter, ''kill them anyway''. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.7|Turnabout}}

[[Image:Titan8_Soundwave_FWATT.jpg|right|thumb|200px|KERPOW!]]

Once Ransack was in his hands, Soundwave beat the snot out of him and demanded the location to the Tomb of the Primes. The Seeker still refused to talk, and insulted Soundwave as being a mere cog who could barely understand the big picture. He almost killed Ransack for that, having to be held back by Starscream (don't want The Fallen ''knowing'' you've killed his Seeker!), but the elder continued to mock him for believing he had freedom of action just because The Fallen was absent.

When the twins, revealed to have been faking their defection, returned to beat the crap out of the Phobos base, an annoyed Soundwave ended their brief success with overwhelming violence. Unfortunately, before he could kill the Autobots, Ransack took the opportunity to leg it; desperate to stop The Fallen from being informed of what he'd been up to, Soundwave gave chase and the Phobos base was abandoned. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.8|Back-to-Back}} As he's still around later, it seems Soundwave made ''sure'' Ransack never made it to The Fallen...

{{note|The following events occur in the Law and Disorder continuity.}}

[[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] considers Soundwave to be an untrustworthy jerk who ''never'' pulls his weight in a fight. Megatron, however, loves the guy. {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.7|#7's Law and Disorder}}
{{-}}

===''Revenge of the Fallen'' film===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Frank Welker]] (English, French, Italian), [[Horst Lampe]] (German), [[Daisuke Gōri]] (Japanese)

[[Image:ROTF-Soundwaveface.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Next time, Gadget. Next time.]]
Soundwave received a transmission from [[Wheelie (ROTF)|Wheelie]], who was tailing [[Mikaela Banes]], and instructed him to obtain a surviving shard of the [[AllSpark|AllSpark]] in her possession. He found a satellite transmitting a conversation between [[NEST]] and the [[United States military]]. Tapping into it with his tentacles to listen, Soundwave overheard [[Theodore Galloway]] mention another shard of the AllSpark in storage at [[Diego Garcia]], and of [[Megatron (Movie)|Megatron]]'s burial in the [[Laurentian Abyss]].

[[Image:ROTF Soundwave ejects Ravage.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Ravage: Eject. Operation: [[Ruined FOREVER|Childhood rape]].]]

Formulating a plan, Soundwave waited until it would be nightfall on Diego Garcia, then ejected [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]] (who was equipped with [[Scalpel (ROTF)|Scalpel]] and the [[Microcon (ROTF)|microcons]] comprising [[Reedman]]) to Diego Garcia to steal the shard. Once they had stolen the shard, they reunited with some [[Constructicon (ROTF)|Constructicons]] and managed to resurrect their leader.

Soundwave remained in space, tapping into the satellite he had found. When Megatron decided to reveal the Transformers presence on Earth after killing [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]], Soundwave issued the mobilization order to the waiting troops on the ''[[Nemesis (ROTF)|Nemesis]]''. As the Decepticons streaked toward Earth, Soundwave tracked down [[Ron Witwicky|Ron]] and [[Judy Witwicky]] in [[France|Paris]]. He called Judy on her cellphone, demanding to know where Sam was, which the human dismissed as a crank call by a pervert. This allowed the Decepticons to track them down and capture them to use as bait for Sam.

[[Image:SoundwaveSatellite.jpg|thumb|300px|Yes, yes, you fans all thought about ''[[Kiss Players (franchise)|Kiss Players]]'' when you saw me do this.]]

When the CIA discovered that Sam was in [[Egypt]], Soundwave relayed the information to the Decepticons. During [[Operation: Firestorm]], Soundwave blocked the satellites covering the Egyptian area, making things appear normal. General [[Morshower]] was unconvinced though and got other local informants to know what was happening at the [[pyramid]]s. {{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen (film)}}

{{note|In the comic, Megatron rendezvous with Soundwave after killing Optimus, making the demand for Sam Witwicky himself, which Soundwave broadcasts through the satellite he clutches. {{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen issue 2}}}}

{{-}}

===IDW post-''Revenge of the Fallen'' comics===
Soundwave detected [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]] was alive and active, and was furious someone else was ordering his pet around. {{storylink|Tales of the Fallen issue 5}}
{{storylink|Nefarious issue 1|Nefarious #1}}
{{storylink|Nefarious issue 2|Nefarious #2}}
{{storylink|Nefarious issue 3|Nefarious #3}}
{{storylink|Nefarious issue 4|Nefarious #4}}
{{charstubfiction}}

===Cyber Missions===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Bronco D. Jackson]]

[[Image:CyberMission1-Soundwave.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Through the dark, to the light, it's a super sonic flight!
Gotta keep it goin'!]]

{{quote|No! Too many sonic booms! I can't absorb—!}}

When Soundwave and [[Bludgeon (ROTF)|Bludgeon]] descended on [[Diego Garcia]], they interrupted an Autobot mission briefing. While Ironhide headed outside to face Bludgeon, Bumblebee remained inside to guard the Autobots' precious [[datatrax|data tracks]] from Soundwave. Bumblebee fired shot after shot, but Soundwave was able to simply use his sonic powers to repel the attacks back towards Bumblebee. However, Bumblebee gambled that Soundwave would be unable to repel a great number of attacks simultaneously, and the Decepticon was overwhelmed by Bumblebee's automatic weaponry. {{storylink|Cyber Missions 1}} Bumblebee confined Soundwave inside a vacuum-sealed electromagnetic bubble, where his sonic weaponry would be useless. {{storylink|Cyber Missions 2}}
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===Titan Magazines post-''Revenge of the Fallen'' comics===

Instructed by Megatron to "hound" humans and "get up close and personal" in his attacks, Soundwave cut a swathe of destruction across the North Atlantic, destroying ships as he headed on a course towards Florida. Identifying his pattern, [[William Lennox]] and [[Robert Epps]] staged an ambush, laying out a cargo ship for Soundwave to attack and then blindsiding him with a volley from a hidden warship. Badly damaged in the surprise assault, Soundwave was forced to retreat, venturing into the confines of...the [[Bermuda Triangle]]! (Dun dun dunnnn!)

[[Image:Titan15_Soundwaveghostship.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Bustin' makes ghosts feel good!]]

Amidst the storm clouds, Soundwave discovered another ship that he decided to attack out of spite, but faltered when his databanks identified it as a [[United States Navy]] vessel that had been lost in [[1918]]. Caught off-guard by a volley of primitive weaponsfire (even for humans!) and damaged even further, Soundwave tried to limp away, only to cross paths with ''another'' mystery ship, this one allegedly from [[1941]]! Pelted from both sides and unable to get a handle on his situation, Soundwave fled high into the air, out of the ships' range...and right in the path of a squadron of [[World War II]] bombers! Rattled by their machine gun fire and unable to overcome their superior flying skills, Soundwave decided to break upwards...''all'' the way upwards. Whatever strange chronal chaos he had encountered in the depths of the Bermuda Triangle, Soundwave concluded that the solar radiation, meteor showers and space debris he would face on the ''[[Moon (moon)|moon]]'' would be ''much'' safer! {{storylink|Transformers Comic issue 2.15|Making Waves}}

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==Games==
===''Revenge of the Fallen'' - The Game (Xbox 360/Sony PS3/PC)===
:''Voice actor:'' [[Peter Jessop]] (English)

=====Autobot campaign=====

{{charstubfiction}}

=====Decepticon campaign=====
[[Image:ROTF_360PS3PC_DLC_Soundwave.jpg|thumb|250px|]]

Soundwave plays only a very minor role, delivering information or guidance (when Megatron or Starscream does not) to the character in question.

{{charstubfiction}}

{{Note|On [[August 27]], [[2009]], Soundwave was made available as a playable character (for multiplayer games) as optional downloadable content for Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 owners. However, instead of the silver colour scheme established on his regular release toys and movie appearance, the character model was coloured blue, like [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] and the [[Toys"R"Us]]-[[exclusive]] Soundwave figure from the ''Gathering at Nemesis'' figure pack. His special attack in robot mode consisted of a deployable turret that generated earthquakes, a reference to [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]], who was one of Generation 1 Soundwave's tape minions. While using his special in vehicle mode deployed a radar Jammer pod in the sky that also fired a laser at nearby enemies, a likely reference to Laserbeak, another of Generation 1 Soundwave's tape minions. In addition he and Jetfire are the only playable transformers with an airbone vehicle mode not to use missiles as their vehicle mode weapons.(soundwave shoots energy pulses of some sort while jetfire deploys bombs)}}
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===Transformers Autobots/Decepticons===
{{charstubfiction}}
{{storylink|Revenge of the Fallen: Autobots/Decepticons}}

==Toys==
===Revenge of the Fallen===
====Legends Class toys====
*'''Soundwave''' (Legends, 2009)
[[Image:ROTFLegends Soundwave.jpg|right|300px|thumb|No matter what mode you put him in, he is always ready to get down and dirty with unsuspecting satellites.]]

: Part of the fifth wave of ''[[Revenge of the Fallen (toyline)|Revenge of the Fallen]]'' [[Legends Class]] figures, Soundwave transforms into a simplified version of his satellite alt mode which is notable for being more movie-accurate than his Deluxe Class toy. The satellite head is completely covered in blue, however.

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*'''Infiltrator Soundwave''' (EZ Collection, 2010)

: In Japan, Legends class Soundwave was [[redeco]]ed to match the colors of Deluxe Infiltration Soundwave (see below). He was part of the Japanese ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Transformers Animated]]'' promotion, and was only available to those who bought the Voyager "[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] VS [[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]]" set at amazon.jp and Yamada Denki stores.

====Deluxe Class toys====
[[Image:Soundwaverotfpreviewtoy.jpg|right|300px|thumb|War fork!]]
*'''Soundwave''' (Deluxe, 2009)
**''Japanese ID number:'' '''RD-04'''
**''Accessories:'' 1 Ravage missile

:Part of the initial Movie Preview wave, Soundwave is a [[Triple Changer]], transforming into a satellite and a Cybertron jet, which are not exactly what could be described as "distinct" from one another. In all three modes, Soundwave features a spring-loaded missile launcher which fires a missile intended to resemble [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]], in reference to the scene in the film in which he launches the feline fiend down at Earth. In his (rather stocky) robot mode, Soundwave has blue light piping in his visor, but it is disabled, having been painted over in red; his other modes feature a second, armored version of his face, which is stored on the back of his robot mode. Probably to avoid giving the toy a very obviously two-headed robot mode, the alternate face lacks any paint details, and has an unpainted blue visor. Soundwave features numerous red and gold [[Paint operation|paint application]]s which are ''very'' cleverly and subtly positioned around his body to replicate similarly-colored and -positioned details on the [[Soundwave (G1)|original Soundwave toy]].

:The configuration for the satellite mode depicted in the toy's instructions is not the way Soundwave appears in the film, featuring a different angling for the panels on his shoulders. It's not a big change, but transforming the toy in accordance with his movie appearance ''does'' help to distinguish the jet from the satellite a little, since otherwise, virtually the only difference is in the positioning of the large panel "wings".

::*''[http://www.tfu.info/2009/Decepticon/Soundwave/soundwave.htm More information on Soundwave at TFU.info]''

{{-}}{{anchor|GatheringNemesis}}
[[Image:ROTFtoy-GatheringattheNemesis.jpg|right|thumb|300px|You can get him in blue, but you gotta get those other guys, too!]]
*'''Gathering at Nemesis''' (Figure multi-pack, 2009)
**''Accessories:'' 1 Ravage missile

: A [[Toys"R"Us]]-[[exclusive]] three pack (technically four pack if you want to count the Ravage missile), also featuring The Fallen, and a silver Voyager Class Megatron from the first movie toyline. Soundwave is [[redeco]]ed in predominantly blue as an homage to the [[Soundwave (G1)|original Soundwave]]. The Fallen was unchanged from his original release.

{{-}}{{anchor|BlackVersion}}
[[Image:CharaHobbyROTFSoundwaveBlack.jpg|thumb|300px| So...waiting for any ROTF Soundblaster jokes...]]
*'''Soundwave Black Version''' (Deluxe, 2009)
**''Accessories:'' 1 Ravage missile
:Exclusive to the 2009 "C3 X Hobby Chara Hobby" show that ran across [[August 29]]-[[August 30|30]] in Japan, Soundwave Black Version is a redeco of the deluxe ''Revenge of the Fallen'' Soundwave toy in black and red with orange highlights. Following the convention, remaining quantities of the figure were made available to purchase via lottery through the [[E-Hobby|e-Hobby]] website.

::*''[http://www.e-hobby.co.jp/cgi-bin/omc?port=33301&req=PRODUCT&code=tf_ev_07 Soundwave Black Version at e-Hobby]''

{{-}}{{anchor|Infiltration}}
[[Image:ROTFtoy-SoundwaveNESTAlliance.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Look out for Escalation Soundwave, Devastation Soundwave, and Soundwave Loves Drift-Chan.]]
*'''Battlefield Bumblebee Vs. Infiltration Soundwave''' (Deluxe 2-pack, 2010)
**''Accessories:'' 1 Ravage missile

:Part of the [[N.E.S.T. Global Alliance]] campaign, Infiltration Soundwave is another redeco of the Deluxe Class Soundwave mold, this time in dark blue and dark gray, plus bright red that simulates the intense heat of orbital reentry. He also comes with new light-piping that ''isn't'' painted over. He comes with Battlefield Bumblebee, a retooling of Cannon Bumblebee with a new battlemask head. Also included in the packaging is a "Mission Guide" catalog and ordering form for the mail-in exclusive Recon Ravage, a "starter sticker" for said ordering form, and a N.E.S.T. Global Alliance iron-on patch. Two additional stickers from specially-marked N.E.S.T. Global Alliance products and $4.95 shipping are required for the promotion. Sadly, this promotion does not exist in Europe or Australia, but Recon Ravage was made available in the latter country as a Toys R Us exclusive. Surprisingly, the package does not recognize his Cybertron jet mode, instead only acknowledging his satellite mode.
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==Merchandise==
===Burger King===
[[Image:ROTFMerchandise-BurgerKingSoundwave.jpg|thumb|right|200px|I spy with my little eye.....impending tentacle rape.]]
*'''Seeking Soundwave''' (2009)
**'''Accessories:''' 2 blue solar panels
:The [[Burger King]] version of Soundwave is a representation of the communications satellite which Soundwave hacked into in the movie. The dishes have tendril details added to them. Peering into an opening in the top gives a sort of periscope effect, although as there is only one mirror, everything looks backwards.

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===RPMs—Robot Powered Machines===
====Metal Heroes====
*'''Soundwave''' (2010)
*''Number:'' '''04 of 08''' (only 6 released)

:''[[Robot Powered Machines]]'' Soundwave is a small, non-transforming pseudo-Scion XB with his robot mode sculpted underneath. Said robot mode resembles [[Soundwave (Prime)|another Soundwave]] for some reason. The car's wheels feature through-axle construction for speedy racing on flat surfaces. Unlike other RPMs, Soundwave, along with the rest of the Metal Heroes, is made of [[die-cast]] metal.

:This toy features many differences in comparison to the [[Speed Stars]] release. Namely, the Speed Stars version lacks paint in the doors, as well as the chest, arms, legs and face of the "robot" mode, unlike the RPM release that has this fully painted. The plastic in the bottom of the car is cast in a different color: the RPM version is bronze while the Speed Stars version is golden. In addition, the RPM release has "Soundwave-Audio" written on the inferior part of the doors as well as having the tail lights painted (in red).

:RPM Soundwave is probably the most contradictory Transformer ever produced: he has [[Soundwave (Animated)|''Animated'' Soundwave]] alt mode and a mix between his regular and Electrostatic incarnations "tattoos", [[Soundwave (Prime)|''War for Cybertron'' Soundwave]] robot mode (which in turn was heavily based in [[Soundwave (G1)|G1 Soundwave]]) and despite this, the bio and toyline clearly identifies him as ROTF Soundwave. You can try and add [[Soundwave (Cybertron)|Cybertron Soundwave]] to the list if you want, but that would be overkill.

:This toy's American release and the rest of the Metal Heroes were canceled in favor of the [[Speed Stars]] versions of the toys. They have been released in the Philippines, New Zealand and Mexico (at a discounted price compared to past RPM releases), however. Both versions were eventually available at retail in those countries.

===Speed Stars===
====Metal Heroes====
[[Image:SpeedStars_Soundwave_toy.jpg|thumb|right|250px|See? You ''have'' your damn ''Prime'' toys, now shut up!!]]
*'''Soundwave''' (2010)
*''Number:'' '''04 of 08'''

:Speed Stars Soundwave is a [[redeco]] of the RPM vehicle. All differences between the two releases are listed above.

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====Stealth Force====
[[Image:SpeedStars_StealthForce_Soundwave_toy.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Three continuities for the price of one!]]
*'''Soundwave''' (Basic, 2010)

:This Soundwave toy is part of the "Stealth Force" subline, consisting of vehicles without robot modes, but with plenty of flip-out panels with hidden weapons. Like the smaller Metal Heroes toy, Soundwave has ''Animated'' Soundwave's Scion XB altmode and features ''War for Cybertron'' Soundwave on his packaging. He features non-firing weapons hidden all throughout the toy, activated by pulling part of the roof back.

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==Notes==
[[Image:EarlyMovieBlackout.jpg|right|200px|thumb|A Soundwave-headed Blackout from an animatic.]]
[[Image:ROTFEarthSoundwaveConcept.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Soundwave, before losing his weight.]]
* Soundwave was originally supposed to feature in [[Transformers (2007)|''Transformers'']]; he fulfilled both [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] and [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy]]'s roles, hacking into the CIA headquarters as a portable stereo, then [[size changing|morphed]] into a Humvee to track down [[Sam Witwicky]].<ref>Details from an early script draft [http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showpost.php?p=2213120&postcount=297 summed up here], [http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/showpost.php?p=2214148&postcount=303 confirmed as authentic by Roberto Orci here].</ref> [[Michael Bay]]'s decision to minimalize the amount of morphing in the film resulted in a change to a helicopter who openly attacks the army. Soundwave and [[Ravage (ROTF)|Ravage]] were changed to [[Blackout (Movie)|Blackout]] and [[Scorponok (Movie)|Scorponok]] as the film's location was changed from a jungle to a desert.<ref>[http://boards.transformersmovie.com/showpost.php?p=234188&postcount=2008 Roberto Orci confirms that Ravage was replaced by Scorponok at the official movie boards]</ref><ref>[http://boards.transformersmovie.com/showpost.php?p=234188&postcount=2008 Roberto Orci confirms that Ravage would have appeared in a different terrain at the official movie boards]
</ref> Soundwave's name remained attached to the separated portable stereo character for a while, but Hasbro felt the resulting character did not properly represent the original Soundwave—he was first renamed Soundbite, but eventually ended up with the name Frenzy.

*According to the trade paperback, Soundwave was a major character in the third draft of ''[[The Reign of Starscream]]''.

* In early drafts of ''Revenge of the Fallen'', Soundwave came to Earth and scanned a black Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck form. Artist [[Paul Ozzimo]] created a visualization of this idea, and Hasbro based the Cybertronian satellite form's robot mode on this abandoned concept, particularly a Cybertronian version of the Chevy grill and small headlights on the lower torso. They then combined Ozzimo's body design with an unused, heavily G1-esque head design that had been created by artist [[Josh Nizzi]] (although Soundwave's finalized head design was also incorporated into the toy's satellite mode, in a manner akin to [[kibble#Faux parts|faux parts]]).

*Hasbro's description and arrangement of Soundwave's toy as a triple changer runs counter to the filmmakers' intent to introduce the technology in the next film.<ref>[http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-just-movie-31/transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-will-not-feature-triple-changers-165854/ News from TFW2005.com on September 23, 2008,] detailing [[Roberto Orci]]'s confirmation that there would be no triple-changers in ''Revenge of the Fallen''.</ref>

*Even though [[Frank Welker]] returned to voice Soundwave for the movie, his voice was not vocoded, but rather synthesized in the same way all the other Transformer voices in the movie were. Because of this, the voice he uses is much closer to that of "The Cave of Wonders" from [[Wikipedia:Aladdin (film)|Walt Disney's ''Aladdin'']] and Darkseid from The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, both voiced by Welker. However, in the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' video game, Soundwave's voice ([[Peter Jessop]]) is vocoded in a manner similar to that of ''[[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]]'' [[Soundwave (Animated)|Soundwave]]'s first voice, only with a more musical tone.

*[[Frank Welker]] voiced Soundwave not only in the English version of ''Revenge of the Fallen'', but also in a large number of foreign dubs, including the Italian one. Welker described the process as "very hard".<ref name="welkernewsarama">[http://www.newsarama.com/tv/090915-Animated-Shorts-Welker.html Newsarama interview with Frank Welker], September 2009.</ref> Althouth Welker is also credited in the German dub of the movie, German dubbing insiders insist that the voice heard in the actual movie is by someone else ([[Horst Lampe]], who also dubbed ''[[Transformers Animated (cartoon)|Animated]]'' [[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]]), presumably as a last-minute decision because Welker's "German" performance was considered sub-standard.<ref name="germandub">[http://215072.homepagemodules.de/t511643f11775323-Transformers-Die-Rache-Transformers-Revenge-of-the-Fallen-7.html German dubbing board thread about ROTF, with a discussion about Soundwave's voice]</ref>. Welker is also credited in the Spanish dub (which character he voiced is not listed, but it was most likely Soundwave).

* Soundwave is unique among the Decepticons introduced in ''Revenge of the Fallen'' because he survives. ([[Scalpel (ROTF)|Scalpel]]'s fate is ambiguous in the film itself but he was clearly scrapped in the [[Revenge of the Fallen (novel)|two]] [[Revenge of the Fallen issue 2|adaptations]]). All the others are presumably killed, meaning if all our information only came from the films, then the only Decepticons alive are the original triad of Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave, along with the oft-overlooked [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]].

* Soundwave was included as a downloadable addition to the roster of the Revenge of the Fallen Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 video game, along with several ''[[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]]'' homages and fellow movie character [[Sideswipe (ROTF)|Sideswipe]]. Soundwave's special abilities deploy an aerial jammer pod that looks suspiciously like [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]], and an AOE pod that continuously smashes the ground with piledrivers; undoubtedly a nod to Generation 1 [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]]'s minion [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]]. According to concept artist [[Ken Christiansen]], his appearance was based more closely on the Deluxe class toy than his movie design.

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Communications specialists]]
[[Category:Cyber Missions characters]]
[[Category:Revenge of the Fallen Decepticons]]
[[Category:Spies]]
[[Category:Triple Changers]]