Honestly, I bought New Soundwave just to get these two guys! Let's talk about them.
Wingthing and Wingthing
Wingthing was Soundwave's Action Master partner. He transformed from a bat into a concussion blaster. (aka a folded-up bat with a gun stuck on it) But now he's been upgraded to a Mini-Cassette! Well, "upgraded." I'm not sure trading in a weapon form, regardless of how dippy it looks, for a mini-cassette mode is really an upgrade. Before he was a gun, and now he transforms into a ... rectangle. Admittedly, it's probably an upgrade in the perception of his peers. Being "one of Soundwave's tapes" is probably an upward social move from "that gun Soundwave built that time he couldn't transform and then left to collect dust in the closet afterwards." Now he's Ratbat's equal! And Ratbat was a Senator!
They come with these clear mini-cassette cases.
(His bio, best I can tell from badly Google Translating it, seems to say he's not technically alive, but a sophisticated drone with a personality emulator. Perhaps this is related to Wingthing having originally been created as an Action Master weapon.)
Yeah, you remember this thing.
Enemy, meanwhile, is who I desired the most. Enemy is awesome. Until this toy was released last week, Enemy was a merchandise-only character. There was this red Frenzy/Rumble head back in the Eighties that made you sound all robotty when you spoke into it, and its name was "Enemy." You may remember it from that one birthday part you had. The real Transformers were all sold out and thanks to one of your friends you ended up with this thing on the left.
And now, finally, Enemy has a real toy. I couldn't be more ecstatic. Best New Soundwave I've ever bought!
He has a body! TO PUNCH YOU WITH!
Again, my Google Translator-fu is weak, but I think Enemy's bio says that he's, SURPRISE, a jerk to everybody and everyone hates him. Also maybe he has some sort of psychological effect on those who surround him, making them hate him more, giving him an advantage somehow? I am not sure. Maggie tried to translate it on her own, but the damn bio says "he's an asshole" in so many different ways it was kind of like a big soup of repetitive nonsense.
Finally, Enemy isn't just an immobile objec-- oh.
Like the rest of these Encore sets, both Enemy and Wingthing forego stickers entirely in lieu of painted detail. I am overbearingly thankful for this, because Mini-Cassettes are the enemy (so to speak) of stickers. One entire side of them is generally covered in stickers to make them look like cassettes, and their toys are equally covered in moving parts and seams. And so, y'know, that means buttloads of sticker edges. It's not a fortunate set up. But it's all paint now, so I'm stoked!
