Soundwave Question

[EMAG]

I have noticed some people refer to various versions of Soundwave being "pre-rub." The distinguishing fact is that a "pre-rub" version has a regular decepticon sticker on his chest. However, upon looking at old instruction scans, it clearly states in the last cell that Soundwave came with a rub sticker. In the instructions though, a regular sticker is present on his chest. So, did the location of the rub sticker change, or was one never really present in some versions?

[Time Traveller]

there was originally a SW without any rub sign. i have one. all 84 transformers have a pre rub.

[Jose]

My Soundwave was missing its original door, and now it has a replacement.

With this I want to explain that, unless you come across a MISB item, it's very hard to tell if a figure is authentic pre-rub, a it's just a sticker that can be easily removed and replaced, not mentioning that the pieces can be also mixed. I have seen quite some Soundwaves, and they have different copyright stamps (it lasted 3 years in production, unlike most figures), but I've never been able to tell which ones are for sure pre-rub sign. Following logic, I'll say the early ones say only "Takara", then they were changed to "Hasbro-Takara", as it is easier to add things on a mold - some figures which have deleted stamps, like Hubcap, have a rectangle concealing those places.

However, not everything seems to be logical to Hasbro.

[EMAG]

Jose,
You seem to be correct; the Soundwave I have reads the following on the battery cover: "TAKARA CO., LTD. '74, '83 JAPAN"

[Guest]

Just to add my 2 cents, the originals came without the rub signs. Soon after bootlegs of the figures started showing up. Hence Hasbro/Takara came up with the rub signs which where crystals that reacted to heat and made them genuine figures of their company's toyline.