Well, for BA it's so her spider-mode can have knees that go the right way.
And the dumbbell forearms are way better as open hands than as fists.
My current gripes with Soundwave:
Dumbbell hands
No handheld weapon
Alt mode is very shapeless. Though in a couple of shots I really like it (mostly
>>337774. Looks great there. Like... an alien satellite.)
Everything else is gravy. I'm surprisingly not put off by the lack of Soundwave-y goodness for the body, and I genuinely don't see the problem with his proportions most people seem to.
I was worried about all the panels, but peaugh's second review and pictures have convinced me that they can be tabbed and won't be a free-floating nightmare. That said, they look like they give him lots of attack mode options, including one with a different head, torso, and arms.
I'm really psyched for this toy.