Saturday, July 9, 2011

Transformers Dark of the Moon Voyager-Class Shockwave

At long last, after two movies, Michael Bay has FINALLY decided to give us a Shockwave in the final installment of his Transformers trilogy. Having seen the movie, I have little to comment on in regards to the character himself, but does the toy compensate for that?

Shockwave 11

Shockwave's bio reads:



"Few have ever seen Shockwave and lived. This is the hand that ensures Decepticon plans remain secret from the Autobots. He eliminates evidence and witnesses with brutal, emotionless efficiency. The only hints he ever leaves of his presence are smoking craters and the collapsed tunnels through which he travels."


Those of us who are familiar with Shockwave know that this bears little resemblance to his original G1 anime or comic character, other than the "emotionless" bits.

Shockwave 10

The figure, however, pays a nice Bay-Former homage to G1 Shockwave. He's purple, has a mono eye, and a gun arm (although, on the wrong side; it should be on the left hand) linked to a backpack by a rubber hose. Speaking of the hose, while it is a nice touch, it's just a tad too short & can limit poseability depending on where on the back you have it plugged in.

Shockwave 12

Articulation is superb; the knees are double-jointed, making very dramatic, action-packed leaping or dodging poses attainable. The shoulders are also on two separate joints, which makes posing the arms smooth and easy. The only drawbacks are the head and wrists; the head is on a pivot joint, and I firmly believe a ball-jointed neck would have knocked this toy right out of the ball park. The wrists do not pivot, but can be bent, so it's really only a minor complaint of mine. Those two small gripes aside, this figure has stellar poseability rarely seen in Bay-Former toys.

Shockwave 8

For the first movie toys, we got the "Auto-Morph" which employed the use of springs and gears to automatically "transform" parts of your toy for you. For Revenge of the Fallen, we got "Mech-Alive," a mostly useless, but fun to look at feature; when moved certain parts of the figure, gears would rotate or pistons would expand and retract. The big gimmick for Dark of the Moon is the "Mech Tech" feature. All of the larger (deluxe, voyager, etc.) figures come with weapons which, usually by pushing a tab or button, deploy different or even larger weapons. In most cases, this gimmick royally sucks. The weapons are grossly large and misproportioned, and as such, usually have no storage in vehicle mode (unless you want to make some stupid 'attack mode' by sticking the weapon on top.)

Shockwave 7

Shockwave 6


Shockwave's Mech Tech weapon, however, is nicely incorporated into the figure. While I would have preferred a firing missile, this is a decent substitute. When you push a small panel on the back of the gun, two smaller cannons flip out from beside it...and actually don't look all that bad. I prefer to have them deployed in vehicle mode, but it's all about your preference. The arm cannon is also removeable, so you can have Shockwave with two normal arms if you so choose. He also comes with a sword/gun/bayonette thing that can attach to his backpack, arm cannon, left arm, etc. I personally could have done without this accessory, but it doesn't hurt the aesthetic of the figure, so I just leave it on his left arm.

Shockwave 9

Shockwave's robot mode is superb. Pretty much anything you could ask for from a Bayverse Shockwave is well-delivered in this figure. He's fun to play with and nice to look at. (Just like your mom!)

Shockwave 5

Transforming Shockwave is fairly straightforward. It's not too complex, but it's not dismally simple either. Everything locks tightly into place, and the end result is a solid alt mode.

Shockwave 3

There is much to be said about the alt mode. The packaging calls it a "Ground Assault Mode," but the general consensus is that it's some sort of Cybertronian tank. Many fans of Shockwave have been put off by his not transforming into a giant space gun, but it doesn't bother me too much. The tank mode is far more practical, if a bit more generic, and even works as a subtle nod to past Shockwave renditions (Animated Shockwave, Energon Shockblast.)

Shockwave 2

The paint apps are well-placed, and all the versatility of the weapon and hose attachment is retained. Now, one thing in particular I will point out: the little claw-wheel assembly thing on the front. When you look at pictures of this toy, it seems like this assembly is just stuck onto the front of the chunkier, more armored tank. However, when you're holding the toy and looking at it in person, it really looks and feels more integral to the tank.

Shockwave 4

All-in-all, Shockwave delivers. Fans of G1 Shockwave and Bayformer Junkies alike will delight in owning this gem of a figure. Even though the alt mode may be slightly "meh" to some, the perfectly-executed robot mode is surely enough to compensate for that. Do not hesitate to pick one up!

Shockwave 1

A 5 out of 5-star rating is the only logical conclusion.




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