Toy Review - DOTM Shockwave

[Vector Prime]

When I first saw pics of this guy, I was excited - he looked very cool and was a nice Movie-verse homage to Shockwave.

Now that I have him in hand - yes, he does indeed look very cool in bot mode (but very ordinary in his alt mode - some sort of Cybertronian tank?)

Let's get his alt mode out of the way - I don't display my figures in alt mode, so it doesn't bother me too much how they look, but one does hope that the character transforms into something semi-decent looking.

Shockwave's alt mode is some sort of tank thing with it's cannon offset and sitting on one side (as opposed to in the middle sticking out of a turret like a normal tank) - this is pretty much due to the cannon being mounted on his right arm and although it is removable, doesn't seem to mount on his left arm at all.

Anyways, if you're a fan of Megatron's tank mode from the previous movie, then you'll be a fan of this, but otherwise, it's rather ho-hum... nothing to get excited about.

Now the transformation sequence is fairly straight forward and intuitive with probably an average degree of difficulty.

It is a tad bit fiddly and does require you to tab various pieces into various spots and get things aligned properly (to get to tank mode) but is somewhat satisfying once you get it altogether (but then it all gets let down by the ugliness of the alt mode).

His bot mode is where he shines - he looks awesome in various poses and looks very menacing and will certainly display well on any shelf.

That's not to say that he's not without flaws or shortcomings - his shoulder and arm articulation is somewhat limited and he doesn't have a great degree of rotation in those areas.

His legs and feet are fairly stable and allow for various poses, but his overall poseability gets let down by his lack of upper body articulation.

Nonetheless, he still displays well and I'm prepared to overlook some of his shortcomings purely because he's Shockwave and he does look quite awesome.

I would give this guy 8/10 - only because he is imposing looking and I quite like the look of him, but I reckon most people may be disappointed with him and probably would only give him average marks.

Anyways, that's my 0.02c... thanks for reading.

[Vector Prime]

AFAIK, the only other board member that has one of these at the moment is SkyShadow, so perhaps SS can draw himself away from the glorious Lugnut for a brief moment to share his thoughts on DOTM Shocky?

[5FDP]

Nice review VP. Kinda disappointing though... I was expecting more from this toy as it was basically my one 'must have' from DOTM based on earlier images. Oh well, I can save up for the next round of Generations

[griffin]

Moved this topic here, as per the Reviews Section Description:

Reviews of any Past and Present Transformers (toys, merchandise, comics, cartoons, etc). Movie toys well beyond their release should be posted in the Movie section (they will be moved here later).

This prevents spoilers, especially with certain new major-role characters.

[Vector Prime]

Moved this topic here, as per the Reviews Section Description:



This prevents spoilers, especially with certain new major-role characters.

Ahh... no worries Griff

[Vector Prime]

peaugh's review for those that haven't seen it.

[Sky Shadow]

AFAIK, the only other board member that has one of these at the moment is SkyShadow, so perhaps SS can draw himself away from the glorious Lugnut for a brief moment to share his thoughts on DOTM Shocky?

I don't have too much more to say than I did in the other thread (which, for people who haven't read it was:

"Shockwave is great - not as good as Megatron, since Megs actually transforms into a Mack truck (and has a poncho) whereas Shockwave just turns into a... thing (and is poncholess). Shocky's MechTech weapon can be deployed and locked in place and the toy feels good and solid. It seems like Voyagers have been somewhat downscaled for DOTM - they're not as big as previous Voyagers, but still a slight step up from a deluxe. I think Hasbro took the wrong boat with Generations Skullgrin - give this toy an animal-skull head, then add some white and it would be an absolutely perfect 'Classics' Skullgrin in both modes.")

Other good points about this toy include the G1 homage hose, and the fact it and the weapons can be deployed in multiple configurations in both modes. Every moving part has a specific place to lock into in both modes. The asymmetry if the tank turret in vehicle mode is odd and seems lazy, although it might be how he appears in the film, so I can't really argue if it's for the sake of accuracy. I agree with VP's review above - it's a really nice toy - it just feels much closer to a Deluxe than a Voyager and is missing that extra 'wow' factor that would make it something truly special.

My photos can be found here: http://www.otca.com.au/boards/showth...952#post233952

[Sky Shadow]

P.S. Great photos, Vector Prime.

[Paulbot]

Why so they keep giving prominent Movie Decepticons non-Earthen modes? This toy is good but it doesn't fit in with the others. It's so alien in both modes that it feels like it belongs to another line. At least the tank mode ends up being more clear than the Fallen or Megatron's jet modes.

I found transforming Shockwave to be fun and everything rewardingly snapped into place with solid clicks. The toy has nice colours but in robot mode it doesn't look that much like G1 Shockwave. The homage seems slight, but the extra hose and being able to fold up the hand when you plug the mech tech weapon in help it out.

Overall, pretty nice as it's own alien robot/tank figure with bonus points for looking like Shockwave and for (I assume) it's role in the movie.

[Decepticon]

Brilliant! Love everything about this figure. Robot mode is the best I've seen for a while